Part 18 (1/2)
”Well, I like his advice about that Moscow Mafia hit man. It's almost flattering. I've been called many things, but Mafia has never been one of them.”
”Get on with it.”
”All right. If we take Ferguson's immediate clan, that means Roper, Dillon, Miller and his sister, the two Salters, and Blake Johnson. Eight in all,” Holley said.
”Don't forget Kurbsky and Bounine,” Ivanov put in.
”Silly me,” Holley said. ”I was forgetting the greatest novelist Russia's produced in modern times, a possible n.o.bel Prize winner. So ten in all.”
”So it would appear. Peter joked that all we needed was a dinner party and a bomb under the table.”
Holley glanced at Ivanov. ”It's the real world we're talking about here.” He turned back to Lermov. ”So the man in the Kremlin wants no hint of any Russian influence in this whole affair?”
”If possible.”
”So if there was a hint of PIRA about what takes place, that would be just the thing?” Daniel asked.
”Exactly.” Lermov leaned forward. ”I was thinking of Caitlin Daly.”
Holley allowed his anger to show. ”d.a.m.n you, Josef, I should never have told you about her.”
”You told me many things, Daniel, it was part of our agreement.”
”This is ridiculous. I visited her only once, Lermov, in November 1995. That's fourteen years ago. She could be dead, for all I know.”
”She is alive and well, living and working exactly where she was then.” Lermov smiled. ”I had Major Ivan Chelek at the London Emba.s.sy make inquiries.”
Holley said, ”He went to the church, I suppose?”
”Something like that. He said she was a very attractive lady.”
”She would be about fifty now,” Holley said.
”Chelek said you could take ten years off that.”
Holley suddenly got up. ”I don't know about you two, but I need a drink. I can't get my head round this.”
He turned to the door, Ivanov barred his way for a moment but Lermov nodded, so Holley pulled it open and went out.
Ivanov said, ”He doesn't seem keen.”
”He'll come round. We've talked so many times over the years, I feel I know him.” He shrugged. ”At least, as much as one can ever hope to understand another human being.”
”Forgive me, Colonel, but I'm a cynic,” Ivanov told him. ”I often experience considerable difficulty in knowing myself.”
”I admire your honesty. Tell me something: how often have you killed?”
”I was too young for Afghanistan and the First Chechen War, but I was bloodied in the Second. I was twenty when I went to that. Field intelligence, not infantry, but it was a desperate, b.l.o.o.d.y business. The Chechens were barbarians of the first order, imported Muslims from all over the place to serve with them. You couldn't drive anywhere without being ambushed.”
”Yes, I saw some of that myself,” Lermov said, ”and know exactly what you mean. Daniel Holley's experience has been different. His killing has been close and personal. Back in Kosovo when my Spetsnaz boys got him, he double-tapped the two men he killed on the instant, no hesitation.”
”I wonder how many times he did that on his travels?” Ivanov said. ”It stands to reason that as an arms salesman, he kept rough company.”
”Exactly.” Lermov stood up. ”Let's see how he's getting on.”
They found Holley sitting in the bar, a gla.s.s of beer in front of him and a large whiskey. Lermov said, ”I thought you had no money.” in the bar, a gla.s.s of beer in front of him and a large whiskey. Lermov said, ”I thought you had no money.”
”I told the barman I was waiting for you. Have a seat.”
Lermov waved to the barman and sat down.
Holley raised the beer and drank, not stopping until the gla.s.s was empty. He finished with a sigh, and said in English, ”As they'd say in Leeds, that were were grand.” He reached for the gla.s.s of whiskey and tossed it down. ”And that were even better.” grand.” He reached for the gla.s.s of whiskey and tossed it down. ”And that were even better.”
”Would you like another one?” Lermov asked.
”Not really. It'd be nice to have a rugby match to go with it. But this is Moscow, not Leeds, and Russia, not Yorks.h.i.+re, so let's get down to bra.s.s tacks.”
”And what would that be?”
”Why do you think a woman I spoke to fourteen years ago will still be waiting and still interested in a cause long gone?”
”But that's what sleepers do, Daniel, they're always the chosen ones, the believers, and they wait, no matter how long it takes, even if they're never needed at all.”
”A gloomy prospect,” Holley said.
”And let me remind you what Caitlin Daly did back in 1991-the bombs she and her cell set off in London. The general panic, confusion, and fear she caused lasted for months. A considerable victory.”
Holley said, ”I know all that. Anyway, there's not just her to consider. What about the men in her cell? Alive or dead, who knows? I can't even remember their names.”
”I can help you there. I have a fax all the way from your old partner in Algiers, Hamid Malik. I got in touch with him when you fell into my hands five years ago. He's proved a valuable a.s.set to us,” Lermov told him.
”You clever sod,” Holley said. He waved to the barman.
”Yes, I am, aren't I? Anyway, he had the original correspondence from your cousin Liam, and I have all the names.”
”It means nothing. Even if these men are still round, there's no way of knowing if they feel the same way about dear old Ireland.”
”True, but I've given the list to Chelek, and he'll trace them.”
”You said you didn't want any obvious Russian involvement in this business.”
”Absolutely right, but it'll save you time, and, once you get there, it'll all be in your hands. It'll also be of a.s.sistance to Caitlin Daly if she has lost touch, but you won't know that until you've seen her.”
”Don't you mean if if I see her?” Holley asked, and drank his new beer down. I see her?” Holley asked, and drank his new beer down.