To The Death Part 28

"Yes, I think I can put up with that," replied Mick. "Although it's not something I'm used to."

Two hours later, Mick was walking down Main Street on his way to his home on the outskirts of Skibbereen, and Ray McDwyer was back in his office. So far as he could tell, nothing had broken loose. But he was wrong. Because it had, two and a half thousand miles and two time zones away, in Tel Aviv.

2100 Thursday 19 July Mossad Headquarters Tel Aviv.

Colonel Ben Joel, leader of the Mossad team that had somewhat spectacularly blown up Bab Touma Street in Damascus the previous February, was sitting with two of his most trusted officers, Major Itzaak Sherman and Lt. Colonel John Rabin. It was a hot, quiet night in the city, and the three of them were planning to go out for a gla.s.s of wine somewhere off Dizengoff Square.

Right now, they were just examining the last of a pile of photographs of people on the Mossad "wanted" list. They checked the latest photographs every night before leaving, just in case there had been a sighting, somewhere definite, of someone they really wanted to find.

Tonight there was nothing. Until, staring at the last two or three pictures, Colonel Joel suddenly exclaimed, "Jesus Christ . . . look who we have here. . . ."

He was holding an eight-by-ten printout of the closed-circuit picture of General Rashood and Shakira at the English ferry port of Holyhead. The E-mail transmission had just arrived from MI-6 in London, with a request for identification if possible.

And had that photograph ever landed in the right place. These three Mossad hitmen had been charged with eliminating Ravi and Shakira in that highly expensive and well-planned operation only five months ago. They had been beaten in the mission mostly because of sheer bad luck. The couple had returned to their house separately, accompanied by different people, and it had been too dark to see the discrepancy. The bomb went off in the main room while Shakira was in the bas.e.m.e.nt-level kitchen and Ravi was not even in the house.

But no one knew what Ravi looked like better than Colonel Joel, who had photographed the Hamas commander through a telescopic lens, from right across the street, had observed him in daylight, would recognize him anywhere.

The other two also knew precisely what Ravi looked like, and there was no doubt in any of their minds. The man in the English ferry port was General Ravi Rashood, and the lady with him was his Palestinian wife, Shakira.

For one final check, the colonel called for comparable pictures of the general, and Itzaak pulled them up on the big computer screen set into the wall like a plasma television. The group consisted of three pictures taken on a cliff top in the Canary Isles and the expansive set of photographs the colonel himself had snapped from across Bab Touma Street in Damascus.

No doubt. This was General Rashood and his wife, arriving in England, and now identified by no lesser figures than the Mossad's top a.s.sa.s.sination squad, and Mr. Mick Barton, of the Shamrock Cafe in faraway Skibbereen.

Colonel Joel called for the MI-6 report, which mostly contained an a.s.sessment by Detective Superintendent McDwyer of the murder of Jerry O'Connell in County Cork, and the likelihood that the man in the picture had committed the murder. The report also mentioned the possibility that the murderer had been landed from an Iranian submarine patrolling off the coast of southern Ireland.

The Mossad men knew all about that submarine. They too had been tracking it, not with another underwater boat like the Americans, but via the satellites. And they too had been aware that the d.a.m.n thing had vanished somewhere in the deep water off the eastern coast of Majorca. Like the Americans, the Israelis had not regained contact, and were more or less certain the Iranian submarine was no longer in the Mediterranean. Somehow, the Israeli Navy believed, it had broken out through the Gibraltar Strait into the Atlantic Ocean.

Colonel Joel sent a POSIDENT signal to all the appropriate departments in the King Saul Boulevard headquarters. He put it on the nets to the Navy and all branches of Israeli Military Intelligence, particularly Shin Bet, the interior intelligence operation, equivalent of London's MI-5. No one wanted Ravi Rashood's head as badly as Ben Joel.

Back in England, MI-6 E-mailed the picture to Military Intelligence, with a special copy to SAS headquarters in Stirling Lines, Hereford, where once Major Ray Kerman had served with honor and courage. By the time the photograph arrived, it was mid-evening, and it would not be examined in the normal course of business until the following morning. However, an urgent communication was picked up from the Israelis at around 10 P.M., and the duty officer instantly summoned the commanding officer.

The communique from Tel Aviv read: POSIDENT photograph English ferry port Holyhead. The man is General Ravi Rashood, commander in chief Hamas, formerly known as Major Ray Kerman, 22 SAS Regt. The woman with him is Shakira Rashood, his Palestinian wife, last known address Bab Touma Street, Damascus. POSIDENT photograph English ferry port Holyhead. The man is General Ravi Rashood, commander in chief Hamas, formerly known as Major Ray Kerman, 22 SAS Regt. The woman with him is Shakira Rashood, his Palestinian wife, last known address Bab Touma Street, Damascus.

Rashood wanted for murder in County Cork, Ireland. Local farmer Mr. Jerry O'Connell, killed by obvious Special Forces method-smashed central forehead, nose bone rammed into the brain. Looks like Rashood back in England. We stand by to help if required. Joel, Israeli Intelligence. Joel, Israeli Intelligence.

Lieutenant Colonel David Carter, CO 22 SAS, walked through steady rain to his office, accompanied by Major Douglas Jarvis. Neither of them had been in Hereford when Major Kerman had jumped ship back in 2004, but both of them knew the seriousness of his crimes. It was common knowledge nowadays that Kerman had murdered two highly regarded SAS NCOs and had then wreaked havoc on behalf of the well-funded Hamas terrorists. The name Ray Kerman represented the most inflammatory utterance in SAS history.

The two Special Forces officers shook off their rain smocks and made their way quickly to the CO's office. Lt. Colonel Carter had served with Ray Kerman in Sierre Leone a dozen years ago, knew him well. The duty officer had put the photograph up on a wall screen, and David Carter took one look at it and said, "That's Ray. Not a single doubt."

Douglas Jarvis picked up a hard copy of the report from Tel Aviv, and said, "Christ! He's here."

Lt. Colonel Carter replied, "Well, he was when that ferry came into Holyhead. Who knows if he's still here?"

"What do we do now?"

"Well, I suppose we better confirm our positive identification of Kerman to all of the interested parties, looks like Israeli Intelligence, MI-5, MI-6, CIA, FBI, and the Irish. We'll send our confirmation direct to MI-6 and they'll take care of the rest."

"Did you read that bit about he's supposed to have killed the Irish farmer, sir?"

"Not yet. What did it say?"

"Well, he used our regular unarmed combat blow. You know, smashed forehead bone and upward drive on the nose. I seem to remember from the report, he used that very same method to kill Sergeant Fred O'Hara in Hebron."

"After eight years with the enemy, he's probably getting careless. Thinks he's safe. Looks like he's getting so confident, he thinks he can move in and out of England any time he wants to."

"Do you think we'll ever catch him, sir?"

"Possibly. But we'd need a h.e.l.l of a bit of luck."

1600 Thursday 19 July National Security Agency Maryland.

The Mossad communique, via the CIA, landed in Lt. Commander Ramshawe's computer at 4 P.M. It was accompanied by an urgent phone call from his pal at the CIA, and then another call from Army Intelligence. General Rashood and his wife had been photographed at the English ferry port.

And at that moment, a thousand questions that had been swirling in Jimmy's mind were answered. In fact, all all the questions that had been swirling in his mind were answered. Except for one. Was the woman in the picture with Ravi none other than Carla Martin? the questions that had been swirling in his mind were answered. Except for one. Was the woman in the picture with Ravi none other than Carla Martin?

There were only a very few people in the world who could tell him. One of them was Emily Gallagher; another was Jim Caborn, manager of the Estuary Hotel; and, of course, there were Matt Barker's buddies.

In Jimmy's judgment, this required a further visit to Brockhurst. But the game had now changed drastically from a very local murder hunt to a hunt for an international terrorist with the most serious implications.

Jimmy seized the picture, and the reports from the Mossad and the Irish police, and proceeded in a major hurry to the office of the director, Admiral George Morris. The somewhat lugubrious ex-battle group commander was studying a copy of Jane's International Jane's International magazine when his deputy came through the door without knocking. magazine when his deputy came through the door without knocking.

Big George knew urgency when he saw it. He looked up and said quietly, "Steady, Jimmy. What's going on?"

"Every d.a.m.n thing in the world, if you ask me," he replied. "You know all that business I was telling you about a terrorist group trying to locate and then a.s.sa.s.sinate Admiral Morgan?"

"Of course I do."

"Well, it's happening. Everything just sprang into place. And you'll never guess who's at the back of it."

"Lay it on me."

"Hamas. General Ravi Rashood. And his wife. Take a look at this picture."

He handed it to Admiral Morris, who said, "From what I remember, that's him. I've never seen a picture of her. Tell you what, run me through it quickly, will you? Refresh my memory."

Jimmy did so, fast, recounting the chain of circ.u.mstances that led to Carla's sudden vanishing, in full possession of the admiral's ETA and hotel in London. Then he reconstructed Ravi's trip to Ireland, the murder of the farmer, and the police hunt for the master terrorist, which apparently had ended in the ferry port.

"And here they are," he said, waving the photograph, "after their rendezvous in Dublin, arriving in England, where Ravi will attempt to blow Arnie's brains out without getting caught."

Admiral Morris nodded thoughtfully. "One thing, Jim," he said. "Why Ireland? Why did they not just go to England?"

"Even with forged pa.s.sports, that would be very risky. There's nowhere hotter than London for a terrorist to make port of entry. My guess is that Ravi went to Ireland, landed on one of the loneliest coasts in the world, probably from that missing Iranian submarine, and then tried to sneak into England through the back door, the Irish ferry."

Admiral Morris was thoughtful. "And what do you need to find out? What brought you in here with such obvious urgency?"

"Sir, I need to know whether that girl in the photograph is definitely Carla Martin from the Estuary Hotel."

"Well, is that difficult?"

"No. Not as soon as I can get down to Brockhurst. And I was wondering if I could take a helicopter, right now."

"You may. And then we better meet right here in the morning to plan some kind of strategy, stop Arnie from going to England. At least stop him from sticking to his original schedule."

"Okay, I'll get going. And be warned-Arnie is not going to take kindly to this interference with his plans."

One hour later, Lieutenant Commander Ramshawe came in to land on the gra.s.sy banks of the Rappahannock River, at the north end of the township of Brockhurst.

Still just in his shirtsleeves and still holding the picture, he walked up to the main road and turned left toward the house owned by Mrs. Emily Gallagher. If she was not in, he would make straight for the hotel. If she was at home, he might not need to bother with a further personal call, because he could probably get Jim Caborn to walk up the street to Emily's house.

Which was how it turned out. Emily welcomed Jimmy warmly and immediately went to make some tea. Then she took the photograph, placed her spectacles at the end of her nose, and stared at the images.

"My goodness, yes," she said. "That is very definitely my friend Carla. Where on earth was this photograph taken? She's never bothered to contact me, you know. So disappointing, so very disappointing."

She then telephoned the Estuary, and Jim Caborn said he was on his way. Ten minutes later, he arrived and confirmed precisely what Mrs. Gallagher had said. Yes, that was Carla Martin, and no, she had never been in touch.

The three of them sat quietly sipping tea, and Jimmy told them that Carla was almost certainly married to General Rashood, perhaps the most wanted terrorist in the world. Emily and Jim were astounded but seemed grateful for the knowledge, as if a dark cloud had been removed from their lives, some final clarification as to the ident.i.ty of the girl they had both befriended and whose mysterious disappearance now seemed to make more sense.

Emily remained puzzled why Carla had found it necessary actually to murder Matt Barker, rather than just fight him off. And Jimmy tried to explain to her the mantra of the international terrorist. How, in their minds, there can be nothing to draw attention from anyone.

No matter who gets too close, they must be eliminated. They cannot be allowed to live. And there was no question of just stabbing Matt Barker somewhere on his body where death would not result. Carla could not risk Matt Barker, dripping blood, chasing her down the street like a bull elephant, with all the attendant publicity and questions that would cause. Stealth was her watchword. Matt must die.

Emily seemed to accept this. And it was soon time for Jimmy to leave. Since Detective Joe Segel had never met Carla, he was out of the loop so far as Lt. Commander Ramshawe was concerned. He decided to chat with him on the telephone tomorrow. Meanwhile he said his good-byes to Emily and Jim, and walked back up the street, to board the U.S. Marine helicopter for the ride back to Fort Meade.

All his suspicions were now confirmed. Yes, Carla Martin had journeyed to Brockhurst specifically to find out when the admiral and Kathy would be leaving for a vacation. Yes, the murder of Matt Barker had been a somewhat unforeseen circ.u.mstance. Yes, Carla had fled to Ireland carrying a different pa.s.sport to meet the landed terrorist Rashood in Dublin. And here they both were, entering England to murder Arnie.

And what now? So far as Jimmy was concerned, the Brits could begin a nationwide search for Ravi and Shakira, but they probably would not find them. So far as Jimmy could tell, the only way to snuff out the danger was to persuade Arnold not to go to London under any circ.u.mstances whatsoever. And he still had no hopes of that, despite this blazing new evidence which was, in his mind at least, decisive. Hamas had decided that Arnie must go.

He came in to land at Fort Meade and was driven to the parking lot. There he boarded his Jaguar and headed downtown to the Watergate, where Jane awaited him. She poured him a beer and told him she had successfully launched a raid on the Australian emba.s.sy kitchens and left with a couple of prime-cut New York sirloins, which she would grill on the balcony while he had another row with Arnold Morgan.

The steaks were perfect, and the row was predictable. Arnold would not hear of canceling his trip, Ravi Rashood or no Ravi Rashood. "You can't run your life around these b.a.s.t.a.r.ds, kid," he said. "If this character wants to have a shot at me, he'll have to get past the best security agents in the world. I'll brief them, and they'll be waiting for anyone who thinks they can carry out an a.s.sa.s.sination."

He added that he was not worried, and that he would keep a sharp lookout all through his forthcoming trip. Cancellation? Out of the question.

The search for the general, Jimmy knew, would now turn out to be a rare marriage between local civil authorities and military personnel. Shakira was wanted for murder in Brockhurst, Virginia, and that was Joe Segel's territory, and Ravi was wanted for murder in West Cork, which was where Ray McDwyer was still in charge. Concurrently, both Ravi and his wife were wanted by the Mossad for murder, treason, and G.o.d knows what else; Ravi was wanted by the SAS for murder and desertion; and the British government wanted him for murder and treason against the state.

After dinner, Jimmy and Jane sat and watched the television news, sipping gla.s.ses of his father's vintage port. Finally Jane asked, "Do you really think someone is going to try and kill Arnold?"

"I know they're going to try, babe. It's only a matter of whether they can shoot straight."

0930 Friday 20 July Central London.

They brought Shakira's car around to the front of the Syrian emba.s.sy shortly after breakfast. Ravi and his wife ran down the steps into the car, and the general drove them around Belgrave Square and out along Pont Street to Knightsbridge, just below Harrods.

Here they turned left and headed out, against the morning traffic, along the tree-lined Cromwell Road toward the western suburbs of the capital city of the United Kingdom. The road followed the River Thames for two miles and then veered upward onto the long, perpetually busy M-4 motorway to South Wales. Ravi, however, did not veer upward. He ducked off, expertly, and drove along the gloomy old road beneath the freeway, running left of the ma.s.sive gray stone pillars that support the Chiswick flyover.

When the motorway swung slightly north, Ravi headed due west, turning onto the Great West Road for another couple of miles before the Heston junction. And there he turned north, through an area that often looks like a suburb of Calcutta rather than London. Out here, in the colorful suburb of Southall, migrating Asians have built an entire community.

There are three-generation families living here, all tracing their blood roots back to the Subcontinent, to the Punjab, Bombay, Karachi, Jaipur, Bengal, and Bangalore, many of them hardworking families who resolutely faced the hundred-year struggle to fit in, to be accepted, to be British.

And a high percentage prospered as natural businessmen. The entire area is redolent with shops and stores, open all the hours G.o.d made. Southall is a thousand light-years from Belgrave Square and London's West End-but it lives and it thrives, an Indian and Pakistani enclave-a modern reminder of the price of empire.

Ravi headed straight along Merrick Road, crossed the railroad near Southall Station, and plunged into a labyrinth of side streets full of row-houses. Finally, he turned onto a quiet residential avenue. He checked a piece of paper that Shakira handed him and headed for number 16.

They pulled into the wide driveway and parked close to the front door of a big double-fronted Victorian house. Ravi noticed a new BMW parked around the far side of the property. But that measure of opulence did not extend to the garden, which was heavily overgrown. The gra.s.s needed a lawnmower, the bushes were too tall and overhanging the drive, there was not a flower planted, and the general effect was an unkempt section of wild woodland.

The house, however, was immaculately painted, with white window frames and trim and a shiny, jet-black double front door. Ravi left Shakira in the car and knocked.

It was answered by an elderly man of Indian appearance. He was wearing a turban and the kind of short gray work jacket a butler might use for cleaning the silver.

"Good morning, sir. Mr. Spencer?"

Ravi nodded.

"Please come this way."

Ravi followed him down the hall to a small padded leather door, which opened softly when the Indian inserted a credit card-shaped key into the lock. A green light flashed, and Ravi was faced with a well-lit staircase going downward, with deep steps carpeted in dark green pile.

From below came a voice with an Indian inflection. "Please come down, Mr. Spencer. I am of course expecting you."

Ravi descended and shook hands with his host, Mr. Prenjit k.u.mar, whom he understood to be one of the best private gunsmiths in England. There was no one else in the bas.e.m.e.nt workroom, but there were three definite work areas, each one illuminated by a bright overhead light, slung low over a surface that looked like dark red baize. The place was much more like a jeweler's than an armament factory.

Mr. k.u.mar was a tall, slender Indian from Bengal. He wore dark blue pants and a white shirt beneath a dark blue sweater. Almost covering his entire wardrobe was a large green ap.r.o.n, like that of a freemason. He wore no turban and stared evenly at Ravi through slim wire spectacles. His eyes were almost black, and his expression was wary.

"You come highly recommended as a client," he said. "And I understand you require a custom-made piece, a one-off, tailored to your precise requirements."

"Correct," replied Ravi. "A sniper rifle, which you'll probably reconstruct from the Austrian SSG 69."

Mr. k.u.mar smiled. "You like that old design?"

"I have never really used anything else."

"No need, Mr. Spencer. It is a superb piece of engineering. No one has ever built a better rifle-and a lot of people have tried."

Ravi nodded. And Mr. k.u.mar smiled. "I know better than to ask," he said. "But perhaps you were in the SAS in another life."

"Perhaps I was. But now I must be more careful. And I think our biggest problem may be that I need to dismantle the weapon and carry it in a briefcase, no larger than, say, twelve inches by eighteen. About four wide, maximum."

"You are not thinking of trying to transport it through an airport, are you?"

"Absolutely not."

"You understand that I must be very guarded, Mr. Spencer. In certain quarters, my work is well-known, even though I would not engrave this rifle with a serial number. It would not be in either of our interests for you to be . . . er . . . apprehended."