Page 3 of 72 Hours

I held out a hand to calm him. “But that amateurish approach—”

He shook his head again. “The effect is no less devastating. And to be honest, that makes it more difficult to cope with. There’s no reason to the attacks—no coherent plan we can anticipate.”

“We always knew the job had risks.”

“But in the course of the mission!” His expression was half anger, half distress. “This is against us personally. Something very different. And we can’t assume they won’t get more effective. It’s all just so shocking.”

Catching us unawares. The chill this time felt ugly too. “And Brad?”

Simon paled. I’d obviously struck a nerve. “He’s okay... I think. I mean, he’s not been attacked personally so far. But he’s been working twenty-four seven on the communication trail to and from the Department, and he’s out in the field now.”

Huh? Simon wasn’t telling me everything. It was rare for Brad Richards, our communications expert and resident geek, to work out of the Department at all. “So where is he now?”

“I don’t know.” The note of desolation in Simon’s voice was horrible. “I need to get back and try to track him down. He hasn’t called in for over eight hours. He left just before the attack last night on the Westbridge apartments.” He glanced at me. “Judith told you what happened? Why we’re here?”

“She told me the basics on the phone,” I said. “Niall’s building was blown up.”

Simon flinched, and suddenly I felt the wave of emotion from him as clearly as I might see a sudden jag in a sound wave pattern. “That’s an exaggeration, Tanner. The whole building didn’t blow up: just his floor was targeted. It’s the most significant offensive so far.” His eyes narrowed with anger. “Both Niall and Joe were hurt. It would have been even worse, but luckily they were on their way out. It also seemed that some of the explosives didn’t go off. Even so, Niall’s apartment was all but destroyed.”

And if he’d been in it....

Simon’s spoon clattered noisily back on to the counter. “So now we’re all on the danger list, Brad the same as I am. Joe’s in the hospital under armed guard, with severe injuries to his leg. They’ll only let Judith in there at the moment. And Niall’s here—"

“Why?” I didn’t know how else to say it, except bluntly. “Why us?”

“I don’t know,” Simon said. “But we’ll find out.”

I was shaken, despite my pathetic attempt at not caring. “And so why contact me? I’ve not been a part of it since Dove. I doubt I need protection or anything. There’s been no threat against me.”

“Whatever Judith may have said on the phone to persuade you to do this, she meant it, Tanner. About us needing you. You’re the only one in such a unique position. No media exposure, very little public record, and the skill and training to vanish if you want to. Hell, you’ve proved it already. It took me four days and all the resources of the Department—unofficially—to track you here.” He saw my startled expression, deteriorating swiftly towards anger. “Take that look off your face, Tanner, I had my orders. When the attacks first started, Judith wanted every Team member located, including you. Just in case.”

It wasn’t worth getting upset about, and actually I was kind of disappointed it hadn’t taken them longer.

“I respect your need to get away, Tanner, but we need you now. You’re the only one who can understand what’s at stake, what’s required. We just don’t have anywhere that we’re sure is totally secure any more. This place—your place—has never been anywhere near the Department’s records. It just doesn’t exist as far as they’re concerned. You’re the only one at the moment with a genuinely safe house.”

“Trailer,” I said, being pedantic.

He looked confused, then smiled. “Sure.” His eyes ranged over the lemon-painted walls; the slightly bulging window frames. He frowned. I don’t think he’d registered much of my unusual décor before now. “Trailer. It’s good, I’m sure.” He sighed. “Tanner, look. I know you and Niall have... issues.”

I carefully bit back the growl in my throat.

“You won’t talk about it, either of you. That’s your prerogative, I guess. But I have to force this on you, regardless. Even Judith has been targeted in the last week or so—”

“What the fuck?” I ignored Simon’s wince. “How serious?”

He waved his hand, dismissing it. “It’s okay. Just a suspicious package delivered to the Department. It never got past the front desk, let alone to hers. But it was clearly addressed to her.”

“Shit.”

“She won’t tell you about it, I suspect, and she’s unharmed, you can see that yourself. But we’re suddenly all in danger, with no idea as to why, whether it’s an organised campaign or random acts of revenge of some kind. We have to consolidate what we know and support each other. Find and isolate the threat. Then deal with it.”

There was a moment of silence. I poured water from the kettle onto the tea bags with exaggerated care. “The Department is involved to the highest level, right?”

Simon was still pale. “This situation has been escalated, of course it has. But there can’t be any official recognition. The Project Team was set up as a separate and covert division and that’s the way we have to stay. We have to clean up our own mess, without knowing what it really is. And we need you with us, don’t you understand? If this is a chance to bring you back on board....” He looked very earnest, very concerned, and I bit back an overwhelming desire to offer him whatever he needed. Simon had that effect on people; I knew why Judith relied on him so much.

“It’s not going to happen,” I said. I cleared my throat, just for extra emphasis.

“Why are you hiding out here, Tanner? You should have stayed. It could all have been sorted out, I’m sure. I never wanted you off the Team, you know that, don’t you?”