LITMIR.BIZ

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simple, old lad, I’ve been shot. Get me into the kitchen before I bleed all over your best carpet.’

      Lang got an arm round him, helped him into the kitchen and eased him into a chair. Curry tried to get his Burberry off and Lang went to his assistance.

      ‘Dear God, Tom, your sleeve’s soaked in blood.’

      ‘Yes, well, it would be.’

      Lang reached for a towel and wrapped it around Curry’s arm. ‘I’ll call an ambulance.’

      ‘No you won’t, old lad. I’ve just killed a man.’

      Lang, on his way to the door, stopped and turned. ‘You’ve what?’

      ‘Arab terrorist called Ali Hamid tried to kill me, that’s when I stopped the bullet. Took a couple himself in the struggle. I left him on Butler’s Wharf in the rain. It’s all right. No one saw me and I didn’t get a cab on the way back. Long bloody walk, I can tell you.’ Curry managed a smile. ‘A large whisky and a cigarette would help.’

      Lang went out and returned with a glass and a bottle of Scotch. He poured, handed the glass over and found a packet of cigarettes. As he gave Curry a light he said, ‘I think you’d better tell me what’s going on.’

      ‘We’ve been friends a long time,’ Tom said.

      ‘Best of friends,’ Rupert Lang said.

      ‘No one’s known me better than you, old lad, and I’ve always been honest. You know my politics.’

      ‘Of course I do,’ Lang said. ‘Come the revolution you’ll take me out and have me shot, with great regret, of course.’

      ‘Just one thing I never told you.’

      ‘And what’s that?’

      Curry swallowed the Scotch and held out the glass for another. ‘Let’s see, you were a captain in 1 Para when you retired?’

      ‘That’s right.’ Lang poured more whisky.

      ‘Well, the thing is, old lad, I outrank you. I’m a major in Russian Military Intelligence, the GRU.’

      Lang stopped pouring, then carefully replaced the cap on the bottle. ‘You old bastard.’ He was smiling, suddenly excited. ‘How long has this been going on?’

      ‘Ever since Moscow. That’s when they recruited me.’

      ‘Shades of Philby, Burgess and Maclean.’

      Lang put the bottle down and lit a cigarette himself. He paced around the kitchen, full of energy. ‘Tell me everything, Tom, not only what happened tonight. Everything.’

      When Curry finished talking, he tried to stand up. ‘So you see, much better if I get out of here.’

      Lang pushed him down. ‘Don’t play silly bastards with me, although I must say you have done. My God, all that stuff from the Northern Ireland Office going to our Russian friends. Dammit Tom, I sat on one of those committees with you.’

      ‘I know, isn’t it terrible?’ Curry said.

      ‘You say Belov’s at the Savoy?’

      ‘That’s right.’

      ‘Good. I’m going to ring him up. He can sort this mess out for you. After all, it’s his kind of business.’

      He reached for the kitchen phone, but Curry said, ‘For God’s sake, old lad, you can’t afford to get involved. Just let me go. I shouldn’t have come back here. Only a guest, after all.’ It was as if he was losing consciousness. ‘Not your affair.’

      ‘Oh, yes it is.’ Rupert Lang wasn’t smiling now. He ran a hand over Curry’s head. ‘Rest easy, Tom, I’ll handle it.’

      He rang through to the Savoy and asked that Colonel Yuri Belov come to the phone urgently.

      Rose House Nursing Home was a discreet establishment in Holland Park. It had once been the town mansion of some turn-of-the-century millionaire and stood discreetly in two acres of gardens behind high walls. In a lounge area on the second floor, Belov and Rupert Lang drank coffee and waited. Finally a door opened and a small cheerful Indian walked in, clad in green surgical robes.

      ‘This is Dr Joel Gupta, the principal of this establishment,’ Belov said to Lang. ‘How is he, Joel?’

      ‘Very lucky. The Beretta fires 9-millimetre Parabellum. At close quarters, it’s enough to take a man’s arm off. This time it only chipped the bone and passed through flesh. He’ll be fine, but I want him in for a week.’

      ‘When can we see him?’ Belov asked.

      ‘He’s woozy right now. Give him half an hour, then five minutes only. I’ll see you later.’

      Gupta went out. Lang said. ‘He seems to be on your side.’

      ‘I knew him in Afghanistan,’ Belov said. ‘Helped him come to England. Don’t get the wrong impression. He helps me out on the odd occasion, but most of the time he specializes in drug addiction. He does fine work.’

      ‘So what went wrong tonight?’ Lang asked.

      ‘My dear man, do you really want to get into this any more than you have to?’

      ‘I’m already up to my ears,’ Lang said. ‘And Tom Curry is the best friend I have in the world.’

      ‘But you’re in the Government.’

      ‘So?’

      ‘And Curry, like me, is a committed Communist. We believe that we are right and you are wrong.’

      ‘But I often am,’ Lang told him. ‘I’m sure you’ll lead me to the guillotine when the moment arrives, but I take friendship seriously, so what about Tom? What went wrong?’

      ‘Colonel Boris Ashimov went wrong. He’s Head of Station at the London Embassy for the KGB. As you know, GRU is Military Intelligence and we have our differences. I hadn’t realized how deep they were until tonight.’

      ‘He set you up?’

      ‘So it would appear. If it hadn’t been for the Savoy affair I’d have gone personally.’

      ‘But instead, poor old Torn takes the bullet.’ Rupert Lang wasn’t smiling. His eyes glittered, and there was a wolfish look to his face. ‘I took a bullet myself once. Not nice.’

      ‘Of course,’ Belov said. ‘1 Para. Bloody Sunday. You were a lieutenant then.’

      Just then a nurse appeared. ‘He’s surfaced. You can go in now if you like.’

      Curry managed a weak smile. ‘Still here, am I?’

      ‘For a long time yet,’ Rupert Lang told him.

      Curry turned to Belov. ‘What went wrong, Yuri?’

      ‘It would appear Ashimov set me up. Ali Hamid was supposed to knock me off. Unfortunately I sent you – unfortunate for you, that is, not for me. However, we must cover the trail as much as possible, give an explanation for Hamid’s death. He’s a known terrorist. Both Scotland Yard and MI5 will find that out soon enough.’

      ‘What would you suggest?’ Lang asked.

      ‘Someone should claim credit for his death,’ Belov nodded. ‘That would take care of things nicely.’

      ‘Like the Provisional IRA?’ Curry demanded.

      ‘No, something new, something to confuse them all.’

      ‘You mean an entirely new terrorist group?’ Lang asked.

      ‘Why not?’ Belov smiled. ‘Bloody Sunday, wasn’t that 30 January 1973? What if I put a call through to The Times claiming credit for Hamid’s killing on behalf of January 30? That would certainly give the anti-terrorist units

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