The Secret Servant

a set of tall double doors and went inside. The heavy rose-colored curtains were drawn, and the Waterford glass chandelier glowed softly overhead. Robert Halton was seated on a striped couch, next to Dame Eleanor McKenzie, the director general of MI5. Her counterpart from M16 was pacing, and the commissioner of the Metropolitan Police was off in one corner, speaking quietly into a mobile phone. After a set of hasty introductions, Gabriel was directed to the end of the second couch, where he sat beneath the mournful gaze of a Florence Nightingale statuette. A log fire was burning brightly in the hearth. A steward brought tea that no one drank.
    The prime minister lowered himself into the wing chair opposite the fireplace and brought the proceedings to order. He spoke calmly, as though he were explaining a bit of dull but important economic policy. At noon London time, he said, Ambassador Halton submitted his resignation to the White House and made an offer of twenty million dollars’ ransom to the terrorists in exchange for his daughter’s freedom. Shortly after two o’clock London time, the terrorists made contact with FBI negotiators in the American embassy and, after providing proof that they were indeed holding Elizabeth captive, made a counteroffer. They wanted thirty million dollars instead of twenty. If the money was delivered as instructed—and if there were no traps or arrests—Elizabeth would be released twenty-four hours later.
    “So why am I here?” asked Gabriel, though he already knew the answer.
    “You are an intelligent man, Mr. Allon. You tell me.”
    “I’m here because they want me to the deliver the money.”
    “I’m afraid that is correct,” said the prime minister. “At five fifty-nine London time, they are going to call the FBI negotiator at the embassy. They want a one-word answer: yes or no. If the answer is no, Elizabeth Halton will be executed immediately. If it is yes—meaning that you have agreed to all their demands—she will be released forty-eight hours from now, give or take a few hours.”
    A heavy silence fell over the room. It was broken by Adrian Carter, who objected on Gabriel’s behalf. “The answer is no,” he said. “It is an obvious trap. I can think of three possible outcomes, none of them pleasant.”
    “We all know the pitfalls, Mr. Carter,” said the director-general of MI6. “There’s no need to review them now.”
    “Humor me,” said Carter. “I’m just a dull-witted American. Scenario number one, Gabriel will be killed immediately after delivering the money. Scenario number two, he will be taken captive, tortured savagely for some period of time, and then killed. The third scenario, however, is probably the most likely outcome.”
    “And what’s that?” asked the prime minister.
    “Gabriel will take Elizabeth Halton’s place as a hostage. The Sword of Allah and al-Qaeda will then make demands on the Israeli government instead of ours, and we’ll all be right back at square one.”
    “With one important difference,” added Graham Seymour. “Much of the world will be rooting for the Sword to kill him. He is an Israeli and a Jew, an occupier and an oppressor, and therefore in the eyes of many in Europe and the Islamic world he is worthy of death. His murder would be a major propaganda victory for the terrorists.”
    “But his cooperation will buy us something we have in exceedingly short supply at the moment,” said Eleanor McKenzie. “If we say yes tonight, we will be granted at least twenty-four additional hours to look for Miss Halton.”
    “We’ve been looking for her for two weeks,” said Carter. “Unless someone has made some serious inroads that I’m not aware of, twenty-four additional hours aren’t going to make much of a difference.”
    Gabriel looked at Robert Halton. It had been more than a week since Gabriel had seen him last, and in those days the ambassador’s face appeared to have aged many years. The prime minister would have been wise to conduct this conversation without Halton present, because to say no at this moment would be an act of almost unspeakable cruelty. Or perhaps that was exactly the reason the prime minister had invited him here. He had left Gabriel no option but to agree to the scheme.
    “They’re going to make additional demands,” Gabriel said. “They’ll demand that I come alone. They’ll warn that if I’m followed, the deal is off and Elizabeth dies. We’re going to abide by those