Exocet - Jack Higgins [32]
'I try. Now to something you can help me with. I need an address where I can pick up some muscle.'
'How many men?'
'I'd say about eight, which makes ten with me and Stavrou. Ample for my purposes if they are the right breed. Thorough-going hoods. Nothing fancy about using their brains. The kind of men who will kill if the price is right.'
'There's always the Union Corse,' Belov said.
The Union Corse was the largest crime syndicate in France, a truly formidable organisation whose tentacles reached out everywhere from the judiciary to the government itself.
Donner shook his head. 'I don't think so. They may be gangsters, those boys, but they're inclined to be patriotic. The curse of the French, Nikolai, or hadn't you noticed? Even the communist variety look upon themselves as Frenchmen first.'
'Point taken,' Belov said. 'But we do have other contacts. You could really do with mercenaries rather than ordinary gangsters.'
'Or gangsters who've seen service in the army. God knows, there must still be plenty of those around in France after all those years in Algiers.'
'Leave it with me.'
Donner opened a drawer, took out a sheet of paper and passed it across. 'I'll also need the items on there.'
Belov examined the list and raised his eyebrows. 'You intend to go to war, to judge by this little lot?'
'You could put it that way.'
At that moment, the door opened and Juan Garcia entered. He was trembling with excitement, eyes shining. 'What is it, for God's sake?' Belov demanded.
'Today gentlemen, is the 25th of May, you know what that means in the Argentine?'
'I can't say I do.'
'It is our national day, a day which will go down in our history as one on which we dealt the British navy the most crushing blow of the war. It's on now, a newsflash on television. Come and see,' and he turned and hurried out.
* * *
In the office at Cavendish Place, Ferguson put down the red phone, his face grave.
Harry Fox said, 'Is it bad, sir?'
'You could say that. The destroyer, HMS Coventry, was attacked by Skyhawks while protecting vessels landing supplies at San Carlos. She may also have been hit by an Exocet, we aren't sure yet. At least twenty dead and many wounded. She capsized.'
'My God,' Fox said.
'There's worse, Harry. The fifteen thousand ton container ship, Atlantic Conveyor, has also been taken out. Two Exocet hits definitely confirmed.' He shook his head. 'Because of her size on the radar screen, they probably thought she was one of the aircraft carriers.'
There was silence for a while, only the muted sounds of traffic from outside in the square. Fox said, 'What do we do now, sir?'
'I think that's obvious,' Ferguson told him. 'Don't you?'
* * *
When he knocked at the door of the flat in Kensington Palace Gardens for the second time that day, there was a delay before slow steps approached and the door opened on the chain.
Gabrielle looked out. She stared at them for a long moment, then opened the door and led the way into the sitting room. She was wearing the old bathrobe and looked dreadful, her hair tousled, eyes swollen.
'You've heard the news,' Ferguson asked gently.
She nodded. 'Yes.'
'And?'
She took a deep breath and folded her arms as if holding herself together. 'When do you want me to go?'
'Tomorrow, I think. You still have the apartment on the Avenue Victor Hugo?'
'Yes.'
'Good. Get yourself settled in. You'll be informed what to do by our man in Paris, or if necessary Harry can go over on the shuttle to see you. And there is one more thing.'
She looked incredibly weary now. 'And what would that be?'
'You'll need a back-up man. Someone totally reliable, to be on hand in case you get into trouble.'
It was as if she knew what was coming. Her eyes widened in a kind of horror. 'You've sent for Tony?'
'That's right. He should be here in thirty-six hours at the outside.'
She shook her head helplessly. 'I'd like to kill you, Ferguson. I really would like to see you dead and I've never wished that on any human being in my life. See what you've done to me? You and people like you,