Rhinoceros

'How do I explain to my sergeant that I've lost my bullets?'

'Easy. You don't. Surely you can slip into your ammo store and load up again?'

'Guess mebbee I could at that.' The guard took back from Nield his weapon, tucked it down a holster inside his jacket. 'Special Branch? I heard of you guys.'

'The CIA would.'

'That's right

The guard stopped speaking suddenly. He had given away the organization he belonged to. He walked back to the hotel slowly, taking long strides. When he reached the Atlantic he ran up the steps, disappeared. He hadn't risked looking back once.

'You really can talk on your feet,' Harry said.

'I had to pressure him to make him talk. Now I'm going back to tell Tweed the news. I think he'll be interested in the confirmation.'

'I'll drive you to the Four Seasons, then take over the watch. But I'll have to park in a different place.'

'Very British,' Nield remarked as Harry started the car, 'the way Gavin Thunder sneaked in on his own. Whereas the Secretary of State has a small army to look after his precious hide.'

Nield arrived outside the door to Tweed's suite at the same moment as Paula, who was carrying a coloured brochure.

'I have news for him,' she said.

'I have a little news myself…'

Tweed, still in his shirt sleeves – the humidity had become even worse – ushered them both inside. Nield drank two glasses of water and sighed with relief.

'We have news,' Paula reported. 'I think Pete should speak first.'

'The American Secretary of State is staying at the Atlantic,' Nield announced.

'So it's all coming together. Paula, you'll recall how this has happened in the past. Suddenly everything accelerates and the pace never lets up until we reach the climax. We are at that stage now.'

He listened while Nield swiftly told him the circumstances under which they had obtained the information. Tweed said nothing but he was frowning as Nield completed his report.

'Pete, do you think that CIA guard will talk when he is with his pals?'

'I bet he won't,' said Paula. 'Not with his career on the line.'

'I agree,' Nield commented. 'Now I'd better get some sleep.'

'Harry also needs some,' Tweed decided. 'Bring him in and then both of you go straight to bed.' When Nield had left he turned to Paula. 'Something on your mind?'

'You remember when Lisa was in the clinic and desperately trying to tell us something? Ham… Dan… 4S? Recently we thought she was trying to say "Danzer", the chauffeur. I was going through some brochures I picked up downstairs. Look.'

She held up a coloured brochure. It folded out but she had it closed. On the front were three large letters. DAN. She opened it out and the complete word appeared. DANEMARK.

'The German word for Denmark,' she said. 'I think that was what Lisa was trying to say. There's something significant in Denmark.'

'Better ask her when we're all together in the limo in the morning. You could be right. And Denmark is in the far north from here – Milo said that's where his headquarters are.'

Marler arrived just when Paula had finished speaking. He looked as though he'd just had eight hours' sleep, when actually he hadn't had any. He looked at Tweed.

'You've had time to think over the battle plan we worked out. Any doubts?'

'None. It's a flexible plan, allowing for several different situations. I reckon if it's Delgado who is commanding their attack he may have between fifteen and thirty men. And we only have six.'

'Seven,' Marler corrected him. 'Lisa will be with us and I gave her a Beretta automatic with plenty of ammo. Don't look like that, Tweed. I took her to a shooting gallery here I know of. She scored six bull's-eyes twice, the third time it was five bulls, one inner. Not bad. I was staggered.'

'You're in charge.'

Tweed didn't look at Paula. He knew she would be pulling a sour face, expressing doubt. They then had another visitor. When Paula opened the door Nield came in again.

'More news. I'd just climbed into the Opel Harry had parked in a different position when we saw someone come out of the Atlantic and walk briskly back here. You'll never guess who it was.'

'Come on,' Tweed snapped.

'The Brig. Bernard, Lord Barford.'

'Probably went up to have a drink at a different place.'

'So why was he carrying an old-fashioned briefcase?'

Tweed walked out onto the balcony as Nield left. Paula joined him as he stared into the distance. He drank the rest of the Scotch from a glass he had picked up, lit a cigarette.

'It does look as though I've got it all back to front,' he said eventually. 'And tomorrow – prepare for a day of undiluted hell.'

CHAPTER 28

The cream Mercedes was moving along the autobahn but keeping within the speed limit. It had left Hamburg and its suburbs well behind and the wide road ahead was deserted, crossing open country. There had been traffic in the city and for a distance beyond it – huge juggernauts and a few private cars. Now they had the world to themselves.

Newman was behind the wheel of the stretch limo, with Marler beside him. In the middle section Tweed sat behind Newman with Paula next to him, while in the rear Nield was behind Tweed with Lisa alongside him. No one had spoken for some time and there was an atmosphere of tension inside the large car. Paula kept wiping the palms of her hands on paper handkerchiefs so, when the time came, her fingers would not slip as she gripped the butt of her Browning.

The sun glared down on them mercilessly out of a clear blue sky and, despite the air-conditioning, the heat was building up inside the Merc. Paula was gazing out at the endless fields of crops which spread out to the horizon.

'Maize,' said Tweed. 'Scores of acres of it. And because of the heatwave it's almost ready for harvesting. It's really very tall.'

'Is that a point in our favour?' she asked.

'It could be – unless they've laid an ambush ahead of us.'

'It's just what I would have ordered,' Marler called back. 'It could turn the tide for us.'

Newman kept the car moving. One private car passed them coming in the opposite direction, the first they had seen for a while. Then the autobahn ahead was clear again and they ate up more miles.

'How far are we from Flensburg?' Lisa called out.

'A very long way yet. Over an hour's drive, easily,' Tweed replied. 'We're in the middle of nowhere.'

'I've only seen the very occasional farmhouse,' Lisa remarked.

Paula studied the fields again. They came almost up to the edge of the autobahn. The thick plants of maize had large leaves and there were no gaps between them. It was a sea of uninterrupted green. She had never before seen such a continous mass of crops.

'They're taking their time,' Paula said.

'Have patience,' Tweed advised. 'They will come.'

Fifteen minutes behind them Harry was driving steadily up the autobahn in his blue Merc with tinted windows. He couldn't see the cream limo – it was too far ahead of him. He was constantly checking his rear-view mirror, seeing nothing. On the seat beside him rested the Uzi machine pistol. It was fully loaded.

He checked the rear-view mirror once more and stiffened. Out of nowhere a four-wheel drive had appeared. He thought it was a Discovery Land Rover. It was coming like a rocket. Then he saw another vehicle of the same type racing up behind the lead vehicle. Then a third. Then a fourth.

He maintained the same speed. The first vehicle was about to overtake him. He glanced up as it raced past him, saw the man at the wheel, wearing a black beret and a camouflage jacket. Delgado.

The second vehicle passed him. The third. The fourth. All the Land Rovers were crammed with villainous-looking men. Some were holding automatic rifles. He picked up his mobile, called Marler.