He bent forward so his mouth was close to Tom’s ear. ‘That fuck Qazi, you say the word, he’s gone.’ He nodded gravely. ‘I mean it. One word, and it’ll be done.’

From anyone else it would have been ridiculous bravado, but Stutz gave a convincing impression that in his world nothing was beyond his reach. Perhaps Stutz had another Kyle right there in Bastion, on standby, ready to do the job and not ask any questions. ‘Thank you. I’ll bear it in mind.’

But behind all the talk, what was he actually planning? Never mind Qazi. What insane horrors were these people planning to unleash? Tom put on a calm smile. ‘So, what are the next steps?’

‘People on the front line, in command – at Langley, in the Pentagon, all over DC and in Whitehall too, for sure. Vernon’s got a lot of people quietly moving in the right direction. Quietly and determinedly. You can be sure of it. But we need to speed up the process, one more out-come that’ll be the tipping point.’

Woolf’s claims, which had seemed so outlandish a day ago, were starting to look less and less far-fetched.

Tom was about to probe for more on the ‘outcome’ when the door opened and there stood Skip, the rings round his eyes even greyer. ‘Hey, guys, we ready to close the deal?’

Chapter 60

60

Tom declined the offer of a driver and walked back to the hotel, a lone figure on the sun-blasted sidewalk. The hot Houston air felt unexpectedly cleansing after the oppressive atmosphere in the Oryxis boardroom. Stutz had made the call to Rolt but Tom didn’t get to hear what was said. Now Rolt was calling him.

‘This is it! We’re on our way. I owe you, Tom.’

‘All I did was trot out a few old war stories and shake their hands.’

‘Stutz told me you did a lot more than that. I’m proud of you, Tom.’

There was a beat while Tom absorbed this. But Rolt was still talking.

‘He says you passed with flying colours. He says you’re a great asset.’

So that was what it took. It might as well have been an initiation into a Hell’s Angels’ chapter. Kill to order to get to the next level.

‘Well?’

‘It’s very flattering. I don’t know what to say.’

He was in. Right under the wire. Woolf had put him there and he had come good. But where was Woolf now?

‘Look, give it some thought on the way home. You coming back tonight? We certainly need you. The bombing has raised everybody’s game.’

Right now all he could think of was sleep. ‘I’ll keep you posted. It’s been a long twenty-four hours.’