Hot Blood by Stephen Leather Page A

too.’
    The American was watching Shepherd over the top of his glass. Shepherd didn’t react to the barb. Yes, Shepherd had killed, but not to protect an ideology. He’d killed when he was in the SAS, as a soldier on military operations. He’d killed as a policeman, to save others. But that was his job: it was what he was paid to do. It had nothing to do with ideologies. Shepherd had only met Yokely once, but he knew the American regarded the war against terrorism as a holy crusade, which he was prepared to win at any price.
    ‘So, what do you want from me, Spider? The US government isn’t going to go in to bat for a Brit. Not that it would do any good if they did. Your best bet would be to find him an Irish grandmother.’
    ‘He isn’t Irish,’ said Shepherd. ‘If anyone’s going to help Geordie, it’ll be us.’
    ‘Us?’
    ‘His friends,’ said Shepherd, quietly.
    Yokely’s eyes narrowed. ‘A dangerous road to go down.’
    ‘That’s for us to worry about,’ said Shepherd. ‘We need intel, and we can’t get it here.’
    ‘But I’m the oracle so you’ve come to me?’
    ‘We just need information.’
    ‘What sort of information?’
    Shepherd drained his glass. ‘Another?’ he asked.
    ‘You trying to keep me in suspense?’ said the American. He lifted his glass. ‘Vodka and tonic with all the trimmings. I keep asking for lime but they give me lemon.’
    Shepherd went to the bar for fresh drinks. When he returned he sat down and gave Yokely his glass. ‘What do you know about the Holy Martyrs of Islam?’ he asked.
    ‘As little as you do, I’d guess,’ said Yokely. ‘The names these people use mean nothing.’
    ‘When the Lake boy was taken, your people must have looked into it.’
    ‘Johnny Lake was a journalist who was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Plus the stories he was filing weren’t going down well in the Oval Office.’
    ‘So the government didn’t care?’
    ‘They cared, of course they did. The boy’s father was a heavy hitter, with friends on Capitol Hill, but there’s a limit to the resources they can put into one missing kid. Don’t get me wrong. They looked. And they looked hard. But, so far as I know, no one had ever heard of the Holy Martyrs of Islam.’
    ‘We need to know where Geordie is and who’s got him. We’re analysing the video, and we’ll be talking to his employer so we can gather basic intel on what’s happening on the ground. But we need higher-level intel. Electronic traffic and satellite imagery.’
    ‘Sounds like you’re planning a war,’ said the American.
    ‘We’re just mapping out our options,’ said Shepherd.
    ‘You find him, then what?’
    ‘We’ll cross chickens and count bridges when the time comes,’ he said. ‘Can you help?’
    ‘Sure,’ said Yokely. ‘I’ve got a direct line to the NSA. But why do you need me? You can get the electronic traffic through GCHQ. They’re part of Echelon so they have access to all telecommunications and the Internet.’
    ‘It’ll take too long to go through official channels,’ said Shepherd. ‘Paperwork in triplicate, and they’d want to know why we’re involved.’
    ‘But presumably your government’s on the case. They must be looking for your man.’
    ‘You’d think so, but he’s not military, remember?’
    ‘What about your old regiment?’
    ‘They can’t help officially,’ said Shepherd. ‘Unofficially they’ll do what has to be done. But first we need to know where he is.’
    ‘Any idea what’s being done officially?’
    ‘Downing Street will probably appeal to the kidnappers, but reject any demands they make. The US military will be looking for him, but again Geordie’s just a contractor, out there for the money.’
    ‘Guarding a pipeline, they said on CNN.’
    ‘Yeah.’
    ‘Wrong place, wrong time.’
    ‘Yeah. There’s no suggestion that it was personal. At this stage we’re not sure how well planned the kidnapping was but we’re hoping there was phone