Midnight Runner - Jack Higgins [75]
"About Dillon?" She nodded. "He killed my three brothers as well."
There was a long silence. "Will he be involved in this business?"
"Not that I know of. Does that make a difference?"
He shook his head. "I'll settle with him later, after I've sorted this bridge. Tell me about it."
She opened the briefcase and removed a file from a flap inside the lid. "It's all there. Photos of the bridge, specifications, everything."
"I'll look later. Just tell me."
"The bridge at Bacu spans a five-hundred-foot gorge and is four hundred yards wide. It was constructed during the Second World War for military purposes and was never needed. It carries a single railway track. The rolling stock is Indian, and it's very old-fashioned. It still uses steam."
"Anything else?"
"Oil pipes run along it as well, from fields in Southern Arabia all the way to the coast. The pipes are controlled by my company. That was part of the original leasing agreements with both American and Russian interests. Quite simply, they are my pipes. If that bridge is blown and the pipes go with it, the international oil market will be thrown into chaos. They represent one-third of the world's supply. I've had engineering reports from experts that tell me that it would take two years to replace the Bacu."
"And why would you want to blow up your own pipelines?"
"I told you: I want to create chaos. Understand this, Mr. Keenan. I have more money now than I could ever possibly need. What I do not have is my mother and my three brothers. I hold Dillon responsible for that, and Ferguson, and some others, but most especially I hold responsible the President of the United States. I will have my revenge on him, if not by killing him outright, then by throwing America into the worst economic depression it has known in several decades. Cazalet's presidency will be ruined, history will record him as a failure--and that, for a man like Cazalet, is something worse than death. Yes, this will do nicely, I think. Will you do it?"
Keenan whistled. "Remind me never to get you mad at me. Yes, I'll do it."
Kelly said, "Are you sure, Barry? It could be a hard one."
"So when have we been afraid of hard ones? What are we, a bunch of old women like the Provos, making peace?"
"I want fast action here. Can you be at Dublin Airport at nine o'clock tomorrow morning? I'll have a plane pick your men up and fly you straight to Hazar."
"By God, woman, you move fast."
"That's the way I prefer to work. I've also just got word that a train is leaving our freight yard at Al Mukalli in the Oman to go north into the Empty Quarter by way of the Bacu Bridge. It's carrying forty tons of high explosives meant for use in exploratory work in the American fields."
"Jesus," Keenan said. "A hell of a bang that would make, especially if the train happened to be on the bridge at the time and helped by a touch of Semtex. When does the train leave?"
"Three days from now, the seventh. You'll have two clear days in Hazar Town to get ready, and my helicopter can take you down to Al Mukalli to join the train. It leaves at four o'clock in the morning. You'll have four hours before you reach the Bacu, plenty of time to do what you have to. There'll only be the driver and fireman up front, and a guard at the rear. When you're finished at the Bacu, I'll pick you up in the helicopter."
"Suits me. I'll read the file and make a list of what we'll need." He turned to his men. "Dublin Airport in the morning, then."
She and Keenan got up. "We're flying back from Aldergrove this afternoon, then we'll refuel and carry straight on to Hazar. We'll be waiting for you when you arrive. You'll find my coded mobile number in that file."
"It's been a sincere sensation, Countess. I'll see you off."
Outside, he and his men watched the Volvo drive away. Casey said, "What a body on that woman. I'd love to give her one."
"You know your trouble, Sean?" Keenan said. "You don't know a great lady when you see one," and he kicked him in the right shin. "Now let's