Solo - Jack Higgins [79]
'He was certainly right there.'
'Yes, only now that I've found him, I want Mikali for myself.'
'An eye for an eye. Is that the only way you see it? Blood for blood?'
'And why not? If I accuse him in Greece, they'll laugh at me. He's a national hero. If I let them arrest him in England, they'll give him fifteen years for shooting Cohen and that's only if they can prove it. All his other killings have been elsewhere, remember. The Germans - the French. They'll all have to wait their turn.'
'So?'
'After a while, Black September or the Red Brigade, or whatever, will hijack a British Airways plane one fine morning. The price for the return of the passengers and crew intact will be Mikali free and on his way to Libya or Cuba or somewhere similar.'
'And you want to see him dead?'
'When I'm ready.'
'I could get in touch with Baker myself.'
He shook his head. 'But you won't.'
'Why not?'
'Because you owe me, girl.' He touched his arm, then his shoulder and winced. 'I should be dead. That I'm not, is no thanks to you. And don't throw Jago at me. That was different and you know it.'
She stood up instantly. 'All right, Asa. You go to hell in your own way.'
'And you?'
'I'll go back to London today. I'll carry on to Cambridge from there. I've had it. You and John Mikali, Asa. You deserve each other.'
'And you won't phone Baker?'
'No,' she said. 'Just go and play your bloody violent little games as far away from me as possible.'
She walked away very rapidly. Morgan got up and watched her go, then he turned and went back to the farmhouse. Old George, still splitting logs, paused.
'She has gone?'
'Yes. What time is the next hydrofoil to the Piraeus?'
'Ten-thirty. Impossible to catch it now in my boat.'
'And the next?'
'An hour after noon.'
'Will you take me in?'
'If that is what you want'
Morgan walked to the farmhouse where Maria still sat sewing his jacket.
'My shirt?'
'On the line, drying in the sun. I have washed it for thee.' Her eyes squinted up at him from the leathery old face. 'But this, even my magic cannot put right.'
She gave him his passport. Soaked by its immersion in the sea, it had buckled and twisted in the heat of the sun. When he tried to open it, it came apart in his hands.
'Christ Jesus!' he said in Welsh. 'That's all I needed.'
'Is this bad, boy?' she asked.
'It could be, mother. It could alter everything. I'll just have to see.'
At the villa, Katherine Riley had just finished packing when the phone rang. When she picked it up, Mikali's voice sounded in her ear.
'Heh, you're still there. You should be here already.'
'No problem,' she said. 'I'm leaving with Constantine now. We're using the speedboat. That means I'll catch the ten-thirty hydrofoil to the Piraeus. With any luck I should catch the one-thirty flight, our time.' Amazing how calm she felt. 'How are things going?'
'Marvellous.' His enthusiasm was overflowing now. 'Previn's a genius - the best damned conductor I've ever worked with, but it's going to take most of today to get it right, angel. So, if I'm not around when you get in, don't worry. You've got your key. Just make sure you're in that box tonight.'
The line went dead. She stood there for a moment, holding the receiver, then replaced it. When she turned Constantine stood just inside the door watching her. There was something in the face, in the dark eyes, as if he could see right through her. Knew everything. But that was nonsense.
She indicated her two suitcases and picked up her raincoat. 'All right,' she said, 'I'm ready,' and went out of the door ahead of him.
Deville, sheltering from the rain under a tree on the edge of Hyde Park beside Park Lane, watched Mikali running very fast from the direction of the Serpentine. He wore a black tracksuit, a single scarlet stripe down each leg. He came to a halt a few yards away and stood hands on hips, breathing easily.
Deville said, 'You never let up, do