And who is her uncle?
Mullah Ali Selim. I can see now he was using us. I only got involved because I adored her beyond reason.
I see. She frowned at the others, motioning them to be still. I think we re going to have to do something about your knee. She turned to Doyle. See if you can find a first-aid kit in the rear, Tony.
Jemal said dully, Better take care. There s a couple of blocks of Semtex in a bag, and a thirty-minute timer I was supposed to switch on.
There was a stillness for a moment, then Giles Roper said,
Well, as you haven t done that, it leaves the Semtex about as deadly as a large block of plasticine. Bring the bag to me, Tony, and find a first-aid kit for Sara.
As Roper questioned Jemal further, Sara worked deftly, bandaging Jemal s knee, giving him morphine, aided by Holley and Dillon, a double dose to help with the pain. Battlefield style, she said. He could be crippled. How do you feel, Jemal?
Lousy, but the pain is not as much. Who are you?
I m the person who shot you.
Allah will forgive you for that.
I don t think so, but Jehovah might. I m Jewish.
Well, that s not your fault. He was fading fast.
Roper, who d gotten on his Codex, said, Don t fall asleep yet, Jemal. You did say he intended to leave Frensham in a Hawker jet and would be waiting for you and Asan to join him?
That s true. The boy sounded very tired, his words slurring.
Such a plane did leave Frensham about four hours ago, and I do know one thing for certain.
What s that? Jemal really was almost out of it now.
He wasn t waiting around for you, because he knew you wouldn t be coming back. That timer I took to pieces wasn t thirty minutes, it was instant. You and Asan would have been vaporized the moment you switched it on.
But she was his niece. Jemal shook his head.
What kind of man would do such a thing? May he rot in hell.
His head rolled, and Dillon and Holley picked him up and passed him to Doyle in the ambulance, who laid him out on one of the stretchers. Asan lay on the other in a body bag. Some of the paneling of the ambulance had been pulled away to disclose a considerable quantity of Semtex.
The major s suspicions were right, Doyle said. It would have been a total disaster, one of the worst bombs to hit London since the Second World War. He looked up.
No telling what it could have done to this garage and the building above it.
Well, it didn t, Roper said. I noticed a couple of paramedic jackets in one of the lockers. Put one on, you ll be driving.
Rosedene?
No, the disposal unit. I ve warned Mr. Teague. He s familiar with Muslim customs, so he ll ensure she s properly treated, God rest her.
And the boy?
Bellamy knows what to expect. The general will see we do right by him. To be frank, now the iron s entered his soul, he might prove useful. Is that okay with you, Sara?
She surprised herself by saying, If you mean does it worry me that he ll walk with a limp for the rest of his life because I shot him in the kneecap, no it doesn t. That s what you get. She gave a crooked smile. And there s a bonus you can always tell it s going to rain, because your leg hurts even before you get out of bed, just like mine did this morning.
Point taken, Roper said. Wave good-bye to Tony, everybody.
They watched him go, stop to move the No Entry sign, then get back in and drive away. Sara said, I can t say I m impressed with the security here. Where are the police, for God s sake? We must have been on every camera in the place.
No, we haven t, thanks to this. Roper held up what looked like a TV remote. This is a Howler. The moment we started to chase them, I punched a button that killed the entire camera system on this floor. There s no record of any of this happening. It s also highly illegal, needless to say.
Too bad we can t market it, said Dillon.
We d make a fortune.
I m sure we would. Now let me call Ferguson.
He pressed a priority button on his Codex.
Ferguson answered at once and said in a half whisper, Not now, Major, I m with the Prime Minister and the President. What on earth can be so urgent?
We ve just experienced a serious incident involving Empire, General.
Ferguson s voice changed completely. During the Second World War, there had been several attempts on Winston Churchill s life, and the term had come to refer only to matters of the highest seriousness concerning the leadership of the country at either the royal or political level.
Just a moment, Ferguson said, and there was a brief pause before he returned. Meet me at once at the Cabinet Office.
Of course, General. What about the others? Dillon, Holley, Gideon?
Too many people might cause curiosity. We don t want people talking. You fill me in, Roper. The others can go to the reception, act normal.
Roper put his Codex away. Rage in heaven over this one. How could it happen?
But we stopped it, Sara said. That s all that counts.
Dillon said, Jesus, girl, but you really do have a lot to learn. They re very unreasonable, politicians. The way they look at it, we should have known it was going to happen before it did happen.
That s politicians for you, she said.
Exactly, Holley told her. But let s get Roper upstairs to the Cabinet Office before they set the dogs on him, and we ll all go on our merry way and try to pretend it didn t happen.
On the terrace at lunchtime, all the awnings were out, as the rain showed no sign of stopping. Members of Parliament were starting to appear, guests crowding in behind them, some in traditional dress. In spite of the rain, there was a good atmosphere, a sense of expectancy. And then Jean Talbot appeared, and stopped as she saw Dillon.
She looked remarkably attractive, astonishingly so for her age. Granted, the streaked blond hair owed a great deal to an expert hairdresser, but the black velvet jacket over a white blouse contrasted well with the vivid blue skirt. Owen Rashid paused behind her.
Why, Mr. Dillon, still alive and kicking? said Talbot.
As ever was, ma am, Dillon told her.
We ll have to see if we can do something about that.
Well, as I ve told you before: People have been trying to kill me for years. I m still here. You re welcome to try. He offered her a visiting card, and she accepted.
You may regret that invitation. She smiled at Sara. I don t know who you are, my dear, but it s a pity to see a charming young woman like you in such bad company.
She turned away, and Owen, who couldn t think of a thing to say, went after her. She took a glass of champagne from the tray of a passing waiter and leaned against the balustrade, sipping it as Owen reached her.
The young woman looked interesting, she said.
I wonder who she is.
Owen answered without thinking. She s an army captain, wounded and decorated in Afghanistan. A gifted linguist, I understand. Her name s Sara Gideon.
Any connection with the Gideon Bank?
She inherited it some years ago when her parents were killed in a bomb attack in Israel. Her grandfather sits in for her as chairman.
So what is she doing with Dillon and Holley?
There was no way round it except to tell the truth. I believe Charles Ferguson has recruited her for his team.
You seem very well informed.
Well, you know how it is these days. It pays to keep up, and there s not much that can t be found on a computer.
There was more to it, she knew that, but she shied away from perhaps learning an uncomfortable truth about him. In any case, an announcement sounded over the loudspeakers.
Ladies and gentlemen, the Prime Minister and the President of the United States.
They came through the entrance, Ferguson, Miller, Roper, and Blake Johnson behind them, and the applause was deafening.