A Devil Is Waiting - Jack Higgins [51]
“Cyanide, I’m afraid,” Sara said. “A quick exit to the next world. The Nazis made it popular after they lost their war. Hitler handed them out like candy to his nearest and dearest.”
Jemal came apart then. “Oh, dear God, it’s her uncle who’s responsible for this. He must have given it to her.”
Tony Doyle had pushed Roper close in his wheelchair, and with Dillon and Holley they stood waiting for Sara to put the obvious question.
“And who is her uncle?”
“Mullah Ali Selim. I can see now he was using us. I only got involved because I adored her beyond reason.”
“I see.” She frowned at the others, motioning them to be still. “I think we’re going to have to do something about your knee.” She turned to Doyle. “See if you can find a first-aid kit in the rear, Tony.”
Jemal said dully, “Better take care. There’s a couple of blocks of Semtex in a bag, and a thirty-minute timer I was supposed to switch on.”
There was a stillness for a moment, then Giles Roper said, “Well, as you haven’t done that, it leaves the Semtex about as deadly as a large block of plasticine. Bring the bag to me, Tony, and find a first-aid kit for Sara.”
As Roper questioned Jemal further, Sara worked deftly, bandaging Jemal’s knee, giving him morphine, aided by Holley and Dillon, a double dose to help with the pain. “Battlefield style,” she said. “He could be crippled. How do you feel, Jemal?”
“Lousy, but the pain is not as much. Who are you?”
“I’m the person who shot you.”
“Allah will forgive you for that.”
“I don’t think so, but Jehovah might. I’m Jewish.”
“Well, that’s not your fault.” He was fading fast.
Roper, who’d gotten on his Codex, said, “Don’t fall asleep yet, Jemal. You did say he intended to leave Frensham in a Hawker jet and would be waiting for you and Asan to join him?”
“That’s true.” The boy sounded very tired, his words slurring.
“Such a plane did leave Frensham about four hours ago, and I do know one thing for certain.”
“What’s that?” Jemal really was almost out of it now.
“He wasn’t waiting around for you, because he knew you wouldn’t be coming back. That timer I took to pieces wasn’t thirty minutes, it was instant. You and Asan would have been vaporized the moment you switched it on.”
“But she was his niece.” Jemal shook his head. “What kind of man would do such a thing? May he rot in hell.”
His head rolled, and Dillon and Holley picked him up and passed him to Doyle in the ambulance, who laid him out on one of the stretchers. Asan lay on the other in a body bag. Some of the paneling of the ambulance had been pulled away to disclose a considerable quantity of Semtex.
“The major’s suspicions were right,” Doyle said. “It would have been a total disaster, one of the worst bombs to hit London since the Second World War.” He looked up. “No telling what it could have done to this garage—and the building above it.”
“Well, it didn’t,” Roper said. “I noticed a couple of paramedic jackets in one of the lockers. Put one on, you’ll be driving.”
“Rosedene?”
“No, the disposal unit. I’ve warned Mr. Teague. He’s familiar with Muslim customs, so he’ll ensure she’s properly treated, God rest her.”
“And the boy?”
“Bellamy knows what to expect. The general will see we do right by him. To be frank, now the iron’s entered his soul, he might prove useful. Is that okay with you, Sara?”
She surprised herself by saying, “If you mean does it worry me that he’ll walk with a limp for the rest of his life because I shot him in the kneecap, no it doesn’t. That’s what you get.” She gave a crooked smile. “And there’s a bonus—you can always tell it’s going to rain, because your leg hurts even before you get out of bed, just like mine did this morning.”
“Point taken,” Roper said. “Wave good-bye to Tony, everybody.”
They watched him go, stop to move the No Entry sign, then get back in and drive away. Sara said,