Black Horn (23 page)

Guido turned to Maxie. "You'd better phone them there. Tell them to get back
here reasonably sober. After that, I suggest you call Mrs Manners and tell her
not to leave Gozo until she hears from you or Creasy. It will probably be later
this evening."

"I
find it hard to take this whole culture."

Creasy
looked up from his bowl of soup. Juliet was sitting at the end of his bed.

"What
culture?" he asked.

"Well,
it seems to be a constant cycle of death. And you're right at the centre. It's
a culture of constant vengeance. Gloria Manners's vengeance for her daughter's
death, Lucy's vengeance for her family's death, and now your vengeance for
Michael's death."

He gave
her a long look and said, "For God's sake, don't come on with the Mother
Theresa bit! If it wasn't for this culture you talk about, you'd either be dead
or trapped as a heroin addict in some whorehouse in the Middle East or North
Africa!"

"I
know that, Creasy. You and Michael saved my life and gave me a home. Don't
waste one second thinking that I don't thank God for that every day of my
life... It's just that now you're planning to go off to Hong Kong... and there
will be more killings. When will it all end?"

"It
will end when a certain Tommy Mo Lau Wong is dead and buried."

"Do
you have to go?"

She saw
the brief flash of irritation in his eyes as he answered.

"Yes.
That man was ultimately responsible for Michael's death. The slate will be
wiped clean and then maybe the circle of death, as you call it, can end."

"You
don't understand, Creasy! I want that man dead as much as you do. It's just
that I don't want you dead as well. Lucy has told me something about the Triads
and their power... Try to understand. First, I lost one family, and then I got
another. Now I've lost half of that new family. I can't bear the thought of
losing the other half."

His
voice softened very slightly. "You have to bear it, Juliet. It's part of
life and, if you like, the culture that you found yourself in. Maybe after
this, that kind of life will change, but there can be no promises. I am what I
am. But I do understand you. I remember, a few years back, your asking me to
train you as I trained Michael. You were very young. The best age to be
trained. I started to do that, but then it became obvious to me that, although
you were enthusiastic, your heart was not really in it. I was glad when you
began to take an interest in medicine."

She was
nodding thoughtfully. She said, "I know. I'm very pleased to be at college
in the States and staying with Jim... It's just that I worry about you."

He gave
her one of his rare smiles.

"I
worry about you too, what with all those over-sexed young Americans running
around the campus. However, in spite of that, I want you to fly back tomorrow.
You've already missed almost a week of the semester."

She
gave him a dutiful nod and stood up, saying, "Finish all your soup.
There's plenty more, if you want it."

"It's
enough," he said. "Please ask Guido and Maxie to come and see me in
about ten minutes."

As she
reached the door, his voice stopped her.

"Juliet,
don't worry too much about me. I've been persuaded to take a high-powered team
along."

She
turned and said, "Yes; I guessed that. And I'm glad. But in a way it spreads
the worry wider."

"It
does?"

"Of
course. You'll be taking Guido and Maxie, Frank and Rene and Jens and The
Owl... They're all very close to me." She shrugged. "But then I guess
that's part of the culture."

They
trooped into the bedroom, carrying chairs from the dining-room, and sat down in
a semicircle round the bed. They were all there, including Lucy Kwok, except
Juliet.

Creasy
said, "I know this is a bit of a farce. Of course I could have got up and
we could have had this meeting around the dining-room table. The fact is that I
promised my doctor to stay in bed for forty-eight hours, and that's what I'm
going to do." He looked at the Dane, "Jens. As usual, I want you to
handle communications and the co-ordinating of information."

Jens
pulled out a small notebook and a pen. Creasy's eyes moved to Maxie.

"Did
you talk to Mrs Manners?"

"She
asked me to tell you thank you, and to confirm that she will in no way
interfere. She just wants to be kept informed."

"Okay.
That's part of your job."

"Thanks
a lot," Maxie said.

"Well,
you were the great persuader." Creasy gestured at the Chinese woman.
"I tried to persuade Lucy to stay here until it's all over, but she has
refused. As it happens, she might be useful in Hong Kong with the language, but
she'll need protection and so might Mrs Manners. So, Lucy, you'll have to stay
in the same hotel suite with her." He looked at Callard. "Rene,
you'll provide that protection. Don't take any bullshit from the old woman."

"I
don't take bullshit from anybody," Callard said.

"OK.
Then the three of you can move from here to Hong Kong on her jet in five or six
days from now." He looked again at the Dane. "Jens, do you think you
can arrange press creditisation, because I want your cover to be a
journalist?"

"It's
no problem. The head of the crime bureau on the top Danish newspaper is a good
friend from my days in the police. He'll fix it."

"Good.
I want you and The Owl to fly to Hong Kong in the next two or three days and
check into a different hotel to Mrs Manners. You are to pretend to be tourists,
but since Jens is also a reporter and happens to be in Hong Kong and planning a
series of articles on the Triads, it would be quite normal for him to take time
off and request an interview with Inspector Lau Ming Lan. We received good, if
reluctant, co-operation from the Zimbabwe police; but only because of pressure
from the US government. We will not get co-operation from the Hong Kong police.
The situation is totally different. They'll probably get very pissed off if
they find out that we're operating on their patch. The other thing I want you
to do, Jens, is rent a house or a large apartment somewhere in Kowloon for a
minimum of one month, or up to six months, if you have to. A house would be
better."

Guido
remarked, "Six months for a house in Kowloon is going to be damned
expensive."

"So
be it," Creasy answered. He looked at the Australian. "Frank, I want
you to fly up to Brussels tomorrow with Maxie, and have a meeting with
Corkscrew Two to arrange weapons and their shipment to Hong Kong. I'll give you
a list in the morning. Then you wait in Brussels until you hear from
Jens."

The
Dane was busily making notes. Now he looked up and asked, "In whose name
do I rent the house or apartment?"

Creasy
thought for a moment and then glanced at Miller and said, "Ask Corkscrew
Two's advice on that... he's the expert. Tell him that the house or apartment
must be rented and the weapons installed within ten days."

Lucy
spoke up for the first time. "Who is this Corkscrew Two, and how can he
get weapons into Hong Kong?"

Creasy
explained. "He's the son of a man known in the business as The Corkscrew.
He specialised in the smuggling of arms worldwide and was the very best. His
contacts were legendary. He retired a few years ago and passed the business and
contacts on to his son who, naturally, became known as Corkscrew Two. He's as
good as his father was, and he'll have no trouble getting arms into Hong
Kong." He closed his eyes for a few moments, then reached out to his
bedside table, shook two pills out a bottle and swallowed them. Then he looked
at Guido and said, "We're going to need two or three more guys."

"I
agree... but who?"

"Let's
put our minds to it. They have to be top-line."

Maxie
said, "Before I left Brussels I heard that Tom Sawyer's available."

"He'd
be perfect," Frank said. "Apart from anything else, he's a bloody
good mortar man."

"Yes,
try to locate him when you get to Brussels. What was the last anyone heard of
Do Huang?"

Maxie
said, "The last I heard, he was in Panama. He'd been doing a job for the
CIA with some of the other guys in El Salvador. He's probably still in Panama
City and stone-broke. He always headed straight out from operations into the
nearest casino. Incidentally, I also heard that Eric Laparte was in Panama, on
the same job with Do. But the news is not so good. The rumour is that he's been
hitting the booze for the past few months."

"I
hope it's just a rumour," Creasy said. "Eric was one of the
best." he thought for a moment. "Anyway, if Do Huang is stone-broke
that's a plus. We could certainly use him." He glanced at Lucy and
explained. "Do Huang is half-Vietnamese, half-Cantonese. He speaks Cantonese
fluently, so he could be useful in an undercover role."

Maxie
said, "As soon as I get back to Brussels I'll try to get a lead on
them."

Creasy
shook his head. "Let Frank do that. You're taking your wife and her sister
on a few days' holiday, and apart from setting things up with Corkscrew Two,
Frank will be twiddling his thumbs until he hears from Jens." He looked at
the Australian. "If you locate them, give me a ring here, and in three or
four days I'll go over and check them out."

"I
can go over if you like," Guido said.

Creasy
shook his head. "No. You know Do Huang well, and he trusts you, but you
don't know Eric Laparte. You won't know what to look for. Besides, he hardly
trusts a single soul on this earth. But he trusts me. Anyway, you ought to
spend two or three days with Laura and Paul."

He
closed his eyes again for a few seconds. When he opened them, he said,
"That's about it." They all stood up and started to file out. Creasy
said, "Lucy, wait a moment, please." When the door was closed, he
said, "Apart from Rene, they'll all be out of here by tomorrow. If you
like, you can move into the L'Imgarr Bay Hotel. You'll be comfortable
there."

"Who
will cook for you?"

"That's
no problem. Rene can rustle up some food, and I'm sure Laura will be sending
over mountains of the stuff."

She
thought about it and then shook her head.

"Since
I'm going to be cooped up with Mrs Manners in that hotel in Hong Kong for quite
a time, I'd prefer to stay here until we leave ... Is that all right?"

"Sure."

Frank
Miller walked in just after nine o'clock. Corkscrew Two was at one end of the
long bar, drinking his usual Perrier water with a thick slice of lemon. Frank
walked to the other end of the bar. It was a large utilitarian room with plain
wooden tables and sawdust on the floor. It was a sort of brokerage house, where
deals were made by mercenaries and for mercenaries. A stranger walking into
this bar would receive a frosty reception. But Frank was no stranger. The
bartender, Wensa, himself a retired mercenary, gave him a nod of welcome and a
glass of the house wine.

"Work?"
he asked.

"Yes.
A good one."

"With
the Man?"

"Yes.
But it's behind the back teeth."

"How
is he?"

Frank
thought about it and then said, "He's had his personal ups and downs, but
you know the Man, he's come through it and he's fine."

"So
why is he working?"

Frank
shrugged. "He only has to work when he wants to and he only takes on jobs
that attract him ... I guess it's in his blood, just like it's in mine."

Wensa
nodded. "I know what you mean. Every once in a while, I get the urge as
well...but then for me it's not possible. Tell the Man hello from me when you
see him." With a stilted walk, he moved down the bar to serve another
customer. In the last days of the Biafra war, he had stepped on an AP landmine.

Frank
leaned forward and glanced down the bar and Corkscrew Two nodded. They both
moved to a corner table at the back. It was traditional in that bar that, when
people sat at the two corner tables, nobody went near enough to hear even a
whisper of conversation.

There
were no preliminaries. Frank reached into an inside pocket and passed over a
folded sheet of paper. Corkscrew studied it through his thick horn-rimmed
spectacles. He was in his mid-forties and his sparse hair had receded halfway
across his head. Otherwise, his features were without distinction. Finally, he
lifted his head and looked at Frank across the paper.

"Where?"
he asked.

"Hong
Kong... and fast."

Corkscrew
Two's eyes dropped again to the paper. When he raised his eyes again he said,
"You told me it was for the Man. What's he going to do take over
China?"

Frank
spoke openly, knowing that the man opposite had discretion branded on his
heart. "We're going after a Triad gang. They've got about a zillion
soldiers, so we need a little firepower."

"How
soon?"

"Not
later than eight days. I'll have an address for you and a contact phone number
within forty-eight hours. Your contacts will be myself or Rene Callard."

Corkscrew
Two's eyebrows lifted.

He
murmured, "With you along as well, plus Rene, it's going to be a
high-class team." He tapped the paper with his right hand. "But
looking at this list, I guess that you're going to be seven or eight."

"About
that...Tom Sawyer's in town and I'm meeting him in fifteen minutes. Maxie's in
and so is Guido Arrellio."

"Very
high-class," Corkscrew Two murmured again.

Frank
nodded and asked, "You don't see any problems in finding those machines
and getting them to Hong Kong?"

The
skeletal man shook his head.

"Finding
them is no problem, but I'm going to suggest an addition. You've asked for a
dozen Uzi SMGs. I have those. But I also have a new SMG which is very
interesting. It came out about three years ago and it's made right here in
Belgium by Fabrique Nationale. They call it the FNP90. It's very light, because
most of its components are made from a special plastic which also makes it
difficult for airport securities to detect it. It has a velocity to pierce body
armour at one hundred and fifty metres. If you have a decent budget, I suggest
that I include half a dozen."