His face was pale with excitement. “God, but this is great.” He sat there thinking about it. “Money buys everything in this life. In the old days when I was on Army Council jobs I used ‘to use that fella zz4
Tony McGuire and his air taxi firm and that was in Down, just outside Ladytown. It was the quick way to England if I wanted to avoid security at Aldergrove “Would he still be in business?”
“I don’t see why not. If not him, someone else. It would be a good way out if we did manage to make a run for it and the hounds hot on our heels.”
“What about approaching the Army Council in Belfast?”
“I don’t know. It’s been ten years, Kathleen, ten long years and everyone strong for peace, so they tell me. I wonder where it leaves people like Reid and Scully,”
“Long gone now with any luck,” she said.
“So bow do we slip the leash?”
“I’ve had a thought.” She!ooked troubled. “But I’m not sure you should risk it.”
“Christ, girl, I’ll try anything. Tell me?” WHEN SHE HAD FINISHED, HE SAT THERE THINKing about it. “Clever, I’ll say that.”
“And maybe it won’t be necessary. Maybe there’ll be another way?”
“Who knows.” He grinned. “What the hell, I think I’ll have another whiskey.” IT WAS PERHAPS THREE HOURS LATER THAT DiLlon, sitting at the computer screen, shouted, “Bingo!
Give the man a cigar.”
Hannah rushed in. “What on earth is it?” zz5
“The Gi’eat Dillon does it again. Worked my way through all the information the Garda have on Loyalists and drew a blank. Not a word on the Irish Rose beyond the facts we had before I opened my big mouth.”
“So?”
“Then I tried the Sinn Fein and Provo connection.” He laughed. “Then I thought, why not go back to the Dinosaurs, the hard men from the old days, and that brought me to’Jack Barry, once Chief of
Staff, now retired.”
“And?”
“Peace being so fragile, the Garda still keep an ee on all the main players, and they pay for inside information. It’s an old Irish custom, what we call
informing, touts all over the place.”
“Touts?”
“Informers-who do it for money. That’s what
we’ve got here.”-He gestured to the screen.
“Tell me.”.
“No, go and get the Brigadier and let’s all enjoy it.” FERGUSON STOOD TO ONE SIDE AS DILLON tapped the keys again, Hannah sitting beside him. He sat back. “Right, here it is. Last week some lout called O’Leary was in Cohan’s Bar, which is not far from Jack Barry’s house. He said Barry came in with a very well dressed man, an American, because O’Leary caught a word or two. They sat in a booth,
had.a snack lunch and a drink. He said they had their heads together the whole time.”
“$o where does this get us?” Ferguson demanded.
“They left and took to the park. Barry’s house is on the other side. O’Leary drove round there and saw a limousine with a driver parked outside. He waited until the American left in the limousine and followed
it to Dublin airport.”
“And then?”
“The American left in a private plane, a Guff-stream.
Its flight plan was to MacArthur Field in Long Island.” Dillon laughed. “No prizes for guessing who owns that plane.”
“I’ll get on to Johnson straight away,” Ferguson said, turned, and hurried into his office. AT HIS DESK, BLAKE JOHNSON WAS WORKING HIS way through a file when Alice Quarmby came in with her pad. ‘
Johnson sat back. “All ght, tell me.”
“The details on the Gulfstream Brigadier Ferguson got from the Garda were easily checked. It’s owned by the Russo Corporation and is usually based at MacArthur Airport in Long Island. According to airport records it logged out with two passengers last week. Marco Sollazo and Giovanni Moil.”
“God, that’s great,” Johnson said. “We’re getting somewhere.”
“Now comes the hard part. The same Gulfstream left MacArthur nine hours ago. Passengers as before
with the addition of two Irish citizens, a Daniel and Nancy Forbes.”
“Damn!” Johnson said. “I must contact Fergu- son. ‘
“A waste of time if you want to do anything,” Alice told him. “I’ve just checked. They landed at Dublin two hours ago.”