Алистер Маклин: Time of the Assassins

‘Yeah, thanks,’ he replied then waited until she had left the room before pressing the ‘play’ button. He sat down, his arms resting on his knees, his eyes riveted on the cassette as it turned slowly on the spools.

‘When you receive this tape, Graham, I’ll have already left the country with the intention of starting up a new life in some distant corner of the world. I know you’ll never stop looking for me and, frankly, I can’t say I blame you. I know you’ve always held me personally responsible for what happened to your wife, Carol, and your son, Michael. This tape isn’t an attempt to try and exonerate myself. I can’t. I’ll always be partly responsible for their deaths, I know that. But you have the right to know what really happened that afternoon outside your apartment in New York.

‘I was in Libya at the time on the orders of the CIA – or Robert Bailey, to be more specific. As you no doubt know by now, he’s been my handler ever since I first started working for the company. The reason I was there was because Salim Al-Makesh, who was then a senior advisor in Abu Nidal’s Black June movement, had come up with a plan to mount a bombing operation across the United States. The idea was to hit, amongst others, shopping malls, sports stadiums and school buildings – in other words, a soft target campaign. The CIA found out about it through a mole they had in the Black June movement but he was killed under mysterious circumstances before he could pass on all the information to them. Whether he was murdered, or whether he died accidently, was never established. But the CIA were worried because they still didn’t know exactly where and when the bombs were due to go off. That’s why I was sent to meet with Al-Makesh – to fill in the missing dates so that the bombers could be arrested when they arrived in the United States.

‘We’d been talking for about forty minutes, without much success I might add, when we first heard that you, and your men, had surrounded the base camp. But at the time we had no idea who you were or where you’d come from. So I called Bailey in Washington and told him what was happening. He knew that if Al-Makesh were killed, the CIA would have lost their last chance to prevent the bombing campaign. I don’t know how he found out but it wasn’t five minutes later when he rang back to say that it was a unit of the US anti-terrorist squad, Delta. Then I knew we were in trouble. Apart from the two of us, there were another eight men at the base – no match for a crack Delta unit. Bailey said he would “arrange something”. Those were his exact words. He called back a few minutes later to say that the Delta unit would be pulled out. That was great news – until you attacked. Al-Makesh ordered his men to stand and fight then he took me to an underground tunnel and we managed to get out only minutes before your unit overran the camp.

‘I called Bailey that night to find out what had gone wrong. That’s when he told me what had really happened. He had found out that a Delta unit was in the area, under your command, but he couldn’t risk telling your commanding officer that I was a CIA asset without compromising my position. He knew it was your first operation as a unit leader and, understandably, he thought you might crack, given the right pressure. Your wife and son were kidnapped on his orders to force you to give the order to pull back. I know several eyewitnesses claimed that three Arabs, all wearing balaclavas, were involved in the kidnapping because they were sure the men had been speaking a language similar to Arabic. It was Arabic but they weren’t Arabs. They were Americans speaking Arabic: Bailey’s men – Paul Brett, Jack Rogers and a third man called Kennedy, Rick Kennedy. He was killed in a light plane crash a few months ago.

‘Your wife and son were brought here, to this safe house. That’s why I came here after I was forced to leave the apartment in Murray Hill. It’s the only other CIA safe house that I know of in the United States. I don’t know whether Bailey ever intended to let them go but it seems your wife went for one of the men after he’d manhandled your son and in the ensuing struggle she managed to unmask him. They couldn’t let either of them go after that. Both were shot that same day and their bodies buried at the back of the house. I don’t know exactly where but it was somewhere close to the house. That’s what happened, Graham. I don’t expect you to take my word for it. There’s a file in Bailey’s computer entitled “Operation Delta”. It’s all there. I’m sure your Colonel Philpott will be given access to it by the CIA.

‘You must be wondering right now why I made this tape for you. Well, I can answer that in one word – respect. Like me, you’re a field man, and one of the best by all accounts. Bailey’s a desk man who manipulates the lives of the people around him. He may have been my controller, but that didn’t mean I had to respect him. How could I? You, though, gained my respect the moment you gave the order to attack. You believed in your principles enough to sacrifice your own family for them. That’s the mark of a true soldier.

‘But having said that, the past can never be undone. We both have to live with what happened that day. Each of us has our own guilt to bear. And no matter what happens, we’ll have to carry that guilt to our graves. Assalam alaikum.’

Graham sat back in the chair and rubbed his hands slowly over his face. He knew the anger would come, in time. But at that moment all he felt was relief, relief that the last pieces of the jigsaw had finally slotted into place. At last, he knew the truth. The pain and the anguish of the past two years were at an end. But most importantly of all, Carrie and Mikey could now be laid to rest in sacred ground. Carrie had always been the religious one of the family, and he knew she would have wanted it, not only for herself, but for Mikey as well – together, side by side for ever.

He switched off the tape deck, pocketed the cassette, then picked up his cup and went through to the kitchen. Sabrina was sitting at the pine table.

‘Are you OK?’ she asked softly.

‘Yeah,’ he replied then went on to quickly outline the gist of what Bernard had said on the cassette.

‘I’m sorry, Mike,’ she said softly when he’d finished speaking.

‘I always knew they were dead. I can’t explain why, though. I guess it’s just a feeling you have when you’re as close as I was to them. What’s always preyed on my mind these last couple of years was the fact that they’d never had a proper burial. But now I can rectify that. Then I can visit the graves every week and be with them again.’ He shrugged uncomfortably. ‘I know that sounds kind of corny…’

‘Only to you. You’ve never allowed your feelings to surface since they disappeared, have you? You’ve always made yourself out to be the hard, uncaring maverick. Well, that’s the image you wanted to portray, and it’s worked with most people. It even worked with me, at first. But not now. I’ve seen the other side of Mike Graham. And he’s not as hard as he likes the world to believe.’

‘Yeah?’ he said then put the cup down on the table. ‘It’s late. I’d better be going.’

‘There’s a spare room. It’s only ever used when my parents come up from Miami.’

‘No, I want to get back to the hotel. But thanks anyway.’

‘OK. I’ll get my keys.’

‘I’ll get a cab. You need your beauty sleep.’

‘Don’t be silly–’

‘I’m taking a cab.’ Graham indicated the cup on the table. ‘Thanks for the hot chocolate.’

She nodded then got up and walked him to the front door. ‘Are you sure I can’t give you a lift? It’s no trouble.’

‘I’m sure.’ He opened the door then looked back at her. ‘See you this afternoon.’