Jack Higgins - A Devil is vaiting

The President said, Mr. Dillon, Mr. Holley, good to see you. But it was the man in the wheelchair to whom he extended his hand. Major Roper, it s an honor to see you. The official accounts I ve read of your bravery are outstanding especially that time in the Portland Hotel foyer nine hours on your own.

Not quite true, Mr. President. I had the bomb as company, which I found myself occasionally talking to.

The President roared with laughter. It s been a joy meeting you, and if I could, I d give you the Congressional Medal of Honor to go with your George Cross.

The words were for public consumption, but at a private meeting he had said as much to Roper already, along with a commendation to all of them for the way they d handled the incident in the garage, which the powers that be had decided had not taken place at all. No point giving Al Qaeda the oxygen of publicity.

He shook Roper s hand warmly and went out, followed by the Prime Minister and his entourage. Ferguson said quietly to Roper as he passed, I ll speak to you soon.

Suddenly it was all over, people drifting out in twos and threes, no sign of Jean Talbot and Owen Rashid.

Now what? Sara asked.

Back to Holland Park. Let s see if any interesting business has come our way. He took his wheelchair out through the entrance, and they followed.

Early evening, Owen Rashid gave Jean Talbot a call and invited her to join him in an Irish bar in Shepherd Market. They sat in a corner booth and had Irish coffees.

What did the President say to you? Owen asked.

I got caught up with the crowd the Secret Service were holding back.

Oh, he said what a tragic accident it was, the plane crashing into the Irish Sea like that with my son inside.

Do you think he believed that?

No, he was just being civilized. Dillon, Holley, Kelly, and myself were all there when Justin slammed the door on all of us and flew off to his death. The President would have been told the facts. She smiled a little bleakly. Don t worry about me, Owen. I ve survived, and I ll go on surviving.

He took her hand. You re a remarkable woman.

Not really, just practical. Now that the President s come and gone, what s next on your agenda?

I need to go to Rubat for a few days. I haven t been for a while, as you know.

Because you don t want to go. She laughed. Without Mayfair, you re like a fish out of water.

On the other hand, the Sultan does like to see me every so often. I mean, it s protocol even if he is my uncle. Just a few days, a week at the most. He took her hand again. Is there any chance you d consider coming with me? You ve often talked about it. I could show you the Bacu Railway.

When would this be? she asked.

I m pretty flexible where that s concerned.

Well, as it happens, we have a half-term vacation coming up at the university on Friday.

How long for?

Two weeks.

So you ll come?

Only if you take me to dinner tonight. Do you think we could go to that little Italian place again?

He smiled. Only if you ask me in for coffee afterward.

Oh, I think that could be arranged. Let s go, shall we?

At the antiques shop, Kelly was in the kitchen, checking on an Irish stew he was preparing for the evening meal. Henri was dozing in a wingback chair beside the fire when he came awake with a start, because he d suddenly realized why that Frenchman s face at Hyde Park had been familiar to him.

Kelly appeared in the kitchen doorway. Are you okay?

I ve just realized that I can put a name to the face of that Frenchman I was following. Colonel Claude Duval. He s with the DGSE, the Secret Service. His face was in newspapers a lot six months ago, having to do with a Muslim terrorism trial.

What would he be doing over here? Kelly asked.

How do I know? It explains why he was in Roper s company, though. Kelly returned to the kitchen, and Henri followed him, found a bottle of red wine, and poured two glasses. I ve been thinking. If Rashid phones, which he probably will, I ll tell him our impression is that the Gideon woman is staying at the hotel with Holley, so we re looking at a new target.

And what would that be?

The Salters place, the Dark Man, down by the river.

It s a thought, Kelly said. Okay, that s what we ll say. Mind you, I think Rashid s occupied with other things at the moment.

Like your boss?

I think so. She doesn t answer her mobile, and I walked round again today and knocked on her door in Marley Court, but no answer.

Wasn t I with you twice yesterday and no response? Perhaps they were in bed. She s no chicken, but she s a fine-looking woman for all that.

Maybe so, Kelly said. Anyway, go and sit down, and I ll serve the meal.

So Henri took the two glasses and the bottle of wine and went off to the dining room.

At Holland Park, Dillon had decided to keep Roper company by staying over in staff quarters, something he often did. Holley and Sara, having long since departed for the Dorchester, had dined in The Grill and ended up, as before, enjoying a nightcap on the terrace of his suite.

Holley checked his watch. Eleven o clock, so the President is well on his way by now, and things can get back to normal.

Whatever normal means to you people, Sara said.

His Codex sounded, Roper on the line, and Holley switched to speaker. Roper s voice boomed. All hell s broken out at Downing Street.

Why?

The Prime Minister feels humiliated about what happened while he was entertaining the world s most important head of state

But we prevented it from happening, Sara cut in.

That s not good enough, it seems. Young Jemal the boy you shot, Sara has told us exactly what Ali Selim s plans are, and where he s going. The Prime Minister has ordered Ferguson to take us in hot pursuit. Ferguson will bring you up to speed on everything. He s on his way now. You d better get here fast.

He switched off, and Holley said, So much for the quiet life. You heard the man, Sara. Get dressed, and I ll call the doorman to have the Alfa ready.

When they got to Holland Park, Ferguson was sitting with Dillon and Roper, Doyle serving tea and coffee.

There you are. Ferguson was remarkably cheerful.

Let s get started. It could be a long night, thanks to Ali Selim. The Prime Minister is furious, thinks the whole business makes us look very bad in Washington, so Ali Selim must be dealt with once and for all.

Which is where hot pursuit comes in, Sara said.

But what does that mean, sir?

Exactly what I was going to ask, Dillon said.

Do we try and capture the man or just put a bullet between his eyes?

That would obviously depend on the situation, Ferguson told him.

But the bullet would make more sense, Holley said. In any case, do we know if he s actually reached Peshawar?

Not to our knowledge, Roper said. His plane had a flight plan to Bahrain. Since then it s dropped out of view. It s an Arab plane owned by a wealthy sheikh, flying in Gulf airspace. He shrugged. It might as well be invisible. On the other hand, if it has landed at Peshawar, it hasn t done anything wrong. We all know how corrupt the situation is in Pakistan. It s easy for Ali Selim to be passed through, and after all, he isn t going to stay there. According to Jemal, he intends to cross the border into Afghanistan to this village called Amira.

One thing in our favor, Ferguson said. Our old friend Seleman Hamza has been promoted to colonel in charge of the military police headquarters in Peshawar. He s not only on our side, he hates Al Qaeda.

So you are completely in charge, General, not the Cabinet Office, Roper said.

A statement, not a query, and Ferguson smiled. Just the way I like it. Tell me about this Amira place.

About forty miles inside Afghanistan, west of the Khyber Pass.