1967 - Have This One on Me by James Hadley Chase Page A

stands a chance.’
    Dorey shifted impatiently.
    ‘The trouble with you, Tim, is you are a pessimist. Bruckman knows his job. He’ll keep out of sight.’
    O’Halloran lifted his heavy shoulders.
    ‘I’d be happier if he had someone with him.’
    ‘You can leave this to me,’ Dorey said. He was pleased with his arrangements and he wasn’t going to listen to any criticism from O’Halloran. ‘By the way, there’s a memo from the Joint Chiefs of Staffs that came in last week while you were away. It’s so Top Secret I can’t let it out of my office.’ He got to his feet and crossed over to his safe. ‘It covers our future planning in Vietnam and how we are to cope with any possible Russian interference. It’s pure dynamite! I hope they know what they are doing. Anyway L.B.J, has initialled it so I suppose they do. There’s a paragraph about our security out there you should see.’
    He spun the dial, pressed a combination of buttons and then opened the safe. After a moment, he came back with a long white envelope with a red sticker on it. He handed the envelope to O’Halloran.
    ‘Read it, Tim. It’ll make your hair stand on end I’ve another goddamn file to get off.’
    He sat down at his desk and pulled a file towards him while O’Halloran lifted the flap of the envelope and took out two sheets of paper.
    There was a moment’s pause, then O’Halloran said, ‘What’s this? I guess you’ve given me the wrong envelope.’
    Dorey wrenched his mind a way from the file he was studying and frowned at O’Halloran.
    ‘What’s that?’
    O’Halloran offered him the two sheets of paper.
    ‘This isn’t anything from the Joint Chiefs of Staff. This is a key to a code we scrapped last month.’
    ‘What the hell are you talking about?’ Dorey said, stiffening.
    He snatched the sheets of paper from O’Halloran and stared at them.
    Watching, O’Halloran saw the blood drain out of Dorey’s face. The sheets of paper fluttered on to Dorey’s desk. He looked so bad, so white that O’Halloran started to his feet.
    Jeepers! he thought. He’s having a heart attack.
    ‘What is it Chief?’ he asked sharply. ‘Want me to get help?’
    Dorey made an effort. Slowly, he gained control of himself and then he glared at O’Halloran, fury sparking in his eyes.
    ‘Shut up! Let me think!’ His voice was cold and rasping.
    O’Halloran recognised the danger signals. It was seldom he had seen Dorey in this mood. He sat down and waited, not looking at Dorey.
    Dorey again picked up the two sheets of paper and examined them, then he reached across the desk and picked up the envelope which he also examined. He dropped it on his blotter and, pushing back his chair, he walked over to the safe.
    O’Halloran watched him check through the contents, then Dorey turned. His white face was drawn and old looking, but his mouth was hard and firm and his eyes glittering.
    ‘Tim ... I’ve done something inexcusable.’ He walked slowly to his chair and sat down. ‘Those papers I imagined I had given to Bruckman to put in Girland’s suitcase ... I put them in a Top Secret envelope to impress the Czechs. I had the Chiefs of Staff memo on my desk when Bruckman came in. Somehow ... I must have been incredibly careless ... I gave him the wrong envelope.’
    He paused, staring down at his hands. ‘So Girland of all people has taken a Tops memo into Prague of all places! If the Russians get hold of it, all hell could explode and I’m finished!’
    O’Halloran stared at Dorey for a moment, stunned, unable to believe he had heard right, then seeing Dorey’s expression, he knew it must be right. At once he became the cold, alert thinking machine whose reputation for swift, shrewd action had won him his place in the Security Division.
    ‘I’ll cable Bruckman,’ he said crisply. ‘He’ll get the envelope. Girland can’t possibly get the money and leave Prague for two or three days. We’ll cancel the operation. If Bruckman doesn’t