The Judas Gate Read Online Free PDF

*
    Sitting there, nursing a drink, Holley had a sudden urge to call Roper, and he did so, finding him wide awake.
    ‘How did your business appointment turn out?’ Roper asked.
    ‘What the hell, why shouldn’t I tell you?’ Holley said. ‘The ramifications, in a way, touch the world. I may just have saved Vladimir Putin from assassination.’
    Roper took it surprisingly calmly. ‘Tell me more.’
    Which Daniel did.
    The first thing Roper said was: ‘What am I going to do with you? You’re getting worse than Dillon. You’ve been shooting people again.’
    ‘If ever two people deserved it, those two did, but isn’t it incredible that the apparent boastings of a drunken fool turned out to be true?’
    ‘Because somebody talked, somebody at the very heart of Russian intelligence, told the wrong person. Everyone in the business over there will be working flat out to find out who. Of course, there is the mention Kupu made about his uncle in Tirana.’
    ‘They’ll hunt him down like a dog,’ Holley said.
    ‘I wouldn’t like to think what they’re going to do to him to make him talk.’
    ‘But the source of the leak is the thing. It’s got to be at the highest level,’ Holley persisted. ‘And yet someone willing to deal with Al Qaeda.’
    ‘And someone interested in getting rid of Putin,’ Roper said. ‘A palace revolution.’
    ‘God help whoever it is, with Putin on their case. Now, to other matters, the Afghan business. There’s talk of training camps in Northern Pakistan, but traditionally most of the good ones are in Libya and Algeria. Both Dillon and I were trained in the same place, though at different times: Shabwa, deep in the Algerian desert. Check up on it for me.’
    ‘I’ll get right on it,’ Roper told him.
    ‘I’ll be there mid-morning.’
    ‘Looking forward to it.’
    Which only left Hamid Malik, who would undoubtedly be sitting in his villa with its magical views of the great harbour of Algiers, biting his nails about the outcome of the Kupu business. Better to get it over with.
    ‘Praise be to Allah to hear your voice,’ Malik told him. ‘I’ve been genuinely worried about this business, Daniel; it didn’t sit right with me.’
    ‘You were right about Kupu. A bastard of the first order. He even had connections with Al Qaeda.’
    ‘No, surely this cannot be?’ There was a wariness in his voice now, a touch of fear, but then that was a common reaction of many Arabs when a mention of Al Qaeda was made.
    ‘Don’t worry, Ali Kupu is now feeding what fish there are in the Seine, accompanied by his revolting muscle man, one Abu.’
    ‘Allah preserve me,’ Malik was truly shocked. ‘You did this?’
    ‘Who else? They were going to do worse to me.’
    ‘Tell me what happened. I need to know in case of repercussions.’
    ‘There won’t be any. Two members of the Albanian Mafia turn up in the Seine—it happens all the time. The Paris police will say “good riddance” and move on.’
    ‘But… Al Qaeda. What has that got to do with anything?’
    ‘A great deal, as it happens.’
    He told Malik everything and, when he was finished, the Algerian said, ‘You never do things by halves, Daniel. Where will it all end?’
    ‘This time with Lermov and his people rooting out those assassins. Did you know he’s GRU Station Head in London now? He told me Putin has forgiven him. Me, too!’
    ‘Fine words, but after this you’ll deserve a medal.’
    ‘I’ll settle for never having to eat at the Lubyanka again. Are you happy now?’
    Malik shrugged. ‘I should be, I suppose, but even the slightest hint of anything to do with Al Qaeda freezes the heart.’
    ‘Yes, the very name frightens the hell out of people,’ Holley agreed. ‘Do you think they might be recruiting for Afghanistan?’
    Malik said quickly, ‘I wouldn’t have thought so. The Taliban are perfectly capable of recruiting for themselves.’
    ‘I’m talking about something different. There are many British-born