The Devil’s Bargain by Stella Rimington

Author:Stella Rimington
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Published: 2021-12-20T00:00:00+00:00

22

‘Hi manon,’ said tatiana at the seminar’s coffee break the following week. ‘Do you have your key to the house with you?’

‘Yes. Do you need it?’

‘No. It’s just that I’m not coming straight back tonight. I have to meet someone.’

‘Oh, don’t worry; I’ll be fine. In fact, I could get some stuff at the Co-op on the way back and make some supper. Unless you’re having dinner out.’

‘God no. It shouldn’t take more than half an hour.’ Tatiana made a moue with her lips. ‘I’m doing a favour for my father. It’s someone he knows,’ she sighed.

After the seminar, Manon briefly waited behind, ignoring the goateed student who was trying to chat her up, until Tatiana had left the room. Then she also left, going out of the main entrance to the college, only to find to her dismay no sign of the Russian. Instead of heading back to the house, she quickly went round the corner, peering up the street that climbed towards the middle of town. She spotted Tatiana halfway up and could see her clearly, looking smart in a short leather skirt and her enviable designer boots, with her brown hair tied up into a ponytail. She was carrying a small canvas bag over one shoulder, and in one hand held a large yellow envelope.

Manon set off rapidly, almost running, worried she would lose her. As she approached Queen Street she saw the entrance to an enormous shopping mall on her right, and her heart sank – she would never find Tatiana in there. But straight ahead of her, through a crowd of pedestrians, she glimpsed a flash of bright yellow, then made out the figure of Tatiana, stopping to window-shop in front of a women’s boutique.

Manon hung back until Tatiana moved on, then followed from a distance of thirty yards or so – far enough away to take evasive action in case Tatiana suddenly stopped again. Losing her in the crowd of shoppers, Manon went and stood in the sheltered entrance to Marks and Spencer, watching the street. As she waited there she thought of what Saunders had said last time she reported to him – don’t push it too fast; win her confidence before you try and get information. She felt fairly sure he would not approve of what she was doing. She also remembered what she had been told on her very first training course when she joined the agency: ‘Surveillance is always carried out by specialised teams. It is almost impossible for one person covertly to follow another without being spotted or losing the target.’

But in spite of her inner voices, when the ponytailed figure suddenly emerged at Carfax, Manon set off in pursuit. She followed as Tatiana started to walk along the High, which stretched for almost a mile downhill to Magdalen Bridge. Crossing the street, Manon dodged a group of Chinese tourists, then waited for a double-decker bus to lumber by. Emerging, she looked ahead, but Tatiana had disappeared.

Manon started to run, feeling panicked, slowing down only to check inside the shops she passed.

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