Edge of Danger sd-9

by Jack Higgins

  'I'm glad to hear it.' Dillon switched off and said to the others. 'We wait.'

  It was only twenty minutes later when his phone rang, and Villiers said, 'Are you all in one piece, Dillon?'

  'Absolutely. Myself and the Salters. They were waiting for us.'

  'Well, what could you expect? In a place the size of Hazar, they had to know you were coming.'

  'So what do we do? They'll find us again before long.'

  'I'm forty miles east with the Scouts. I'll leave Bronsby with half of them and come myself with the others, but I'd suggest you move. Check your GPS and let me know your whereabouts.'

  'Give me a minute.' Dillon went to the plane and got the required information.

  Villiers said, 'Good. Now get the hell out of there. There's an old fort not that far from you that'll be better cover than the plane. Trek northeast. We'll push hard, but they'll be close, Dillon, damn close. Take my mobile number and keep in touch. Good luck.'

  Dillon turned to the Salters and told them what Villiers had said. 'Get water, food, an AK each and spare ammunition, then we're out of it.' He grinned at Harry. 'You'll be able to cancel your subscription at the gym, Harry. You'll lose a stone in two days out here.'

  It was two hours later that George Rashid and ten Bedu in two Land Rovers found the 310. His chief tracker went sniffing around, came back and pointed northeast.

  'That way, Effendi, they are on foot.' 'Then run them down,' George said.

  The Salters and Dillon walked abreast, wearing headcloths against the intense heat. The problem was finding a way through the dunes. Dillon led, but it was heavy going in the soft sand. They came out into a level plain, and there was the oasis and the remains of a fort.

  Billy said, 'Is that a mirage?'

  It was Harry who called out, 'Behind you, Dillon.'

  They turned and found George Rashid and the two Land Rovers appearing over a sand dune.

  'Run for it,' Dillon cried. 'And I mean run. If they catch us in the open, we're finished,' and he stumbled down the hillside.

  They dashed past a well, a line of palm trees, and then through what was left of the gateway in the crumbling wall. Dillon led the way up steps to the large wall, where they looked out and saw George Rashid and his ten Bedu arrive.

  The Land Rovers came to a halt and the Bedu got out, with George Rashid leading. On the wall, Dillon peered through one of the openings, Billy and Harry on either side clutching their AK-47S.

  Harry said, 'What are we doing here? It's like this movie I saw as a kid. Ray Milland, Gary Cooper – Beau Geste, that was it.'

  'I saw that one,' Billy said. 'When the men were killed, the sergeant put them on the wall to make it look busy.'

  'Well, there's only three of us,' Dillon said. 'And we'd better make it good, because these guys really do cut your balls off.'

  They took positions and the Arabs spread out from the Land Rovers. Harry Salter said, 'What in the hell am I doing here, Dillon?'

  'Having a good time, Harry. Trust me and you'll get back to Wapping.' He took careful aim and fired, and a Bedu went down. 'There you go. We've got plenty of ammunition. Spray the bastards.'

  The Rashid retreated behind the Land Rovers and opened fire heavily on the wall. Dillon and the Salters returned fire.

  'Take your time, Billy,' Dillon said. 'Single shot. Let Harry loose off, but you and I take individual targets. That's your strength.'

  Billy squeezed off a single round as asked, and a Bedu fell to one side from the shelter of one of the Land Rovers.

  'There you go, Billy, that's the way,' Dillon said. 'We hold them back until Villiers gets here.' He took out a pair of Zeiss glasses. There was a flurry of Bedu moves from one Land Rover to another.

  Dillon said, 'I just caught a glimpse of George Rashid.'

  'So we know where we are with that bleeding lot,' Harry Salter said, and fired a long burst.

  Below, George Rashid spoke to his men. 'I want covering fire from one Land Rover. I'll go with four of you in the other, round to the rear. The wall is half fallen there. We take them two ways. Now move.'

  A moment later, the Land Rover roared away. Dillon looked again through his glasses and saw legs underneath the other Land Rover. He took careful aim and fired, and another Bedu fell into view and lay writhing on the ground. At the same time, there was a burst of firing from the rear, Dillon turned and George Rashid and his men poured over the broken wall below into the courtyard.

  Dillon and the Salters fell down on their faces as automatic fire raked the wall. Dillon and Billy fired back, another Bedu went down, but at the same moment, the men behind the Land Rover at the front gate raked the wall with automatic fire.

  Dillon and his friends crouched low as pieces of the wall cascaded over their heads and then there was a burst of firing from some other direction, and Dillon looked out and saw Tony Villiers and his Hazar Scouts come over one of the huge dunes in five Land Rovers. They paused, then opened up with heavy machine gun fire at the Land Rover in front of the fort's main gate. It fireballed as its fuel tank was hit, and the four men left ran for their lives across open ground and were cut down.

  Villiers and his men came down the side of the dune, and George Rashid and the three survivors of his group disappeared back over the crumbling rear wall. A moment later, their Land

  Rover raced away and disappeared into a narrow defile.

  It was suddenly very still. Dillon leaned against the wall with Billy and got a pack of Marlboros out. Harry was slumped down. 'For Christ's sake, Dillon, I'm an old guy.'

  'You've done good, Harry.'

  'Yeah, I'd be great – if I were the third lead in some old black-and-white movie on a satellite channel. Only you make it happen for real. You're a monster, Dillon.'

  The Land Rover column of Hazar Scouts came in through the entrance and halted in the courtyard. Dillon and the Salters went down the steps and Tony Villiers got out of the lead vehicle and approached.

  'Hot stuff.'

  Dillon shook hands. 'George Rashid was in charge.'

  'Really? Then you've definitely hit a nerve, Dillon. You're a lucky man.'

  'I'd say that speaks for itself.'

  Villiers lit a cigarette. 'Right, I'll take you to Shabwa Oasis. We'll arrange for Carver to find a plane and fly you back to Hazar.'

  'That makes sense,' Dillon said.

  'And don't forget to thank Charles Ferguson. Without him, you gentlemen would have been dead.'

  In the bar at the Excelsior, Dillon sat with Hal Stone and the Salters.

  Stone said, 'It really is like a bad movie, Harry.'

  'You can bleeding well say that again. A few days away with Dillon isn't like walking up the Palace Pier at Brighton and having fish and chips and a glass of champagne. This one puts you in serious hazard of your life.'

  'Oh, come on, Harry,' Dillon said. 'You haven't had so much fun in years and what have you got to worry about? It's Tony Villiers and his boys who're up there taking all that shite.'

  Hal Stone said, 'That's all very fine, Dillon, but we still don't have the slightest inkling what the Rashids are up to. The only thing we know for sure is that they want to knock you off, but why? Why are you such a threat?'

  'I'd like to know that myself,' Dillon told him.

  Billy said, 'If you look at it, the most significant thing is that Bell and his mob are here as a team. What do they need a whole team for?'

  'Well, we don't know, do we?' his uncle asked.

  There was a moment's silence, and then Hal Stone said, 'Of course, we could always find out.'

  They all looked at him, and Dillon said, 'What are you suggesting?'

  'Well, there's four of them, including Bell. I assume they must all know what the game is.'

  Billy said, 'So if we cut one of them off from the pack, is that what you're saying?'

  'Something like that. I don't know. Seems rather obvious.'

  'But sometimes the most obvious plans are the ones that work best,'
Dillon said.

  Harry said, 'What we'd need to know is when these bleeders are available. When they come into town and for what purpose.'

  'To get laid,' Billy said.

  They all laughed, but Stone said, 'Actually, you're right. I've kept my ear to the ground. One of them, Costello, I think, is apparently quite fond of an establishment named Madame Rosa's.'

  'So what do we do, kidnap him?' Harry Salter asked.

  Stone said, 'Why not?'

  Billy said, 'Okay, so what do Bell and his goons do when Costello turns up missing?'

  'I don't know.' Stone shrugged. 'Of course, it's possible they just might think he's in bed with a woman somewhere. Or two.'

  'Why, Professor,' Harry Salter teased him. 'I'm shocked, a man of learning like yourself indulging in such unsavoury thoughts.'

  'I'll get over it.'

  Dillon left the planning of the operation to Harry Salter, and Harry performed brilliantly. That night, he wore an open-necked dark linen shirt, and a cream linen tropical suit, and looked quite affluent.

  He sat with Billy at a pavement cafe on the other side of the road from Madame Rosa's and, thanks to a discreet bribe, waited for word from inside that Costello was on his way. When it came, Harry went in himself – older, well-dressed, wealthy-looking, and had the girls queuing up. Billy waited until he saw Costello arrive, then followed.

  Bell and his group sat with Kate Rashid and went over the maps again. Bell said, 'So, we're on line here. The Elders will be en route to the Holy Wells at around noon. We'll fly up tonight in Carver's

  Golden Eagle. Sort out weaponry at Shabwa, then carry on by Land Rover in the morning.'

  Kate said, 'That sounds good.'

  'One change. We'll connect with your brother and his Bedu up there. We may need back-up. Better to have them available.'

  'Fine,' Kate said. 'I'll speak to George and arrange it.'

  She phoned her brother in London and got nowhere, so she tried his mobile. Paul Rashid answered at once. 'How are things going?'

  'Fine. We're going to fly up to Shabwa in one of Carver's planes.'

  'I'll see you there. I'm on my way. I'll land at Haman, come on in the Hawk helicopter. Look for me.'

  'I will.'

  Costello had slipped out of the Excelsior and made his way to Madame Rosa's, where he was greeted with enthusiasm. He had three girls to take care of his every want, Irish whiskey and cocaine to influence him. South Armagh it wasn't. He'd never known such pleasure, and when they took him to a luxurious bedroom, kissed and fondled him a little, then suggested he undress, he was falling over himself. The girls left and Costello started to get ready. The door opened behind him, he turned and Harry Salter came through the door, followed by Billy.

  'Here, what is this?' Costello demanded.

  Harry had him by the throat. 'Keep your mouth shut. Start dressing again.'

  'Now look here.'

  Billy took a Browning from his pocket and clouted Costello across the side of the head. 'Just do as the man says if you want to live.'

  And Costello, frightened for the first time in years, did as he was told.

  They took him out to the Sultan, where Dillon and Hal Stone waited. Two Arab deckhands ran Costello into the stern. Dillon barked orders in Arabic. They ripped off Costello's jacket and shirt and then his trousers, leaving him in his underpants. The Salters leaned against the rail, and Hal Stone sat on a canvas chair and drank cold beer, two of his divers behind him.

  Dillon said, 'Don't screw me around, Patrick. Bell wouldn't be over here with you lot if you weren't up to something big.'

  Costello said, 'Go on, stuff yourself.'

  'Oh, I like that,' Harry Salter said. 'I mean, that's elegant. Don't you think that's elegant, Billy?'

  'No. Actually, Harry, I think it's rude and stupid and self-destructive.'

  'You've been reading those books on philosophy again.'

  Dillon said, 'It's a waste of time. I thought there might be some sweet reason here, and obviously there isn't.' He went and picked up a length of chain by the stern rail and handed it to one of the divers. He said in Arabic, 'Round his ankles and over.'

  Costello cried out as they put him down and started with the chain. 'Here, what's going on?'

  'You're going down,' Dillon told him. 'You can join Kelly and the two Arabs who tried to finish me and Billy off.'

  'You wouldn't.'

  Hal Stone got up. 'For God's sake, Dillon, you can't do this.' His part in the good policeman/bad policeman routine was impeccable.

  'Well, I'm tired of being Mr Nice Guy, Professor. Killing, bombing, you name it, he's done it. He can go for the deep six and who cares.'

  He nodded at the two divers. They upended Costello and put him over the stern rail. He screamed in mortal fear and his head went into the sea.

  Harry Salter said, 'Pull the bugger back. Maybe he's learned sense.'

  Costello lay on the deck, sobbing. Dillon squatted beside him. 'So what's it about, Patrick?'

  'I'll tell you, I swear it,' Costello said. 'There's this bunch of Arab leaders called the Council of Elders, and tomorrow morning, they're going to this place called the Holy Wells and we take them out.'

  'Dear God in heaven,' Hal Stone said.

  'Where?' Dillon asked.

  'Rama. It's called Rama.'

  Dillon removed his chain, Costello still sobbing. 'Put him in the hold,' Dillon said in Arabic to the divers.

  'What did you say? What did you say? Oh God, you're going to kill me,' Costello said, turned and hurled himself over the rail.

  He surfaced on the pale yellow stern light and Dillon said, 'Billy.'

  Billy took careful aim and shot him in the back of the head.

  'Was that strictly necessary?' Hal Stone asked.

  'It was if we want the fact that we know what they're up to to stay private,' Harry Salter told him.

  Bell and Kate Rashid waited while Tommy Brosnan and Jack O'Hara went looking for Costello. They came back with no result, and Bell was furious.

  'The bastard. I'll cut his balls off. He can't resist skirt. Probably holed up in some whorehouse and drunk.'

  'What do we do?' Kate asked.

  'We can manage. I'll kick his arse later, but right now let's get moving.'

  Ben Carver ran the air taxi firm at the airport. He was fifty, an ex-RAF squadron leader with a DFC from the Gulf War. He was tending to overweight these days. His boys were loading the Golden Eagle. Bell and his men and Kate Rashid approached.

  'I heard you lost a plane, Carver,' Kate said. 'A private charter.'

  'Yes, a Mister Dillon,' Carver said. 'It crashed in the Empty Quarter, but Colonel Villiers and the Hazar Scouts found them.'

  'Well, that's good. I hope you have insurance.'

  'Absolutely, Lady Kate.' 'Let's get going then.'

  Fifteen minutes later, the Golden Eagle took off, climbed to five thousand and headed for Shabwa.

  Dillon caught Villiers on his coded mobile. 'I've got bad news – really bad news – as to why they're here.'

  'Tell me.'

  Which Dillon did.

  Afterwards, Villiers said, 'Have you told Ferguson?'

  'No. He should be on his way out here by now.'

  'Dillon, I'm a hundred and fifty miles to the south of that road to the Holy Wells and I've split my command, sent Bronsby east. We each have fifty men. I'll never make it.'

  'All right. So warn the Council of Elders to turn back.'

  'Dillon, it won't happen. They're obviously doing the whole thing on the quiet. These are very old-fashioned people. I tried to speak to the advisers earlier, a routine call, and the mobile phone was out.'

  'You mean we sit here and let them drive up through one of the worst deserts in the world to their deaths?'

  'I'll go like hell, but through that terrain, fifteen miles an hour is tops. I'll call in Bronsby for support.'

  'That's not good enough.' Dillon thought about it. 'What if we fly to that airstrip
at Shabwa?'

  'It's surrounded by Rashid Bedu at the moment.'

  And Dillon saw it then. 'Leave it. I'll call you back.'

  Hal Stone called Ben Carver. 'I heard you'd gone up-country, so you're back?'

  'Obviously.'

  Stone said, 'I want a flight to a position east of Shabwa, to drop two men by parachute, a thousand-foot job.'

  'You must be mad.'

  'Ten thousand sterling.'

  Carver hesitated and there was silence. Stone looked at Dillon, who nodded. 'All right, Ben, fifteen thousand. Come on, just a one-hour flight, drop them and come back.'

  Greed, as usual, ruled the day. Carver said, 'Okay, I'll do it.'

  Dillon took the phone. 'Carver? Dillon here. We might need you later to pick up Major General Ferguson from Haman military airfield and take him up-country.'

  'Now, look,' Carver said.

  'Twenty thousand,' Dillon told him. 'How about that?'

  Carver took in a deep breath. 'I've heard of Ferguson.'

  'Well, you would. He runs things for the Prime Minister.'

  'So it's all kosher?'

  'It's just like being back in the RAF, so have the plane ready and two 'chutes.'

  Dillon went to the rail where Billy and Harry were having coffee.

  'So what gives?' Harry asked.

  'This is me and Billy,' Dillon told him.

  Billy said, 'Come on, Dillon, what are we into now.-'

  'I've spoken to Villiers. He's split his command. He'll drive hard through the night, but it's a hell of a way to cover at fifteen miles an hour. Besides that, that airstrip at Shabwa is in Rashid hands. The Council of Elders seem to have a security blackout, according to Villiers.'

  Hal Stone said, 'So they'll simply drive through the night to certain death some time tomorrow morning.'

  'That's not the way I see it.' Dillon turned to Billy. 'In Cornwall last year, you did brilliantly. Jumped from six hundred feet without any training. Somebody should have given you wings.'

  'Here, come off it, Dillon,' Harry said. 'You're talking about jumping from a plane up there? The two of you trying to screw things up until Villiers and his cowboys get there? Am I right?'