Rhinoceros (48 page)

'Now, buddy, turn so that your back's to me. Again, very
slowly. No sudden movements. They make me nervous, trigger-happy.'

Nield revolved in slow motion, stopped when he had
his back to the guard. He felt the muzzle rammed into
his back. He swore inwardly. No one else appeared to be
about and the street, so far as he could see, was deserted.
He took a deep breath to cool his anger.

'Next move, buddy, is I'm going to check you. First for weapons. Then for identification. Get it? Because if you
don't there'll be one big bang. Don't want you getting
brave, do we? The gun is in my right hand and will stay there. Guess I'll use my left hand to check you out. Your
girlfriend should have come earlier. Much earlier.'

Nield stood stiffly. His Walther was clamped under the dashboard. He'd grown sloppy, sitting in the car too long,
staring at the entrance to the Atlantic. The bastard had
crept up behind his car.

'One false move and I'll blow your spine in half.'
Another voice. Harry's. Cold as the Arctic. 'This, chum,
is an automatic jammed into your back. So maybe you should drop the piece, as I believe you call it, on the pavement.
Now!'

The gun hit the pavement with a dull
clunk!
Hearing
the sound, Nield spun round, stooped quickly, picked up
the weapon. He held it close to the American's face. His
expression worried the guard. It was so devoid of emotion.

'Now,' Nield began, 'let's get something straight before
I blow a hole in your head. You're guarding someone
important at the Atlantic. We need to know who he
is. Talk.'

'Top secret,' the guard mumbled.

The muzzle of his own gun moved closer to his right
eye and he blinked. If anyone knew the devastating result
of pulling the trigger it was the guard.

'I'll ask you once more,' Nield continued in the same neutral tone. 'Who did you hustle in, using the freight
elevator? We may be on the same mission. We're Special
Branch, controlled by New Scotland Yard. You tell us who
you're guarding and we'll tell you who we're protecting.
Deal? Or shall I pull the trigger? We could always dump
you in the lake. It's close enough.'

'Just between us?' The guard licked his lips. 'If my guys
get to know it's court martial for me.'

'Just between us. My trigger finger is getting itchy.'

'The Secretary of State. Who are you protecting?"

'Winston Churchill.'

Nield stood several paces back from the American who
looked furious. He knew Harry was still behind the guard
with the Walther pressed into his back. He emptied the
huge revolver of bullets, threw them one by one across
the road into the park at different angles. The American
was appalled.

'How do I explain to my sergeant that I've lost my
bullets?'

'Easy. You don't. Surely you can slip into your ammo store and load up again?'

'Guess mebbee I could at that.' The guard took back from Nield his weapon, tucked it down a holster inside
his jacket. 'Special Branch? I heard of you guys.'

'The CIA would.'

'That's right

The guard stopped speaking suddenly. He had given
away the organization he belonged to. He walked back
to the hotel slowly, taking long strides. When he reached
the Atlantic he ran up the steps, disappeared. He hadn't
risked looking back once.

'You really can talk on your feet,' Harry said.

'I had to pressure him to make him talk. Now I'm going
back to tell Tweed the news. I think he'll be interested in
the confirmation.'

'I'll drive you to the Four Seasons, then take over the
watch. But I'll have to park in a different place.'

'Very British,' Nield remarked as Harry started the car,
'the way Gavin Thunder sneaked in on his own. Whereas the Secretary of State has a small army to look after his
precious hide.'

Nield arrived outside the door to Tweed's suite at the same moment as Paula, who was carrying a coloured brochure.

'I have news for him,' she said.

'I have a little news myself . . .'

Tweed, still in his shirt sleeves — the humidity had
become even worse - ushered them both inside. Nield
drank two glasses of water and sighed with relief.

'We have news,' Paula reported. 'I think Pete should
speak first.'

'The American Secretary of State is staying at the Atlantic,' Nield announced.

'So it's all coming together. Paula, you'll recall how this has happened in the past. Suddenly everything accelerates
and the pace never lets up until we reach the climax. We
are at that stage
now.'

He listened while Nield swiftly told him the circum
stances under which they had obtained the information. Tweed said nothing but he was frowning as Nield completed his report.

'Pete, do you think that CIA guard will talk when he is with his pals?'

'I bet he won't,' said Paula. 'Not with his career on
the line.'

'I agree,' Nield commented. 'Now I'd better get some
sleep.'

'Harry also needs some,' Tweed decided. 'Bring him in and then both of you go straight to bed.' When Nield had
left he turned to Paula. 'Something on
your
mind?'

'You remember when Lisa was in the clinic and desperately trying to tell us something?
Ham . . . Dan . . . 4S?
Recently we thought she was trying to say "Danzer", the
chauffeur. I was going through some brochures I picked up downstairs. Look.'

She held up a coloured brochure. It folded out but
she had it closed. On the front were three large letters.
DAN. She opened it out and the complete word appeared.
DANEMARK.

'The German word for Denmark,' she said. 'I think
that was what Lisa was trying to say. There's something significant in Denmark.'

'Better ask her when we're all together in the limo in
the morning. You could be right. And Denmark is in
the far north from here - Milo said that's where his
headquarters are.'

Marler arrived just when Paula had finished speaking.
He looked as though he'd just had eight hours' sleep, when
actually he hadn't had any. He looked at Tweed.

'You've had time to think over the battle plan we worked
out. Any doubts?'

'None. It's a flexible plan, allowing for several different
situations. I reckon if it's Delgado who is commanding
their attack he may have between fifteen and thirty men. And we only have six.'

'Seven,' Marler corrected him. 'Lisa will be with us and I gave her a Beretta automatic with plenty of ammo. Don't look like that, Tweed. I took her to a shooting gallery here I know of. She scored six bull's-eyes twice, the third time
it was five bulls, one inner. Not bad. I was staggered.'

'You're in charge.'

Tweed didn't look at Paula. He knew she would be pulling a sour face, expressing doubt. They then had another visitor.
When Paula opened the door Nield came in again.

'More news. I'd just climbed into the Opel Harry had
parked in a different position when we saw someone come out of the Atlantic and walk briskly back here. You'll never
guess who it was.'

'Come on,' Tweed snapped.

'The Brig. Bernard, Lord Barford.'

'Probably went up to have a drink at a different place.'

'So why was he carrying an old-fashioned briefcase?'

Tweed walked out onto the balcony as Nield left. Paula
joined him as he stared into the distance. He drank the rest
of the Scotch from a glass he had picked up, lit a cigarette.

'It does look as though I've got it all back to front,'
he said eventually. 'And tomorrow - prepare for a day of
undiluted hell.'

CHAPTER 28

The cream Mercedes was moving along the autobahn but
keeping within the speed limit. It had left Hamburg and its
suburbs well behind and the wide road ahead was deserted,
crossing open country. There had been traffic in the city
and for a distance beyond it - huge juggernauts and a few
private cars. Now they had the world to themselves.

Newman was behind the wheel of the stretch limo, with
Marler beside him. In the middle section Tweed sat behind
Newman with Paula next to him, while in the rear Nield was behind Tweed with Lisa alongside him. No one had
spoken for some time and there was an atmosphere of
tension inside the large car. Paula kept wiping the palms
of her hands on paper handkerchiefs so, when the time
came, her fingers would not slip as she gripped the butt
of her Browning.

The sun glared down on them mercilessly out of a
clear blue sky and, despite the air-conditioning, the heat
was building up inside the Merc. Paula was gazing out
at the endless fields of crops which spread out to the
horizon.

'Maize,' said Tweed. 'Scores of acres of it. And because of the heatwave it's almost ready for harvesting. It's really very tall.'

'Is that a point in our favour?' she asked.

'It could be - unless they've laid an ambush ahead of
us.'

'It's just what I would have ordered,' Marler called back.
'It could turn the tide for us.'

Newman kept the car moving. One private car passed them coming in the opposite direction, the first they had
seen for a while. Then the autobahn ahead was clear again
and they ate up more miles.

'How far are we from Flensburg?' Lisa called out.

'A very long way yet. Over an hour's drive, easily,' Tweed replied. 'We're in the middle of nowhere.'

'I've only seen the very occasional farmhouse,' Lisa remarked.

Paula studied the fields again. They came almost up to
the edge of the autobahn. The thick plants of maize had
large leaves and there were no gaps between them. It was a sea of uninterrupted green. She had never before seen such a continous mass of crops.

'They're taking their time,' Paula said.

'Have patience,' Tweed advised. 'They will come.'

Fifteen minutes behind them Harry was driving steadily
up the autobahn in his blue Merc with tinted windows. He
couldn't see the cream limo — it was too far ahead of him.
He was constantly checking his rear-view mirror, seeing
nothing. On the seat beside him rested the Uzi machine
pistol. It was fully loaded.