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Chapters (124)
  1. Cover
  2. About the Author
  3. Acclaim for Frank Gardner’s Luke Carlton thrillers
  4. Also by Frank Gardner
  5. Dedication
  6. Epigraph
  7. 1
  8. 2
  9. 3
  10. 4
  11. 5
  12. 6
  13. 7
  14. 8
  15. 9
  16. 10
  17. 11
  18. 12
  19. 13
  20. 14
  21. 15
  22. 16
  23. 17
  24. 18
  25. 19
  26. 20
  27. 21
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  30. 24
  31. 25
  32. 26
  33. 27
  34. 28
  35. 29
  36. 30
  37. 31
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  39. 33
  40. 34
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  43. 37
  44. 38
  45. 39
  46. 40
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  48. 42
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  50. 44
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  110. 104
  111. 105
  112. 106
  113. 107
  114. 108
  115. 109
  116. 110
  117. 111
  118. 112
  119. 113
  120. 114
  121. 115
  122. Epilogue
  123. Acknowledgements
  124. THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING

As the lead partner in the so-called ‘Five Eyes’ intelligence-sharing arrangement between the US, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, Washington was understandably cautious about exactly what it chose to share with its allies. And now here they were again, facing the possibility that somebody inside MI6, MI5 or GCHQ was leaking intel, not to the Russians this time but to a transnational group of far-right extremists.

‘So we’re going to tackle this on two fronts,’ announced the Chief. He was on his feet now and pacing the room. Art Krantz remained seated, but Luke could see his eyes following Sir Adam around the room, tracking him like a hawk. ‘Security Branch will run their official investigation in conjunction with SO15 at the Met. That will take its natural course.’ He turned to face Luke and Jenny. ‘But I want you two to work in parallel on this – for me. MI5 are putting together a crisis team to deal with the UK extremist end of the Agent X bio threat. I want both of you on it. Luke, you’ll be attached to the agent-running team. Jenny, you’ll be on the investigative team. You’ll report to Thames House at 0845 tomorrow morning.’ The Chief stepped forward a pace and placed a hand on each of their shoulders, as if he were a priest giving them a sacred blessing. ‘I’m counting on you both,’ he said quietly. ‘Help us find that mole.’

65

Near Braintree, Essex

Tuesday, 15 March, 0747hrs GMT

THE RAIN WAS sweeping in horizontal skeins across a landscape drained of colour. The team on the ground fanned out in pairs across the fields, while the tech team scanned the internet and even the dark web for any hints, any clues. Whoever had gone into that disused military bunker in north Essex and freed the chained-up macaque could surely not have gone far. They also, clearly, had no idea of the danger they had exposed themselves to. If the Cambridge people – the scientists – were right, the assumption went, then the virus should already have taken effect, the monkey would be contagious – whether it was alive or dead.

The tech team had been busy for the last twenty-four hours, since the moment of discovery on Monday morning when they learned that their research primate had vanished. They started with the obvious – the National Anti-Vivisection Society, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and the Captive Animal Protection Agency. If the monkey was in their hands, someone somewhere would surely have been unable to resist talking about it online. But the trawl had drawn a blank. Either it wasn’t them, or their opsec – their operational security – was better than people gave them credit for.