Exocet

4

When she admitted Montera the following morning, she was fresh from the bath and wearing the same robe. He was wearing jeans and an old black leather flying jacket. He had rung her at eight o'clock, unable to bear the waiting.

'You said to make it informal,' he said.

She kissed him on the cheek and fingered the gold crucifix on the chain that hung around his neck. 'You look gorgeous.'

She had spoken in English and he replied in the same language. 'Gorgeous? Is this a word to apply to a man?'

'Gorgeous,' she insisted. 'Stop role-playing. I thought we'd go for a walk. Across Kensington Gardens and down to Harrods. I've some shopping to do.'

'Fine by me.'

He lit a cigarette and sat reading the morning paper while she went to dress. There was an account of yesterday's proceedings in Parliament and questions to the Prime Minister on the Falklands. He read the Report with interest, only looking up when Gabrielle stepped back into the room.

She was an astonishing sight in a yellow tee shirt which clearly outlined her breasts, a tight white skirt that ended above the knee and a pair of high heeled cowboy boots. A pair of sunglasses were perched on top of her blonde hair.

'Shall we go?' she said.

'Yes, of course,' he said, stood up and opened the door for her. He smiled. 'You are a woman of surprises. Did anyone ever tell you that?'

'Often,' she said, and moved past him.

The crowd in Kensington Gardens was remarkably cosmopolitan; Arabs and Asians of every variety mingling freely with the native British. People lounged on the grass, boys played football in the bright sunshine, and Gabrielle drew admiring glances on every hand.

She took his arm. 'Tell me something. Why do you fly?'

'It's what I do.'

'You're probably filthy rich. Everyone knows the Argentine Air Force is staffed by the aristocracy. You could do anything you want.'

'Perhaps I can explain,' he said. 'When I was a boy, I had an uncle Juan, my mother's brother, who lived in Mexico City. He was a fabulously wealthy man, a member of one of the oldest families in Mexico, and yet from boyhood, he had room for only one passion.'

'Women?'

'No, I'm being serious. Bulls. In fact, he became a torero, a professional bullfighter, and a great shame to the family because bullfighters are usually gypsies or poor boys, up from the gutter.'

'So?'

'I sat with him while they dressed him in his suit of lights for a special appearance in the Grand Plaza at Mexico City. I counted the scars of the horns on his body. Nine times he had been gored. I said, "Uncle, you have everything — title, money, power — yet you go to the bulls. You face, week by week, animals specifically trained to kill you. Why do you do this thing?"'

'And what did he reply?'

'He said, it's what I am. There's nothing else I want to do. Flying's like that with me.'

She touched the scar. 'Even when it almost gets you killed?'

'Ah, but I was younger then. More foolish. I believed in causes, justice, freedom. Beautiful nonsense. Now I am older. All used up.'

'We'll have to see about that.'

'Is that a promise?'

'Never mind. What happened to your uncle?'

'Oh, he finally went to the horns one time too many.'

She shivered. 'I don't like it.'

She had tightened her grip on his arm as if to reassure herself. They crossed from the gardens and started down Kensington Road.

He said, 'I think I've done rather well to hold myself in this far, but I feel I ought to point out that you look spectacularly tarty in that outfit. By intention, I presume?'

'You swine,' she said amiably, and held his arm even tighter.

'Is one permitted to enquire the purpose?'

She shrugged. 'Does it matter? I don't really know. It's nice to play games occasionally, don't you think?'

He stopped and half-turned towards her as she still clung to his arm. 'You are the most beautiful thing I've ever seen in my life,' he said, 'in spite of that appalling outfit.'

'So kind.'

'Think nothing of it.'

He kissed her gently on the mouth. 'Oh, my beautiful, glorious tart. Can't you see how much I'm loving you? I don't have any choice in the business. It's like a moral imperative.'

There were tears in her eyes. 'Oh, God,' she said angrily. 'I hate men and yet you're so damn nice. I've never ever known a man like you.'

He waved to a passing taxi. As it swung in to the kerb she said, 'What is this? Where are we going?'

'Back to the flat,' he said. 'Kensington Palace Gardens. Such a good address. Close to the Russian Embassy.'

Lying in bed, an arm about her, watching the white curtains rise and fall in the slight breeze from the partly open window, he felt more content, more at peace with himself than he had done for years.

There was a radio cassette player on the small table beside the bed. She reached to switch it on and Ella Fitzgerald's unique and wonderful voice moved into Our Love is Here to Stay.

'Just for you,' she said.

'Very civil of you.'

He kissed her lazily on the forehead. She gave a small grunt of infinite content, turned her stomach into his thigh and sighed. 'That was lovely. Can we do it again some time?'

'Could you possibly give me time to catch my breath?'

She smiled and ran a hand across his belly. 'The poor old man. Just listen to him. Move away a little. I want to look at you.'

They lay a couple of feet apart, heads on the same pillow, the green eyes wide and starry as if she was committing him to memory.

'The scar,' she said. 'Tell me about it.'

He shrugged. 'I was flying from Fernando Po to Port Harcourt in Biafra during the Nigerian civil war. We usually flew by night. Dakotas mostly, but they needed medical supplies in a hurry.' His eyes stared back into the past. 'It was raining like hell. A real thunderstorm. I got a Russian Mig fighter on my tail. Egyptian pilot, I found out later. He started to shoot me out of the sky, it was as simple as that. Within seconds the other three crew members were dead or dying. That's when I got this.' He fingered the scar.

'What did you do?'

'Took her down to five hundred feet. Next time he came in on my tail, I dropped the Dakota's flaps. It was like stopping dead in mid-air. I almost stalled.'

'And the Mig?'

'No space left to work in. Overshot me and ploughed straight into the jungle.'

'Clever boy.'

She ran a finger along his lips. He said drowsily, 'I want to be totally honest with you, can you understand that? I've never felt so with any human being before. I want to give all of myself that there is to give.'

There was pain in her then because of her own deceit. She managed to smile. 'Don't worry about it. Go to sleep. We've got all day.'

'You're wrong,' he said. 'We have the rest of our lives.' He smiled. 'I've always loved cities by night. The feeling of the potential things. When I was a young man, walking by night in Paris, London or Buenos Aires, there was always a magic, something bracing about the night air. A feeling that at the end of the street, something marvellous was waiting just around the corner.'

'What are you trying to tell me?' she asked.

'Forty-five,' he said. 'Six in July. You've been a long time coming. Thank God you made it. I didn't ask you your sign.'

'Capricorn.' Her arms were about him now, her lips on his forehead.

'Dreadful combination, Leo and Capricorn,' he muttered. 'No hope at all.'

'Is that a fact?' She kissed him and a moment later he was asleep.

She was standing by the window, looking out across the gardens, thinking about him, when the phone sounded in the sitting room. She went through quickly and picked it up.

Ferguson said, 'Ah, there you are. Anything to report?'

'Nothing,' she said.

'Is he with you now?'

She took a deep breath. 'Yes. Asleep in the other room.'

'Things are hotting up,' he said. 'All the signs point to an invasion down there. You're sure he's staying in London?'

'Yes,' she said. 'Very sure.'

'Fine. I'll be in touch.'

She put down the phone, at that moment hating Ferguson more than she had ever hated anyone in her life. There was a sudden sharp cry as Raul Montera called out and she turned and ran into the bedroom.

The dream was more real than anything he had ever known. The plane was in a hell of a state, he knew that, great holes ripped in the body, pieces of fuselage rattling in the turbulence. He could smell smoke and burning oil. Panic gave him strength as he fought to release the plastic canopy that enveloped him.

'Dear God, don't let me burn,' he thought and then the canopy swung away from him.

His fingers, warm with his own blood, groped for the quick release handle that would eject him and then a shadow passed overhead. There was a beating of wings and he looked up to find a great eagle, claws distended, dropping down on him. He screamed aloud in fear. He came awake then, and found himself in Gabrielle's arms.

They sat in the large bath, facing each other, totally at ease, drinking tea from china mugs, Montera smoking a cigarette.

'The tea is excellent,' he said.

'Much better for you than coffee.'

'From now on, coffee no longer exists.'

'An eagle descending,' she said. 'Obviously only one thing to do.'

'And what would that be?'

'You told me yourself. Drop your flaps. Even eagles will overshoot.'

'Brilliant,' he said. 'What a pilot you would have made.' He stood up and reached a towel. 'What next?'

'I'd like to see Cats again.'

'But tickets are unobtainable,' he said as he started to dress.

'A challenge for you.'

'Taken. And dinner afterwards?'

'Daphne's, I think. I feel very Frenchy today. And make sure they give you a booth.'

'At your orders, senorita,' he said formally in Spanish.

As he pulled on his flying jacket, his wallet fell to the floor. Amongst the items which cascaded out was a small photo. She picked it up and examined it. The woman in the cane chair was beautifully gowned, the hair groomed to perfection, all the arrogance of the true aristocrat in her face. The child who stood beside her wore a formal white dress and was tall with wide dark eyes.

'She's beautiful,' Gabrielle said. 'A lot like you. But your mother looks as if she could be difficult.'

'Donna Elena Llorca de Montera difficult?' He laughed. 'Only most of the time.'

'Off you go,' she said. 'I've things to do.'

He smiled, moved to the door and paused. When he turned, he was no longer smiling, but stood there looking extraordinarily vulnerable in the black opened-necked shirt and the old flying jacket.

'You really do look gorgeous,' she said.

'I've been in the trenches a long time.'

'You've got me now,' she said in a kind of reflex, without thinking.

'Good.' He kissed her gently, then picked up the photo which had fallen on the floor and put it on the side. 'You can have that.'

The door closed behind him. She stared up at the ceiling, thinking of Ferguson, wishing he were dead.

Ferguson was seated at his desk at Cavendish Place with Fox, going through various papers, when the door opened and Villiers pushed past Kim before the Gurkha could announce him.

'My dear Tony, you look quite agitated,' Ferguson said as Kim withdrew.

'What's going on between Gabrielle and this Argentinian, Montera?' Villiers asked. 'I followed him home last night, so don't attempt to deny it. She's on a job for you, isn't she?'

'None of your business, Tony,' Ferguson said. 'And neither is she any longer.'

Villiers lit a cigarette and paced to the window. 'All right, point taken. I can still show concern, can't I? That last job she did for you in Berlin, she nearly ended up in the canal.'

'But she didn't,' Ferguson said patiently, 'because you, dear Tony, turned up in the nick of time as usual. This Montera business is very small beer. She's simply out to extract what useful information she can about the Falklands situation.'

'How, by taking him to bed?'

'Not your affair, Tony. And you have, if I may say so, more important things to worry about.'

Harry Fox passed a note across. 'They've cancelled your leave, Tony. They want you back in Hereford as soon as possible.'

Bradbury Lines, Hereford, was the headquarters of the 22nd Special Air Service Regiment.

'But why, for God's sake?' Villiers demanded.

Ferguson sighed and removed his reading glasses. 'Quite simple really, Tony. I think you may be going to war sooner than you think.'

And at his flat off Belgrave Square, Raul Montera gripped the telephone tightly, listening with horror to what the Military Attache at the Embassy was saying to him.

'There is a plane for Paris leaving in two hours, Raul. It is essential that you do not miss it. The Air France flight for Buenos Aires leaves at ten-thirty this evening. They need you back there, my friend. You mustn't fail. I'm sending a car round.'

The Malvinas. That's all it could be. So many things fell into place now. Yet there was Gabrielle. What was he going to do about her? My one real chance of happiness in this accursed life, he thought, and the gods decide to screw it up for me.

He packed hurriedly, just one bag with essentials, and the doorbell rang as he was finishing. The chauffeur was waiting on the step as Montera emerged, still wearing his jeans and the old flying jacket.

'Heathrow, my colonel,' the chauffeur said as Montera got into the front seat beside him.

'By way of Kensington Palace Gardens,' Raul Montera said. 'And step on it! We don't have much time.'

Gabrielle had not changed, was sitting at the mirror in the old robe and about to make herself up, when the doorbell buzzed. She went and lifted the answerphone.

'It's me, Raul. Please hurry.'

She half-opened the door and waited, conscious of a dreadful foreboding, heard the lift door clang outside. He appeared, eyes wild, real pain on his face.

'Two minutes, that's all I've got. I've got a plane to catch to Paris. I've been recalled to Buenos Aires.'

'But why?' she cried.

'Does it matter?' He took her by the arms and kissed her savagely, all his anger and frustration pouring out of him. 'All I've got time for. Isn't life hell?'

He turned and was gone. The lift doors clanged again. She stood there, frozen, then ran into the bedroom and started to dress.

At Heathrow, Montera was just about to go through into the international departure lounge when she called his name, high and clear. As he turned, she came running through the crowd in a yellow cotton jumpsuit, hair tousled, face pale.

She ran into his arms. He held for a moment, then pushed her away. 'You look wonderful.'

'Nonsense,' she said. 'My hair's a mess, no make-up and wearing the first thing that came to hand.'

'Wonderful,' he said. 'Did I find time to tell you that I've now discovered what joy is? Thank you for that.'

'Raul, I love you. I love you so much.'

He smiled. 'We have a saying. Love is a gift that must be returned fourfold. What a burden you place on me. What a wonderful burden.'

Above their heads the tannoy called his name.

'Will you write?' she demanded.

'It may be difficult. Don't worry, even if there is a gap for a while. There are good reasons. I'll be back, I swear it. That's all that matters.'

She moved with him to the gate, hanging on. He turned for the last time. 'I'll make a bargain with you. No more partings ever again. No more saying goodbye. This is the last time. The only time.'

And then he was gone and she turned her face into a pillar and wept. After a while, she crossed to the telephones and dialled Ferguson's number, reversing the charge.

'He's gone,' she said. 'Just left for Paris to make a connection with Buenos Aires.'

'Rather sudden,' Ferguson said. 'Did he explain?'

'No.'

'You sound upset, Gabrielle.'

She told him what to do then, in French of the kind definitely not taught in any finishing school, sharp, succinct and to the point, slammed down the receiver and walked away.

When she opened the door of the flat and went in, Villiers appeared from the bedroom.

'Sorry about this,' he said. 'My leave's been cancelled and they want me back at Hereford. I needed a few things.'

He went back into the bedroom and returned to packing the bag which was open on the bed. She followed him through, her rage and frustration focusing on him.

'A few more throats need cutting somewhere, is that it?'

'I suppose so.'

'How was Belfast this time?'

'Pretty awful.'

'Good — you deserve each other.'

He closed the case and said calmly, 'I used to think that had a special significance where we were concerned.'

'No, Tony,' she said. 'Whatever else I may have deserved in this life, I didn't deserve you.'

'What did I do?' he said. 'What terrible thing did I do that you should hate me so, because you do, you know.'

'I married a stranger,' she said. 'Oh, you looked wonderful in uniform, Tony, and then it started. Every rotten little war that came along, you had to volunteer. Borneo, the Oman, Ireland. Even Vietnam, for Christ's sake. God, what I could say about that and you and your precious SAS if it wasn't for the Official Secrets Act.'

His face was bleak. 'This isn't getting us anywhere.'

'You're good at one thing, Tony. One thing only are you truly good at. Killing people.'

He pointed at the bed, the pillows still crumpled from where she had lain with Raul Montera, and picked up the white skirt and yellow tee shirt which still lay on the floor where she had dropped them.

'I've heard of the line of duty, Gabrielle, but this does really seem to be taking it too far.'

Her face crumpled like a little girl's, she slumped down on the bed. 'I love him so much, Tony. I never knew love could be like this. And he's gone. He's gone.'

He picked up his bag and stood there, feeling helpless, conscious of the desolation in her voice. He tried to speak, but there was nothing he could say. He turned and went out, leaving her to her grief.

Ferguson, still at his desk, stretched wearily. Paper and yet more paper. It never seemed to stop. He got up and went to the window and peered out into the square. Behind him, the door opened from the office and Harry Fox rushed in.

'Signal just in, sir. Units of the Argentine fleet have detached themselves from manoeuvres and are proceeding towards the Falkland Islands.' He handed the signal sheet to Ferguson. 'What do you think it means, sir?'

'Well, I never thought to have to say this again in my lifetime, Harry, but believe it or not, I think it means war.'