Read Stone - 25 - Collateral Damage for Free Online Page A

mine.”
    “MI-6 hit the Cheyne Walk house yesterday like a swarm of hornets, but all uniformed as painters, plumbers, and carpet cleaners, with their vehicles liveried as such. They were seen to have taken away two medium-sized safes and numerous file boxes. As a further cover, Hamish McCallister’s solicitor was present to make things seem kosher.”
    “I see. Have you received any information from MI-6 that might be helpful to us?”
    “They’ve been very quiet, and their chief of ops has not returned my phone call of this morning.”
    “Do we have any further information on Jasmine not associated with the house?”
    “She went to a girls’ school in Kent, then to a Swiss finishing school. No university education that we know of.”
    “Any photographs?”
    “One, when she was twelve and holding a hockey stick. We’re aging it now.”
    “Please fax it to me in New York. Tom, you’ve no doubt heard details of how her two brothers were dealt with.”
    “I read Lance’s report.”
    “You may take that as a model of how to proceed when we find her.”
    “Understood.”
    “I’ll see if I can unearth anything from MI-6.”
    “I’ll look forward to hearing from you, Holly.”
    Holly hung up, called Felicity Devonshire’s direct line, identified herself, and asked for Architect. This time she was handled more gently and put through after half a minute on hold.
    “Good afternoon, Holly, or is it morning where you are?”
    “I’m calling from New York. Good afternoon. I’ve heard about your redecoration job on a house in Chelsea. Anything you can share with me? This is a secure line.”
    “It’s quite a richly appointed residence,” Felicity said. “Very nice artwork, probably in the value range of five to ten million pounds’ worth. Hamish had very positive brokers’ and bankers’ statements in his safe. It seems he came into quite a lot when he turned twenty-one.”
    “Were there any photographs of his sister?”
    “None, nor of his brother, though there were bedrooms that may have been used by both of them. We found some cosmetics in one bathroom. Everything, however, and I mean everything, had been wiped clean—no prints, no DNA.”
    “So, they had not planned to return there?”
    “They might have returned, if their mission had been, ah, completely successful, and if they’d thought there was no trail to follow to them. In the circumstances, they might have been right.”
    “The president has issued an executive order under the new National Security Act, sealing everything except what he had to say in his address last evening.”
    “Yes, I saw that. You may take it that I am following his wishes, though I have no legal necessity of doing so. I have not reported to my masters what I have surmised from the bits and pieces of information gleaned during my stay in your country, nor shall I. I believe that’s best for all.”
    “Thank you, Felicity. I will see that your position is known here in the places where it’s important.”
    “I’ve no wish to be a loose cannon in this,” Felicity said.
    “The loose cannon, in this instance, is Jasmine Shazaz,” Holly said. “Did you find anything at all in the house that might help us locate and identify her?”
    “I’m afraid not. She may have a place of her own, but if so, we haven’t found it.”
    “Do you think she’s still in London?”
    “If I were she, I would not wish to be traveling at this moment in time. I’d go to ground, perhaps for quite a while, until things are cool, even cold.”
    “This will not cool off for us, Felicity.”
    “Nor for us. Remember that our losses in this are greater than yours, but I understand your position completely, and I will see that any new knowledge of Jasmine reaches you.”
    “We are all grateful to you,” Holly said. “Good-bye.”
    “Good-bye.”
    Holly believed everything Felicity had told her, and she felt better for it.
    —
    Architect hung up her phone and looked at the