A Spy in the Blood by Paul Warner

Author:Paul Warner
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bonnier Books UK
Published: 2025-11-29T00:00:00+00:00

It turned out there weren’t too many safe spaces to talk in Kabul. The hotel room, now clean and bloodless but most definitely watched, wasn’t one of those places.

Mark and Fassad sat together in the bullet-holed Chilhilsitoon gardens, Mark wearing his Afghan garb to blend in with the sporadic crowds.

‘He was a Taliban informer,’ Fassad explained. ‘They watch everyone. There were Taliban at the airport, seeing who left, who arrived; that’s why I met you with two locals, to prevent them intercepting you. They’re everywhere. The Talib told me on the phone he’d seen you enter the hotel and was simply checking your suite out. A porter was letting him in any room he wanted, probably on pain of a beating. He claimed to be shocked to see you back so soon and attacked in self-defence. I don’t think he knew who you really are, but it can’t be discounted. It wasn’t supposed to be a hit, if that’s what you were wondering.’

‘He had an accomplice.’

‘That’s worrying. He’d have been expecting news from his friend. It’s likely they know he’s dead by now.’

‘I’m on the Taliban’s radar straight away. Quite the fuck-up.’

‘Did anybody besides Adam know you were coming out here?’

Mark thought back to Heathrow airport, the spy at the Costa, his own trailing paranoia. ‘No.’

‘You can’t check out of that hotel until the room’s dry, but you obviously can’t stay there either. I’ll ask Yusuf to bring your belongings back to the safehouse.’

‘Thank you. You’re doing far more for me than was arranged.’

‘You underestimated the dangers of this city, Angraiz.’

‘I did.’

‘Anything else I can do for you?’

‘I’ll need the hotel watched. Also, the names of any known agents who worked with Jody out here. If she’s infiltrated this Agents of Allah cabal, it means there’s something afoot that she considers bigger than her life.’ Mark watched Fassad carefully. ‘I know you think she’s probably dead or . . .’

‘It’s not just that. This is a man’s world. There are women involved in these terrorist cells but they do not lead, they do not strategise, they do not have access to any plans. She would not be trusted. Even aside from the fact she’s a known former British agent. Take my word for it, if she is still with them, which I doubt very much, she is a trophy wife or a prisoner. They will not confide her with any responsibility.’

‘Doesn’t mean she hasn’t gleaned intel along the way. Still no news on where the Agents of Allah are operating from?’

‘Jody’s final communication, the one she sent to the emergency line, was scrambled. It could have come from anywhere. And her group hasn’t claimed an attack since Afshar. The bomb we saw at the market earlier was perpetrated by the Taliban, according to my sources.’

‘Why’s she made it so hard for us to trace her?’ Mark mused.

Fassad didn’t answer. To him, it was obvious why. If she wasn’t dead, then she certainly didn’t want to be found. Her face had been all over the news and she would have buried herself deeper as a result.

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