The Hornbeam Tree (27 page)

Elliot turned his eyes back to her, and her heart seemed to stop as he dropped a set of keys on the table. ‘I brought your car,’ he said. ‘It’s parked at the end of the village. I’d like to take mine now.’

Too shaken to know what else to do, she picked up her bag, and put the keys into his hand. ‘Elliot, we have to talk,’ she said.

He turned to walk out.

‘Elliot!’ she cried.

She caught up with him out in the street. ‘Elliot! We have to talk,’ she insisted.

‘There’s nothing to discuss,’ he said, refusing to look at her.

‘Of course there is. Elliot, don’t go like this.
Please
,’ she cried, grabbing his arm.

‘Where’s the car?’ he asked.

‘Just over the bridge. Listen, I’m sorry, Elliot, I …’

‘I don’t want to hear it,’ he said, and shrugging her off he walked on down through the village.

She stood watching him, the terror of losing him pounding in her heart, the horror of the last few minutes still reeling in her head. She could hardly believe it was real, that he’d found out like this, or that she’d even done it. Nothing seemed to be making any sense. She had to talk to him, but not now, while they were both still caught up in the shock. Besides, what was she going to say when she had no words to explain her feelings for Nick, or promises to offer that she wouldn’t see him again?

Turning back into the pub, she found Nick still standing beside the table, obviously as shaken as she was, though his eyes reflected more concern for her than for himself.

‘Are you OK?’ he asked.

Feeling suddenly overwhelmed, she covered her face with her hands, as though to block out anything more. ‘I’ve hurt him so much,’ she said, too appalled even to cry. ‘He might not be showing it, but there’s no-one better than Elliot at disguising his feelings.’ She shook her head, still unable to accept just how detached he had seemed. ‘I can hardly believe he wants you to call him,’ she said, looking up.

‘Me neither,’ he responded.

She frowned in confusion. ‘It’s as though none of this means anything.’

His tone was dry as he said, ‘Would you rather he’d decked me?’

‘Maybe I would,’ she confessed, so thrown by it all that she hardly knew what she was thinking.

Coming to her, he pulled her into his arms and kissed the tip of her nose. ‘Maybe I should leave,’ he suggested.

She nodded. ‘Yes, you probably should,’ she responded. ‘I’ll wait here while you go up to get your things.’ It wasn’t that she didn’t want to be near him, it was more a fear that even now she wouldn’t be able to resist him.

By the time he came back, carrying his jacket and overnight bag, she’d tried calling Elliot on his mobile, but he wasn’t answering, so she’d rung off without leaving a message. She looked at Nick, saw
the
uncertainty in his eyes, and walked into his arms.

‘Will you call?’ she asked, as he kissed her.

‘Of course,’ he promised, and after kissing her again he said, ‘he doesn’t deserve you, you know.’

At that her heart contracted, but though her instinct was to defend Elliot, she said nothing, only watched him open the door. She stood looking out of the window as he walked down through the village, until finally he disappeared from view. And still she remained where she was, locked in such a turmoil of emotions that she could hardly begin to reach the truth of what any of them were.

‘When I saw the Porsche pull up I assumed it was Laurie,’ Katie smiled, as she walked across the garden to greet Elliot. ‘I was going to say,’ she added, as he scooped her into a warm embrace, ‘if I’d known it was you, I’d have rushed upstairs to get my kit off, but something’s telling me you’re not in the mood.’

‘I’m always in the mood for Katie Kiernan,’ he assured her with a smile.

Unconvinced, she tilted her head to one side and regarded his darkly handsome features closely.

‘So how are you?’ he asked, planting a kiss on her nose. ‘And give it to me straight.’

‘Well, I’ll give you this,’ she responded, ‘you managed to cover up your shock better than most, because I know I’m not a pretty sight these days, and don’t try telling me otherwise.’

‘You’re gorgeous, and that’s not an answer.’

She shrugged. ‘OK, try this one: if you come back next week, you’ll probably find Michelle’s got me
spreadeagled
on a stick at the end of the garden to scare off the crows.’

Chuckling, Michelle came to welcome him. ‘How lovely to see you,’ she said, kissing both his cheeks. ‘We’ve just finished breakfast, but there’s plenty left and the coffee’s still warm.’

‘Coffee sounds great,’ he told her, as she led the way inside.

‘Is Laurie joining us?’ she asked, glancing back over her shoulder.

‘Uh, no … I’m not sure,’ he replied, and pretended not to notice Katie’s eyes slanting in his direction.

‘The music’s Molly’s,’ Katie told him, still intrigued by his reply. ‘You’re lucky she’s feeling sentimental this morning, it’s usually blasting the roof off. Ah, speak of the devil,’ and Molly came charging down the stairs, school uniform half-buttoned, one sock on, one off.

‘Didn’t you hear me?’ she demanded. ‘Where’s my mascara?’

‘You’ve got that the wrong way round,’ Katie informed her. ‘The mascara’s mine, the eyelashes are yours, and this is Elliot, would you care to say hello?’

‘Hello,’ Molly said sweetly.

Katie rolled her eyes. ‘She’s got a dental appointment,’ she told Elliot, ‘or she wouldn’t still be here.’ Then to Molly, ‘The mascara’s in the bathroom cabinet with the rest of
my
make-up – and there’s still plenty of time, so calm down.’

‘I don’t need you to come with me,’ Molly protested, as she flounced back up the stairs. ‘I can go on my own.’

‘Did I say I was coming?’ Katie retorted. She shook her head and turned back to Elliot. ‘Dentists, daughters and doctors, whoever knew life was going to become so thrilling?’ Then breaking into a smile of pure pleasure she reached for his hands. ‘It’s good to see you,’ she said warmly. ‘I miss our sparring. You always kept me on my toes.’

‘While you were running me round in circles,’ he responded, managing to push some irony through the heaviness of his thoughts.

‘Coffee,’ Michelle said, putting a mug on the table next to the milk jug and sugar. ‘Help yourself to a croissant, feel free to avail yourself of my sister, but please don’t keep me in suspense any longer. You’ve heard from Tom. That’s why you’re here.’

‘Yes, to both,’ he responded, as he sat down on the chair Katie was directing him to. ‘We didn’t talk for long, but he’s OK, and on his way to Manila.’

Relief immediately softened Michelle’s expression. ‘Why Manila?’ she asked, sitting down too.

He explained about Farukh’s mailbox, its contents, and what else Tom had managed to tell him, adding, ‘He should be in touch again once he’s in the Philippines. I’ve got a number for him now, but for the moment I’d recommend not using it, because mobiles are easy to trace, and I think he wants to deal with the authorities in his time, rather than theirs.’

Though disappointed, she was used to this with Tom, so she merely nodded and noted the number down as Katie said, ‘Let me give you my understanding of the 21 Project, then you can tell me if I’m right.’

Elliot signalled with his coffee for her to go ahead.

‘Basically, it’s a document that spells out how to achieve American world dominance,’ she began. ‘It was compiled back in the Nineties, I believe, and its goals are to throw out any international treaties that don’t further US interests, to militarize outer space, assume total control of cyberspace … Let me see … Yes, to drastically increase defence spending, and to use nuclear weapons where necessary to deal with rogue states.’

He nodded.

‘Its authors,’ she continued, ‘are the much despised neo-conservatives who are now running the White House and Pentagon – and, by dint of unswerving support for pre-emptive military strikes, elements of our own government too, some might say.’

His eyebrows were up. ‘That about covers it,’ he told her.

Michelle said, ‘So the P2 task force is a spin-off of this Project?’

‘Almost without doubt,’ he confirmed.

‘And what Tom has is documentary evidence of one of their missions, which
appears
to be the funding and plotting of a terror attack on Britain?’

Again he nodded. ‘Appears being the operative word,’ he added, ‘because he thinks there’s actually more to it, and I’d go along with that, because why would the US help launch an attack on its biggest ally?’

Katie scoffed. ‘There are certain parties in that regime who’d stop at nothing to secure the next election,’ she reminded him.

‘But how would a terror attack on Britain do that?’

‘Well, it would stir up enough fear in the US electorate to make them leery of a leadership change –
oh my God they’ve hit our best mates, thank God our leaders have managed to protect us. Mustn’t dare change them now, the next lot haven’t had any experience, so we’ve got to stay with who we know
…’

Elliot wasn’t unimpressed. ‘It’s certainly a theory that could hold water,’ he conceded, ‘but we’ve a long way to go before we could prove anything like that, and besides, it’s unlikely anyone in Whitehall would support an attack on our soil, and for the moment at least, we’re presuming someone this side of the Atlantic is party to this project.’

Wishing she shared his faith in their government, Katie merely shrugged and picked up her coffee, as Michelle said, ‘So what do we do next?’

‘Find the original 21 Project document,’ he answered. ‘It seems to have been withdrawn from circulation, so it could take some tracking down. Max is on it in Washington, I’ve got my researchers on it too, so what you could do is familiarize yourselves with the later version, so that when the time comes you’ll be quick to spot any inconsistencies with the original. There’s also the web site you found the other day, listing the names of everyone involved in the recommendation for an elite pre-emptive task force, i.e. the P2OG. Most of them are going to be supporters of the 21 Project, possibly even neo-cons themselves.’

Michelle was already reaching for the printout which she’d put in the dresser drawer. ‘There are
dozens
of names,’ she said. ‘Most seem to have scientific, military or nuclear backgrounds.’

As they began going through the list Katie got up to answer the phone. ‘Hello?’ she said, still half-listening to Michelle and Elliot.

‘Katie. It’s Laurie. Is Elliot with you?’

Katie hesitated, for Laurie’s tone was reminding her of Elliot’s tension when he’d arrived. ‘As a matter of fact he is,’ she replied. ‘Shall I pass you over?’

‘If you wouldn’t mind.’

‘Laurie,’ she told Elliot, holding out the phone.

‘Tell her I’ll talk to her later,’ he responded, still focusing on Michelle’s list.

Katie put the phone back to her ear.

‘I heard,’ Laurie said. Then after a pause, ‘Has he told you he walked in on me and Nick this morning?’

Though Katie had already guessed as much, with Elliot sitting right there all she could say was, ‘Are we still meeting today?’

Laurie took a breath. ‘Would it be a problem if I had to postpone until tomorrow?’

‘Don’t worry. It looks as though Michelle and I are going to have our work cut out beavering around the Internet now Tom’s finally given us a direction.’

‘I thought he must have been in touch,’ Laurie said. ‘That’s why Elliot’s there?’

‘Yes.’

‘When’s he heading back to London?’

Katie turned to Elliot. ‘When are you heading back to London?’

Once again he said, ‘Tell her I’ll speak to her
later
,’ and he continued listening to Michelle.

‘Sorry, I’m putting you in a horrible position,’ Laurie said. ‘I’ll ring off now and call you later. Or perhaps you could call me when you can.’

‘Of course,’ Katie promised, and regretting that there was no more she could say or do for now, she rang off. ‘So where are we?’ she asked, returning to the table and knowing Elliot would want to continue as though the last few minutes hadn’t happened.

‘We were just posing the question,’ he answered, appearing slightly more strained than before, ‘which elements of the British Establishment would be supportive of American world dominance?’

Katie frowned. ‘I think, if we put it in the context of gain, we should come up with a few answers,’ she replied.

‘Personal or political?’

‘Either way, it definitely wouldn’t be good.’

Smiling at the understatement, Michelle said, ‘I think we need to fire up your computer, my darling, and start this ball rolling. There’s more coffee if you’d like some,’ she told Elliot.

‘No, one is fine,’ he replied, carrying his empty cup to the sink. ‘There’s going to be a lot to plough through,’ he warned, ‘it could take days, and even then you’ll still be pulling up articles, comments, reports, you name it, that are going to have some relevance. The important thing is to stay focused on the P2OG and anything that might prove its existence.’

‘What about calling some of the names on that list and asking them to comment?’ Katie said.

‘Yes, but not yet. A call from any of us is going to
confirm
that Tom’s running with the story, and we don’t want to do that until he’s ready.’

Acknowledging the logic of that, she said, ‘It’ll be interesting to see what lengths they go to to try and stop him, because that in itself will tell us a lot.’

Elliot nodded agreement.

‘You look as though you’re about to leave,’ Michelle commented.

‘I need to get back to London,’ he responded, glancing at his watch.

Getting up to give him a hug, she said, ‘Stay in touch, and thanks for coming all this way.’

His smile was sardonic as he said, ‘It was worth it, just to see Katie.’

Beaming with pleasure, Katie linked his arm and walked outside with him. ‘It’s a beautiful day again,’ she remarked, gazing up at the mostly blue sky. ‘We’ve been so lucky with the weather this year. The forecast says it’s about to change though.’

He made no comment, merely turned to look at her as they reached the corner of the house.