No Mercy Read Free Page B

the back, stared at the rear bumper. Only his sharp eyes would have detected the small silver disc attached to the end of the bumper. He had to pull hard because it was attached magnetically. He went back to Paula, who lowered her window. He showed her the disc.
    'That's how we came to be followed. It's an electronic disc, which will show our location on a screen somewhere. Special Branch were stupid enough to use a design I recognize as one of theirs.'
    He walked a few feet up the street, dropped the disc, used the heel of his boot to crush it, then swept the debris down a nearby drain.
    He returned to the car, got behind the wheel, next to Michael. He switched on, turned up the heater. At the top of the steps Saxon was waving his arms, shouting. Paula lowered her window again.
    'You've still got your hat on.'
    Saxon raised a hand, felt the crumpled trilby, snatched it off. His greasy black hair was streaked down the sides of his head. Tweed completed a five-point turn and headed back towards Harley Street.
    Neither Tweed nor Paula realized they were beginning quite the strangest drive either had ever experienced.

    3

    'Where is Tweed now?' the rough-voiced man growled.
    Abel Gallagher was sitting in a hard-backed chair on the first floor of his office in an obscure street leading off Whitehall. The front door into the buildirig was made of reinforced steel, supposedly bombproof. This was the headquarters of Special Branch, the government organization concerned with security.
    Gallagher was the newly appointed chief. A heavily built man with a brutal face, he was held in fear by his numerous staff. His cold blue eyes stared across the desk at Jed Harper, his subordinate, a cruel-faced man, nervous now as Gallagher waited for his reply and then lost patience.
    'I presume you did attach the advanced location disc to the rear of Tweed's car parked outside his HQ?'
    'Attached it myself, Abel,' Harper assured his chief.
    'Then why the hell isn't it on the screen?'
    On a side wall two electronically controlled maps were hanging. One of Britain and the other, in greater detail, of London. The electronic disc Gallagher had referred to should have shown up as a red dot, indicating exactly where Tweed's car was, whether stationary or in motion. Harper wet his lips, took a deep breath.
    ' You said it was on the screen when Tweed parked in Harley Street. In addition we followed him in the Volvo. When he stopped we cruised past—' 'Anyone except an idiot like yourself would have parked further up damned Harley Street.'
    'That street is very quiet.'
    'I know the street is quiet. Don't you realize Tweed is the one man in the SIS standing in the way of my increasing the influence of Special Branch? Well, you know now. You have to locate Tweed. Use the camera checkpoints on all the motorway exits from London. The camera will pick him up if he's left town. Jed, you didn't think of that, did you?'
    'No
    'And when you address me you will never again use the name Abel. "Sir" is how you address me. We may have to think of a way of stabilizing Tweed,' he remarked, lighting a cigar.
    'Stabilizing? He's the Deputy Director of the SIS.' Harper sounded appalled.
    'He's also on good terms with the Prime Minister, who may well consult him about the plan for closer cooperation between the Special Branch and the SIS. Tweed will persuade him to veto the idea. Can't have that, can we?' Gallagher's tone became amiable. He even smiled.
    'I'd better call on the checkpoints.' Harper couldn't wait to get out of the room.
    'When you locate him, drive like hell to the checkpoint in an unmarked car, then follow him wherever he's heading for. Don't fall down the stairs on your way out. Follow the bastard.'
    The moment Harper had left the room Gallagher reached under his desk, operated a lever. A tread halfway down the wooden stairs would slide forward when Harper stepped on it. He waited, heard a yell, the sound of a body crashing down the staircase. He chuckled,