Алистер Маклин - Time of the Assassins

‘Drowsy, but otherwise he’s fine. The doctor who examined him said there would be no side-effects from the drugs. He’ll be discharged tomorrow morning.’

‘I still don’t understand why Ngune didn’t kill him if he was such a threat,’ Laidlaw said.

‘Ngune needed him alive in case his coup failed. Then he could have used him as a hostage to get out of the country. Jamel and Remy have always been close. It’s a bond that’s developed over the years through their mutual abhorrence of their father’s regime. Jamel refused to contemplate any military action against Ngune until he knew Remy was safe.’

‘Why was he kidnapped?’ Moredi asked. ‘What did he have on Ngune?’

‘Plenty. His mysterious informer was Ngune’s personal secretary.’

Moredi whistled softly. ‘No wonder Remy was so secretive about him. He must have been a mine of information.’

‘Oh, he was. He knew about the coup; he also knew about the plot to assassinate Jamel; and he passed all this information on to Remy. When Ngune found out what had happened he had to stop Remy from printing the story, so he had him kidnapped.’

‘Did Ngune’s secretary identify the third man?’ Sabrina asked.

‘It is Bernard,’ Tambese replied. ‘But what really interested me was the fact that the actual plot to assassinate Jamel didn’t originate here in Zimbala, as our intelligence sources have been led to believe. It’s been a CIA operation all along. Ngune was their man. He’s been working for the CIA for the past twenty-four years.’

‘Ngune, CIA?’ Moredi said in amazement. ‘Why would he work for them?’

Tambese shrugged. ‘I couldn’t tell you. All I know is that it’s been one of the CIA’s best-kept secrets for all those years. His secretary only found out by chance.’

‘Did he know who was behind the operation at Langley?’ Sabrina asked.

‘No.’

‘It could be Bailey,’ Sabrina said, looking at Graham.

‘Could be,’ Graham agreed. ‘But right now we’ve got more important things to worry about.’

‘What do you mean?’ she asked suspiciously.

Graham looked at Tambese. ‘Tell her.’

‘You know that Jamel will be attending a trade fair in New York later this afternoon. It’ll be his last public engagement before he flies out tonight.’

‘Yes,’ she replied hesitantly.

‘Bernard will be there as well, armed with a high-powered sniper rifle. Ngune was told that a final attempt would be made to assassinate Jamel at the Trade Center if he was still alive on the last day of his trip to America.’

Sabrina looked at her watch. ‘New York’s seven hours behind Zimbalan time. That means it’ll be almost eleven thirty at night back home.’ She turned to Graham. ‘I’ll call Sergei and tell him about Bernard.’

‘What can he do without alerting the CIA?’ Graham asked, holding her stare. ‘He’d have to tell the NYPD if he wanted to carry out a search of the building. And they’re sure to have CIA moles at the highest level. It wouldn’t take long for word to reach Langley that Bernard had been compromised, and he’d be told to pull out. Then we’d be back to square one again.’

‘Surely the CIA will abort the operation anyway when they find out the coup has failed and that Ngune is dead?’ Okoye said, looking from Graham to Sabrina.

‘But they don’t know that,’ Tambese told him. ‘All they’ll know at the moment is that Branco and the rebel garrison have been destroyed by troops loyal to the government. We haven’t released any casualty figures yet. What Mike suggested we do is put out some disinformation that Ngune and about two hundred of his men have amassed on the Chadian border to try and retake Kondese within the next twelve hours – so the CIA will still believe that they can overthrow Jamel and the government.’

‘I’d like a word in private,’ Sabrina said to Graham then looked round at the others. ‘Would you excuse us for a moment, please?’

Graham followed her out onto the porch.

‘Yow suggested that they should spread some disinformation about Ngune? Why, Mike?’ She held up her hand before he could answer. ‘No, let me guess. So that it would give you enough time to get back to New York and deal with Bernard yourself.’

‘Not me, us,’ he retorted.

‘This has become an obsession, hasn’t it? You’ll go to any lengths to confront Bernard yourself. Even to the point of deliberately putting an innocent man’s life in danger. It doesn’t bother you, does it?’

Graham rested his arms on the railing and nodded his head slowly to himself. ‘I admit I was wrong going after Bernard like I did. At the time it was an obsession. But not any more. I’ve seen what Mobuto means to this country. The people need him.’ He glanced round at her. ‘Don’t get me wrong, I still want to see Bernard brought to justice. But right now it’s more important to stop him before he can get to Mobuto.’

She sat down slowly on the wicker chair by the door. Her emotions had ranged from anger to guilt in the space of a few seconds. And it wasn’t the first time it had happened either. She knew she was vulnerable to this quiet, softly spoken side of him that rarely showed itself. But he was the one who had given her an ultimatum in Beirut to work with, or without, him to find Bernard, irrespective of the danger to Jamel Mobuto. How was she to know he’d had a change of heart? She wasn’t a mind-reader. So why the hell was she feeling guilty?

‘I know we should tell Sergei what’s happening, but what could he do? Never mind the NYPD; that was just a smokescreen I put up in there. What about the CIA men working with C.W.? They’re Bailey’s men. And if he is behind this whole operation, which I’m certain he is, he’d be the first to know if Bernard was compromised. How could Sergei have a description of Bernard circulated amongst the security staff at the Trade Fair without Bailey’s men finding out? He couldn’t, could he? That’s why we have to stop Bernard ourselves. It has to be done in complete secrecy so that by the time we get there it’ll be too late for Bernard to pull out. He’ll be trapped. Then we can take him and bust this whole case wide open.’

She gave him a resigned nod. ‘How are we going to get back to New York in time?’

‘Tambese’s arranged for one of the presidential planes to be put on standby for us in Habane. The Cessna’s already been refuelled. All we’re waiting for now is a pilot. Tambese would have flown us to Habane himself but he’s still got a lot of loose ends to tie up down here. He said we should reach New York with a couple of hours to spare.’

‘And if we don’t make it?’

‘Then we’ll have to radio through to Sergei and explain the situation to him. He could still prevent Mobuto from attending the Trade Fair but then Bernard would almost certainly get away. But it shouldn’t come to that. We do have time on our side.’

‘God, I hope so,’ she replied, rubbing her hands over her face. ‘If something does happen to Mobuto, C.W. will be breaking in two new partners. We’ll be out so fast our feet won’t touch the ground.’

‘Nothing’s going to happen to Mobuto,’ Graham replied.

The door opened and Tambese looked out. ‘Sorry to disturb you, but I thought you’d like to know that the pilot’s on his way. He should be here in about ten minutes.’

‘Great,’ Graham said then looked around him slowly. ‘I’ll be sad to leave this place. It seems so tranquil.’

Tambese stepped out onto the porch. ‘It is, believe me. I’ve been coming down here with my wife for the last ten years. It’s the perfect tonic when you want to get away from the hustle and bustle of Habane.’

‘I didn’t know you were married,’ Sabrina said.