Jack Higgins: Day of Reckoning

'Well, it isn't the thermal lance man,' Dillon said. 'He'd be there all night trying to get into the kind of strong room they'll have in here. I'd say it's the electronics whiz kid.'

'I agree,' Harry said. 'But that doesn't get us any further.'

There was a pause, and it was Billy who said, 'What we need is more information, and the only way to get that is to pick up one of the team and squeeze him dry.'

Harry laughed out loud. 'My God, you really are learning. Who would you suggest? The one who's least important, the one whose absence wouldn't be a burden.'

'The heavy, Amber Frazer,' Dillon said.

'I'd say so.'

'Brilliant.' Harry Salter turned to Ferguson. 'We lift this guy tonight. Leave it to us. We'll deliver him to your safe house at Holland Park, then we'll review the situation.'

'This is illegal, of course,' Ferguson said. 'He hasn't done anything.'

'Not yet,' Dillon said. 'But I'm sure you could think of something. After all, isn't this why we didn't bring the Superintendent?'

'You're right, of course. It's in your hands, Harry. I may call you Harry?'

'You can call me any bleeding thing you like.'

'Excellent, then if your Dora can come up with an indifferent glass of red wine, I'll drink your health and leave you to it,' Ferguson told him.

It was ten o'clock that night when Amber Frazer and Manchester Charlie Ford emerged from a small Italian restaurant in Notting Hill. Harry and Billy had been waiting for some time, sitting in their car. Ford hailed a cab, patted Amber's face, and got in.

'Brilliant,' Billy said as Amber turned and walked away.

They trailed him and Billy pulled in at the pavement a little further along. Harry Salter got out. Amber, my old son, I thought it was you.'

'My God, Harry, what are you doing here?'

'Looking for you, so get in the car.'

Amber, alarmed, tried to turn away, and Salter pushed the muzzle of a gun he was carrying in his right-hand pocket against Amber's back.

'Is that a gun, Harry?'

'Well, it's not my finger. Yes, it's a gun, and it's silenced, so I could blow away your spine, leave you on the pavement and drive away and no one would hear a thing. Get in the car.'

Amber did as he was told and Harry got in behind him and took out the gun. 'Listen, Amber, I know you like to think you're some kind of Mike Tyson, and you've got big muscles, but not with a bullet in your stomach. So do as you're told.'

Billy said, 'Evening, Amber,' and drove away.

At the safe house, Amber sat wondering what the hell was going on, Miller at the door. After a while, it opened, and Dillon and Helen Black came in, followed by Harry Salter.

'Look, what's this about?' Amber stood up.

Dillon kicked him very hard in the right ankle. 'Sit down.'

Helen Black said, 'Is this the man, Mr Salter?' 'Definitely. He's involved with a gang of known criminals: Charles Ford, Val French, Connie Briggs. I understand their intention is to rob the White Diamond Company tomorrow night of a very large consignment from South Africa. I also understand there's a Mafia connection, a man named Jack Fox.'

Amber panicked. 'Here, what is this? I don't know what you're talking about.'

Dillon said to Helen Black, 'Dear me, if this little caper goes through, he'll still be legally a part of it, am I right?' 'Absolutely.'

'What kind of sentence would he pull?'

'Minimum of ten years.'

Amber was sweating now. 'Look, for God's sake.' 'No, for your sake,' Salter said.

There was a pause, and then Helen Black said, 'If you help us in the matter, you'll be released within the next few days and put on a plane back to Barbados.'

'And if you don't, it's back to the shower at Wandsworth,' Dillon said.

Frazer had done a particularly nasty stretch at Wandsworth a couple of years earlier, and he had no desire to repeat it. He loved Charlie, but… Charlie could take care of himself.

'Okay.' Amber took out a handkerchief and wiped his face. 'Give me a drink.' Helen Black nodded to Miller, who went to the sideboard and poured a large Scotch. Amber swallowed it down. 'Okay, what do you want to know?'

On the other side of the mirror, Ferguson stood with Hannah, Blake and Billy. A good start,' he said.

'Depends on your point of view, sir,' Hannah said. 'Well, my point is getting a result. I'm like a lot of people these days, Superintendent, sick of the bad guys getting away with it, as our American cousins would say. War is war, and this is a kind of war. If you're not happy, go back to the office.'

'There's no need for that, sir.'

'I hope not.'

In the interview room, Salter said, 'All right, Amber. Manchester Charlie Ford, you, Connie and Val are going to hit the White Diamond Company for Jack Fox. We know you've already cut open the grille gate in the tunnel from the river.'

Amber was shocked. 'How do you know that?'

'We know everything, old son.'

Dillon leaned against the wall and lit a cigarette. Helen took up the story. 'The gate is open, you go up the tunnel, smash a hole through an old Victorian brick wall and you're into the basement of the White Diamond Company.'

'Only what we can't understand, old son, is how you're supposed to do the job,' Salter said. 'I mean, all that security, all those alarms.'

Amber didn't reply, and Dillon said, 'It's a waste of time, Sergeant Major. Ship him up to Wandsworth and charge him with conspiracy.'

As you say, sir,' Helen Black said.

Amber said, 'No, for God's sake, I'll tell you. Give me another drink,' which Miller did. Amber swallowed it down just like the other. 'Okay, what do you want to know?'

'First of all, the security man?'

'No problem. He takes over at six o'clock from the other guy. Always gets coffee and a big box of sandwiches from the takeaway at the end of the street. There's a girl there who Charlie knows. She's going to put a couple of pills in the coffee. They take a while to act, but when they do, he's out for three or four hours.'

'But the security system?' Helen Black said.

'That's Connie Briggs. He's a genius at electronics. He's got hold of this thing called a Howler. When you switch it on, it screws up all electronic systems in a given area. TV video security, gate locks, vaults, the lot.'

'My God,' Helen Black said. 'I can't believe it.'

'Of course!' Dillon said. 'Oh, what an ass I am! I've seen those things. They work, believe me.' He turned to Amber. 'So it is tomorrow night?'

Amber nodded. 'Seven o'clock. It's got to be early because of the tide.'

'Will Fox be there?' Dillon asked.

'No way. It's all down to us and the Jagos.'

The door opened and Ferguson came in, trailed by Billy, Hannah and Blake Johnson. 'Thank you, Sergeant Major,' the Brigadier said. 'Take him out and keep him secure.'

Black and Miller took Amber Frazer between them, and Blake said, 'Well, now we know.'

'The only trouble is, Fox isn't taking part,' Hannah said.

'Well, he wouldn't,' Dillon told her. 'He's too careful to get directly involved in a caper like this. We have to settle for foiling the robbery and banging up the lot of them, including the Jagos. The end result will still be that Fox loses his hope of a big killing with those diamonds.'

'His last hope,' Blake said.

'Exactly.' Dillon nodded. 'So how do we handle it?'

Harry Salter said, 'I've been thinking. My Joe, Joe Baxter, when he was doing a five stretch at Armle Prison in Leeds, did a learning programme. Did welding, all that stuff. You know, oxy-acetylene.'

'So what are you suggesting?' Ferguson asked.

'Well, it would run something like this, Brigadier,' and Harry Salter told him.

They all listened, and Ferguson burst into laughter. 'My God, that's the best thing I've heard in years.'