Time of the Assassins

ELEVEN

Sabrina sat forward in the chair, her hands cupped over her face, her eyes riveted on the telephone. It had been over two hours since she had returned to the farm and there was still no news of Graham. She knew from Tambese that he hadn't been one of the casualties at Branco so where was he? And how had he managed to get out of the prison before it was bombed? The questions seemed irrelevant as she willed the telephone to ring.

Moredi and Laidlaw sat in the lounge with her. Neither of them had spoken for over thirty minutes, each engrossed in their own thoughts. She slumped back in her chair and banged the arm with her fist. Laidlaw glanced at her. She looked pale and drawn and he could see the anxiety mirrored in her eyes. She looked from Laidlaw to Moredi. He had been playing patience on the coffee table when she had arrived back at the farm. That had been an hour ago. He was still playing. He sensed she was watching him and looked up at her. He smiled fleetingly. She didn't respond. He was about to resume the game when the telephone rang. She was on her feet before she could check herself. She bit her lip nervously as Moredi lifted the receiver to his ear. He listened momentarily then extended the receiver towards her.

'Is it about Mike?' she asked anxiously.

'It is Mike,' Moredi replied with a reassuring smile.

She took the receiver from him. 'Mike?'

'Yeah,' Graham replied.

'Nice of you to call,' she said. 'Where are you? And where have you been for the past two hours?'

'I'm OK, Sabrina. Thanks for asking,' came the sharp reply.

She sighed deeply then rubbed her eyes wearily. 'I'm sorry, Mike. It's been a long night.'

'Tell me about it.'

'Where are you calling from?'

'The hospital.'

'Are you hurt?'

'No, nothing a few hours' sleep won't heal. You OK?'

'I'm fine. What happened? How did you get out of Branco?'

'It's a long story. I'll tell you about it when I see you. Tambese's also here. He's just finished questioning Mobuto. We should be with you soon.'

'Sure. And Mike, it's good to hear your voice.'

'Hey, don't get sentimental on me now.'

She grinned sheepishly. 'See you later.'

'Yeah,' Graham replied and hung up.

She replaced the receiver and looked round at Laidlaw and Moredi. 'He's OK. He'll be coming back with David.'

Moredi put a hand lightly on her shoulder. 'Now you know he's OK why don't you put your head down for a couple of hours? You looked exhausted.'

'I couldn't sleep even if I wanted to. There are too many unanswered questions up here,' she replied, tapping her head.

'Then how about a coffee while you wait for them to get back from the hospital?'

'I'd love one, thanks,' she replied then pointed to the door. Til be outside.'

Moredi nodded and left the room. She pushed open the door and walked out onto the porch. The sun was just beginning to creep over the horizon which was bathed in a mirage of orange and gold — the unparalleled beauty of an African sunrise.

'Exquisite, isn't it?'

She looked round sharply at Laidlaw who had emerged silently onto the porch, a mug of coffee in each hand.

'Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you,' he said, handing one of the mugs to her.

'Thanks,' she said then moved to the edge of the porch and sat down on the top step.

'Do you mind if I sit down?'

'It's a free country now,' she replied without looking round.

Laidlaw sat in the wicker chair by the door. 'Can we talk?'

She put the mug down and glanced round at him, a look of irritation on her face. 'Talk? What about?'

'Look, I know we haven't exactly hit it off these last few days. And a lot of it's been my fault, I realize that now. I'm sure I'm not the first guy to have doubted your ability because you're a woman.'

'And you won't be the last either,' she replied then sat back against the railing and drew her knees up to her chest. 'But I've come to expect it now. It's all part of being a woman in a male-orientated profession. Not that it bothers me. I've got a job to do and I'll do it to the best of my ability. And if you guys can't accept that, that's your problem not mine.'

'Well, you can count me as one of the converted after tonight.'

'Hallelujah!' she retorted.

'I should have known better than to try and talk to you,' he snapped, getting to his feet.

'Then talk to me, don't patronize me,' she said, glaring up at him.

He sighed deeply then moved to the railing. 'I didn't mean to sound patronizing. I'm sorry. Like you said, you're a woman in a male-orientated profession. I guess I'm just not used to dealing with that.'

'At least you're honest. Most of my colleagues wouldn't have admitted to that.'

'You and Mike seem to get along,' he said.

'We do, up to a point.' She smiled thoughtfully. 'But it wasn't always this amicable. We've been partners for two years now, and it's only been in the last few months that we've started to get along. The first year was a nightmare, an absolute nightmare. All we seemed to do was argue and bicker about every little thing. It got to the point where it was starting to affect our work. That's when it came to a head. We had to decide whether we could continue working together or whether we'd be better off with different partners. I don't think the outcome was ever in doubt. We work well as a team. We always have. So we decided to bury the hatchet and get on with the job. We still have our differences, mainly because we're both very independent. But we've learned to live with that.'

'You care a lot about him, don't you?'

'I guess,' she replied with a nonchalant shrug. 'He is my partner.'

The evasive answer wasn't lost on Laidlaw. He decided against pursuing the matter. He leaned back against the railing and folded his arms across his chest. 'I can't believe how much he's changed. It's hard to believe it's the same Mike Graham I knew at Delta. You mentioned how independent he is. If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I'd never have believed you.'

She shifted round until she was facing him. It was the first time she had ever heard anyone talk about the Mike Graham she had never known, and it fascinated her. 'What do you mean?' she prompted, desperately trying to keep the conversation alive.

'Mike always encouraged a team spirit at Delta. We'd go places as a unit, not as individuals. And he was the worst practical joker I've ever come across. You always had to be on your guard when Mike was about. You never knew what to expect.'

'Yeah?' Sabrina said with a grin.

Laidlaw shook his head slowly. 'It's hard to believe it's the same man, it really is.'

'It's understandable under the circumstances,' she said, her face serious again. 'From what he's told me about them, I get the impression he doted on Carrie and Mikey.'

'Yeah, he did,' Laidlaw replied then lapsed into silence.

A jeep appeared on the approach road to the farmhouse. She scrambled to her feet as it turned into the driveway. She could make out two occupants sitting up front but it was only when it reached the courtyard that she realized it was Graham and Tambese. The jeep came to a stop in front of the porch and Tambese killed the engine. Graham was the first to get out.

'Like the outfit,' Sabrina said with a grin, indicating the white tunic and trousers Graham had borrowed from the hospital.

'Very chic, isn't it?' he replied, mounting the steps onto the porch.

'You've got a couple of nasty bruises there, buddy,' Laidlaw said, pointing to Graham's face.

'Ngune caught me with a couple of good punches.'

'Did you get him?' Sabrina asked.

'Not personally. He's under the tarpaulin in the back of the jeep. The army's going to put the body on public display in Habane.' He moved to the door. 'I'm going to change. I'll be down in a minute.'

Sabrina watched Graham disappear into the house then looked round at Tambese. 'What happened to Ngune?'

Til explain everything inside,' Tambese replied, opening the door for them.

Moredi and Okoye were waiting in the lounge for Tambese. They shook hands and the three of" them spoke amongst themselves until Graham returned to the lounge, dressed now in a pair of faded jeans and a black T-shirt.

'Please, won't you all sit down?' Okoye said.

Graham and Sabrina sat on the sofa, Okoye, Laidlaw and Moredi in the armchairs close by. Laidlaw reached down to put his mug on the floor and his hand brushed against Sabrina's Uzi which was propped up against the wall. He immediately picked up the mug again and put it on the other side of his chair. It made him feel better.

'How is Mr Mobuto?' Sabrina asked, looking up at Tambese who had decided to remain standing.

'Drowsy, but otherwise he's fine. The doctor who examined him said there would be no side-effects from the drugs. He'll be discharged tomorrow morning.'

'I still don't understand why Ngune didn't kill him if he was such a threat,' Laidlaw said.

'Ngune needed him alive in case his coup failed. Then he could have used him as a hostage to get out of the country. Jamel and Remy have always been close. It's a bond that's developed over the years through their mutual abhorrence of their father's regime. Jamel refused to contemplate any military action against Ngune until he knew Remy was safe.'

'Why was he kidnapped?' Moredi asked. 'What did he have on Ngune?'

'Plenty. His mysterious informer was Ngune's personal secretary.'

Moredi whistled softly. 'No wonder Remy was so secretive about him. He must have been a mine of information.'

'Oh, he was. He knew about the coup; he also knew about the plot to assassinate Jamel; and he passed all this information on to Remy. When Ngune found out what had happened he had to stop Remy from printing the story, so he had him kidnapped.'

'Did Ngune's secretary identify the third man?' Sabrina asked.

'It is Bernard,' Tambese replied. 'But what really interested me was the fact that the actual plot to assassinate Jamel didn't originate here in Zimbala, as our intelligence sources have been led to believe. It's been a CIA operation all along. Ngune was their man. He's been working for the CIA for the past twenty-four years.'

'Ngune, CIA?' Moredi said in amazement. 'Why would he work for them?'

Tambese shrugged. 'I couldn't tell you. All I know is that it's been one of the CI A's best-kept secrets for all those years. His secretary only found out by chance.'

'Did he know who was behind the operation at Langley?' Sabrina asked.

'No.'

'It could be Bailey,' Sabrina said, looking at Graham.

'Could be,' Graham agreed. 'But right now we've got more important things to worry about.'

'What do you mean?' she asked suspiciously.

Graham looked at Tambese. 'Tell her.'

'You know that Jamel will be attending a trade fair in New York later this afternoon. It'll be his last public engagement before he flies out tonight.'

'Yes,' she replied hesitantly.

'Bernard will be there as well, armed with a high-powered sniper rifle. Ngune was told that a final attempt would be made to assassinate Jamel at the

Trade Center if he was still alive on the last day of his trip to America.'

Sabrina looked at her watch. 'New York's seven hours behind Zimbalan time. That means it'll be almost eleven thirty at night back home.' She turned to Graham. Til call Sergei and tell him about Bernard.'

'What can he do without alerting the CIA?' Graham asked, holding her stare. 'He'd have to tell the NYPD if he wanted to carry out a search of the building. And they're sure to have CIA moles at the highest level. It wouldn't take long for word to reach Langley that Bernard had been compromised, and he'd be told to pull out. Then we'd be back to square one again.'

'Surely the CIA will abort the operation anyway when they find out the coup has failed and that Ngune is dead?' Okoye said, looking from Graham to Sabrina.

'But they don't know that,' Tambese told him. 'All they'll know at the moment is that Branco and the rebel garrison have been destroyed by troops loyal to the government. We haven't released any casualty figures yet. What Mike suggested we do is put out some disinformation that Ngune and about two hundred of his men have amassed on the Chadian border to try and retake Kondese within the next twelve hours — so the CIA will still believe that they can overthrow Jamel and the government.'

'I'd like a word in private,' Sabrina said to Graham then looked round at the others. 'Would you excuse us for a moment, please?'

Graham followed her out onto the porch.

' Yow suggested that they should spread some disinformation about Ngune? Why, Mike?' She held up her hand before he could answer. 'No, let me guess. So that it would give you enough time to get back to New York and deal with Bernard yourself.'

'Not me, us,' he retorted.

'This has become an obsession, hasn't it? You'll go to any lengths to confront Bernard yourself. Even to the point of deliberately putting an innocent man's life in danger. It doesn't bother you, does it?'

Graham rested his arms on the railing and nodded his head slowly to himself. 'I admit I was wrong going after Bernard like I did. At the time it was an obsession. But not any more. I've seen what Mobuto means to this country. The people need him.' He glanced round at her. 'Don't get me wrong, I still want to see Bernard brought to justice. But right now it's more important to stop him before he can get to Mobuto.'

She sat down slowly on the wicker chair by the door. Her emotions had ranged from anger to guilt in the space of a few seconds. And it wasn't the first time it had happened either. She knew she was vulnerable to this quiet, softly spoken side of him that rarely showed itself. But he was the one who had given her an ultimatum in Beirut to work with, or without, him to find Bernard, irrespective of the danger to Jamel Mobuto. How was she to know he'd had a change of heart? She wasn't a mind-reader. So why the hell was she feeling guilty?

'I know we should tell Sergei what's happening, but what could he do? Never mind the NYPD; that was just a smokescreen I put up in there. What about the CIA men working with C.W.? They're Bailey's men. And if he is behind this whole operaton, which I'm certain he is, he'd be the first to know if Bernard was compromised. How could Sergei have a description of Bernard circulated amongst the security staff at the Trade Fair without Bailey's men finding out? He couldn't, could he? That's why we have to stop Bernard ourselves. It has to be done in complete secrecy so that by the time we get there it'll be too late for Bernard to pull out. He'll be trapped. Then we can take him and bust this whole case wide open.'

She gave him a resigned nod. 'How are we going to get back to New York in time?'

'Tambese's arranged for one of the presidential planes to be put on standby for us in Habane. The Cessna's already been refuelled. All we're waiting for now is a pilot. Tambese would have flown us to Habane himself but he's still got a lot of loose ends to tie up down here. He said we should reach New York with a couple of hours to spare.'

'And if we don't make it?'

'Then we'll have to radio through to Sergei and explain the situation to him. He could still prevent Mobuto from attending the Trade Fair but then Bernard would almost certainly get away. But it shouldn't come to that. We do have time on our side.'

'God, I hope so,' she replied, rubbing her hands over her face. 'If something does happen to Mobuto, C.W. will be breaking in two new partners. We'll be out so fast our feet won't touch the ground.'

'Nothing's going to happen to Mobuto,' Graham replied.

The door opened and Tambese looked out. 'Sorry to disturb you, but I thought you'd like to know that the pilot's on his way. He should be here in about ten minutes.'

'Great,' Graham said then looked around him slowly. Til be sad to leave this place. It seems so tranquil.'

Tambese stepped out onto the porch. 'It is, believe me. I've been coming down here with my wife for the last ten years. It's the perfect tonic when you want to get away from the hustle and bustle of Habane.'

'I didn't know you were married,' Sabrina said.

'Twelve years now. Matthew Okoye's my brother-in-law. That's why we come down here so often. We've always been close. After all, there weren't many of us who could stand up to Alphonse Mobuto and get away with it. Jamel, Remy and Matthew were his staunchest critics, Joseph Moredi and I to a lesser degree because we didn't have the same clout that they did. That's what brought us all together in the first place: our revulsion at Alphonse Mobuto and his puppets like Ngune and his deputy, Thomas Massenga. We were determined to bring peace to Zimbala in our lifetime.'

'And you have,' Graham said.

'I certainly hope so,' Tambese replied thoughtfully.

'Any news of Massenga?' Graham asked.

'Nothing yet. There's a reward out for his capture. It shouldn't be long before he's apprehended.'

'You still haven't told me what happened after you got caught in Branco,' Sabrina said to Graham.

Graham recounted the events up to the time Ngune was executed in the street.

'Have you found the officer who shot him?' she asked, looking at Tambese.

Tm not looking for him,' Tambese replied. 'I know who it was but I'm not taking any further action. These things happen in the heat of the moment.'

'So you're condoning murder?' she shot back. 'That's lowering yourself to Ngune's level.'

'I'd have to sink a lot lower to reach Ngune's level.' Tambese moved to the railing and looked down at the outline of the body underneath the tarpaulin. He turned back to her. 'Ngune's dead; the coup d'etat failed. For the first time in forty-five years there's peace in Zimbala. The officer concerned only did what twelve million other Zimbalans would have done in the same situation. The country would be up in arms if I persecuted him for that. Don't get me wrong. I'm not condoning what happened, but at the same time I'm not prepared to jeopardize this new-found peace just to see that Ngune's death is avenged. This is Africa, Sabrina, not America. It's a continent in turmoil. Coup d'etats are a regular occurrence. One corrupt government replaces another. And it's always the people who suffer. If it's not the adults being massacred because they happen to belong to a different tribe to the one in power, or to the one seeking power, then it's the children dying of malnutrition because their parents can't cultivate barren fields. The African has come to accept death as part of his everyday life. We put different values on life to, say, the Americans or the Europeans. In Europe and

America, you'd say life is for living. In Africa, we say life is for surviving. And if the death of a butcher like Ngune means the chances of survival are increased, then the people will welcome it. I know it sounds cynical, but that's become the way of life in Africa.'

I guess values are different,' she replied, glancing across at the tarpaulin. 'But I take your point anyway.'

'You still haven't told how you masterminded the attack on Kondese,' Graham said. 'How did your troops manage to neutralize all those patrols without any gunfire?'

'There was gunfire, but it was minimal. We didn't hear it because we were down in the sewer at the time. All the government troops were armed with silenced weapons. They used a pincer movement to close in on the city and all had orders to shoot to kill. The radio frequencies were jammed just before the troops moved in and opened again when they had recaptured the city. That way the troops in Branco couldn't be contacted and warned of the attack. Had they known Ngune may have fled. That was our main worry. Ngune was their mastermind and with him on the loose the threat of another coup d'etat could never have been ruled out. We had to get him, dead or alive.'

'And the garrison?' Sabrina asked.

'Ngune had a radar scanner installed at Branco but not one at the garrison. That was his mistake. He reasoned that any air attack would have to be launched from Habane and his spies would tell him as soon as the jets were scrambled, then they could counter the attack with the jets they had in Chad. But what he couldn't know was that Jamel had come to an agreement with the Niger government while he was in New York. They agreed to let us use two of their jets on the condition that we put our own markings on them before they left Niger. They didn't want to be seen to be involved if we failed to stop Ngune from seizing power. They've always had close links with Zimbala and they wanted to keep it that way, irrespective of who came to power. Again we jammed the radio frequencies just before the jets were scrambled and the garrison was levelled to the ground within a matter of minutes. We had a division on standby to go in afterwards and capture any surviving rebels. Then, when the garrison was destroyed, we opened the radio frequencies again.'

'How many rebels survived?' Sabrina asked.

'Seventeen out of a squad of nearly four hundred. They'll be put on trial when they've recovered from their injuries.' Tambese looked at Sabrina. 'They'll be given a fair trial, that I assure you. And if found guilty, they'll be locked up for the rest of their lives. And I mean that quite literally. We're determined to stamp out the past. The dictatorship is dead. It must never be allowed to return.'

'When exactly was this plan agreed?' Graham asked.

'Jamel thrashed it out with his entourage in New York and we finalized the details over the phone two days ago.'

'Were we part of the plan?' Sabrina asked.

Tambese smiled. 'Only when we knew you were coming to Zimbala. That's why I had Joseph tail you from the airport. We needed to make contact, only we didn't know how you'd react. It's just as well he did tail you, otherwise you wouldn't be here now. Massenga doesn't miss from that distance.'

'So he wasn't following Massenga. He was following me.'

'We'd been watching Massenga ever since he arrived in Habane. No, Joseph was at the airport waiting for you. We just didn't know when you'd arrive.'

'How did you know we were coming to Zimbala?' Graham asked suspiciously.

'We have our sources.'

'Meaning?' Graham pressed.

'We've been monitoring all communications between Ngune and the outside since he retook Branco. The two of you were a regular topic of conversation when Massenga contacted him. You see, Massenga was Ngune's link to Bernard, so everything Bernard said to Massenga was passed on to Ngune. Bernard holds you in great esteem, Mike. It's almost a grudging admiration.'

Tm not flattered,' Graham retorted.

'You've used us from the start,' Sabrina said, shaking her head.

'No,' Tambese shot back, the anger evident in his voice. 'I respect you both too much for that. We've been working on the same case only from different angles. That's why I thought we could achieve a lot more by putting our heads together. And I was right. I know I held out on you, and for that I'm sorry. I wanted to tell you what was going on but Jamel wouldn't hear of it. What could I do? I know I could have trusted you but I would never do anything behind

Jamel's back. We've been friends for too long. I suppose it's a bit like the two of you working together. You keep each other informed and don't do anything without letting the other one know.'

'You must be joking,' Sabrina replied then looked across at Graham who was trying to hide the smile that was threatening the corners of his mouth. She grinned and wagged an accusing finger at him.

Tambese looked from Sabrina to Graham and smiled.'O K, I get the point. But you still make a damn good team.'

'We have our moments,' Graham replied with a half-smile.

Tambese returned inside.

Sabrina paused at the door and looked round at Graham. 'Are you coming in?'

Graham nodded then followed her inside, closing the door behind him.

Thomas Massenga, who was crouched behind a tree two hundred yards away from the house, waited until Graham had closed the door before getting to his feet. He propped the AK-47 against the trunk and wiped the back of his hand across his sweating forehead. He had arrived in Kondese minutes before the government forces launched their attack to recapture the city. There was nothing he could do against such odds. He and his driver Gubene had abandoned the car and gone on foot to a safe house in the city.

Although the gunfire had been minimal it had quickly become obvious from the activity in and around the surrounding streets that the city had fallen to government troops. Then the jets had come, sleek, fast and deadly. He had watched from a second-floor window as they destroyed Branco within a matter of minutes. Then the tanks had rolled into the compound to crush the last of the brave resistance.

It had left him stunned. He had tried to call up the garrison on a radio in the loft. Silence. He could only assume that it, too, had fajlen. Then came word that Ngune was dead, executed in the street by a young army lieutenant. And that automatically put Massenga in charge. But in charge of what? He had neither the men nor the hardware to mount a counterattack, which meant he only had one option open to him: revenge. And as the head of the government forces, Tambese would be his first victim.

They had commandeered an army jeep and found out from its two occupants, an officer and his driver, that Tambese was questioning Remy Mobuto at the city hospital. After killing the soldiers, they had changed into their uniforms and driven over to the hospital only to discover that Tambese had left minutes earlier. He had told the duty sister that he would be at the Okoye farm in case she needed to contact him.

They went to the farm, parking a hundred yards away from the main driveway. Massenga had left Gubene in the jeep and approached the farm on foot. He had been challenged by two soldiers in the grounds but had despatched them both with a hunting knife when they had made the mistake of coming to attention to salute him. He had reached the tree moments before Graham and Sabrina appeared on the porch. Then Tambese had joined them. He didn't have a clear shot at Tambese and although he could have sprayed the porch with gunfire there was no guarantee he would have killed him. And Tambese had to die…

He picked up the AK-47 and moved cautiously towards the house, ever vigilant for any other soldiers who may be patrolling the grounds. He ducked down behind the jeep and gripped the side as he slowly raised his head to get a better look at the position of the steps in relation to the single window that looked out onto the porch. He immediately felt something sticky on his fingers. He peered into the jeep but when he eased back the corner of the tarpaulin he found himself looking into Ngune's wide, sightless eyes. He dropped the tarpaulin as if it had stung him then sunk to his haunches and clasped his hands over his face. It took him a few seconds to regain his composure.

He took several deep breaths then moved out from behind the jeep and ran, doubled over, to the steps and silently crossed the porch to the window. He pressed himself against the wall and peered cautiously through the lace curtain into the room. Okoye and Moredi were sitting on the sofa, Laidlaw and Graham in the armchairs opposite and Sabrina and Tambese were standing in front of the mantelpiece. And none of them were armed. He would have a clear shot at Tambese. But to hell with that. He could take them all out with one magazine. And he still had two spare clips in his pocket in case he encountered any resistance on the way back to the jeep.

He kept close to the wall as he covered the few feet from the window to the door then, tightening his grip on the A K-47, he reached out for the handle. He took a deep breath then, pushing down the handle, thrust open the door and swivelled round to fire into the room. Tambese knocked Sabrina to the ground a split-second before a row of bullets peppered the wall above them.

It was sheer instinct that made Laidlaw grab the Uzi from beside his chair and as he dived low onto the carpet he raked the doorway with a fusillade of bullets. Massenga was hit several times in the chest and he fired wildly into the air as he stumbled back against the railing. He could feel the blood bubbling in his throat and a trickle seeped from his mouth and ran down his chin. He grimaced in agony as the pain tore through his body. He knew he was dying, but he was still determined to take as many of them with him as possible. He moved unsteadily towards the door and was raising the AK-47 when Laidlaw fired again. The bullets ripped into Massenga's body and the AK-47 spun from his hand as he crashed through the railing and landed heavily on the ground in front of the porch. Laidlaw ran down the steps and checked for a pulse. There was none.

Only then did he look down at the Uzi in his hand. It was almost as if he were awakening from a dream. He looked up slowly at the others who had congregated on the porch and his eyes finally settled on Graham's face.

'I can't believe I did it,' Laidlaw said, shaking his head slowly to himself.

Graham smiled. 'You did it, buddy. There's the proof.'

Four soldiers, alerted by the gunfire, appeared from behind the house, Mi 6s at the ready. Tambese told them to check the area for any other rebels. They divided into pairs and hurried away.

'We owe you our lives, Mr Laidlaw,' Moredi said, breaking the silence. 'Thank you.'

'Any time,' Laidlaw replied, giving Graham a knowing smile. 'Who was he anyway?'

'Massenga, Ngune's right-hand man,' Tambese replied then pointed to the door. 'We'd better go back inside until the area's been declared safe.'

Graham and Sabrina went upstairs to get their holdalls and when they returned they found Tambese talking to a man by the door. Tambese introduced him as the pilot.

'He doesn't speak any English,' he added with an apologetic smile.

'Who cares, as long as he can fly us to Habane,' Graham replied.

Tambese translated Graham's words and the pilot gave him a thumbs-up sign. A jeep turned into the courtyard and pulled up in front of the porch. A sergeant climbed out and hurried up the steps. Tambese returned his salute and indicated that he should enter the room. They spoke briefly then the sergeant saluted again before returning to the jeep. The driver did a U-turn and drove off.

'The area's been secured,' Tambese said, turning to Graham and Sabrina. 'The bodies of two of our soldiers were found in the grounds. Massenga must have killed them when he approached the house. His driver's been arrested. He was still waiting for

Massenga in an army jeep about five hundred yards from here.'

'So we can leave?' Graham asked.

Tambese nodded then asked Okoye to take the pilot to the Cessna on the runway. Moredi took up the offer of a walk and left the room with the two men.

'I've got to get back to the city,' Tambese said. 'There's a press conference scheduled for later this morning. I need to consult with my officers before I say anything. I'll put out that story about Ngune's still being alive. You just make sure you get to Jamel before Bernard does. If Jamel were to die now, it could throw the country back into turmoil. Mike, I know how much you want Bernard — '

'The President's safety comes first,' Graham cut in, putting a reassuring hand on Tambese's arm. 'You have my word on that.'

'Thank you.' Tambese shook hands with both of them then left the house.

'So what are you going to do now?' Graham asked Laidlaw.

Laidlaw shrugged. 'I guess I'll go back to Beirut and take stock of the situation. After that, who knows? I might go back to the States again.'

Sabrina held out a hand towards him. 'Good luck, Russell, whatever you decide to do.'

'Thanks,' Laidlaw replied, shaking her hand.

'Mike, I'll see you at the plane,' she said then picked up her holdall and left the room.

'She's a good kid, Mike,' Laidlaw said, staring at the door.

'Kid? She's twenty-eight, Russ.'

'You know what I mean.' Laidlaw's face became serious. 'I'd still be feeling sorry for myself in some Beirut bar if you hadn't brought me out here. You gave me back my dignity, Mike. I can never repay you for that.'

'You can cut the schmaltz for a start,' Graham replied. 'I didn't do anything. You pulled the trigger, not me. And just as well you did.'

Laidlaw shook Graham's hand. 'You take care of yourself, buddy.'

'And you. I got to go, Russ.'

Laidlaw watched Graham leave and smiled sadly to himself. He knew he'd never see Graham again. He represented the past that Graham so desperately wanted to forget. But he had the memories, and that was enough.