nearby, on his mobile. Lamb and Jordaan had arrived before Bond to plant microphones and monitor the conversation, in case Felicity took the bait. They’d hidden in the workers’ caravan; Bond’s flash of the torch earlier had verified they were invisible and alerted them that he was going inside. He hadn’t wanted to use radio transmissions.
Jordaan’s phone rang and she answered it. She listened, jotting information in her notebook, then said, ‘My people have raided Ms Willing’s office. We’ve got the landing locations of all the planes and the routes of the ships delivering the food.’
Gregory Lamb looked over her notes and relayed the information into his phone. While the man did not instil confidence as an intelligence agent, apparently he indeed had his contacts and he was using them now.
‘You can’t do this!’ Felicity wailed. ‘You don’t understand!’
Bond and Jordaan ignored her and stared at Lamb. Finally he disconnected. ‘There’s an American carrier off the coast. They’ve launched fighters to intercept the food planes. And RAF and South African attack helicopters are on their way to turn the ships.’
Bond thanked the big sweating man for his efforts. He’d never suspected Lamb – whose odd behaviour stemmed from the fact that he was essentially a coward. He admitted that he’d disappeared during the action at the Green Way plant to hide in the bushes, though stopped short of confessing he’d shot through his own sleeve. But Bond had thought him the perfect bait to lay before his suspect, Felicity Willing.
Bheka Jordaan took a call too. ‘Back-up’s going to be a little delayed – bad accident on Victoria Road. But Kwalene says they should be here in twenty or thirty minutes.’
Bond looked down at Felicity. Even now, sitting on the filthy floor of this decrepit construction site, she radiated defiance, a caged, angry lioness.
‘How… how did you know?’ she asked.
They could hear the soothing yet powerful sound of the Atlantic crashing on the rocks, birds calling, a far-off car horn bleating. This place wasn’t far from the centre of Cape Town but the city seemed a universe away.
‘A number of things made me wonder,’ Bond told her. ‘The first was Dunne himself. Why the mysterious funds transfer to his account yesterday,
‘Then I remembered Dunne travelled to India, Indonesia and the Caribbean. At the fundraiser you said your charity had opened offices in Mumbai, Jakarta and Port-au-Prince. Bit of a coincidence, that. Both you and Dunne had connections in London and Cape Town and you’d both had a presence in South Africa
‘And I made the NOAH connection on my own,’ Bond continued. When he was in SAPS headquarters he’d found himself staring at her card. IOAH. He’d suddenly realised there was merely one letter difference. ‘I checked company records in Pretoria and found the group’s original name. So when you told me you’d heard Lamb referred to as Noah, I knew you were lying. That confirmed your guilt. But we still needed to trick you into telling us what you knew and what Incident Twenty was.’ He regarded her coldly. ‘I didn’t have time for aggressive interrogation.’
Purpose… response.
Not knowing Felicity’s goal, this deception had been the best response he could put together.
Felicity eased herself towards the wall. The movement was accompanied by a glance out of the window.
Suddenly several thoughts coalesced in Bond’s mind: the shift of her eyes, the ‘accident’ blocking Victoria Road, Dunne’s genius for planning and the car horn, which had sounded about three minutes earlier. It had been a signal, of course, and Felicity had been counting down since it had blared in the distance.
‘Incoming!’ Bond cried and launched himself into Bheka Jordaan.
The two of them and Lamb tumbled to the floor as bullets crashed through the windows, filling the room with shards of glistening confetti.
69
Bond, Lamb and Jordaan took cover as best they could, which wasn’t easy because the entire north wall of the room was exposed. Table saws and the rest of the construction equipment provided some protection but they were still vulnerable, since the work lights and overheads gave the sniper a perfect view of the rooms.
Felicity hunkered down further.
‘How many men does Dunne have with him?’ Bond snapped to her.
She didn’t answer.
He aimed close to her leg and fired a deafening shot, which spat splinters of wood into her face and chest. She screamed. ‘Just him for now,’ she whispered quickly. ‘He’s got some other people on the way. Listen, just let me go and-’
‘Shut up!’
So, Bond reflected, Dunne had used part of his money to bribe security forces in Mozambique to lie that he’d been spotted in the country while he had remained here to back up Felicity. And to hire mercenaries to extract them, if necessary.
Bond glanced round the breakfast room and the nearby lobby. There was simply no way to get to cover. Aiming carefully, he shot out the work lights but the overheads were still bright and too numerous to take out. They gave Dunne a perfect view of the interior. Bond rose but was rewarded with two close shots. He’d seen no target. There was some moonlight but the glare inside rendered outdoors black. He could tell Dunne was shooting from high ground, on the Apostles range. Yet the Irishman could be anywhere up there.
A moment or two passed, then more bullets crashed into the room, striking bags of plaster. The dust rose and Bond and Jordaan coughed. Bond noted that the angle of those shots had been different; Dunne was working his way into a position from which he could begin to pick them off.
‘The lights,’ Lamb called. ‘We’ve got to get them out.’
The switch, however, was in the passage to the kitchen and to get to it one of them would have to run past a series of glass doors and windows, presenting a perfect target to Dunne.
Bond tried but he was in the most vulnerable position and the instant he rose slugs slammed into a pillar and the tools beside him. He fell back to the floor.
‘I’ll go,’ said Bheka Jordaan. She was gauging distances to the light switch, Bond saw. ‘I’m closest. I think I can make it. Did I tell you, James, I was a star rugby player at university? I moved very quickly.’
‘No,’ Bond said firmly. ‘It’s suicide. We’ll wait for your officers.’
‘They won’t be here in time. He’ll be in position to kill us all in a few minutes. James, rugby is a wonderful game. Have you ever played?’ She laughed. ‘No, of course not. I can’t see you on a team.’
His smile matched hers.
‘You’re better placed to give covering fire,’ Bond said. ‘That big Colt of yours’ll scare the hell out of him. I’m going on three. One… two-’
Suddenly a voice called, ‘Oh, please!’
Bond looked toward Lamb, who continued, ‘Those countdown scenes in movies are such dreadful cliches. Nonsense. In real life nobody counts. You just stand up and go!’
Which was exactly what Lamb now did. He leapt to his meaty legs and lumbered towards the light switch. Bond and Jordaan both aimed into the blackness and fired covering rounds. They had no idea
