Avenger

by Andy McNab

  It was Deveraux.

  'She's gone,' he told her, 'and the device has gone with her! You said we had another thirty! We've missed her, and I don't know what's in her head. Maybe he has groomed her; maybe she is going through with it!'

  Danny raced back into the room. In his hand was the invitation card that Elena had taken from the padded envelope earlier that evening.

  'She's gone to the Time Warner Center, where she was last night,' he yelled as he thrust the invitation towards Fergus.

  Fergus read the words on the card, still holding the phone to his ear.

  MS ELENA OMOLODON

  PLEASE JOIN OUR CELEBRATION IN THE TIME WARNER BUILDING IN THE MAGNIFICENT NEW TWIN TOWERS AT COLUMBUS CIRCLE

  LOUNGE SUITS

  HANOVER FINANCE

  As Fergus stared at the card, he heard Deveraux's voice. 'Where is she? Did Danny say the Time Warner Center? Is that it? Tell me what he said. Watts, I want—!'

  Fergus cut the call. He kept his voice low as he spoke to Danny, trying to keep him calm. 'Listen in. I don't know what's going on, Danny, but it could be all this grooming has affected her. She's told us where she is – maybe that's so we can find her or maybe it's—'

  '– so we'll see her detonate the device?' said Danny. 'It can't be that, Granddad. It can't be! She wouldn't do that!'

  'Get to Columbus Circle now – run, it'll be quicker. I'll get there as soon as I can.'

  Danny was staring, listening intently as his grandfather continued.

  'Do whatever it takes, but you've got to make sure the two det leads are disconnected from the battery, then you have to twist the leads together. Remember everything I told you before.'

  Danny nodded and turned to go.

  'Wait!' said Fergus. 'You must twist the leads – otherwise they become an antenna and any electricity in the air could still detonate the device. Just keep her there until I arrive. Now go!'

  Danny sprinted from the room and Fergus followed. He picked up the DO NOT DISTURB card, which was lying on the floor, and hung it back on the door. Danny had already disappeared; he was tearing down the fire escape stairs.

  Fergus limped towards the elevator, his leg burning with pain. Maybe he would be lucky; maybe he could pick up a cab and get to Columbus Circle quickly.

  But it looked as though saving Elena was going to be down to Danny.

  45

  Manhattan's grid system means that it's easy to get around. The numbered streets run east to west, starting at 1st Street in Lower Manhattan to way up in the hundreds uptown, with the famous name avenues and Broadway running north to south.

  In only two days, and greatly aided by his surveillance stint, Danny had quickly latched onto the system and felt he could now find his way anywhere in Manhattan without getting lost.

  But getting lost wasn't the problem. Getting where he wanted to go was.

  As he sprinted past shocked-looking guests and porters in the Pennsylvania reception and out through the revolving doors, he could picture his quickest route. He would simply turn to the left and head for Eighth Avenue, where he would turn right for the long run up to Columbus Circle.

  It was an easy route, and Danny reckoned he could cover the distance in around twenty minutes. But as soon as he went through the doors he hit trouble.

  The road was jam-packed with traffic and the pavements were heaving with New Yorkers and tourists out for a stroll, taking in the sights or window-shopping.

  And no one apart from Danny appeared to be in a hurry.

  He was dodging and weaving through the crowd and he didn't see the fur-coated middle-aged woman and her jacketed Pekinese until he had tripped over the dog's lead.

  The Pekinese yelped, the woman yelled, and Danny went stumbling into a mobile pretzel stall trundling towards him from the opposite direction.

  'Hey, buddy, watch it, will yer!' shouted the pretzel seller as Danny struggled to keep his feet.

  'Sorry, sorry,' said Danny. The woman glared at him and bent down to comfort her quivering pet.

  Danny started off again, until he came to the next junction and the sign with the bright red stationary figure.

  He had to stop; other pedestrians were six-deep in front of him, all of them waiting for the signal to begin the cavalry-charge to the other side. Danny tried to edge his way through to the front, but he was still three back when the lights changed and everyone moved together.

  It didn't get any better as he turned onto Eighth Avenue. Danny had always been a runner, but he barely managed more than five or six strides at a time before having to skid to a halt or dodge away from an oncoming pedestrian.

  He was getting more and more angry and frustrated, and when he was held at another junction, he took the gamble of crossing against the lights. A car horn blared and Danny leaped back, almost into the path of a pedal taxi.

  'Jerk!' yelled the rider as he swerved by. 'You got a death wish or something?'

  The words just made Danny think of Elena. A death wish: was that what she had now?

  Deveraux was pacing up and down in her room. Fergus and Danny were not answering her calls. She had to consider her options and make a decision. Fran and Mick were still too far away from the city to be of any practical use. She thought about calling the New York police or even her opposite numbers in the US Security Services, but swiftly pushed the thought from her head.

  Too many problems; too much explanation. She had her promotion – no, her entire future – to think of, and the only way that could be guaranteed was if she ensured the mission was a complete success.

  Killing Black Star had been the aim of the mission – at whatever cost – and Deveraux had calculated that the cost could have been one or more of her team.

  But now the cost could be numerous innocent victims, and that would be the end of all her plans. Despite Dr Jacobson's and Dudley's warnings, Deveraux had never believed that Elena really would go through with a suicide bombing. Now it seemed she was wrong.

  There was only one option: she had to sort this herself. She had to stop Elena from detonating the device. She took the spare Pll pistol grip out of the room safe and pushed home a new barrel.

  Fergus was almost ready to give up on his cab and drag himself up to Columbus Circle. The driver had happily headed into a traffic jam soon after Fergus got into the vehicle. When Fergus shouted at him, he eventually found somewhere to turn round and then cruised straight into a fresh snarl-up on the edge of Times Square.

  'I don't understand it,' he said to Fergus with a shrug. 'It ain't usually like this. Must be something special going down tonight.' He turned round and gave a toothy grin. 'Maybe Brad Pitt is in town for a premiere. Or Nicole. She's one hot babe, that Nicole, huh?'

  Fergus didn't reply, just reached into his jacket pocket for some notes and thrust them at the driver through the opening in the dividing screen. 'I'll walk.'

  The driver shrugged again as Fergus threw open the door, got out of the cab and limped away up Broadway.

  The Broadway theatres were ablaze with lights and illuminated posters and photographs of the latest smash hit shows.

  Fergus saw none of them. He was totally focused on reaching Columbus Circle, ignoring the pain in his leg. It was as though it wasn't there. As he limped on towards his destination, he told himself it was nothing compared to some of the forced marches he had endured over the years.

  All he cared about was getting to Elena. And Danny.

  46

  Danny saw the laser lights dancing over the Time Warner Center towers long before he reached Columbus Circle.

  He was sprinting along Eighth Avenue. He still had to pause and sometimes stop completely at the crossroads, but he took stupid, crazy risks as he dodged pedestrians and vehicles.

  He had to reach Elena. That was all that mattered.

  He emerged into the sprawl of Columbus Circle, gasping for breath. Chauffeur-driven stretch limos and a variety of expensive, gleaming cars were starting to deposit their passenger
s for the big event. Dozens of camera flashes added to the light show as smiling guests walked up the red carpet.

  Danny ran past them all and into the entrance of the building. There was a sign saying where the Hanover event was taking place, so he ran straight to the elevators.

  Two huge guys in tuxedos stood on guard. 'Whoa there, son,' said the taller one as Danny almost skidded to a standstill. 'And where do you think you're going?'

  'To . . . to the Hanover opening,' gasped Danny.

  The two musclemen weren't in the mood for a smart guy. 'Invitation only son. No one gets in without an invitation.'

  Danny was struggling for breath. 'But . . . but I've got an invitation,' he said, reaching into a pocket and pulling out the embossed card. 'Look.'

  They looked, and then they glanced at each other before the second man spoke. 'And didn't you read what it says on there about the dress code?'

  Danny stared down at his trainers, jeans and bomber jacket. It wasn't what was required but he had to say something – anything. 'I didn't have time to change.'

  The taller guard took a closer look at the invitation. 'What kinda dress were you planning on wearing tonight, Ms Elena Omolo— whatever?'

  For a moment Danny considered attempting to continue with his pathetic bluff, but he knew it was useless. And another thought had come into his mind. 'Did you say that no one can get in without an invitation?'

  The big guy nodded. "That's right. No invitation, no go.'

  'But my . . . my friend is meant to be there.' He held up the card. 'The invitation is hers. She left it in the hotel. I was hoping to . . . to give it to her.'

  Both guards visibly relaxed. 'Why didn't you say that in the first place, instead of trying to fool us like you did?'

  'I. . . I dunno. I just want to make sure she gets in.'

  'Yeah,' said the guard. 'Look, you leave the invitation with me and I'll make sure she gets it when she turns up. As long as she's got some ID, that is.'

  He reached out to take the invitation but Danny was already slipping it back into his pocket. 'No. No, it's all right, thanks. I'll wait for her outside. I need to see her anyway.'

  'Suit yourself,' said the big guy with a shrug.

  Danny was about to turn away but then he stopped. 'You're certain she couldn't have gone up there?'

  'I told you,' said the guard. 'If she ain't got no invitation, she ain't at the party.'

  47

  Danny walked away from the Time Warner building, wondering if perhaps he'd got it all wrong: maybe Elena had left the invitation stuck to the DLB to confuse him; to send him on a wild goose chase while she carried her deadly cargo to some other venue in Manhattan.

  But why? To get him out of the way? To make sure he was safe as she killed herself when the device was detonated?

  He had no idea what to do next as he edged his way through a large group of new arrivals and made for Columbus Circle.

  And then he saw her. Elena was standing across the road, close to the wall surrounding Central Park. She was staring directly at him.

  Danny couldn't stop himself from shouting. 'Elena!'

  Elena just kept staring and Danny started across the road. A car horn blared its warning and he jumped back onto the pavement.

  When he looked across the road again, she had disappeared. 'Elena!' he breathed.

  He pulled out his mobile and dialled. 'Granddad, I've found her.'

  He explained exactly where he'd seen Elena standing, hearing the traffic and voices and Fergus's laboured breathing in the background as he talked.

  'I'll be there in ten,' said Fergus. 'Be careful, Danny, and remember, get that det off the battery and twist the leads together. Get the IED off her and walk away. I'll do the rest. Good luck.'

  Danny slipped the mobile back into his pocket, looked across the road and saw Elena again. She had moved further back into the shadows, but she was there, and she was still looking at him. Danny remembered the area well; it was almost exactly where he had been standing when he was pulled into the darkness of the park by Mick.

  Danny waited for the traffic to pass. He crossed the road, walking rather than running, realizing that he needed to approach Elena with caution – the utmost caution.

  He took three further steps across the wide pavement and then Elena spoke. 'Don't come any closer, Danny.'

  Her voice was strange – deep and distant – and as Danny stopped moving, she looked down at her right hand, which was holding the fishing line, and raised it slightly. 'Go away, Danny, you're in danger if you stay.'

  'Elena, please!' said Danny softly but urgently, knowing that he had to try to appear calm, even though his heart was pounding.

  Slowly Elena lowered her hand until it rested at her side.

  'Don't do it, Elena. Please? You can't do what Black Star wanted now; you won't get in. I'm not gonna give you the invitation. And Black Star's dead.'

  The relief on Elena's face was obvious. She smiled. 'Is he? Oh, Danny . . . He said he was going to die, but I didn't know whether he meant it.'

  Danny had no idea what she was talking about.

  Elena leaned back against the wall, her hand letting go of the line. 'Why did it all take so long? I didn't know what to do and I thought he was following me, watching me, all the time. That's why I left the invitation, so you'd know where I'd gone. With this stuff on my back, I knew I didn't have long.'

  Danny moved slowly towards Elena, listening to every word she said.

  'I knew I wouldn't get in without the invitation and I knew I couldn't bluff Black Star and tell him that I'd tried to detonate but the mix didn't work. I came over here to get out of the way of all those people.'

  'You . . . you mean, you weren't going to detonate the device?'

  Elena stared at him. 'What?'

  'I thought . . . we thought . . .'

  'I didn't know what was happening – I had to keep going – I had to carry on with the job until I knew Black Star was dead.'

  'But the cocaine was still in the room. We thought you were gonna do it for real.'

  'What! Why would you think that?' She paused. 'Cocaine! Is that what. . . ? I couldn't put it in the mix. He was watching me all the time! There was nowhere I could do it without him seeing.' She shuddered. 'You have no idea how awful it was! I was scared, Danny, really scared. I wanted to walk out and leave someone else to do it. But I knew I couldn't.' The words tumbled out of her.

  'You're sure he's dead?' she asked again.

  Danny nodded. 'Dead. Really dead.'

  'You know, Danny, there were times when I lost it, lost sight of what I was doing,' she whispered. 'His voice. It took hold of me. It was so creepy. And I was playing the part so hard . . .' She took a deep breath. 'You're gonna think I'm crazy, but Danny, there were moments when I . . . I started to believe . . . I thought I was going to go through with it. And then I thought of you, my dad—' Her voice broke.

  'You love this stuff, Danny I don't. I hate it. The lies. The secrets.' She sighed. 'I've gotta get out. There's something I've got to do first and then I just want to go home.'