Page 60 of Never

‘How was Mali?’ she said.

‘I missed you.’

‘I’m glad. But stop smiling at me like that. I don’t want people to know that we’ve become…close. You’re an intelligence officer of another country. Dexter will kick up a fuss.’

‘I’m just very happy to see you.’

‘And I adore you, but fuck off now, before people begin to notice.’

‘Of course.’ He raised his voice a little. ‘I must congratulate Shirley on her birthday. Excuse me.’ He made a little bow and moved away.

As soon as he had gone Tamara realized she had just saidI adore you. Oh, shit, she thought, that was too soon. And he didn’t say it back. He’ll be scared off.

She looked at the beautifully fitting back of his suit jacket and wondered whether she had ruined it all.

Karim came to speak to her, in a new pearl-grey suit with a lavender tie. ‘I’ve heard all about your adventure,’ he said. He was looking at her in a particular way, as if he had never really seen her before. Since the shoot-out at the bridge she had seen a similar expression in other people’s eyes. We thought we knew you, it said, but now we’re not sure.

Tamara said: ‘What have you heard?’

‘That when the US army couldn’t hit anybody, you were the one who shot a terrorist. Is that true?’

‘I had an easy target.’

‘What was your victim doing at the time?’

‘He was pointing an assault rifle at me from a distance of twenty yards.’

‘But you kept your nerve.’

‘I guess.’

‘And did you wound him, or what?’

‘He died.’

‘My God.’

Tamara realized she had joined some kind of elite. Karim was impressed. She did not find this gratifying: she wanted to be respected for her brains, not her marksmanship. She moved the conversation on. ‘What are they saying at the presidential palace?’

‘The General is very angry. Our American friends have been attacked. The attackers may have been technically in Cameroon territory, or in a kind of no-man’s-land on the border, but the US soldiers are our guests, so we are upset.’

Tamara noted that Karim was making two points. First, the General was firmly distancing himself from the attackers by saying how angry he was. Second, he was implying that they were not necessarily Chadian. It was always best to blame trouble on outsiders. Karim was even suggesting they had not been on Chadian soil. Tamara knew this was crap, but she wanted to gather intelligence, not argue. ‘I’m glad to hear that.’

‘I’m sure you know that Sudan was behind the attack.’

Tamara did not know any such thing. ‘The shouts of “al-Bustan” suggest ISGS.’

Karim waved a hand airily. ‘A ploy to confuse us.’

‘Then what’s your thinking?’ she said neutrally.

‘The attack was mounted by the UFDD with support from Sudan.’

‘Interesting,’ Tamara said non-committally.

Karim leaned closer. ‘After you killed your terrorist, you must have checked his gun.’

‘Of course.’