Time of the Assassins by Alistair MacLean Page A

certain to be given a new identity by the CIA. He could go anywhere he wanted and I'd never find him again. Never.'

'Let it go, Mike. This vendetta's going to destroy you. You didn't kill Barak; I can vouch for that when we get back to the States. You'll catch hell for coming out here but that will be the end of it. But if you kill Bernard you'll be thrown out of UN A CO. You could even be indicted for murder. Is that what 700 want?'

'I want Bernard, that's what I want. And if they

throw me out...' he trailed off with a shrug. 'Those are my terms, Sabrina. Take them or leave them.'

'You do what you want, Mike,' she snapped then got to her feet and strode to the door. 'I've tried to reason with you. I should have known better. I'm going to call Sergei and tell him what's happened.'

Graham grabbed her arm as she opened the door. 'Help me, Sabrina. Please. I don't want anything to happen to Mobuto. But I have to go after Bernard, don't you see that? I owe it to Carrie and Mikey. I owe it to them.'

She pulled her arm free and walked to the booth, lifting the receiver off the wall. She could hear Jenkins and Laidlaw talking in the bar room below her. At least they were occupied. She dialled the unlisted number, identified herself to Sarah at UNACO headquarters, and gave her the number of the phone to call back. She replaced the receiver and tapped her fingers on the dog-eared directory as she waited for it to ring. Graham appeared at the door. She glanced at him but before he could speak the phone rang. She picked up the receiver and had to identify herself again before she was patched through to Kolchinsky.

'Sabrina?'

'Speaking,' she replied.

'You just caught me. I was on my way home. Any news of Michael?'

She looked across at Graham, her mind still in turmoil over his ultimatum. She knew if she helped him she would be reprimanded, perhaps even suspended. But if she refused, Mobuto's life would

certainly be at risk. She had to make a choice. Then she thought of the picture Graham always carried in his wallet of Carrie and Mikey. What price justice if Bernard were allowed to go free?

'Sabrina, are you still there?' Kolchinsky barked, interrupting her thoughts.

'Sorry, Sergei, it's a bad line,' she lied.

'It's very clear this end. I asked if there was any news of Michael?'

'No, not yet. Why was he set up?'

'What?' Kolchinsky replied in surprise.

'You know exactly what I'm talking about, Sergei. I spoke to the policeman in charge of the case this afternoon. He said the N YPD identified Mike by his prints. But they only know him as Graham. He travelled under the name of Green. How could they have matched the prints unless UN AGO authorized it?'

'We had no choice,' Kolchinsky said at length. 'If the Beirut police had continued to probe who knows what they might have uncovered? We had to protect the organization.'

'And what if Mike gets arrested? Will UN AGO leave him to rot in some Beirut jail to protect themselves?'

'He brought this on himself. It was an unauthorized mission.' Kolchinsky sighed deeply. 'No, we wouldn't leave him in some Beirut jail. We'd get him out. Somehow. But don't let it come to that, Sabrina. Find him and bring him back.'

'That's easier said than done. All my enquiries have drawn a blank so far.'

'I suggest a change in tactics. He's after Bernard, right? If you find Bernard first you won't have to chase after him any more. He'll come to you. And then you can intercept him before he can get to Bernard.'

'And how do you suggest I find Bernard? According to Bailey's dossier, his bodyguards are Hezbollah fundamentalists. They're hardly going to take very kindly to a woman poking her nose into their affairs, are they?'

'They only act as his bodyguards in the Lebanon. He flew out of Beirut last night, destination Habane. He used the name Alain Devereux.'

'Zimbala? Why?'

'I don't know. Bailey told me this morning. And he only found out from one of his operatives who had seen Bernard at Beirut