Midnight Runner Part 4

He smiled and put a cigarette in his mouth. "I love you to bits."

"But Rupert, women don't figure on your agenda."

"I know, isn't it a shame? But I still love you." He leaned back. "So where are we?"

"Senator Daniel Quinn over there. It's very interesting how chummy he seems to be with Cazalet. Before when I wanted him dead, it was because his people were finding out too much about my activities. Now, I wonder if he doesn't have some bigger agenda."

"Such as?"

"I don't know. But I think it would be interesting to find out...Do you know that he has a daughter, Rupert? Named Helen. She's a Rhodes scholar at Oxford."

"Yes? And?"

"I want you to cultivate her."

"I don't understand."

"Well, you know about my little charitable works, don't you? I believe in supporting oppressed and minority political groups. People like Act of Cla.s.s Warfare, the United Anarchist Front, the Army of National Liberation in Beirut. They're a little wild, but...well meaning."

"Well meaning, my backside."

"Rupert, how unkind. Well, anyway, the Act of Cla.s.s Warfare education program operates from my castle, Loch Dhu, in western Scotland, a rather run-down old thing but nice and remote. It provides adventure courses for young people. Teaches them how to handle themselves. And for some of the older ones...a little more."

"Like in Hazar?"

"Very good, Rupert! Yes. The Army of Arab Liberation Children's Trust. That's rather more serious business. Full paramilitary training, run by mercenaries. Some of them are Irish, you know. There are plenty of them around since this whole peace process thing began."

"So what do you want from me?"

"I want you to oversee Loch Dhu, start keeping an eagle eye out, make sure n.o.body is snooping around. And I want you to keep close contact with Act of Cla.s.s Warfare."

"Why?"

"Because I've got a feeling we'll be seeing Senator Quinn again, and sooner than we think. Did you know, Rupert, that Act of Cla.s.s Warfare has branches at most of the major universities now? Filled by the children of the affluent who want to destroy capitalism?" She chuckled.

"And what does that have to do with Quinn?"

"Because, my dear Rupert...Helen Quinn is a member of the Oxford branch."

In London the following morning, Major Roper appeared at Sean Dillon's cottage at Stable Mews, a strange young man in a state-of-the-art electric wheelchair. He wore a reefer coat, his hair was down to his shoulders, and his face was a taut mask of the kind of scar tissue that only comes from burns. An important bomb-disposal expert with the Royal Engineers, decorated with the George Cross, his extraordinary career had been terminated by what he called "a silly little bomb" in a small family car in, courtesy of the Provisional IRA.

He'd survived and discovered a whole new career in computers. Now if you wanted to find out anything in cybers.p.a.ce, no matter how buried, it was Roper you called.

Ferguson and Dillon were there to greet him.

"Sean, you b.a.s.t.a.r.d," Roper said cheerfully.

Dillon smiled and helped him over the step. "You look well."

"Hannah didn't say much. She sent me a file, though. Are we going to war again?"

"I'd say it's a distinct possibility."

He followed Roper along the corridor and they found Ferguson on the telephone. He replaced it. "Major, how goes it?"

"Fine, General. You've got work for me?"

Ferguson nodded. "Indeed we do."

For the next half hour, they went over the whole background of the case, until finally Dillon said, "And what we would like you to do first is check out those groups she's been giving money to. If she's got an Achilles' heel, that may be it. I don't know what we're looking for, exactly"-he grinned-"but we'll know when we find it."

"You realize," Roper said, "that if Quinn's people checked her out a few months ago, she knows it. They're bound to have left footprints, which means that she's had time to try to cover her tracks, if she wanted to."

"Does that mean you don't think you'll find anything?" Ferguson asked.

Roper's scar tissue lifted in what pa.s.sed for a smile. "I said she'd try. I didn't say she'd succeed."

LONDON OXFORD HAZAR.

5.

ROPER'S APARTMENT IN REGENCY SQUARE WAS ON THE ground floor, with its own entrance and a slope to the door to facilitate his wheelchair. The entire place, including the kitchen and bathroom, which had a specialized shower and toilet system, was designed not only for a handicapped person but for one who, as in this case, was determined to fend for himself. In what should have been a sitting room, there was instead a computer laboratory and workbench, and the equipment there was state-of-the-art, some of it cla.s.sified, obtained not only because he was a Major on the Army reserve list but because Ferguson used his muscle whenever he had to.

Three days after Quinn's meeting with the President, the front doorbell sounded at ten in the morning. Roper pressed a remote control and a moment later, Ferguson, Dillon, and Hannah Bernstein came in.

"So, what have you got?" Ferguson asked Roper.

"Well, as you said, the Ras.h.i.+d Educational Trust pours money into an incredible variety of causes. The list's as long as your arm. Most of them appear legit, but not all of them. This Children's Trust in Beirut, for instance, is definitely Hezbollah. And she's got other trusts scattered around Syria, Iraq, Kuwait, the Oman. I'm still working on them, but I'd bet you anything some of them are terrorist fronts as well."

"What on earth's she playing at?" Ferguson said.

"She's consolidating her power," Dillon said. "Establis.h.i.+ng links with all the major Arab leaders. Gaining influence through either peace or violence, depending on what suits her particular needs."

Roper nodded. "And don't forget the size of her oil interests in the Middle East. Ras.h.i.+d Investments controls a third of all production there. She could bring down the whole house of cards if she wanted to."

"Christ," Ferguson groaned. "A third of Mideast oil production."

Dillon turned back to Roper. "What about here at home? She hasn't made grants to the IRA or the Ulster Freedom Fighters or anything like that?"

"No, but there are a lot of fringe organizations, like the People's Army, the Socialist Marxist League, the Nationalist Liberation Group, the United Anarchists, and so on-and all the contributions presented as educational grants."

"And next time there's a riot in London, how many of the members will be there?" Hannah asked.

Roper shrugged. "She's very clever. Everything is done in the open and aboveboard. Many people would applaud what she's doing."

"On the surface, maybe," Ferguson said. "She's clever, all right. What about Act of Cla.s.s Warfare?"

"Despite its name, it seems pretty innocuous. Its biggest feature is a kind of outdoor educational program for kids from twelve to eighteen. School parties, canoeing, trekking, mountain climbing."

"I wonder what the older students get?" Dillon asked.

"Its headquarters is in western Scotland, in a town called Moidart, at Loch Dhu Castle. Yes, it belongs to the Countess."

Ferguson was astonished. "But I've been there. We all have."

Even Roper was surprised. "What do you mean?"

It was Dillon who answered. "A few years ago, we had to deal with a very bad article named Carl Morgan who'd rented that castle for a few weeks. The General, Hannah, and I took him on from Ardmurchan Lodge on the other side of the loch."

Hannah turned to Ferguson. "But Lady Katherine owned it."

"Actually, it's a little more complicated than that," said Roper. "When Sir Paul Dauncey received the t.i.tle of Earl of Loch Dhu from James the First, it was an old castle even then. It was rebuilt in mid-Victorian style by one of the later Earls, starting in 1850, but the family hardly ever used it-they preferred Dauncey Place. More recently, they leased it to the Campbell family for fifty years. On the death of Lady Katherine Rose five years ago, the lease reverted to the Daunceys."

"Or since the marriage of Kate's mother to the Ras.h.i.+ds," Dillon said.

"Carl Jung once said there was a thing called synchronicity," Hannah said. "An event going beyond mere coincidence that makes you think there's some deeper meaning involved."

"Yes, spooky, isn't it?" Dillon said. "Kate Ras.h.i.+d's been waiting for us to turn up all this time."

"Don't talk nonsense." It was Ferguson who interjected. "But, you know, I think it's time for us to shake the pot a bit."

"What do you mean, sir?" Hannah asked.

Ferguson turned to Dillon. "Sean, I think it's time for 'We know that they know and they know that we know.'"

"And what would that accomplish?" Dillon asked.

"All right. Now, this is top secret and for your ears only, and Whitehall would probably skin me alive for telling you-but for the past couple of years, Kate Ras.h.i.+d's done...some work for the government. She's been a secret emissary for the Foreign Office and the Prime Minister."

"What?!" Hannah exclaimed. "Oh, I can't believe this!" Hannah exclaimed. "Oh, I can't believe this!"

"Do we get to know who's at the other end?" Dillon asked.

"Saddam Hussein."

"Good G.o.d," Hannah moaned.

"She knows him well, you see, and he's a great admirer."

"She can't put a foot wrong, can she?" Roper commented. "So what you're saying is that she has protectors, that we'd have difficulty getting certain people to think ill of her at the highest levels of government."

"Yes. But I d.a.m.n well do," Ferguson said.

"And you'd like Kate Ras.h.i.+d to know you're on her case?"

"Exactly." He turned to Hannah Bernstein. "You and Dillon, I want you to go to Loch Dhu Castle, see what you can stir up."

"When, sir?"

"Right now. Phone Farley Field. Tell Lacey and Parry to get the Gulfstream ready. If I remember right, there's an old abandoned RAF strip by the Loch. It's only four hundred and fifty miles, it should take you an hour and a half."

"We'd need transport, sir."

"Then phone the air-sea rescue base at Oban. Tell them to send an unmarked car. Do it now. Go on, Superintendent, you can use your mobile in the car."

He almost pushed her out of the room, and Dillon smiled at Roper as he followed. "Now you know how we won the war."

"Which war?" Roper asked.

At Farley Field, the small RAF installation used for covert operations, they were greeted by Squadron Leader Lacey and Flight Lieutenant Parry. Both officers were holders of the Air Force Cross, awarded for hazardous operations in various parts of the world on Ferguson's behalf. Both men wore nondescript blue flying overalls with no rank tabs.

Lacey said, "Nice to see you, Sean. Will it be messy?"

"Probably not-but you never know, do you?"

"We're using the Lear, since it doesn't have RAF roundels, Superintendent. You did say you wanted this business low-key."

"Of course. Let's get moving."

She went up the ladder, Dillon behind her, and the pilots followed. Lacey went to the c.o.c.kpit and Parry closed the door. A minute later, they sped down the runway and took off, climbing fast to thirty thousand.

"Why the emphasis on anonymity when Ferguson wants Kate to know it's us?" Dillon asked.

"We're a covert organization, and we want to keep it that way. A plane with RAF roundels and two officers in uniform could form the basis of a formal complaint if the Countess so desired."

"Ah, Kate would never do that. There are rules, even in our business."

"You've never obeyed a rule in your life."

He lit a cigarette. "The ones that suit me, I do. How are you feeling these days, Hannah?"

The previous year, during the feud with the Ras.h.i.+ds, she'd been shot three times by an Arab gunman.

"Don't fuss, Dillon. I'm here, aren't I?"

"Ah, the hard woman you are."

"Oh, shut up."

Parry had left a couple of newspapers on the seat. She picked up the Times Times and started to read. and started to read.

At the same time, other things were happening in the world. In Kosovo, Daniel Quinn entered the village of Leci in a Land Rover owned by the British Household Cavalry Regiment. A trooper stood up behind a mounted machine gun and another drove, while Quinn, wearing a combat jacket, sat in the rear beside a Corporal of Horse-the equivalent of a Sergeant in other units-named Varley.