Without Mercy by Jack Higgins Page B

door. She went down, opened it and Levin smiled at her.
    “We need to talk.” He moved in and followed her upstairs.
    She led the way into Moon’s office and turned. “What is this?”
    “Moon and Harold made a big mistake. You’ll be hearing from them quite soon. They are, as we speak, seeking treatment in the accident and emergency department of some third-rate National Health hospital.”
    “I’ve just heard. Had a phone call from the hospital. It said they’d been mugged by a black street gang. Is it bad?”
    “Gunshot wounds to the legs and so richly deserved, just like the IRA. I’ve never seen such incompetents. The story about being mugged does two things. It keeps them out of court and it doesn’t involve the people I work for. If it did, George and Harold would be dead in the near future, one way or the other.”
    “So what do you want here?”
    “Two thousand, Ruby?”
    “You’ve got cheek.”
    “It’s the principle of the thing. I’ll do you a favor. Give me a thousand and you can tell Moon I came back and took it all. A thousand for you.”
    She thought about it, then went and unlocked a cabinet at the end of a bookcase, took out a packet of banknotes and tossed it to him.
    “He’s my husband, you know.”
    “Then I’m sorry for you.”
    “It’s not as bad as you think. He swings the other way.” She smiled. “I’d get out of here if I were you. I’ll be getting callers.”
    He turned to the door, turned again and tossed the thousand pounds on the desk. “Oh, what the hell. Tell him I took the lot,” and he went downstairs and moved back along the alley to his limousine.
    Dillon and Billy arrived with a People Carrier, loaded Roper inside and a number of personal effects he needed, and took him to the Holland Park safe house. This had happened before in times of stress. Because of this, Ferguson had had all the right computers and technical equipment installed to suit Roper’s special needs.
    So, Roper was settled in and the Military Police sergeant on duty, Doyle, said, “General Ferguson will be along soon, Mr. Dillon. There’s a message from Special Branch. It seems George Moon and Harold Parker insist they were mugged by two men at pistol point and they can’t identify them because it was dark, it was raining and they were black.”
    “Black, my arse,” Billy said. “I’ve known Moon for years. He’s a slimy toad. There’s more to this, Dillon.”
    “So let’s go and find out what it is. We’ll be back later,” he said to Roper, and went out.
    At St. Michael’s, Dillon and Billy found Moon and Harold under sedation and awaiting surgery. Billy flashed his new warrant card from Ferguson and forced his way in. It was amazing the power it made him feel. Moon and Harold were waiting in a side ward.
    “It’s me, George, Billy Salter.”
    “What in the hell do you want?”
    “Mr. Dillon here and I are working for the Intelligence Service.”
    “Fuck off, Billy. They wouldn’t employ a thief like you.”
    “Now you’re upsetting me, George. No big black’s shooting you and Harold.”
    “Well, the police are happy. That takes care of it.”
    “Unfortunately, the guy who stiffed you, George, the guy you were trying to do away with, is a very good friend of ours, so we know what you were up to. Who put you up to it?”
    “I’ll say one thing for old times’ sake, Billy. They could snuff you out like a match, swallow you whole. Now, Harold and me was mugged by two big black men. They had Cockney accents, so they must have been born here.” He raised his voice. “Nurse, I feel terrible.”
    Billy said, “You deserve to, you toad. I’ll pay you back.” He nodded to Dillon. “Let’s go.”
    Of course, it was another failure he had to report, whichever way you looked at it. In the GRU files, there was quite a list of IRA people like Moon available for employment. It occurred to Levin that reliability was not their strongest feature. The whole affair had been