Rhinoceros

CHAPTER 28

The cream Mercedes was moving along the autobahn but keeping within the speed limit. It had left Hamburg and its suburbs well behind and the wide road ahead was deserted, crossing open country. There had been traffic in the city and for a distance beyond it – huge juggernauts and a few private cars. Now they had the world to themselves.

Newman was behind the wheel of the stretch limo, with Marler beside him. In the middle section Tweed sat behind Newman with Paula next to him, while in the rear Nield was behind Tweed with Lisa alongside him. No one had spoken for some time and there was an atmosphere of tension inside the large car. Paula kept wiping the palms of her hands on paper handkerchiefs so, when the time came, her fingers would not slip as she gripped the butt of her Browning.

The sun glared down on them mercilessly out of a clear blue sky and, despite the air-conditioning, the heat was building up inside the Merc. Paula was gazing out at the endless fields of crops which spread out to the horizon.

'Maize,' said Tweed. 'Scores of acres of it. And because of the heatwave it's almost ready for harvesting. It's really very tall.'

'Is that a point in our favour?' she asked.

'It could be – unless they've laid an ambush ahead of us.'

'It's just what I would have ordered,' Marler called back. 'It could turn the tide for us.'

Newman kept the car moving. One private car passed them coming in the opposite direction, the first they had seen for a while. Then the autobahn ahead was clear again and they ate up more miles.

'How far are we from Flensburg?' Lisa called out.

'A very long way yet. Over an hour's drive, easily,' Tweed replied. 'We're in the middle of nowhere.'

'I've only seen the very occasional farmhouse,' Lisa remarked.

Paula studied the fields again. They came almost up to the edge of the autobahn. The thick plants of maize had large leaves and there were no gaps between them. It was a sea of uninterrupted green. She had never before seen such a continous mass of crops.

'They're taking their time,' Paula said.

'Have patience,' Tweed advised. 'They will come.'

Fifteen minutes behind them Harry was driving steadily up the autobahn in his blue Merc with tinted windows. He couldn't see the cream limo – it was too far ahead of him. He was constantly checking his rear-view mirror, seeing nothing. On the seat beside him rested the Uzi machine pistol. It was fully loaded.

He checked the rear-view mirror once more and stiffened. Out of nowhere a four-wheel drive had appeared. He thought it was a Discovery Land Rover. It was coming like a rocket. Then he saw another vehicle of the same type racing up behind the lead vehicle. Then a third. Then a fourth.

He maintained the same speed. The first vehicle was about to overtake him. He glanced up as it raced past him, saw the man at the wheel, wearing a black beret and a camouflage jacket. Delgado.

The second vehicle passed him. The third. The fourth. All the Land Rovers were crammed with villainous-looking men. Some were holding automatic rifles. He picked up his mobile, called Marler.

'Harry here. Four Land Rovers coming up behind you – packed with armed thugs. They're really moving. Saw Delgado driving the first one

…'

'Thank you. Harry,' Marler's calm voice responded. 'How far back?'

'Could reach you in five minutes. Even less…'

Marler reported Harry's warning to everyone in the car. As he did so, Tweed was studying the topography. To his right the surge of maize. To his left they were close to a rare copse of trees.

'Drive into that copse,' he ordered Newman. 'Leave the car so it can be seen. When we stop everyone dives into that maize field, go deep inside. Three separate sections as we planned…'

Paula checked her hands, found they were dry. Inside she was ice-cold. Newman reached the copse, a small wood, backed the limo into it, leaving its bonnet exposed to view from the autobahn. Doors were flung open. The moment they left the car was like entering an inferno, the sun roasting them as though through a burning glass. At different points they plunged into the maize.

Newman and Marler were on the right flank, facing the autobahn. Tweed and Paula were in the centre. Nield and Lisa, a distance away, were on the left flank, again facing the autobahn. A second before she dived in Paula heard, then saw the helicopter, flying in from the direction of Hamburg.

'There's a chopper,' she shouted.

'It's seen us. It will inform Delgado,' Tweed shouted back so everyone heard him.

They shoved their way in among the maize, the crop almost as tall as they were. The heat was intense. They heard the chopper hovering, trying to detect where they were, Paula guessed. Then she heard the racing engines of the Land Rovers, their sudden braking.

They couldn't see, but Delgado drove his vehicle a fair distance up the autobahn beyond where the other three had parked by the cream Merc. Men piled out of the vehicles, rushed into the maize as they saw movement. Tweed had shaken plants to attract their attention. Twenty men pushed their way into the maize, seeking their targets.

Paula heard the chopper move away to the south. It had done its job, had pinpointed the location of Tweed's small team. But it had left too early. Tweed and his team had pushed well back from the autobahn into the maize until they dropped into a small gulley – probably an irrigation ditch to carry water during the rainy season. It gave them cover.

'Here we stand,' Tweed said.

He had just spoken when two of the attackers appeared almost above them. One was wielding a machete, which he swung in a vicious circle. He almost beheaded his companion when he was shot in the chest by Tweed. Paula fired twice at the other man. Both fell sideways, crashing into maize plants, then lay still. In the distance they heard Delgado's voice screaming.

'Kill. Kill. Kill.'

'All right, if that's the way he wants it,' Tweed said.

To their left, well over, Lisa was wiping her damp hands on her jeans when another attacker with a machete saw her, grinned gleefully, hoisted his wepon. Nield shot him in the throat. He went down.

Delgado's men had moved through the maize more quickly than either Marler or Tweed had expected. Marler realized it would soon be close combat, so something had to be done about it. He stood up after taking the pin out of a grenade from his satchel. Four grim-looking men were advancing shoulder to shoulder, rushing forward to overwhelm their opponents. Marler hurled the first grenade, took the pin out of another, hurled it. Three of the men fell down. The fourth had moved sideways, understanding their mistake. The second grenade landed at his feet. He threw his rifle into the air, dropped.

Marler grabbed two tear-gas canisters, threw both where he saw movement in the maize, then hoisted his Armalite. Two men jumped up as though electrocuted, hands clasping their eyes. Marler took swift aim, shot them both. By the side of Lisa, Nield had dropped his Walther, had grabbed hold of his Uzi. Not a moment too soon. Five men were charging en masse through the maize in a frontal assault. Nield pressed the trigger. A deadly sweep of bullets cut across them, then back again. All five went down, dead as dodos. An eerie silence fell over the battlefield. No sign of movement, no sound. Paula began to stand up and Tweed grabbed her shoulder, hauled her down again. He was sure it wasn't over.

After the four Land Rovers had got well ahead of him, Harry had pressed his foot down. The Mercedes roared up the autobahn. A few minutes later he saw three Land Rovers parked in front of a small wood, heard the sporadic sound of shooting.

He braked, switched off the engine, grasped the Uzi, left the car. Then he went back, climbed on top of the Merc. Well over to the right he saw five men with automatic rifles crouching down as they moved steadily forward. He realized they were outflanking Tweed and his team, were going to come up behind them.

Harry lowered his head, charged through the maize like a mad bull. When he felt he must be close to the five men he nearly fell into a ditch, stood up briefly, saw the back of the five killers as they began to circle. He crept forward swiftly, making as little noise as possible. When he stood up he was within yards of them. One turned round, saw him, raised his rifle. Harry fired non-stop, swinging his weapon in an arc. All five dropped to the earth, all with several bullets in them. Harry walked forward carefully, stared down at the blood-soaked bodies. He had foiled them.

Then he heard sounds from the autobahn, the sounds of running feet. He began rushing back.

Delgado had been careful to stay at the rear, to have his escape vehicle ready, parked further along the autobahn. He reached the road, ran along it, jumped into the Land Rover. He had reached for the ignition when he heard something. Turning round, he saw Barton and Panko about to jump aboard. He waved them away. Then he saw Barton's automatic, aimed at him point-blank. He swore foully but let them join him. Turning the ignition, he pressed his foot down and the vehicle shot forward like a shell from a gun.

Harry reached the road just in time to see them speeding off. Much too fast for him to bother taking a shot at them.