Free Exocet (v5) by Jack Higgins Page A

used to Lami Dozo.
    'Tell me about her.'
    So he did, pacing up and down the terrace beside her restlessly. When he was finished, she said, 'She sounds a remarkable young woman.'
    'An understatement,' Montera told her. 'The most extraordinary human being I have ever met. Extraordinary for me, that is. I plunged head first in love with her the very first moment. It isn't just her quite astonishing beauty; there's a joy to her that goes way beyond physical passion.' He suddenly laughed out loud and the lines seemed to vanish from his face and he no longer looked tired. 'She's so bloody marvellous in every way, Mama. I always had faith that there was something special about life and she's it.'
    Donna Elena Llorca de Montera took a deep breath. 'There's no more to be said then, is there? I presume I'll be introduced in your own good time. Now, tell me why you're going to France.'
    'Sorry,' he told her. 'Top secret. All I can say is that it's for what our President is pleased to call the cause. He also believes that if I'm successful, it could win us the war.'
    'And will it?'
    'If he believes that, he'll believe anything. The cause.' He walked to the edge of the terrace and looked out across the river. 'We've lost half our pilots so far, Mama. Half. That's what the newspapers don't tell you. The crowds cry out, wave flags; Galtieri makes speeches; but the reality is the butchery at San Carlos Water.'
    She stood up and took his arm. 'Come on, Raul, let's go inside now,' and together they went up the steps.
    * * *
    At Cavendish Place, Ferguson was seated at the desk, working his way through the CIA signal for the umpteenth time, when Harry Fox came in carrying a couple of files.
    'All here, sir. Everything on Felix Donner.'
    'Tell me, is Gabrielle still in town or has she gone back to Paris?'
    'Still at Kensington Palace Gardens. I was having dinner at Langans last night and she was there with some friends. Why?'
    'I should have thought it obvious, Harry. She was considerably smitten by Raul Montera's charms and he with her. We can put that to good use.' He looked at Fox's face and raised a hand. 'Don't start getting moral on me, Harry. This is war we're playing at now, not patty fingers.'
    'Yes, well there are days when I definitely would rather be doing something else.'
    'Never mind that now. Donner. Tell me about him. Just the salient facts.'
    'Multi-millionaire. The Donner Development Corporation has a vast range of interests. Building, shipping, electronics, you name it.'
    'And Donner himself?'
    'Very popular media figure, as you can see from the file. Started in property development in a very small way. Really took off in the boom of the sixties.'
    'And never looked back?'
    'That's it, sir. In the circumstances and considering the size of his bank balance, it seems odd that he would involve himself in an affair like this, even for a couple of million pounds.'
    'Exactly.' Ferguson sat looking at the file for a while, frowning. 'I really do smell stinking fish here in a big way. First of all there's the Russian connection. How was Nikolai Belov so certain after being approached by Garcia that Donner was the man who could help?'
    'True. So what are you saying, sir?'
    'That Felix Donner was an orphan which is very convenient. That every other man who served with him and was taken prisoner in Korea died in captivity. Also very convenient.'
    There was a long silence. Fox asked, 'Are you suggesting what I think you are, sir?'
    Ferguson got up and walked to the fire and stood there, looking down into the flames.
    Fox said, 'He's a highly respected businessman, sir. It doesn't make sense.'
    'Neither did the Gordon Lonsdale affair, remember? Also a highly respected business man. A Canadian, to all intents and purposes. Even now, after all these years, there's some doubt as to his real identity.'
    'Except that he was a Russian. A professional agent.'
    'Exactly.'
    'Are you suggesting that Donner could be another Lonsdale?'
    'It's a