cloakroom, slipped it on, and went to pick up Jean. It was far too early, but it didn t matter. It would take her ages to dress, but what else was new? After all, she was meeting the President of the United States of America for drinks.
An hour and a half earlier, Ali Selim had said good-bye at Stukely Towers to Asan and Jemal, holding his niece close to him for a moment.
Allah protect you, child, and aid you in this great enterprise.
It is a privilege to have been chosen, Uncle.
He shook Jemal s hand. My blessings go with you both, and I await your return anxiously. I shall spend the day in prayer for you.
They got into the ambulance, Asan at the wheel, for she was a better driver, and as she drove round the circular lawn, she reached out and waved to her uncle. He waved back, and then they were out of the main gate and on their way.
Ali Selim turned to the steps leading up to the front door, which was opened by an Arab in a chauffeur s uniform. Are you ready to leave, master?
Certainly, Mahmud. Have you brought down my luggage?
It s already in the Mercedes in the rear courtyard. I ll go and get it.
You ve notified the airfield that I m ready to leave?
I called them the moment I saw the ambulance start down the drive, master. The Hawker will depart as soon as we get there.
He put up an umbrella, since it had started to rain, and hurried away, and Ali Selim stepped back into the porch. The sooner he was out of England, the better. There was nothing to stay for, certainly not his niece and Jemal. They were the walking dead now. He had no doubt the ambulance would be admitted, and, once inside, when the real plan came into play, the one they knew nothing about, the results would be shattering. Ali Selim s bomb maker had packed every possible cavity in the ambulance with Semtex, and the electronic timer in the paramedic s bag, which Jemal had been told was timed to give them thirty minutes to walk away, was actually set for the instant it was turned on. The explosion was bound to be catastrophic, although unfortunate for Asan and Jemal. On the other hand, that was no bad thing. He had, after all, been too open with them concerning the flight to Peshawar and his stay in Amira. There was no advantage in making that public at the moment.
The Mercedes came round the side of the house. Mahmud got out and raised an umbrella and mounted the steps. Ali Selim flicked the stub of the cigarette into a flower bed.
Fast as you like, Mahmud, he said as he joined him. I can t wait to get out of here.
Doyle, Dillon, and Roper pulled up at the Dorchester, where Sara and Holley waited at the top of the steps, sheltering under the canopy from the rain. A doorman held an umbrella for them as they piled in, and Doyle pulled out into the Park Lane traffic.
Well, the President won t be impressed with the weather, that s for sure, Sara said.
So they ll have the canopies out, Dillon said. And everybody crowding in a bit, but on the good side, there s Captain Sara Gideon, with red hair to thank God for, and nicely set off by a scarlet blazer from Valentino, and I adore those navy blue raw-silk jeans. That s got to be Gucci. You ll be a sensation, girl dear.
Why, Sean, is it your feminine side you re revealing?
Well, I was once an actor, he told her.
Yes, we all know that, but you ll have to spend more time on your lines. The silk jeans are Valentino and the blazer s by Gucci. Not bad for an alpha male, though.
Sara turned round to Roper in his wheelchair behind her. Are you looking forward to meeting the great man?
You could say that. He s certainly a remarkable human being, but with anything as important as this, all I want is for it to be over. All those years with the bombs in Belfast taught me one thing with complete certainty. No matter how well you organize and plan, something unlooked for comes round the next corner and screws everything up. It s a kind of chaos theory.
They were into the press of traffic heading to Westminster, vehicles three abreast. As Sara glanced out, looking to the left across Holley, she saw the yellow ambulance ease past, noticed particularly the young girl at the wheel for no better reason than that she was extremely pretty. Asan glanced over briefly, then eased the ambulance forward in the column of vehicles aiming for the entrance to the underground garage at the House of Commons.
Sara frowned, leaning across Holley as the van moved close to the ambulance again. He said, What is it?
The ambulance had moved again, for they had joined the double queue of vehicles entering the garage.
The driver of that ambulance, Sara told him.
Dillon said, I noticed her, too. Pretty girl. What about her?
The ambulance was being passed through. It s just that I seem to know her from somewhere.
With the documents Doyle showed the security men, they were passed through themselves, and as they moved forward, it struck Sara like a thunderbolt.
Oh, my God, I know where I ve seen her before.
Roper said, What are you talking about, Sara?
That girl was at Speakers Corner with the men carrying Ali Selim. She was running alongside with a hand clutching his palanquin. She was all in black and wore a silk chador.
Doyle braked to a halt involuntarily, and Dillon said, God in heaven, girl, are you sure about this?
Of course she is, Roper said. Get after them, Tony. There s no place for them to hide, not in that ambulance. If it s a bomb job, there s no time to lose, so be ready to go in hard.
Asan and Jemal had no idea they were in trouble. The trip into London had been without incident, and their identities and the work documents relating to the delivery of oxygen cylinders to level three had been accepted without question. Level three itself seemed pretty parked up, so Asan cruised, glancing from side to side, and it was Jemal who was stressed and cursing softly.
Calm yourself, Jemal, all will be well, she said serenely, for she was on a complete high, never so certain. A moment later, at the far end, they came to a section of what obviously were work vehicles of one kind or another, and she pulled in on the end at a row and switched off. There was a wide gap to the next vehicle, a red Ford van.
So it begins, she said. Just as my uncle said it would. We are here.
Jemal was so nervous that he was close to coming apart at the seams. And here we ll stay one way or another unless we get out of here fast. I ll go and set the timer.
Which was in the paramedic s bag in the back of the ambulance. He got out, went to open the rear door, and Dillon s van arrived in a sudden rush as Doyle took it past in a burst of speed. Jemal pulled out the silenced Walther he had been provided with and fired twice, and the van turned in to the other side of the red Ford for protection.
Jemal opened the door on the passenger side of the ambulance, reached in, and pulled Asan across. There was a look of total astonishment on her face as she tumbled out, then struggled to her feet.
Roper s voice boomed out. It s over. Throw any weapons into the open and then lie down.
I don t know who they are, but he s right, Jemal said. It s finished.
Only if I say so. Her left hand found the pillbox, and she pulled out the capsule it contained, put it in her mouth, then took out her own Walther. She stood, leaned across to the driver s window, which she had left open, and fired several times across at the red Ford. It was a strange and eerie sensation, only the dull thuds of the silenced weapons as Dillon and Holley returned fire.
Jemal grabbed at her, turning her and slapping her face. No more. It s over.
She pushed him away, turned, and fired wildly again at the van, her teeth crunching down on the capsule, the sickly sweet smell of cyanide apparent at once. He had no idea what it was, only that it was bad, and he pushed a fresh clip into his Walther.
Damn you to hell, he called, and emptied the gun into the van. It was Sara, crouched on the other side with Dillon and Holley, who took the practical approach.
She dropped down flat and saw Asan s body at once, and the lower half of Jemal s legs beside it. He was at that moment reloading. She took careful aim and shot him through the right kneecap. He cried out, lurched
