Free Retribution by Adrian Magson Page B

guys who’ve been hit and I need to find out why. We wouldn’t want this to become a habit.’
    â€˜You still think the killings are connected with the rumours about the girl?’
    â€˜Maybe. I don’t know.’ Deane sounded exasperated. ‘You know how it works: make enough noise and people start to believe you, no matter how wild or how far back it goes. Piggyback on the shoulders of fresh reports about the same organization doing stuff it shouldn’t, and it gets easier to take at face value.’
    â€˜Have the two murders been reported?’
    â€˜Only locally. But not the full details – and nothing about the links to the UN. So far we’re managing to keep a lid on it. Just two soldiers murdered. It happens all the time.’
    Harry felt a momentary doubt. He was still adjusting to life after leaving MI5, building up contacts and getting himself known. In a crowded security field, with a lot of Special Forces people also out there looking for work, he couldn’t afford to get sidetracked.
    Yet a part of him was intrigued by the possibilities Deane had to offer. Working undercover was dangerous, lonely and in the end no guarantee of good health if you stuck at it too long. But this wasn’t strictly undercover. And it wasn’t for ever.
    â€˜What about the other KFOR units over there?’ he asked. ‘We weren’t the only ones.’
    â€˜No incident reports have come in – I checked.’ Deane had a smile in his voice, like a dog suddenly presented with a juicy bone. ‘Not one single death among ex-UN or KFOR personnel that wasn’t a certified accident.’
    Harry relented, as he’d known he would. This wasn’t going away, and he’d rather face up to the situation than let it come and find him. ‘All right.’
    â€˜Good man. I’ve booked you a seat on board a US Coast Guard flight out of Northolt tomorrow. It took some doing, but it’ll save a lot of hassle.’
    â€˜That was a hell of an assumption.’
    â€˜Yeah, well, I don’t have time to hang around. We need to find the source of this rumour and whether it’s connected with Orti or Broms. And to safeguard the other men you need to track them down and talk to them – hard if needs be.’
    â€˜Is that what you want me to do – protect them? Or find the guilty man?’
    Deane didn’t hesitate. ‘Do what you have to, Harry. It’s all the same in the end.’
    Harry wondered how much of his life they had gone through in the last few days; how much detail they had sifted through, how many people they’d talked to. This business was snowballing fast, and some influential strings must have been pulled to get all this organized. If Deane had already spoken to Ballatyne, it was likely that MI6 had provided a full briefing on Harry’s background. But to do that and sign it off, they must have had complete confidence in his record in Kosovo. ‘Fine. When’s the briefing?’
    â€˜You just had it. A file with the addresses of each man and their current or last known whereabouts will be delivered with a UN security clearance to your hotel in New York.’
    â€˜I haven’t told you where I’m staying yet.’
    â€˜No need. I arranged that, too. Oh, and I’m arranging for a sidearm and permit to be delivered, too. Just don’t go waving the gun around in public. The cops in New York are a little sensitive these days.’
    This was outside anything Harry had heard about non-US law enforcement agency or military personnel being allowed to carry weapons in the country. It was a measure of how seriously Deane was taking the issue. ‘Is it really necessary?’
    â€˜I think so. Whoever this guy is, he’s good. He’s taken Orti and Broms, so everyone else is at risk including you.’
    â€˜In that case, you’d better throw in a spare.’
    If Deane wondered why he