“So why didn’t you?”
Weiss took a sip of vodka while he waited for Carter to think his answer through.
Carter sat back and spread his arms wide, a gesture of magnanimity. “Because I am a man of my word. I agreed to your bloody scheme, fool that I was, so now I’m going to stick to it.” He leaned forward, waved his forefinger at Weiss. “But don’t push me. You pull another stunt like you did today, and I’m going to start seeing things Wallace’s way.”
“That would be a mistake, my friend.” Weiss poured Carter another shot of vodka. “I have concerns about young Mr. Wallace.”
Carter took the glass, downed the vodka. “Stop calling me your friend. Wallace is a good lad. He’s hot-headed, but he’s tough and he follows orders. He’s loyal.”
“So loyal he wouldn’t give you up to Skorzeny?”
“Bollocks.” Carter slammed the glass down on the table. “He’s a good soldier. Him and Gracey. And so was MacAuliffe.”
“Not anymore.”
Weiss almost regretted saying it, but then the look of hurt on Carter’s face turned to anger, and the Englishman stood, throwing the chair back to clatter against the wall. He hovered there for a moment, his chest rising and falling, his cheeks reddening, before leaving the room, cursing under his breath.
In the warm yellow glow of the lamplight, Goren Weiss smiled.
CHAPTER FIFTY THREE
Fitzpatrick followed Haughey into Ryan’s hotel room.
The director stopped in the doorway, his mouth agape. “Dear God, Ryan, what happened to you?”
Ryan lay on the bed wearing a vest and trousers. Celia sat alongside him, a bowl of warm water on the bedside locker, muslin cloths ready to dab at his wounds. They had discussed this for some time, the effect, how disabled he should appear.
“Close the door,” Ryan said.
Fitzpatrick obliged.
Haughey scowled. “I don’t like this, Ryan.” He gave the director a sideways glance. “When someone calls me to a hotel, I expect to have my lunch bought for me, not to wind up at somebody’s sickbed.”
“He needs to rest,” Celia said.
Haughey shot her a hard look. “And what are you doing here? Aside from playing doctors and nurses.”
“This concerns Celia as much as anyone,” Ryan said.
“My arse, it does.”
Celia stood. “Minister, if you remember, it was you who involved me in the first place by asking Mr. Waugh to approach me.”
Fitzpatrick’s face paled. “Waugh’s department is mixed up in this?”
Haughey dismissed the director’s concern with a wave of his hand. “I asked him for a favour, that’s all.” He turned back to Ryan. “Either way, I don’t think Miss Hume needs to be here.”
Ryan paused, then reached out to touch Celia’s hand. She nodded and went to the door and exited the room.
“Now can we get on with this?” Haughey asked. “Where in the name of Christ have you been?”
Ryan kept his gaze fixed on the minister, his voice flat. “I located the men who’ve been carrying out attacks on Colonel Skorzeny’s associates. I had them under surveillance when they captured me. They tortured me for two days before releasing me with a message for Colonel Skorzeny.”
Haughey looked from Ryan to Fitzpatrick and back again. “Tortured you?”
“Yes, Minister. First they beat me, then they used an electrical device, something like a small cattle prod.”
Fitzpatrick winced.
“Christ Almighty.” Haughey shook his head.
“Minister,” Fitzpatrick said, “I would not have put one of my men under your command if I’d thought there was the slightest chance of—”
“Who were they?” Haughey asked.
Fitzpatrick stepped between Haughey and Ryan. “Minister, at this point I’m more concerned about the wellbeing of Lieutenant Ryan.”
“Who were they?” Haughey asked again.
Ryan answered. “Three men. Two English, one Rhodesian. All military. All skilled and experienced. The senior man, English, was around forty five years old, an officer. The other two aged around thirty and forty, the Rhodesian the youngest. They did not address each other by name in my presence.”
“How did you find them?”
“Catherine Beauchamp told me they were based somewhere close to Croke Park stadium. I scouted the area over two days until I found them.”
Haughey’s eyes narrowed. “I think that’s a lie.”
“That’s right.” Ryan met Haughey’s hawk gaze. “But that’s all I’m going to tell you. Director, Minister, I’d like to be clear about something.”
Fitzpatrick said, “Go on.”
Ryan did not avert his eyes from Haughey’s. “I have witnessed Colonel Skorzeny and his associate Célestin Lainé torture and kill a Norwegian national whom they suspected of being an informant.”
Haughey could not hold Ryan’s stare.
Ryan continued. “I have reason to believe that at some point in the next twenty four hours, Colonel Skorzeny will try to imprison me, and he will torture me to learn anything that I have not told you this afternoon.”
Haughey wetted his lips. “That’s a hell of an accusation, Lieutenant Ryan.”
“There is also a risk that Colonel Skorzeny may try to do the same to Miss Hume in order to coerce me into providing him with more information.”
“So what do you want from me?” Haughey asked.
“I expect the protection of the Department of Justice and the Directorate of Intelligence. If any harm should come to me or Celia Hume in the coming days, if any accident should occur, or if either of us should go missing, your first line of enquiry should be with Colonel Skorzeny.”
Ryan stopped talking and let the silence thicken between them.
Eventually, Haughey nodded and cleared his throat. “All right. I’ll tell Colonel Skorzeny he’s to have no direct contact with you. If he wants to talk to you, it’ll be through me. Good enough?”
“No, Minister. I want your guarantee that I have the protection of your department, and of the Directorate of Intelligence.”
Haughey and Fitzpatrick exchanged a glance.
“Fine,” Haughey said. “You have my word. If anything happens to you or Miss Hume, then Colonel Skorzeny will answer to me. So, what message did these boys send back?”
“They rejected the Colonel’s counter offer.”
Fitzpatrick’s eyebrows rose. “Counter offer?”
“Colonel Skorzeny made a thinly veiled suggestion that one of them would receive a payment only if he betrayed the others. If he killed them, and presented proof to Skorzeny.”
“Is this true, Minister?” Fitzpatrick asked.
Haughey’s face reddened. “An advertisement was placed in the Irish Times. I did not approve, I made that clear to the Colonel.”
“My God, you knowingly allowed Skorzeny to place an ad soliciting murder?”
Haughey fidgeted. “Like I said, I did not approve. Perhaps in hindsight I should have made my objection more strongly.”
“I’ll say. I’ve a good mind to go to the Taoiseach about this. I imagine your father in law might have something to say about it.”
Haughey moved close to Fitzpatrick, their bodies almost touching. “Now hold on, Director. Don’t go thinking you can threaten Charlie Haughey. Push me, and I’ll have you run out of your fucking job by the end of the day.”