Renegade, p.27
Renegade, page 27
‘So this is a stop-off?’ Winter asked.
‘Just passing through,’ Ryker said.
Winter raised an eyebrow.
‘On your way where?’
Ryker shrugged. Winter waited, as though expecting something more.
‘I’m guessing you’ve been keeping up to date with the shitshow?’
‘Hard to miss it. Even out here.’
‘What you might not have heard is that Chester’s body finally turned up. At least we believe it’s her. Off the coast of Croatia. It’s under wraps until we–’
‘Under wraps? Come on, I thought the whole issue here was too many secrets. Isn’t that what started this mess?’
Winter sighed. ‘We held the last ever committee meeting last night.’
‘No more JIA.’
‘No more JIA. And even if MI5 and MI6 survive this, nothing will ever be the same.’
‘You’ll want a new job then,’ Ryker said. ‘I hear the pub down the road is looking for a barman.’
‘Ha-bloody-ha. Actually, I’ll be fine.’
Ryker glanced over but the stern look on Winter’s face told him he wasn’t going to get any more information on that. Ryker was a little surprised. The very public furore into the Parker/Yedlin investigation had only been exacerbated by the deaths of Kathy Chester and Bastian Fischer at the hands of an active MI6 agent. Moreno hadn’t been named in the press, but the fact the press were carrying the story showed that the problem of inside information leaking out was still real and present even after Fischer’s death, and only created more barriers to MI5 and MI6 operating effectively in the future.
The revelations had led to heads rolling all over – MI5, MI6, GCHQ, Westminster. The JIA had essentially imploded. Then came the allegations of corruption. Moles. Fischer’s dirty hands all over the UK government’s most secret of corners. Ryker hoped that there was more still to come. That just because Fischer was now dead, it wouldn’t mean everyone else would get away with it.
Perhaps that was what Winter was referring to. Had he been asked to lead the ongoing investigation into Fischer?
Whatever the case, the fact the JIA had been dismantled and MI6 and MI5 would never be able to operate so brazenly as before, didn’t mean all the spies, all of the handlers, would just disappear and start new lives. Perhaps Ryker was overly cynical, but he was sure that once the dust had settled, a new form of the JIA would take over. Smarter and bolder than before, to ensure they didn’t make the same mistakes. Intelligence gathering would always be there; it had been since the beginning of civilisation.
‘How’s Kaspovich in all this?’
Winter looked a little surprised. ‘How do you mean?’
‘I think you know.’
Ryker had never gotten along with Kaspovich. Had frequently considered whether he was one of the moles within MI5. Not that he’d ever openly said that.
‘As far as I know he’s still in position. I’ve had no contact with him.’
Ryker said nothing to that.
‘How’s Moreno?’ Winter asked.
‘I haven’t spoken to her.’
The truth.
‘You haven’t spoken to her?’
‘Not since Trieste.’
Winter looked confused.
‘Do you know where she is?’ he asked.
‘No idea.’
A lie. Ryker did know where she was – or at least where she’d last been. And he had a means to contact her. But he hadn’t done so. He wouldn’t, however sad the prospect of not seeing her again made him. Whatever bond there was between the two of them, as much as it pained him to not see her, they both needed to start new lives now. Not because they didn’t need each other, in so many different ways, but because them being together would only ever put them in danger. After all, it was Ryker’s actions which had inadvertently brought Moreno’s painful past to the fore. If they were together, it was only a matter of time before she reciprocated in kind.
So why the lie to Winter?
To protect Moreno and Ryker – and Winter himself. After all, look at what had happened to Schiffler because he’d known where Moreno was.
Ryker shivered at the thought.
He finished his coffee and put it into a bin by the side of the pavement. He stopped walking.
‘So this is it?’ Winter said, coming to a stop, too.
‘This time, I really think it is.’
Both men went silent. Ryker felt there was still so much that could be said.
‘Whatever happens from here,’ Winter said. ‘Know that you did make a difference. A positive difference. To so many lives.’
Ryker said nothing.
‘And if you ever–’
‘Thanks for coming.’ Ryker reached out and put his hand on Winter’s shoulder. ‘Thanks for everything.’
Then he turned and walked away.
An hour later, Ryker was packing his things into his rucksack. He’d been in this hotel for four nights already, and was due a change. He’d thought he would have felt better having met with Winter. Had hoped the conversation – the final conversation – would lay demons to rest, would be cathartic. So why did he feel much worse now? More pensive and glum? Mournful even.
It didn’t matter. He’d made his decision. Both in relation to Winter, and Moreno. This was a step he had to make. For their safety. For his own sake and sanity.
He left the room, headed down the stairs, handed in his key to the receptionist, then stepped onto the pavement outside. He looked left and right, paranoia still ever present. But there was no one here watching him.
Was there anyone out there who even cared?
Ryker didn’t know. Which was why he’d always have to live like this, forever on the lookout.
He slipped the rucksack over his shoulders, then turned and headed off toward the sunset. No final destination in mind, there was only one thing clear to him: wherever he was going, he was going alone.
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THE END
About the Author
Rob specialised in forensic fraud investigations at a global accounting firm for thirteen years. He began writing in 2009 following a promise to his wife, an avid reader, that he could pen an ‘unputdownable’ thriller. Since then, Rob has sold over a million copies of his critically acclaimed and bestselling thrillers in the Enemy, James Ryker and Sleeper series. His work has received widespread critical acclaim, with many reviewers and readers likening Rob’s work to authors at the very top of the genre, including Lee Child and Vince Flynn.
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Originally from the North East of England, Rob has lived and worked in a number of fast-paced cities, including New York, and is now settled in the West Midlands with his wife and young sons.
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Rob’s website is www.robsinclairauthor.com and he can be followed on twitter at @rsinclairauthor and facebook at www.facebook.com/robsinclairauthor
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