Edge of Danger by Jack Higgins

him when he left and walked round to Ferguson’s flat in Cavendish Place. Kim let him in and Dillon found Ferguson having tea and toast by the fire.
    ‘I didn’t have time for breakfast. Blake’s on the phone to the President in my study. He’ll be with us shortly. Help yourself to a drink. I know you like to start early.’
    Dillon did just that, had a Bushmills with a little water. ‘Any news from County Down?’
    ‘Oh, Bell’s there, all right, and his three cronies, Tommy Brosnan, Jack O’Hara and Pat Costello. Have I got it right?’
    ‘Absolutely.’
    Blake came in. ‘The President sends his best.
    He’s very concerned about Hannah. Anything she needs, any kind of special treatment, you only have to ask.’
    The front doorbell rang. Kim appeared and looked inquiringly at Ferguson, who nodded and the Gurkha opened the front door. Paul and Kate Rashid were shown in.
    She wore a black suit, he was in a leather bomber jacket himself, pullover and slacks. They both seemed cheerful.
    ‘A drink, sir?’ Ferguson asked. ‘Coffee, tea -something heavier?’
    ‘I’ll have what Dillon’s drinking,’ said Kate.
    ‘Bushmills whiskey, girl, at eleven-fifteen in the morning? You have to be raised to it.’
    ‘Well, I’ll have to try, won’t I?’
    ‘Suit yourself.’ Dillon poured her the whiskey and added a little water. ‘Oldest whiskey in the world, they say. Invented by monks in Ireland.’
    She took a sip. ‘No Superintendent Bernstein this morning?’
    ‘Yes, well, she’s lucky to be here at all. She’s in the hospital in intensive care. When we got back to my place last night, there was a guy named Ali Salim waiting. I’ve checked him out. A Party of God fanatic’
    There was silence. Paul Rashid said, ‘Is the Superintendent all right?’
    ‘Oh, sure,’ Dillon told him. ‘She’s got a damaged stomach, bladder, spleen, a bullet in the left lung, a chipped spine. Just the kind of thing you expect when some religious fanatic shoots a woman three times.’
    Kate Rashid said carefully, ‘And this Ali Salim? Where is he?’
    ‘On the table over there.’ Dillon nodded to the black plastic urn. ‘I brought his ashes for you. Six pounds. That’s all that’s left.’ He poured another Bushmills. ‘Oh, didn’t I tell you? I shot the bastard after he shot Bernstein.’
    She sipped a little of her whiskey, then took a cigarette case from her purse and extracted one. Dillon gave her a light. ‘There you go.’
    ‘I’m sorry,’ she said. ‘About Superintendent Bernstein.’
    ‘Well, you would be, wouldn’t you? After all, it wasn’t supposed to be her, it was supposed to be me.’
    ‘Really?’
    Paul Rashid cut in. ‘Why are we here, General Ferguson?’
    ‘Because I warned you before, Rashid, and now
    I’m telling you outright: If it’s war you want, then it’s war you’ll get. I don’t take kindly to my people getting shot. We’re going to be over you so closely that you won’t have room to breathe, let alone pursue your “alternative target”.’
    ‘Really? And who would that be?’ Paul Rashid said.
    ‘I can’t help but notice that the Russian Premier is in town next month.’
    ‘Is that so?’ Paul Rashid told him. ‘How interesting.’
    ‘Also too damned obvious,’ Dillon said, and lit another cigarette. ‘No, he’s got something else on the agenda.’
    ‘You’ll have to wait and see, won’t you?’ Paul Rashid got up. ‘Come on, Kate.’
    It was Blake who said, ‘For God’s sake, why, sir? Your mother’s death was a tragedy, but why take it so far?’
    ‘You’re a decent man, Mr Johnson, and yet you still don’t see it. The business interests in your country think they can walk in anywhere they like in the world, take over, corrupt, trample on people’s rights. The Russians are exactly the same. Well, you won’t get away with it in Rashid territory, in Hazar or the Empty Quarter. I have
    the financial resources to back me up and I have my people. Chew on