The Secret Servant

blame, it’s me. I was the one who took this job. I was the one who asked Elizabeth to put her life on hold and come here with me. And I was the one who let her go running in Hyde Park three mornings a week even though I feared something like this could happen.”
    The American ambassador put his glasses back on and gazed at Gabriel thoughtfully for a moment. “But imagine my surprise when I heard that the mysterious man who killed three of the terrorists in Hyde Park was you . The president is my closest friend, Mr. Allon. If it weren’t for you, he might have been killed at the Vatican earlier this year.”
    Actually, it was the pope’s private secretary, Monsignor Luigi Donati, who had saved the president’s life. Gabriel had only killed the assassin, a convert to radical Islam who had managed to penetrate the ranks of the Swiss Guard.
    “What are the British telling you about the prospects of finding your daughter?” he asked.
    “Maddeningly little, I’m afraid. They conducted raids at three locations today where they thought she might be being held. The intelligence turned out to be incorrect. What I don’t understand is why the terrorists haven’t made any demands yet.”
    “Because they know the uncertainty is causing you a great deal of pain. They want you to be grateful when they finally come forward and make their demands.”
    “You’re sure they want something in return?”
    “Yes, Mr. Ambassador. But you have to be prepared for the fact that it’s almost certainly something you can’t give them.”
    “I’m trying to remind myself that there are larger principles and issues of policy involved than the fate of my daughter,” the ambassador said. “I’m preparing myself for the possibility that my daughter might have to die to keep diplomats safe around the world. But it hardly seems a fair tradeoff, Mr. Allon. And I’m not at all sure it’s a price I’m prepared to pay. In fact, I’m quite certain I’d give them anything they wanted to get my daughter back alive.”
    “That’s what they want, Mr. Ambassador. That’s why they’re waiting to make their demands.”
    “Your government has experience in these kinds of matters. What do you think they want?”
    “Prisoners,” Gabriel said. “That’s almost always what they want. It might be several prisoners. Or it might be just one important prisoner.”
    “Like one of the 9/11 masterminds that we’re holding?”
    “It depends on who’s taken her.”
    “I’m considering offering a sizeable reward for information.”
    “How sizeable?”
    “Fifty million dollars.”
    “A reward like that will almost certainly bring out the charlatans and the con artists. And then the British will find themselves buried beneath a blizzard of false tips and leads. It will get in the way of the investigation rather than help it. For the time being, I would recommend keeping your wallet closed, Mr. Ambassador.”
    “That’s probably sound advice.” He looked at Gabriel for a moment without speaking. “I don’t suppose there’s any way I can convince you to stay in London for a few days and help find my daughter?”
    “I’m afraid I have to go home and face the music for getting my picture in the newspaper. Besides, this is a matter for you and the British. Obviously, if we happen to pick up any intelligence, we’ll pass it along right away.”
    The telephone rang. The ambassador lifted the receiver out of the console and brought it to his ear. He listened for a moment, face tense, then murmured, “Thank you, Prime Minister.” He hung up the phone and looked at Gabriel. “The Metropolitan Police just raided a house in Walthamstow in East London. Nothing.” He lapsed into a contemplative silence. “It just occurred to me that you were the last person to see my daughter—the last decent person, I should say.”
    “Yes, Mr. Ambassador, I suppose I was.”
    “Did you see her face?”
    Gabriel nodded. “Yes, sir, I saw her face.”
    “Did they harm her?”
    “It didn’t look as though she was injured.”
    “Was she frightened?”
    Gabriel answered truthfully. “I’m sure she was very frightened, sir, but she didn’t go willingly. She fought them.”
    The ambassador’s eyes shone suddenly with tears.
    “I’m glad she fought them,” Robert Halton said. “I hope she’s fighting them right now.”

12
     
    S he had fought them. Indeed she had fought them with more rage, and for much longer, than they had anticipated. She