Urban Assassin by Jim Eldridge Page A

only line of defence.’
    Gerald thought it over. Mitch could tell he was concerned. ‘It’s very risky,’ he said. ‘If it doesn’t work . . .’
    ‘It’s got more chance of working than anything we’ve tried so far,’ said Nelson. ‘But
we
have to be in charge. You can have your people as backup, hidden well out of sight . . .’
    ‘Hospital porters, nurses, that sort of thing,’ added Tug.
    ‘But
we
call the shots,’ said Nelson firmly. ‘We give the orders. No one moves without our say.’
    Gerald fell silent. Then finally, he nodded. ‘Very well,’ he said. ‘But which one of you will double for the prime minister?’
    Nelson grinned. ‘I think you can count me out,’ he said.
    ‘It has to be me,’ said Mitch. ‘I’m the nearest to him in build and looks. And, with some good oldmovie make-up, I’ll look right from a distance. From reasonably close-up, even.’
    Tug and Benny nodded in agreement. Gaz grinned. ‘My pal, the PM,’ he chuckled.
    ‘Say Deacon’s plan is the same as at the warehouse?’ asked Gerald. ‘High explosives. He could blow up the hospital.’
    ‘We make sure he can’t,’ said Benny. ‘We use Bomb Disposal to openly scan for explosives. Get them to do the same scans at the conference venue ahead of the summit. When Deacon realises pre-planted explosives are out, he’ll be forced to fall back on other strategies.’
    ‘Personal contact,’ murmured Tug. ‘Gun. Knife.’
    ‘He’s likely to be in disguise,’ added Gaz. ‘A doctor, a hospital orderly, a nurse.’
    ‘We also need to identify and locate the rest of his team,’ said Benny. ‘Keep an eye on them. Take them out before the attack, if we can. If we can’t, at least we’ll know who to watch out for.’
    ‘We thought we’d done that,’ groaned Gerald.‘We thought Pavel, Lavall and Smitt were the ones.’ He paced around, deep in thought. Then he finally said: ‘The other team have to be among the bodyguards.’
    ‘At the conference?’ asked Benny.
    Gerald nodded. ‘It’s been done before. Bodyguards are perfect as political assassins. They’ve got full security clearance. They’re allowed to carry as much weaponry as they like. They’ll be the ideal people for Deacon to use.’
    Mitch nodded. ‘Makes sense to me,’ he said.
    ‘That’s where I’d be looking as well,’ nodded Nelson. ‘But which ones?’
    ‘I’ll run a security check on every bodyguard attending the conference,’ said Gerald determinedly. ‘See if there are any who believe they’ve suffered because of the prime minister’s actions. Check out any who are in financial trouble.’
    ‘If there’s anything we can do . . .’ offered Nelson.
    Gerald shook his head.
    ‘This is my department,’ he said. ‘I’ll get mypeople on it.’ He took out his mobile and began dialling. ‘Once we’ve set that in motion, we can get this hospital business sorted out.’

19
    Two hours later Delta Unit met with Gerald in his office at MI6 HQ. Nelson told Gerald he’d chosen the small military hospital where Two Moons was already a patient as the best place to set their trap. He listed his reasons.
    ‘One, we don’t have to worry about civilian patients getting injured in any crossfire,’ he said. ‘Look what Deacon has done so far. He doesn’t care who gets killed. We’ll do our best to make sure we don’t injure anyone else, but we can’t speak for Deacon and his team.
    ‘Second, using the military hospital will convince Deacon that we’re for real, because it’s where we can ensure the best security. And that doubles as the third reason.
We
will be in charge of the situation inthere, not some bureaucrat or hospital manager.’
    ‘Makes sense,’ said Gerald. Just then his phone rang. ‘Yes?’ he said. He listened, then looked at Nelson. ‘Thank you. Colonel Nelson and Delta Unit are with me at the moment. Prepare the briefing room.’ He hung up. ‘We think we’ve got some leads on Deacon’s