“How does it feel to meet your double, Mr. Bond?” the man asked. “Your doppelganger? And you know what they say happens to you when you meet your doppelgänger, Mr. Bond? It means you’re going to die.” With that, he punched Bond hard in the face. Blood spurted out of Bond’s nose and ran down his mouth.
“How does it feel to be hit by you?” he asked, laughing.
“That’s enough, Peredur,” Margareta said.
“Stop it with that Peredur crap. I’m James Bond now,” Glyn said roughly.
“Of course, James,” Yassasin said, humoring the imposter. “That will be all. Meet us in the ring in ten minutes.”
The imposter smiled coldly at Bond, then left the room.
Yassasin seemed pleased with himself. “As you can see, the results are most extraordinary. With the aid of a little brainwashing, Mr. Glyn will now do anything I command. He would perform a suicide mission, if he was told to do so.”
Yassasin stared fiercely into Bond’s eyes. “And he was told to do so.”
“Who’s he going to kill?” Bond asked, fighting back the horrible anxiety that was beginning to envelop him.
Yassasin nearly smiled. “The primary targets are two men. The Governor of Gibraltar and Britain’s Prime Minister. And their bodyguards, of course. He will kill the Spanish Prime Minister if he has to, for he will then follow Domingo Espada’s orders. Espada will make demands, such as the ceding of Gibraltar to Spain and his appointment as the new Governor. If the Spanish Prime Minister doesn’t sign the pact with Espada, he will die, too. The rest of the U.N. delegates, including me, will be held ‘hostage’ until Espada gets what he wants. We’ll make sure Miss Piel gets out alive. If the antiterrorist forces manage to free the hostages and kill Espada, so be it. The foolish man is willing to die for his cause.”
“Domingo has a martyr complex, that’s for certain,” Margareta said. “He doesn’t like becoming old. It’s what he really wants.”
“Domingo wants to make a political statement that will be heard the world over,” Yassasin said. “That’s all he cares about. That’s enough for him to justify the enormous amount of money he raised to finance his coup.”
“You’ll never get away with it,” Bond said.
“Correction, Mr. Bond,” Yassasin said. “Peredur Glyn will never get away with it, but he doesn’t know that. He thinks the escape plan is foolproof. Such is the power of suggestion. It is expected that he will die in that room in Gibraltar tomorrow. In fact, someone that he least expects will kill him. As for the rest of us, we will be released as soon as we provide our statements as to what happened. Diplomatic immunity is a powerful weapon. At any rate, after tomorrow ‘James Bond’ will be a blight on the history of British intelligence.”
“They’ll know he’s not me,” Bond said. “Anyone examining his corpse will know.”
Yassasin conceded. “Oh, you’re absolutely right. Fingerprints and dental records cannot be changed. But it will be at least a day or two before someone from London identifies the body, or rather, fails to identify the body. By then, though, the damage will be done.”
“All we have to do now is to make sure that there is no trace of you,” Margareta said.
“We thought we’d leave that unpleasant task to Mr. Glyn,” Yassasin continued. “He’s convinced that there can be only one James Bond, and you’re not him. Therefore, he wanted to see you perish personally.”
“Let’s go, amigo,” Margareta said. “You have an appointment with destiny.”
Heidi moved as silently as possible toward the barbed-wire fence. After she had lost communication with Hedy, she abandoned the BMW and crept in the dark toward the front gates of the estate.
She had to roll into the ditch when she heard several vehicles start their engines. Headlights shone on the road ahead, and the guards ran to open the gate. Heidi raised her head just enough to watch as two Land Rovers, a Rolls-Royce, and the minivan drove out of the compound. It looked as if everyone in the place was leaving!
Of course, Heidi remembered. They were going to Gibraltar.
The guards were about to close the gate behind the caravan. Heidi crawled back to the road and walked calmly toward them. She drew a Heckler & Koch USP45 and held it loosely in her right hand.
The two guards looked up and were momentarily confused by the sight of a beautiful blonde walking up the road. Before they could speak, Heidi asked, “Where’s my sister, creeps?” and then raised her arm and shot both men in their chests. They flew backward, landing with thuds on the ground.
Heidi walked through the open gate and went inside.
TWENTY - TWO
BULLRING
THEY LED HIM THROUGH THE BULLRING ENTRANCE AND SHOVED HIM TO THE soft dirt in the center of the bullring. With his hands still tied behind his back, there was not much that Bond could do to fight back. Peredur Glyn, the man who looked like James Bond, stood against the fence. Three Spanish guards were at the shields, watching Bond intently.
“This is Domingo’s practice bullring,” Margareta said. “It’s a marvelous facility. The annex is equipped with everything one needs to breed fighting bulls. Domingo also uses part of the complex as a slaughterhouse. Have you ever seen what those vats of acid do to the remains of animal parts, Mr. Bond? The acid melts the skin right off the bones, and before long, the bones disintegrate as well. You get to experience this once-in-a-lifetime sensation firsthand!”
Yassasin addressed Glyn. “After you’ve had your fun, make sure there is nothing left. Report to Margareta when you’re finished, then you can have your blond American.”
“Yes, sir,” the imposter Bond said, not taking his eyes off the man he was going to kill.
Yassasin turned to Margareta and said, “I’m off to Gibraltar. Needless to say, make sure he makes it to the meeting on time.” He indicated Glyn.
“Don’t worry,” she replied. “That American girl will keep him occupied. We’ll set off bright and early.”
The pair began walking back through the door. Yassasin turned and said, as an afterthought, “Good-bye, Mr. Bond.” The door closed and Bond was alone with his double and the three men.
Bond struggled to his feet and looked at his captors. What now? he wondered. He prepared himself for a beating, for he was certain they would want him alive when they were ready to use the acid. Bond scanned the ring for any sign of an escape. The shields were well covered by the guards.
One of the men said something in Spanish that Bond didn’t catch. Glyn nodded, then all of them moved behind a shield. One man remained in the ring, moved to the bull’s gate, and opened it.
A full-grown, fighting-mad black bull charged into the ring. The guard closed the door behind the animal, then quickly ran to the safety of the shield.
Bond froze, knowing full well that if he moved, the bull would charge. The bull was agitated. It ran to and fro, looking for a way out of this strange pen. Then it saw Bond, standing in the middle of the ring. Bond held his breath, but it was no good. The bull sensed the human’s fear, and it charged at full speed.
Bond broke into a run across the ring, but the bull was fast. It attempted to slam into its moving target, but Bond sidestepped the animal just in time. The bull dug its front hooves into the dirt and skidded to a stop. It turned around and charged again. This time Bond ran to a shield, but the guard there thrust a spike at him. The sharp barb jabbed Bond’s shoulder, causing him to recoil in pain. He fell back against the fence, only to see the bull charging straight for him. Bond spun around and away just as the bull’s horns smashed into the fence. The men laughed and taunted Bond in Spanish. Peredur Glyn shouted, “If I were you, Mr. Bond, I would let the bull kill you. That would be preferable to watching your skin fall off in a vat of acid, don’t you think?”