They grappled for possession of the automatic but as Bernard tore it from Graham's hand, Graham butted him viciously in the face, again catching him on the eyebrow. Bernard stumbled and as he fell the Beretta spun from his hands and disappeared through die open doorway. He brought his foot up sharply into Graham's stomach and as Graham buckled forward he caught him with a hammering punch to the face. Graham fell to his knees, his eyes watering from the force of the punch. Bernard dived for the Desert Eagle. Graham knew he could never reach Bernard before he recovered the automatic.
'Hey, catch,' Rosie shouted to Graham.
Graham turned to Rosie. She was holding the Very pistol which had fallen out of the box when it landed on the floor. She threw it to him. He didn't even know if it was loaded, but there wasn't time to find out. Bernard was already turning, the automatic in his hand. Graham aimed the Very pistol at him and pulled the trigger. The aluminium-cased cartridge slammed into Bernard's chest with the force of a hammer. He was rocked back on his heels and lost his balance as he stepped out of the doorway. He clawed frantically at the side of the cabin but his bloodied fingers couldn't get a grip on the smooth surface and his eyes widened in horror as he fell backwards. The wind tore the scream from his lips as he plunged to his death.
Graham picked up the Desert Eagle which had slipped out of Bernard's hand as he fell and pressed it into the back of Demerest's neck. 'Go back to the house.'
'Sure thing, man,' Demerest said nervously. 'I don't want any trouble.'
'Give me your piece,' Graham demanded.
'I ain't carrying,' Demerest replied, shaking his head vigorously. 'I never carry. I'm just a flier, man.'
Graham was convinced Demerest was telling the truth. 'Give me the radio.'
Demerest unhooked the radio and handed it to Graham who called Philpott to let him know that they were returning to the safe house. He closed the cabin door then sat down beside Rosie and tilted her head gently as he looked at the discoloured bruise that was already beginning to form on her left cheek.
'I'm OK,'she said softly.
'Did you load it?' Graham asked, gesturing to the Very pistol on the floor in front of them.
She nodded. 'I wanted to shoot him myself but I couldn't bring myself to pull the trigger. I'm sorry.'
Graham smiled gently at her. 'What are you apologizing for? You saved my life, Rosie. Thanks.'
'Who are you?'
'My name's Mike.'
'Mike Graham?'
'Yeah, how did you know?'
She took a cassette from her pocket and handed it to him. 'Bernard — that is his name, isn't it?' Graham nodded. 'Well, he gave it to me before we left the house. He said I was to give it to my uncle when I saw him again. He was to give it to you.'
'Did he say what was on the tape?'
She shook her head.
Graham sat back against the side of the cabin and turned the cassette around slowly in his fingers. His name had been printed in capital letters on both sides in black pen. It had to contain something about Carrie and Mikey. But it didn't make any sense. Bernard wasn't the sort of man to gloat. It wasn't in his nature. So why had he made the cassette for him? The question lingered in his mind for the rest of the journey back to the safe house.
The helicopter was surrounded by members of the SWAT team when it landed in the clearing. Demerest closed down the engine then unbuckled his safety belt and clambered out of the cockpit. He was immediately handcuffed and led away towards a police car.
The door was pulled open from the outside and Whitlock peered anxiously into the cabin. Rosie smiled at him then bit her lip as a tear trickled down her face. Graham helped Whitlock into the cabin then went off to find something to use to cut Rosie free.
'Thank God you're safe,' Whitlock said, hurrying over to her.
She hugged him and suddenly the tears began to spill down her face. Whitlock took a handkerchief from his pocket and gave it to her. She smiled selfconsciously as she wiped her eyes.
'Who hit you?' he asked, a sudden anger entering his voice. 'Bernard?'
She nodded. 'I'm OK. What happened to your arm?'
'It's nothing,' he replied with a dismissive shrug. 'Your parents are going to be over the moon when they find out you're safe. So will Carmen. We've all been out of our minds with worry.'
'Is it still alright if I come and stay with you and Carmen for a few days? Just until I feel strong enough to face my parents again.'
'The spare bed's already made up,' Whitlock replied. 'You can stay as long as you want, you know that.'
'Knock, knock,' Graham said, peering into the cabin.
'Come in, Mike,' Whitlock said, looking round at Graham.
Graham climbed back into the helicopter, a small hacksaw in his hand. 'We'll have you out of here in no time, Rosie.'
'How come you two know each other?' Rosie asked as Graham crouched down beside her.
Graham glanced at Whitlock, waiting for him to answer. It was up to him to decide whether he was going to tell her about UNACO. In some ways Graham felt she deserved an explanation but he wouldn't say anything, not without Whitlock's lead.
Whitlock gave her a knowing smile. 'You get to meet a lot of different people in the diplomatic corps. I first met Mike at a reception at the UN. We've bumped into each other a few times since then. Mike called me when they'd found out where Bernard was holding you. I got over here as quick as I could.'
'Are you a cop?' she asked Graham.
Graham stopped cutting to look up at her. 'Yeah, a sort of a cop.'
'A sort of a cop?' she queried. 'What kind of an answer's that?'
'The only one you're getting,' Graham replied then went back to cutting through the handcuff around her wrist.
'I can take a hint,' she said.
It took Graham another minute to cut through the handcuff. He plied apart the two halves and she pulled her wrist free.
'Well, are you ready for a hot bath, a good meal and a long sleep in a warm bed?' Whitlock asked her.
'You bet,' she replied, rubbing her chafed wrist.
'Come on then,' Whitlock said, helping her to her feet.
'Thanks, Mike,' she said softly then kissed him lightly on the cheek.
'Get out of here,' he said good-humouredly.
She followed Whitlock to the door then looked back at Graham. 'Are you an undercover cop?' d
'Yeah, a sort of an undercover cop,' Graham replied poker-faced.
She smiled. 'Bye, Mike.'
'See you, Rosie,' Graham replied with a smile.
Sabrina waited until Whitlock and Rosie had been helped out of the helicopter before looking in at Graham. 'You're crazy, do you know that?'
'Sure, I know that,' Graham replied, nodding his head. 'How come it's taken you so long to realize it?'
'Why didn't either of you say anything before you went off like that?'
'I'm sure the Colonel would have sanctioned what we had in mind, aren't you? I take it he's pretty pissed off about what we did.'
'He's only pissed off that neither of you told him what you were going to do. He actually seems quite pleased with the outcome. He wants to see you. Now.'
Graham moved to the door and was about to jump to the ground when something caught his eye on the floor in the corner of the cabin. He went over for a closer look.
'What is it?' Sabrina asked.
'It's a computer disc,' he replied then picked it up and looked round at her. 'Are you thinking what I'm thinking?'
'Aha,' she said, slowly nodding her head. 'Bernard's insurance policy.'
'It must have fallen out of his pocket when we were fighting. This is quite a coup for UN AGO.'