‘Bloody right I will,’ said Malik.
‘Harvey, it’s going to be just fine,’ said Shepherd. ‘I give you my word that nothing bad’s going to happen.’
He ended the call as the taxi pulled up in front of Thames House, wishing that he felt as confident as he sounded.
‘So, you a spy, then?’ asked the taxi driver.
Shepherd had been deep in thought so he missed the question. ‘Sorry, what?’
The driver jerked his thumb at the building. ‘MI5. You a spy?’
Shepherd took out his wallet and handed the driver a twenty-pound note. ‘I could tell you but then I’d have to kill you,’ he said.
‘They all say that,’ said the driver. ‘Everyone I drop here pretends to be James bloody Bond.’
‘He was MI6,’ said Shepherd. He nodded at the note. ‘Keep the change,’ he said. ‘And can I have a receipt?’
The driver laughed. ‘See, that James Bond, you never see him asking for receipts, do you?’
There was no name on the door, just a number, but Shepherd knew that it was the office of Luke Lesporis and he knocked twice before opening it. Lesporis looked up, pushing his wire-framed designer spectacles up his nose as Shepherd came in.
‘You sounded rushed on the phone, Spider, what’s up?’ The jacket of his Hugo Boss suit was draped over the back of his chair and he’d rolled up the sleeves of his shirt.
‘Remember the two guys I took to Reading, the ones you helped arrange the training exercise for?’
‘Sure, Raj Chaudhry and Harvey Malik, right? The guys we followed to St Pancras.’
‘Yeah. I need to run counter-surveillance on Raj. He’s a student at King’s College in the Strand. That’s where he is now.’
‘What’s the story?’ asked Lesporis, picking up a pen.
‘He thinks someone followed him from the tube station. Asian man, blue Puffa jacket, brown cargo pants.’
‘Professional, you think?’ asked Lesporis as he scribbled on a yellow legal pad.
‘I’m tempted to say no because Raj is a complete amateur. But he might just have been lucky. He did a backtrack and almost stumbled over the guy.’
‘How long have we got?’
Shepherd looked at the clock on the wall. It was just before ten. ‘He’s got lectures all morning. We could send him home at lunchtime, or I could get him to stay in the building all day. Whatever works best for you.’
‘The latter,’ said Lesporis. ‘I’m really pushed today. We’ve got three ongoing operations and I’ve just had to put together a rush job on a Saudi diplomat who’s arriving at Heathrow in an hour with a million euros in a suitcase.’
‘If it makes it any easier he’s going to be travelling home on the tube so we won’t need vehicles.’
‘Home being the flat we started at last time?’
‘That’s it. But this time there’s no chance of a vehicle; he’ll take the tube to Manor House and walk to the flat.’
‘Easy-peasy,’ said Lesporis. ‘Tell you what, I’ll pitch in myself. It’ll be good to be on the pavements again.’
‘Could do with a check throughout the evening, though. See if there’s anyone hanging around outside the building.’
‘That’s easy enough. I can put a BT technician in the street and run a PCSO by now and again. I’ll have a guy waiting at the Stoke Newington end so one other and me should be enough in the Strand. Do you need pictures?’
‘That would be great, Luke. There’s a snag, though. If Raj is being followed then I’ll need Harvey checked out too.’
‘Where’s he?’
‘He’s at the London Metropolitan University — Holloway Road, Islington. He’s in the business school today and I’ve told him to stay there all day. I know it’s all short notice but if Raj is hot then there’s a chance that Harvey is too.’
Lesporis nodded thoughtfully. ‘Not a problem,’ he said. ‘If Raj is tailed from the Strand I’ll know pretty quickly, so once we’ve identified the tail I can peel off and head up to Islington. I’ll get in place and the others can join me as and when. Do you have any idea who might be after him?’
‘He said Asian so my worry is al-Qaeda.’
‘They have some real pros, but they also have a fair number of amateurs,’ said Lesporis.
‘The guy Raj thinks was following him was almost on top of him, so not a pro. But it’s not the one he saw that I’m worried about; it’s the ones he didn’t see.’
‘Understood,’ said Lesporis, scribbling a note on his pad. He smiled, showing perfect teeth. ‘Consider it done. I’ll give you a call as soon as I know anything.’
‘You’re a star, Luke. Thanks.’
Shepherd’s mobile rang. It was Button. ‘A little bird tells me that you’re in the house,’ she said.
‘I’m in with Luke, fixing up some counter-surveillance on Raj and Harvey.’
‘Problem?’
‘I’m not sure. We’ll know in a few hours.’
‘Can you pop up to my office on your way out?’
‘I’ll be right up. Luke and I are done,’ said Shepherd.
Button was sipping a cup of tea when Shepherd walked into her office. She flashed him a smile and asked if he wanted anything but he shook his head and sat down. ‘I just wanted a chat about what happened on the boat,’ she said.
‘All good,’ he said.
‘You were shot, Spider.’
‘I was wearing a vest.’
‘Thank God.’
‘Actually, God had very little to do with it,’ said Shepherd.