by Colin Forbes
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 circumstances 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.
He checked the rear-view mirror once more and stiffened. Out of nowhere a four-wheel drive had appeared. He thought it was a Discovery Land Rover. It was coming like a rocket. Then he saw another vehicle of the same type racing up behind the lead vehicle. Then a third. Then a fourth.
He maintained the same speed. The first vehicle was about to overtake him. He glanced up as it raced past him, saw the man at the wheel, wearing a black beret and a camouflage jacket. Delgado.
The second vehicle passed him. The third. The fourth. All the Land Rovers were crammed with villainous-looking men. Some were holding automatic rifles. He picked up his mobile, called Marler.
'Harry here. Four Land Rovers coming up behind you – packed with armed thugs. They're really moving. Saw Delgado driving the first one
…'
'Thank you. Harry,' Marler's calm voice responded. 'How far back?'
'Could reach you in five minutes. Even less…'
Marler reported Harry's warning to everyone in the car. As he did so, Tweed was studying the topography. To his right the surge of maize. To his left they were close to a rare copse of trees.
'Drive into that copse,' he ordered Newman. 'Leave the car so it can be seen. When we stop everyone dives into that maize field, go deep inside. Three separate sections as we planned…'
Paula checked her hands, found they were dry. Inside she was ice-cold. Newman reached the copse, a small wood, backed the limo into it, leaving its bonnet exposed to view from the autobahn. Doors were flung open. The moment they left the car was like entering an inferno, the sun roasting them as though through a burning glass. At different points they plunged into the maize.
Newman and Marler were on the right flank, facing the autobahn. Tweed and Paula were in the centre. Nield and Lisa, a distance away, were on the left flank, again facing the autobahn. A second before she dived in Paula heard, then saw the helicopter, flying in from the direction of Hamburg.
'There's a chopper,' she shouted.
'It's seen us. It will inform Delgado,' Tweed shouted back so everyone heard him.
They shoved their way in among the maize, the crop almost as tall as they were. The heat was intense. They heard the chopper hovering, trying to detect where they were, Paula guessed. Then she heard the racing engines of the Land Rovers, their sudden braking.
They couldn't see, but Delgado drove his vehicle a fair distance up the autobahn beyond where the other three had parked by the cream Merc. Men piled out of the vehicles, rushed into the maize as they saw movement. Tweed had shaken plants to attract their attention. Twenty men pushed their way into the maize, seeking their targets.
Paula heard the chopper move away to the south. It had done its job, had pinpointed the location of Tweed's small team. But it had left too early. Tweed and his team had pushed well back from the autobahn into the maize until they dropped into a small gulley – probably an irrigation ditch to carry water during the rainy season. It gave them cover.
'Here we stand,' Tweed said.
He had just spoken when two of the attackers appeared almost above them. One was wielding a machete, which he swung in a vicious circle. He almost beheaded his companion when he was shot in the chest by Tweed. Paula fired twice at the other man. Both fell sideways, crashing into maize plants, then lay still. In the distance they heard Delgado's voice screaming.
'Kill. Kill. Kill.'
'All right, if that's the way he wants it,' Tweed said.
To their left, well over, Lisa was wiping her damp hands on her jeans when another attacker with a machete saw her, grinned gleefully, hoisted his wepon. Nield shot him in the throat. He went down.
Delgado's men had moved through the maize more quickly than either Marler or Tweed had expected. Marler realized it would soon be close combat, so something had to be done about it. He stood up after taking the pin out of a grenade from his satchel. Four grim-looking men were advancing shoulder to shoulder, rushing forward to overwhelm their opponents. Marler hurled the first grenade, took the pin out of another, hurled it. Three of the men fell down. The fourth had moved sideways, understanding their mistake. The second grenade landed at his feet. He threw his rifle into the air, dropped.
Marler grabbed two tear-gas canisters, threw both where he saw movement in the maize, then hoisted his Armalite. Two men jumped up as though electrocuted, hands clasping their eyes. Marler took swift aim, shot them both. By the side of Lisa, Nield had dropped his Walther, had grabbed hold of his Uzi. Not a moment too soon. Five men were charging en masse through the maize in a frontal assault. Nield pressed the trigger. A deadly sweep of bullets cut across them, then back again. All five went down, dead as dodos. An eerie silence fell over the battlefield. No sign of movement, no sound. Paula began to stand up and Tweed grabbed her shoulder, hauled her down again. He was sure it wasn't over.
After the four Land Rovers had got well ahead of him, Harry had pressed his foot down. The Mercedes roared up the autobahn. A few minutes later he saw three Land Rovers parked in front of a small wood, heard the sporadic sound of shooting.
He braked, switched off the engine, grasped the Uzi, left the car. Then he went back, climbed on top of the Merc. Well over to the right he saw five men with automatic rifles crouching down as they moved steadily forward. He realized they were outflanking Tweed and his team, were going to come up behind them.
Harry lowered his head, charged through the maize like a mad bull. When he felt he must be close to the five men he nearly fell into a ditch, stood up briefly, saw the back of the five killers as they began to circle. He crept forward swiftly, making as little noise as possible. When he stood up he was within yards of them. One turned round, saw him, raised his rifle. Harry fired non-stop, swinging his weapon in an arc. All five dropped to the earth, all with several bullets in them. Harry walked forward carefully, stared down at the blood-soaked bodies. He had foiled them.
Then he heard sounds from the autobahn, the sounds of running feet. He began rushing back.
Delgado had been careful to stay at the rear, to have his escape vehicle ready, parked further along the autobahn. He reached the road, ran along it, jumped into the Land Rover. He had reached for the ignition when he heard something. Turning round, he saw Barton and Panko about to jump aboard. He waved them away. Then he saw Barton's automatic, aimed at him point-blank. He swore foully but let them join him. Turning the ignition, he pressed his foot down and the vehicle shot forward like a shell from a gun.
Harry reached the road just in time to see them speeding off. Much too fast for him to bother taking a shot at them.
CHAPTER 29
The blue Mercedes was travelling towards Flensburg, a long way north of where the battle in the maize had taken place. The autobahn ahead and behind them was deserted. Butler was in the rear, seated between Nield and Lisa. He held up another sandwich he was about to eat.
'This was a great idea of yours, Lisa. I like to eat regularly when I can.'
'It was a brilliant idea,' Paula called back over her shoulder to Lisa. 'Arranging with the hotel kitchen last night to make up cartons of sandwiches, some fruit and litre bottles of still water.'
'Litres and litres of it,' said Marler, sitting in the front next to Newman who was driving. 'Absolute life-saver in this heat.'
'The chopper's back,' Paula said suddenly. 'It's a fair way off across the fields, doesn't seem interested in us. Looks to be flying on to Flensburg.'
'That's because we're in a blue Merc,' Tweed said. 'Back in Hamburg they got used to us travelling in two cream cars.'
'So you foresaw this might happen,' Paula commented. 'Hence getting one car switched to this blue job.'
'I like to change the image from time to time.'
'Well, at least we can look forward to peace and quiet when we reach Flensburg,' Paula remarked.
'Don't you believe it,' Marler warned. 'You heard Harry describing the three men who escaped in a Land Rover and headed north. You heard Lisa describing Barton and Panko and Harry agreed he'd seen them jump aboard the vehicle. And he also saw Delgado behind the wheel. My guess is those three make a lethal combination.'
'Except,' Newman objected, 'they wouldn't expect us to go on to Flensburg after the job we did. They'd probably think we skedaddled back to Hamburg.'
'Maybe,' said Tweed. 'Maybe.'
Flensburg. An old town and port where Germany runs out, close to the Danish border. They had hidden the Mercedes in a car park crammed with vehicles. They wandered into the centre of the town. Paula was surprised at the difference in atmosphere from Hamburg. Instead of massive block-like buildings there was a country-town feeling. They entered the Grosse Strasse, a pedestrian-only street. The buildings were only three or four storeys high, the ground floors occupied by small shops. Many had picturesque arched windows and trees, in full leaf, were growing on either side, their trunks protected with wire cages.
Tweed had earlier ordered they should not bunch, that they should walk as couples not too close to each other. Paula, alongside Tweed, breathed in fresh air coming off the nearby fiord which led to the Baltic, or Ostsee – the East Sea as the Germans called it.