Over dinner in the club’s dining room Roger pointed at the many framed portraits of uniformed officers on the walls.
“Not all of these men and women were official club members,” he said. “Some were nominated to be memorialized by club members- the black frames indicate those killed in the line of duty. The only requirement is that they served in the special forces of the UK or its allies. Your father could be here, as could his father, and your great-grandfather. It’s an amazing lineage you have, Leah.”
“I guess,” I said.
“I’d like to sponsor the three of them for honorary memberships. This would also mean that you would be welcome as a family member. Not full club membership, but close.”
“Apparently you know much more about my family’s service history than I do,” I told him. “Mom really doesn’t talk much about it, and Grandma and Grandpa never said a word about his time in uniform.”
“I’ve done a fair bit of research,” Roger admitted. “As I said, I was intrigued when Harry introduced us at the fund raiser. This led me down what might properly be said was a rabbit hole. The only reason I was able to access much of the information was that my own security clearance allowed me to see some of the documentation.”
“Like I said, I know almost none of it,” I told him.
“I could show you what I’ve found,” Roger said. “What’s your security clearance?”
Suddenly seeing the hook attached to the lure, I said, “I’ve never had any reason to go through the process, or any reason why I’d be granted one.”
“Really,” Roger said more as a statement of doubt rather than a question.
“I’m a civilian,” I said with a shrug.
“Of course,” Roger replied sardonically.
Changing the subject, I asked, “Did Harry tell you I bought an apartment here in London? I expect we’ll be spending a lot of time here going forward.”
“He did,” Roger admitted.
“Let me take a stab in the dark. You thought that, well, somehow you and I could get some sort of understanding going, right? That you could become my liaison, or maybe even my handler locally?” I asked.
“Was I that heavy-handed?” he asked wryly.
“You weren’t subtle about it, but the flaw in your whole plan was that I really am just a civilian. I really am just what I look like from your no-doubt quite thorough investigation. I am just a real estate investor with a rock star for a trophy wife.”
“You have two trophy wives, if I’m not mistaken,” Roger said.
“I do,” I agreed with a smile. “Angela was the one who fell in love with London and wanted a place here, and what my honeys want, they get.”
“Let us say, for the sake of argument, that what you say is true. You are nothing more than an Olympic-level athlete and real estate tycoon with both a long string of violent incidents which all seem to have gone very badly for the other people involved, and, apparently, some sort of militia of unknown numbers and capacity. If you aren’t some organization’s asset, it is a fair bet that they have their eyes on you,” Roger said.
“This meeting is proof of that,” I countered.
“Touché,” Roger said with a smile.
“Coming back to things for the sake of argument, what is it that you thought you could liaise with me on, and handle me to do for you? I’m curious as to what you were thinking needed your touch,” I said.
“Well, that is the question, isn’t it? The… ‘red flag,’ if you will, was your purchase of a very ostentatious penthouse here in London. Alarms were sounded- we had no idea why you were making a move here,” Roger said.
“You’re gonna laugh,” I warned him. “The reason is way less nefarious than you could have imagined, and much more prosaic. The thing is, Emmy and Angela are both pregnant and we wanted a home that was close to Emmy’s parents in Paris, but not too close. We wanted someplace that the in-laws could easily visit for a day- or we could visit them- but too far away to simply drop by unannounced. I love my parents-in-law, but from arm’s length.”
Roger did laugh at that. “If that’s your cover, it’s perfect because it’s perfectly believable. Anyone could well understand the desire to not live right next to their parents in-law.”
“Angela suggested we buy in Paris but Emmy vetoed that, so here we are,” I said with a shrug.
Shaking his head and chuckling, Roger took a sip of his gin and tonic. “I seem to have misread the situation quite badly.”
“If it’s any consolation, I might be the subject of what’s possibly CIA interest, too,” I said. “In Cartagena, Colombia, just before coming here to London, a man who claimed to be in the logistics business seemed really interested in me.”
“Logistics? Colombia?” Roger chuckled again.
“Yeah, that was my reaction,” I agreed with a chuckle. “When I asked my contacts in the local intelligence community they said that the guy was suspected of working with the Americans, but they stopped short of outright confirming it.”
“Your contacts in the local intelligence community?” he asked, taking my bait.
“Yeah. They said that this guy, Emiliano Suárez, was thought to be working with the CIA and the cartels.”
“It pains me to say it, but I don’t find those bedfellows all that strange at all,” Roger replied.
“I think everybody down there accepts it as a given,” I agreed.
“How does a real estate investor from California have contacts in the Colombian intelligence service?” Roger asked.
“My father-in-law on Angela’s side is retired Colombian special forces, and he has friends,” I said. “Which your research really should have uncovered.”
“I expect it should have,” he agreed. “I shall have to give my assistants a good talking-to.”
“Something you said had me curious, Roger. You mentioned that I had ‘a long string of violent incidents’. What has your research said about that?” I asked.
“It doesn’t appear that American law enforcement does a very good job of inter-departmental communication,” he said. “I haven’t found any signs of any sort of overall dossier on you, which is itself remarkable, given that you have been involved in violent crime incidents in at least three states. I should think that someone, somewhere would have connected the dots.”
“The detective in New York knew of the incident in San Francisco,” I countered.
“Yes, he mentioned it in his notes,” Roger agreed, letting me know that he did have access to a lot of normally off-limits information. “But that seems to be as far as it got.”
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“So, you’re seeing a pattern that American law enforcement hasn’t?” I asked.
“The pattern is that you respond to danger decisively and with deliberate force,” Roger said. “Almost as if you’d been trained by professionals in just that sort of thing.”
“One might think that,” I agreed.
“Did I say that you’d intrigued me when we first met? That has certainly not diminished any in the course of this evening’s conversation,” Roger said. “I must admit that I really have no idea how to proceed.”
“Well, like I said, I’m not ‘in the game’, like they say in the spy novels I’ve read, but I am, well… highly motivated to learn certain things,” I told him. “And there’s a very real possibility I may need to ask for favors in the future.” Looking Roger straight in the eyes, I said, “So, if you need something from me, ask away. Just expect that it might be a two way street.”
Roger took a long, deep breath. “I suddenly feel as if I’m swimming with sharks,” he said.
“I bite. Hard. But I have my own agenda, and there’s a very real chance yours might align with mine. You invited me here to recruit me as an asset, but let’s be frank. I might like to use you as my own asset if the circumstances arise.”
“What-” Roger began, then stopped. A moment later, he asked, “What do you imagine I might do for you?”
“To be determined,” I said. “As I expect your requests of me might be. I will tell you straight out, and no bullshit, I do not represent any governmental agency of any kind, American or otherwise, but I do have my interests. Business and otherwise. It might be that you could provide a bit of information, or a bit of assistance.”
“And in return, what would you do for me?” Roger asked.
“What do you need? If it’s something I can do for you…”
Roger thought for a moment. “At one of The Downfall’s afterparties, a man called James Morgan seemed to have groped your wife. Her bodyguard threatened to break his arm.”
“I remember,” I said, nodding.
“Emmy De Lascaux said that he was lucky that the bodyguard had caught him, rather than you. She said that if you’d caught him, he would spend the night at the bottom of the Thames.”
“She did say that,” I agreed.
“Was she correct?”
“Probably not, no,” I said. “I might have broken his hand, but I can’t see how copping a feel would be a death sentence. Besides, after that public a scene…”
“It would be hard for even our fine constabulary to ignore a scene like that if he were to go missing,” Roger agreed.
“You really do need to take these things into consideration,” I said, nodding.
The conversation turned to other topics at that point. Roger gave me some tips for things to see or do in London- things that certainly weren’t on my radar. Ancient pubs, artist’s alleys, off-beat museums and the like.
When I mentioned that I’d bought a car that afternoon, Roger asked if I’d ever driven on the right side of the road, and when I admitted that I hadn’t and the prospect seemed a bit daunting, he promised to connect me with a driving instructor he knew.
“Mind you, he’s not the sort to teach teens to parallel park,” Roger hinted.
“I enjoy high-performance driving,” I assured him. “And I always appreciate good coaching.” I told him about my in-laws buying me the BMW GT3 for my birthday, and hiring a retired F1 driver to coach me for the day.
“This fellow may well be just the man for you, then,” Roger said with a grin.
In the cab on the way back to Notting Hill I reflected on the evening’s meeting. I wasn’t too sure how far things extended, but it was clear that Roger at least was keeping an eye on me. I had to imagine this extended to the British Intelligence services, if he’d been acting in official capacity. If Emiliano Suárez actually was with the CIA or maybe the DEA or who knows what American organization, then that made two groups that would keep me looking over my shoulder.
It was certainly something to think about.
For our flight to the US I’d booked tickets that gave us an overnight in New York. The eight hour flight time from Heathrow was bad enough for Mrs Tanaka- a flight of more than eleven hours just wasn’t necessary.
“You have a house in New York?” Akiko asked when I told her the flight plans.
“Yeah, but we’ll only be there for one evening,” I said.
“But New York!” she protested.
“It’ll still be there when you have time to do some sight-seeing," I told her.
“That might never happen!”
Mrs Tanaka spoke to her granddaughter and the two conversed for a while. Finally, Akiko said, “I guess I can wait.”
“I haven’t asked, but how long are you two planning on staying in the US?”
“As long as it takes,” Akiko said with a shrug.
“As long as what takes?” I asked. Neither of them had so much as spoken a word of what their assignment actually was. The only clue was when Hayate Oshida had said that the shinobi needed my guidance, whatever that actually meant.
A lengthy discussion between granddaughter and grandmother ensued, before Akiko finally said, "We can’t tell you yet. Grandmother is still not entirely certain that we should… put our trust in you?” she said, making it sound like a question.
“Fair enough,” I said. “You guys got to see our outreach program in action in Colombia, but in Los Angeles you’ll see the normal workings of our nation. That should give your grandmother all the information she needs to come to a decision.”
I had Wally drop the three of us off at the little Japanese restaurant a block from the townhouse, telling him we’d walk home after dinner. He asked if we would need him for the rest of the evening, and I said that I wasn’t sure, but I doubted it.
“It was a long flight and it might be only six in the evening here, but it feels like nine to us,” I said.
“I’ll bring breakfast in the morning,” he promised as he left to take our luggage to the townhouse.
“This is very good,” Akiko translated for Mrs Tanaka while we ate. “It is a little different than we’re used to- more Tokyo-style than what we eat at home, but very good.”
“New York City has a lot of incredible restaurants. There are so many people here from all over the world that know how the food should taste that restaurants can’t get away with being ‘close enough’,” I said. “That’s true of Los Angeles, too, but the mix is a bit different. You’ll see.”
The townhouse impressed the two shinobi far more than I’d expected. Of course it really doesn’t look like all that much from the street, but once inside it is really very nice. I handed the two of them off to Luisa to show around and make comfortable while I bolted up to my office to take care of some business before the end on the work day in California.
After I wrapped up for the day I found the two ladies sitting in the parlor, drinking tea that Luisa had prepared and talking quietly in Japanese.
“This is a very nice house,” Akiko said, her eyes wide.
“It is,” I agreed.
The two got into a quick discussion, then Akiko turned to me again. “You are very rich,” she said.
“I am,” I agreed.
“That is what we had thought, but it’s good to see it confirmed. When you offered financial assistance to Mr Oshida, we were not certain how much you could help.”
“How much do you need, and what do you need it for?” I asked, hoping we were finally getting to some real negotiations.
“That is for my grandmother to discuss with you when she is ready,” Akiko said.
The flight from Teterboro Airport to Burbank was so, so much better than the last few flights had been. Although executive charter is a fair step down from flying in the Lascaux family jet, it was a dramatically better experience than large commercial airliner flying. Not for the first time I found myself seriously considering the economics of jet ownership…
Emmy and Angela had wanted me to bring the Tanakas to stay at our house, but I’d been hesitant. They weren’t family or friends, really- they were emissaries from a different nation of Night Children and to treat them so casually might not be appropriate. With that in mind, I’d booked them a suite in a boutique hotel on Sunset, more or less just down the hill from our house.
When I dropped the two of them off, I gave them the phone number of the livery service and made it clear that there were drivers available to them at any time. I was paying for the rooms and all the amenities and meals they had at the hotel, but they were on their own anywhere else.
“Get some sleep tonight and rest and recover for the next day or two. Maybe do some sightseeing- the drivers will be happy to take you anywhere you want to go. Let’s reconnect the day after tomorrow and I can introduce you to some of our people here,” I suggested, and they seemed agreeable.
The gate to the motor court was wide open when the taxi dropped me off, and I must admit I had never been so happy to find myself standing outside our unmarked front door. As good as that was, I was a hundred times as happy when Angela rushed up and gave me a big, long hug and kiss when I walked into the great room.
“Baby!” she said. “I’ve missed you so much!”
“Speaking of babies,” I said, leaning back to eye her tummy. “How’s junior doing?”
“Huge,” Angela groaned. “I can’t believe I’m going to get even bigger in the next few months! I feel like I swallowed a watermelon! I’m so fat!”
“You’re not fat, Ange. In fact, I don’t think you’ve ever been as beautiful as you are right now.”
Angela smiled at this and gave me another, more passionate kiss.
“Let’s go find Em. They should be in the practice room,” Angela said, taking my hand. “That must be one of your new suits,” Angela said as we walked. “It looks great on you.”
“Yeah, I’m really pleased at how they turned out,” I agreed.
“Lee? Thanks.”
“For what?” I asked.
“I talked with William and Simon in London, and they told me you refused to even look at the designs for the apartment. They said that you told them you trusted me.”
“Of course I do,” I said, tugging her to a stop so I could wrap my arms around her again. “Ange, you’re my wife, my life partner. We’re gonna spend the rest of our lives together, and whenever that thought pops into my head I get a warm sensation, like being wrapped in a fuzzy blanket.”
“There you go, saying just the right thing again,” Angela said, wiping a tear away.
When we stuck our heads in the door of the rehearsal room, Emmy announced to her band mates that she was done for the night- she had some lost time to make up for.