Assault on England Read Free Page A

killed. He was saying, 'Tell Cartel that… when the line went dead."
    "That's all he managed to say?"
    She shook her head up and down.
    "Nothing more?"
    "Nothing."
    "I've got the money here," I patted the attaché case at my side. "Give me the photograph."
    "It's in my room," she said. "Meet me tonight, after the show. I'll give it to you then."
    "Now I know I'll catch the show," I said.
    "Do that," she smiled, then slid off her barstool and walked out.
* * *
    I walked to the Djenina Restaurant in the Casbah. Most of my meetings with Hawk were at his offices in the Amalgamated Press and Wire Services building on DuPont Circle in Washington. Rarely did we confer outside of Washington or New York, rarer still outside of the U.S. Hawk had no love for junkets about the globe and ventured abroad only on matters of the most extreme urgency. He apparently had classified his Johannesburg visit — and our Tangier meeting — as urgent.
    Hawk arrived a short time after me and we took an outside table. He looked almost English, in a tweed jacket and gray trousers. His face was lined and looked tired and his spare frame seemed even slimmer than usual.
    "Bad luck at Luxor, Nick. Damned bad luck. But maybe you'll get something from the girl." He pulled a long brown cigar from his jacket, stuck it into his mouth and chewed down on it without lighting it. "You probably haven't seen it in the papers yet but there's been another assassination in London." He removed the cigar from his mouth and watched my reaction.
    "Another government official?" I asked.
    "You might say so. This time it's Percy Dumbarton, Britain's Minister of Defence."
    I whistled and stared out across the narrow cobble-stoned street, through the slow traffic of robed Arabs and donkey carts to the crumbling old buildings across the way. I started to comment, but just then the waiter returned to take our order. I ordered the Moroccan chicken couscous, and Hawk stuck to steak. Then the waiter was gone again.
    "Dumbarton," Hawk continued not waiting for my response, "was one of England's most able leaders. The killer left another note, and it's clear now that the threat in the first note was no idle one."
    "You haven't filled me in on that," I reminded him. Hawk reached into his pocket again and handed me two pieces of paper. "Here. I've typed out what the two notes said. Top one's the first one."
    I read: "This is to prove we mean business. To prevent the death of other cabinet members, the British government must arrange to pay to us the sum of ten million pounds within the fortnight. Another execution will occur each fortnight until payment is made and the sum will increase by two million pounds after each succeeding death.
    "The British government will save important lives, considerable anguish and millions of pounds sterling by immediate capitulation to our demand. When that inescapable decision is reached, a white flag must be flown below the Union Jack atop Parliament. At that signal, a further note will be delivered advising method of payment."
    I looked up at Hawk. "Interesting," I said. Then I read the second note, the original of which had been found at the scene of the second assassination:
    "You were warned but you did not take us seriously. Now your Minister of Defence is dead, and our demand has risen to twelve million pounds. Is the government of Britain too proud to capitulate? Let us hope not. We will watch for the white flag."
    I shook my head slowly. "What do the British make of it?" I asked.
    "They don't know
what
to make of it, N3," Hawk said grimly. "They're literally running around in circles. These were particularly bloody murders and panic is growing in high places. There is talk that even the Queen isn't safe. It's the biggest thing in years. It could literally destroy the British government if they don't find out what it's all about."
    The waiter was back with the food. Hawk attacked the steak eagerly, talking as he ate.
    "At first they thought it