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I reviewed the individual ops a second time, making certain I understood each of the planned maneuvers.
“Is there anything you’d like to review privately?” Z asked.
Again, it was the perfect opportunity for me to confess my intent. “Not at this time,” I said instead.
Verity entered the room and handed something to Oleander.
“There’s another matter we need to discuss,” she began. O motioned for Verity to hand out an additional brief. “I’ve received intel leading us to believe Mithras is not the head of the organization staging the auction. As with the man himself, we have very little to go on in regard to his boss, other than a name.”
I skimmed the first page of the brief. “Pharaoh?” I asked.
“Initially, we believed it was another alias Mithras operated under. Now, we have reason to believe it may not be.” O turned to Verity.
“There were a series of deposits to a Mauritian account belonging to the same shell corp that owns the Maltese property—AMPS Incorporated. It appears there are three entities with access to funds. There have been weekly transactions involving deposits being made, immediately followed by transfers to other accounts.”
“Also privately held?” I asked.
“We’re working on obtaining record access now,” said O.
“But you believe they’re owned by Pharaoh and Mithras?” I was annoyed as hell, which, based on the expressions on the faces of those in the room, was evident.
Verity nodded.
“Who, then, is ‘A,’ or is it ‘S’ we’re looking for?” I snapped.
“We don’t know,” said O, raising a brow.
“If our supposition is,simplistically, that the owners of this shell corp are listed by the first letter of a code name, then it would stand to reason there’s a third or even a fourth.”
“Correct,” Verity responded. “Except only three entities appear to have access to the funds held within the account owned by AMPS.”
“What do we know about Pharaoh, besides a source naming him as an associate of Mithras as well as the supposition that the shell corp is named for him and Mithras in addition to one or two others?” Z asked.
“We’re running facial recognition now on as many of the images Ares received as are clear enough. We’ll continue to do so with whatever we receive from the NRO.”
I thought about the reunification issues we’d faced after Ares’ team—myself included—had liberated ten shipping containers at the Port of Felixstowe last month. While rescuing Bexli was our top mandate, if what we’d learned thus far was accurate, there were approximately nineteen other women to consider.
“We should do the same with victims,” I suggested. “As early as we can make it happen.”
“Agreed,” said Z. “Keep us posted on what you learn about Pharaoh. Now, if you will excuse us, I’d like to speak with Cayman privately.”
Once we were alone, I anticipated Z would circle back to asking if there was anything else I wanted to discuss privately. Instead, he broached a different subject.
“I had a conversation with Pinch Fulton a few weeks ago,” he began.
“Yes, sir.” Before being named to the UK task force, the man had been my boss at MI5. I supposed he would be again if and when the UN coalition disbanded, which would also depend on whether I remained in SIS’ employ.
“I asked about his interest in taking over MI6 when I retire. I think you’ll be surprised by his response.”
“My guess is he challenged whether you ever would.”
Z smiled. “I’m much like Her Royal Majesty, I suppose. She wouldn’t relinquish the throne to the now King until she passed away.”
“Perhaps not quite the same.” Z had been chief for less than ten years.
“I suppose not. But back to Pinch’s response. He said there was an agent he’d recommend before himself.”
There was a reason Ambassador Marchand had tapped her as the head of the coalition. “Nemesis,” I stated rather than asked.
