Free Edge of Danger by Jack Higgins

better take this, Mr President,’ and he passed the Browning across.
    Bell called softly across the road, ‘Stay out of sight, Liam,’ and then he loosed off several bursts in the general direction where he’d seen Clancy Smith and Cazalet disappear.
     
    Clancy was already calling in and Cazalet fired back twice.
    In the Communications Room, Blake Johnson was seated next to Harper working through some signals when Clancy’s voice crackled over the loudspeakers with the shocking words. ‘Blake. Empire Down! Empire Down!’ At the same moment came the sounds of gunfire.
    Blake reached for the mike. ‘Where are you?’
    ‘Halfway along the main road. I’ve been hit, but the President is okay. He’s doing the shooting back.’
    ‘I’m on my way.’ Blake turned to Harper. ‘Give me your piece. You know what to do.’
    Harper, face wild, handed him a Beretta. Blake slipped it into his right-hand pocket, ran straight out onto the porch and to the barn. A moment later, he rode out on the Montesa and hurtled along the road.
    Peering through the reeds, Clancy and the President could see him coming when he was still some distance away. So, of course, could Bell and Liam.
    ‘Crazy damn fool,’ Cazalet said. ‘He’ll get himself killed. Why couldn’t he wait till the cavalry got here?’
    ‘That’ll be the day,’ Clancy Smith said.
    Blake pushed the little bike up to sixty, a ludicrous speed on the narrow road, and Aidan Bell fired through the reeds, a short burst that exploded the front tyre and sent the Montesa into a long sliding skid on one side as Blake kicked free.
    Liam Casey made a bad mistake then, and emerged from the reeds, AK raised.
    ‘I’ve got you now, you bastard.’
    Blake’s hand came out of his right-hand pocket holding the Beretta, and he shot the big Irishman in the chest. Casey cried out, his AK discharging, and plunged headfirst into the reeds beside Bell.
    Further along the road, Cazalet stood up briefly. ‘Over here, Blake. I’ll cover you.’
    He dropped out of sight and Blake staggered along the road, limping.
    Liam Casey said, ‘Can you get the bastard who shot me, Aidan?’
    Bell watched Blake go and disappear into the reeds. ‘It’s not worth it, Liam.’
     
    ‘God, it hurts, Aidan.’
    Bell took in the bullethole in the stomach of the diving suit. ‘Yes, it would.’
    In the far distance, there came an ominous rattling sound. ‘Oh dear, here comes the heavy brigade. Time to go.’
    ‘What do you mean?’ Liam demanded.
    ‘What I mean is you win some and you lose some, and this one is very definitely down the plughole, thanks to that damn dog. Cazalet will buy him a gold collar after this. I’ll just keep their heads down over there and be on my way.’
    He sprayed the reeds in the general direction of the President’s party, emptying his AK, dropped it into the mud, and picked up Casey’s.
    ‘But what about me?’ Casey moaned.
    ‘That’s a problem, but I have a solution. Our friends didn’t see two of us, only one. So, if they find one, that should keep them happy while the other one gets away.’
    He stood up and took his Browning with the Carswell silencer from inside his diving jacket. Liam Casey said, ‘You can’t leave me, Aidan.’
    ‘I’m being practical.’
    Aidan Bell aimed for a heart shot, the Browning coughed once, Liam Casey jerked and lay still.
    ‘Sorry, old son,’ Aidan said softly, then he put the Browning back inside his jacket and slipped off through the reeds. Four hundred yards away, the Dolphin waited; that wasn’t too far, and then he’d be back underwater before the security helicopters started to blanket the area. On the other hand, they’d find Liam soon enough, and that should hold them.
    After that long final burst, there was silence. ‘Maybe he’s down,’ Cazalet said.
    ‘Or out of it,’ Clancy observed.
    Murchison whined, then snuffled, nose up. ‘Something’s getting to him,’ the President said.
    The helicopters were