Chapter 14

Day 14

Madlax walked out of the shopping mall, holding a plastic bag in one hand and an open soft drink can in the other. As she stepped beyond the glass door, she immediately felt the difference in temperature between the air-conditioned interior and the warm exterior. She raised the opened aluminium can and took a sip of the contents.

"So, how's it going?"

Madlax turned to see Limelda Jorg standing just outside the shopping mall's entrance. Limelda wore a blue button-up blouse over off-white pants and leather cutaway shoes. On her right shoulder was a brown leather handbag. She gave Madlax a polite smile.

"Alright, I suppose," Madlax replied, giving a smile of her own. "And you?"

"I'm fine." Limelda took a step forward. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, I just managed to get in a bit of shopping. And you?"

"Yeah, I need to pick up some groceries. I was in the area." Limelda nodded. "So, what's in the bag?"

Madlax hefted the bag she was carrying. It bore the name of a local fashion outlet, a dressmaker. "I just got myself a new outfit. I'm just... taking it home."

"A new outfit?"

"Yeah." Madlax smiled. "I'd show you, but I'm kind of in a hurry."

The instruction Bond had given her was odd: get a dress to wear to the casino that night. She would get changed back at the hotel and they would go to the casino together in the Land Rover.

He had been reluctant to take her along, but she was insistent. So he had given her 400 yur to buy a dress. She'd been lucky to get a dress that fitted her so well on such short notice, too.

It was, she reflected, the first time she had left Bond since taking this assignment. How... unusual. She typically didn't leave a client for more than a couple of hours.

"I'll try not to keep you for too long, then, but it's been quite a while. So, any interesting jobs?"

"Yeah, V.I.P. work this time," Madlax replied. "You?"

"Nothing really special. I was contracted to kill some small-time crime boss two days ago."

"How'd it go?"

Limelda shrugged. "One shot. Three hundred metres. Piece of cake."

"Right."

"Yeah." Limelda smiled. "So, who's your V.I.P.?"

"A private investigator from England."

"England?"

"Yeah. It's about that man who was killed outside the Colonial Hotel two weeks ago."

"I remember that."

"Yeah."

"So, a private investigator... What, did his family have him come out here or something?"

Madlax shrugged. "I think so."

"So, has he found anything?" Limelda asked.

Madlax shook her head. "Not really." She had been instructed by Bond not to share anything with anyone. Not that she needed reminding: keeping her clients' confidence was part of the job.

"How long is this job for?"

Madlax shrugged. "I dunno. A few more days, maybe."

"Well, you said you were in a hurry, so I'd better not keep you, then," Limelda said, smiling more widely. "Good to see you again."

Bond stopped outside the safehouse, disembarking from the Land Rover. Once inside, he made his way to the bedroom and triggered the wardrobe's secret door, exposing the entrance to the underground control room and staging area.

Descending the staircase, he found himself in the underground facility. Matthews was on his way from the embassy and would be arriving soon; currently present were two MI6 staff seated at computers.

Both of them turned to face him. "Morning," they said asynchronously.

Bond nodded. He walked over to the female officer. "Any updates since yesterday?" he asked as he approached.

"Nothing really big," the officer replied. "No new orders being issued."

"Any indications of security being raised around Kozlowski?" Bond asked.

"No, sir."

"And the licence plate from the car?"

"Yes..." The tech brought up another screen. "That partial licence plate number and the description lined up. That particular car was registered as a... a company car for the Bookwald office. Not listed as stolen."

Bond nodded wordlessly, taking in the new information. Had the car been stolen? Possible; maybe the driver, who was an employee of Bookwald or knew someone who was, had just taken it and returned it later. Then again, Kozlowski, to whom Enfant communications were being sent and from whom orders were issued, according to the communication intercepts, was the head of the Gazth-Sonikan branch of Bookwald. It was reasonable to assume that he had some thugs in his employ, and he made company cars available for their use when he needed them to do something for him.

"Morning," Matthews called out from the stairwell.

Bond and the two technicians turned to face him, each saying "good morning" at once.

"What's the latest?" Matthews asked as he walked over to Bond.

"No news," Bond replied. "Nothing to indicate any changes to any established routine or activity – yet."

There was something else that Bond had meant to ask. "Could you show me the location of that Enfant communications hub? The one in the jungle?"

"Sure." The tech brought up another window and typed in a series of commands. The map of Gazth-Sonika appeared, with the location once again indicated by a bright dot.

"I'm going to have to start planning an investigation of that facility. Are there any roads, or tracks nearby?" Bond asked.

The tech zoomed in. "Yes, sir, there's a small road running through the jungle about ten kilometres east of the centre."

Bond looked at the map for a few seconds. "Is it possible to get a satellite image?"

"Right." The tech brushed a strand of light brown hair behind an ear and went to work. A satellite image appeared.

The dot appeared over a trio of grey rectangles in a clearing, surrounded by green jungle. The three rectangles were set at right angles to each other, forming three sides of an incomplete square.

"Yeah..."Matthews said. "Looks like a series of bunkers. Probably with a communications antenna." He pointed to a black object which appeared on top of one of the bunkers.

Bond pointed to a series of small green objects on the periphery of the rectangles, inside the partial square. "Jeeps. There must be rotating staff or regular supply runs or patrols." He narrowed his eyes, almost squinting at the monitor. "If there's a dirt track, I can't see it."

"Probably covered by the tree canopy," the tech said.

"What do you think?" Matthews asked. "Drive up, stop a few miles away, and go the rest of the way on foot?"

Bond nodded. "Could work."

"There's a river about nine kilometres south of the facility," the tech suggested. She zoomed out the view to show the river, which ran diagonally along the screen, northwest-southeast. "Right here." She tapped on the monitor.

"What's the terrain like?" Bond asked.

The tech brought up a topographic map of Gazth-Sonika. She zoomed in on the area indicated by the red dot on the other map. "Pretty much level ground. A slight upwards incline from the river. Dense forest, from the looks of the satellite image." The satellite image returned. "No trails from what we can see here."

"Perfect." Bond smiled to himself. He turned to Matthews. "Get on the phone to London. Tell Q to bring the boat; he'll know what you're talking about. Also, keep an eye on that clearing. I want to know if there are any movements in or out over the next four days. In the meantime, I'll see if I can get anything out of Kozlowski tonight."

"Got it," Matthews said. Nodding at the technician, he said, "Good work."

Turning back to Bond, he asked, "How do you plan to do that? Are you going to interrogate him in the casino over a game of blackjack?"

"You could say that," Bond replied.

From the author: Bond giving Madlax money to buy clothes is a reference to Licence to Kill, the 16th James Bond movie, in which Bond gives Pam Bouvier money to buy a new outfit.