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world. Germany is possibly a slight problem.’
    Scarangello nodded. ‘Europe’s largest economy, the region’s only fiscal grown-up, and a whole new psyche that absolutely depends on politicians not getting shot. Things could unravel. And rock bottom is a long way down in Germany.’
    ‘So it’s ourselves and Russia and Germany. Which is easy. Just keep those three guys under wraps. No fresh air for them. Let the other five walk about. Or send the vice presidents too, for the photo ops. Which could be spun. We’re so ballsy we’ll send both of them.’
    O’Day nodded. ‘That’s Plan B, and it’s already drafted. Plan A is to find John Kott. And to hope that London and Moscow and Tel Aviv meet with similar success.’
    ‘Do we know anything about their guys?’
    ‘We know all about them. The Brit is an ex-SAS operator named Carson. In uniform he had more than fifty kills around the world, not that anyone will admit it, one of them at two thousand yards, documented and verified. The Russian is a guy called Datsev. His first instructor was at Stalingrad, which was a hard school. The Israeli is called Rozan. Best they ever saw with a fifty-calibre Barrett, which is really saying something, for the IDF.’
    ‘They all sound better than Kott.’
    ‘No, they sound about as good as. Fourteen hundred yards was nothing to Kott. Pure routine. Until you busted him, that is.’
    ‘You sound like you think I shouldn’t have.’
    ‘He was worth more to us than the grunt he killed.’
    I said, ‘Where is the G8 meeting?’
    ‘London,’ O’Day said. ‘Technically just outside. A stately home, or an old castle. Something like that.’
    ‘Does it have a moat?’
    ‘I’m not sure.’
    ‘Maybe they should start digging one.’
    ‘The idea is not to let it get that far.’
    ‘I can’t help you there anyway. My passport is expired.’
    O’Day said, ‘You should speak to the State Department about that.’ Then he looked up, and Casey Nice put her hand under her jacket again, the same way she had when she showed me the embassy report, and she came out with a slim blue booklet, which she slid across to me. It was warm, like before.
    It was a passport, with my name and my face in it, dated yesterday, good for ten years.

SEVEN
    AFTER THE CONFERENCE ended, I was asked to go to Rick Shoemaker’s office, where he asked me to start detailed tactical planning for a trip to Arkansas. Which was ridiculous. Arkansas didn’t need detailed tactical planning. And it was the wrong direction. I said, ‘He’ll have stayed in Europe, surely. He’s probably already in London. If it’s him at all.’
    Shoemaker said, ‘Joan Scarangello told us you fully understand your role.’
    All I am is bait .
    I said, ‘Are you serious?’
    He said, ‘It’s no big deal. As you point out, if Kott’s the guy, he’s unlikely to be there himself. But if he is the guy, then they might have someone there to monitor our progress. It’s an obvious first stop. It’s one we should make anyway. We need to confirm he took up shooting again. If he didn’t, we’re home and dry. Yoga and meditation get you only so far. You need some trigger time too. They might be expecting us to check. They’ll be low-grade people. No problem for you. But we might get something out of them.’
    ‘If it’s him.’
    ‘And if it isn’t, you’ve got even less to worry about.’
    ‘Why me? There are plenty of federal agents in the world. They would work as bait. Better than me, probably. They could show up with lights and sirens.’
    ‘You know how many Americans have top secret security clearances now?’
    ‘No idea.’
    ‘Nearly a million, and half of them are civilians. Executives and business people and contractors and subcontractors. And best case, out of any million people a couple hundred will be seriously bent.’
    ‘That’s O’Day talking.’
    ‘He’s usually right.’
    ‘And always paranoid.’
    ‘OK, cut it in half. We’ve got a hundred