Shroud of Concealment (Jake Dillon Adventure Thriller Series) by Andrew Towning Page B

was the coffee.
    Dillon said, “Chill out, Dunstan. You will not come to any harm in here. I know most of these people and Joe and I served together in the intelligence corp. He opened this place with the pay-off the army gave him when he took early retirement. He’ll even make sure you don’t get mugged on your way out.”
    Dillon laughed and sipped his Champagne.
    “As reassuring as that may be, Jake, for someone in my position to be found in an establishment such as this would cause an awful stir in Whitehall. Couldn’t we have met somewhere else?”
    “No, not really. Your home is almost certainly bugged from top to toe; Issy is working from my home and I certainly don’t want her involved with any more of this stuff. She obviously knows a certain amount, but I don’t want her frightened with details of what’s gone on this morning. I told her that I’d be at the office until early evening.”
    Havelock nodded in understanding; he would have exactly the same problem with his better half.
    “What was the outcome with the police?”
    “They were sceptical, to say the least. Then they tried to run me through their database and were immediately blocked because they didn’t have high enough clearance. One of them was rather pissed off about this, and was so narked that I thought he was going to arrest me. That’s when I thought it best to hand them your telephone number. The more senior officer called it and after you’d spoken to him, he remarked that I must be some sort of spook to have that much protection. He told me that they’d have to file a report and inform the bomb squad along with the anti-terrorist unit, who more than likely would want to pay me a visit and inspect the wreckage. Eventually, they packed up and drove off.”
    “Could it have been anyone else other than Hart, do you think? I mean, whoever is trying to soften you up.”
    “You don’t like the idea that it could be Hart. Don’t try to play games with me, Dunstan. It was not someone from my past, because if it had been, I would almost certainly be dead by now. A terrorist or professional mercenary would have used something a little more sophisticated and much more precise to blow up my car. And they would have made sure that I was securely belted in before remotely detonating it.”
    “It’s damned lucky you weren’t killed.”
    “That’s the big question, isn’t it? Was I meant to be? I suppose I’ll never know. If the bomb had been on, let’s say, a mechanical timer, there was no way that anyone could guarantee that I would be inside the car at the right time. If it was a remote detonated device it tells me that someone would have had to be in the vicinity of the theatre, and able to watch me arrive and get out of it. But I would have seen someone if I’d been followed. Unless I’m losing my touch. It wasn’t connected to the ignition or I would have been blown to bits the moment I turned the key.”
    “So you think it was merely a warning?”
    “Well, if it was, I’ve had a few of them these last couple of days. And, to be honest, if it was a warning then it was bloody extreme and you owe me a new Porsche. Maybe whoever it was deliberately used more explosive to make sure that there wasn’t going to be much left for the forensic boys to piece together.”
    “I’m not in such a position that I could countenance a seventy thousand pound Porsche, Jake. I’d never get away with it, so I’m afraid that you’ll have to claim on your own insurance.”
    Dillon glowered at the Home Secretary’s personal aide.
    “Well, I’m most definitely in a position to tell you, Dunstan, that one way or another you most certainly will be footing the bill for a replacement. That car was only nine months old, and you can bloody well pay for another one.”
    Havelock looked embarrassed and awkward.
    “Oh now, Jake. I’ll never be able to convince them that it was a result of something a Ferran & Cardini field officer was doing for