The Hornbeam Tree Read online

  She watched him remove his clothes, then slipped back into his arms as he lay down with her again, loving the feel of him against her, and the way he kissed and held her close. She listened to the beat of his heart, and rhythm of his breath, and tried not to think of anything beyond this moment. He was here, they’d made love again and for now that was all she wanted.

  Chapter Eleven

  ‘ELLIOT. TOM CHAMBERS.’

  Elliot came immediately awake and turned on the light. Four fifty-five. ‘Tom. Where are you?’ he said into the phone.

  ‘About to board a plane for Manila. I’ll call you again from there, but I want you to know how much I appreciate what you’re doing. I’ll pay the money back in the next couple of days.’

  ‘No rush,’ Elliot assured him. ‘So what’s it all about?’

  ‘You’ve got a handle on the P2OG?’

  ‘An elite and highly covert task force to stimulate terrorist attacks,’ Elliot responded. ‘Does it exist?’

  ‘Almost certainly, but we need to find proof. The documents Josh Shine gave me don’t make the link, but there’s no doubting what they are. A planned terror attack on Britain.’

  Elliot was so taken aback it took a moment for him to respond. ‘Do you want to run that by me again?’ he said.

  ‘You heard me correct,’ Tom told him, ‘but I think it’s just been made to look that way, probably for the jihad guys, to get them to buy into it. My hunch is, it goes a lot deeper, and has an end game that’s a whole lot more serious.’

  ‘Can you fax me copies of what you have?’ Elliot asked.

  ‘Right now it’s in a mailbox Farukh keeps in Manila where we sent everything for safekeeping. Once I have it, we should meet. It’ll probably be safer that way.’

  ‘Of course. Do you want me to come out there?’

  ‘No. I’ve got myself an Italian passport, so I can come to Europe. Farukh’s staying in Pakistan, but he’s not optimistic about turning up much that’s reliable, because the kind of people we need to talk to are going to say anything to damage the Americans. Now tell me, have your background checks led you to the Project for America in the Twenty-first Century?’

  ‘The 21 Project. Absolutely,’ Elliot confirmed. ‘Once I knew P2 was a neo-con invention, it was where I started.’

  There was irony in Tom’s tone as he said, ‘So there you have it. Everything you need to know about US plans for world dominance. Interesting reading, huh? But I’m told the version that’s online was revised in 2002. Apparently certain names and various sections of the text have changed since the original was issued back in ’97, so we need to find out what and who, by getting hold of copies of both.’

  ‘How’s this relating to what you have?’ Elliot asked.

  ‘I’m guessing the original contains information that will help to prove P2’s existence. So far I haven’t been able to locate the ’97 version anywhere online, which is definitely ominous.’

  ‘We’ll keep on it. Max should be able to turn up something through his contacts in Washington. He’s running into a brick wall over Joshua Shine, by the way, but he got wind yesterday of some recently formed committee that’s supposed to be investigating a specific leak. No details yet, but the coincidence is intriguing.’

  ‘I’ll say,’ Tom commented. Then, ‘Listen, my plane’s going to take off any minute, so just tell me, how’s Michelle? Any more visits from the Feds?’

  ‘No, but she’s found an interesting web site that could give us several leads. She’ll be relieved I’ve heard from you.’

  ‘Tell her I’m fine, and I’ll call when I can. How about Katie?’

  ‘She seems OK. Challenging times with Molly, I hear. Do you have a number we can reach you on now?’

  After giving it to him, Tom said, ‘I’ve got to run. I’ll be in touch when I get to Manila and we’ll set up a place to meet.’

  After ringing off Elliot went straight through to the bathroom and turned on the shower. There was no point trying to get back to sleep now, the call had brought him wide awake, and left him with a lot to think about. He’d ring Max as soon as he’d put on some coffee, then he’d send emails to his research team instructing them to start tracking down the original version of the 21 Project as soon as they got to the office.

  With all that done, he found Laurie’s car keys in their usual place, picked up her laptop and a holdall he’d packed for her, and after locking the front door, he took the lift down to the underground parking.

  It was only a little after six a.m., so as he drove out of the building and across Tower Bridge the build-up of morning traffic was hardly under way. It took no more than forty minutes to drive through London, where the M4 was much slower due to an accident. However, he calculated he should still make it to Wiltshire by eight, which was too early to give Michelle Tom’s news in person, but hopefully just about right to surprise Laurie with breakfast in bed and personal delivery of her computer.

  Laurie was gazing wantonly into Nick’s eyes and making him laugh as they waited for their breakfast to arrive. They were alone in the lounge, so felt free to murmur lovers’ intimacies, and even kiss, as the memory of last night stole erotically between them, and the promise of the next hour added its own tantalizing frissons to the quietly mounting desire.

  ‘So tell me why you didn’t call yesterday,’ she said in mock reproach, while entwining her fingers in his.

  His eyes were resting on hers, showing the depth of his feelings and the pleasure her touch was giving him. ‘The truth? I was afraid you might be having second thoughts,’ he responded.

  She was surprised, then sceptical. ‘I don’t believe you,’ she challenged, biting gently into his fingers.

  ‘And I got caught up,’ he confessed. ‘But this is pretty powerful for me, and I wasn’t sure it was the same for you.’

  As though nothing existed beyond them, she leaned forward to put her lips against his. ‘Well it is,’ she whispered, and kissed him deeply.

  When finally she drew back to look at him a light of humour came into his eyes. ‘I think you only want me for my body,’ he teased.

  ‘Absolutely,’ she murmured, and circled his lips with her tongue. ‘Don’t you want me for mine?’

  ‘Let’s put it this way,’ he responded, ‘whenever I look at you I want to put my mouth on yours and my hands all over you.’

  This time the desire cut through her so sharply that she might have abandoned breakfast had the waiter not arrived at that moment to set down his tray.

  Trying not to laugh, Nick sat back to make room for the dishes, and watched as each one was laid out on the pristine white tablecloth. ‘So what’s on your agenda today?’ he asked, as much for the waiter’s benefit as his own.

  ‘More talks with Katie and Michelle,’ she answered, her cheeks still flushed as she shook out her napkin. ‘What about you?’

  He thanked the waiter, and lifted the cafetière to pour. ‘I think I’ll go back to GCHQ, give it one more shot,’ he told her. ‘There’s someone I’d really like to talk to there, but he’s playing extremely hard to get.’ He buttered a triangle of toast and offered it for her to eat.

  She bit into it, meeting his eyes, and loving the mild charge she felt at being fed from his fingers. ‘What’s it about?’ she asked.

  ‘He heads a team that apparently knows a lot about how certain elections are being rigged in the States.’

  ‘You mean, they’re a part of it?’ she asked in surprise.

  ‘Not necessarily, but they could be assessing it.’

  ‘To implement here?’

  ‘Or not, if they conclude it won’t work here.’

  After making certain no-one was around he slipped a hand inside her shirt and gently massaged her breasts.

  Loving the feel of it, so doing nothing to stop it, she said, ‘But even if you do get to speak to this person, he’s surely not going to admit to any plans for electoral subversion.’

  ‘Of course not,’ he said, removing his
hand, ‘but I happen to know he’s spent a lot of time at CIA HQ these past two years, and was regularly wined and dined by people in some very high places, so I’m interested to hear his explanation of why he was there.’

  ‘And your theory would be?’

  After eating the toast she was offering, he said, ‘I’m not sure yet, but there’s a presidential election coming up, and our own a few months after, so it could be worth looking into.’

  ‘Yes, it could,’ she responded, and would have said more, had his hand not disappeared under the table at that moment.

  ‘I want you very badly right now,’ he told her gruffly.

  ‘The feeling’s mutual,’ she murmured, parting her thighs to allow his hand to move higher.

  He touched his mouth to hers. ‘I think I should tell you exactly what’s in my mind,’ he whispered.

  Loving the idea of verbal foreplay, she gazed into his eyes, and said, ‘Yes, I think you should.’

  As he spoke she watched his mouth and felt herself melting in the heat of his words, for it was easy to imagine him doing everything he was describing. In the end she put her lips against his and with her eyes fluttering closed pushed her tongue into his mouth.

  To her astonishment he pulled sharply away and rose to his feet.

  ‘Elliot,’ he said hoarsely.

  She spun round in horror, so shocked that she couldn’t believe what she was seeing. It was a nightmare. It couldn’t be true. Elliot was standing at the door, watching her. She started to get up, but found she couldn’t. How long had he been there, how much had he seen, though the very fact she and Nick were together was enough. She started to shake, and found herself almost unable to breathe.

  ‘I was on my way to see Michelle, so I brought the things you asked for,’ he told her, coming to put her laptop and holdall on the floor next to the table.

  ‘I thought you were going to send them,’ she said, absurdly, as though it had somehow given her licence to be here like this.

  ‘It would seem I probably should have.’

  She could see his pain in the paleness of his face, hear it in his voice and even feel it in his heart. How could she be doing this to him? Why had she even considered it, when he was the only man in the world she’d ever really wanted or loved?

  To Nick he said, ‘I left a message on your machine, about an hour ago. I’d appreciate it if you could give me a call when you can.’

  Laurie stared at him, dumbfounded.

  ‘Of course,’ Nick responded.

  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.’