Nobody’s Hero (Ben Koenig #2)

Chapter 14

‘Tell me who you are first,’ Koenig said.

‘Who I am is not important,’ the grey man said.

‘You’ll have no problem telling me then.’

The grey man frowned. ‘Why do you need to know?’

‘I don’t need to know, I want to know.’

The grey man looked at him shrewdly. Koenig wondered what it was he saw. Did he see a drifter, a man who spent his days Forrest Gumping across the towns and cities of America, never staying in the same place twice? Or did he see someone else? Did he see another grey man?

‘My name’s Andrew Smerconish,’ he said. ‘I work for the Department of Defense.’

‘The DoD is our biggest government agency. Would you care to narrow it down?’

‘No.’

‘And if I were to insist, you’d quote all sorts of national security reasons why you can’t tell me?’

‘Something like that.’

‘Did you work with Jen?’

‘I met her for the first time today.’

‘Not what I asked.’

Smerconish smiled. ‘I knew of her.’

‘And did she know of you?’

‘I make it my business that people don’t know of me.’

‘Why are you here?’

‘To ask you about the Acacia Avenue Protocol.’

‘No. Anyone could have done that. I want to know why a high-ranking DoD official, almost certainly Defense Intelligence Agency, has just escorted me out of a police interview room. In other words, why are you here?’

‘There’s been a shooting,’ Smerconish said. ‘In London. It triggered a chain of events, the culmination of which was a safe being opened that had never before been opened. That safe was in a serious building and belonged to a serious man. Even he didn’t know what was inside until he opened it. That’s why I’m here.’

‘What was inside the safe?’

‘Four names and a sentence: “The Acacia Avenue Protocol has been initiated.”’

‘That’s it?’

Smerconish nodded.

‘I was one of the names?’ Koenig asked.

‘You were.’

‘Who else?’

‘I’m not saying.’

‘But you’ve asked them what the Acacia Avenue Protocol is?’

‘I can’t.’

‘Why not?’

‘Because they’re dead,’ Smerconish said. Before Koenig could say anything, he held up his hand and added, ‘And it’s not a conspiracy. It was an old list and they all died of natural causes.’

‘I’m the only one left.’

‘You can see why I want to talk to you.’

‘I have some bad news then.’

‘I don’t like bad news, Mr Koenig.’

‘Do you know anyone who does?’

‘Fair point. What’s the bad news?’

‘I’ve never heard of the Acacia Avenue Protocol,’ Koenig said. ‘I have no idea what it is.’