Read Midnight Runner for Free Online Page A
Authors: Jack Higgins
to."
"Does that mean you don't think you'll find anything?" Ferguson asked.
Roper's scar tissue lifted in what passed for a smile. "I said she'd try. I didn't say she'd succeed."
LONDON OXFORD HAZAR
Chapter 5.
R OPER'S APARTMENT IN REGENCY SQUARE WAS ON THE ground floor, with its own entrance and a slope to the door to facilitate his wheelchair. The entire place, including the kitchen and bathroom, which had a specialized shower and toilet system, was designed not only for a handicapped person but for one who, as in this case, was determined to fend for himself. In what should have been a sitting room, there was instead a computer laboratory and workbench, and the equipment there was state-of-the-art, some of it classified, obtained not only because he was a Major on the Army reserve list but because Ferguson used his muscle whenever he had to.
Three days after Quinn's meeting with the President, the front doorbell sounded at ten in the morning. Roper pressed a remote control and a moment later, Ferguson, Dillon, and Hannah Bernstein came in.
"So, what have you got?" Ferguson asked Roper.
"Well, as you said, the Rashid Educational Trust pours money into an incredible variety of causes. The list's as long as your arm. Most of them appear legit, but not all of them. This Children's Trust in Beirut, for instance, is definitely Hezbollah. And she's got other trusts scattered around Syria, Iraq, Kuwait, the Oman. I'm still working on them, but I'd bet you anything some of them are terrorist fronts as well."
"What on earth's she playing at?" Ferguson said.
"She's consolidating her power," Dillon said. "Establishing links with all the major Arab leaders. Gaining influence through either peace or violence, depending on what suits her particular needs."
Roper nodded. "And don't forget the size of her oil interests in the Middle East. Rashid Investments controls a third of all production there. She could bring down the whole house of cards if she wanted to."
"Christ," Ferguson groaned. "A third of Mideast oil production."
Dillon turned back to Roper. "What about here at home? She hasn't made grants to the IRA or the Ulster Freedom Fighters or anything like that?"
"No, but there are a lot of fringe organizations, like the People's Army, the Socialist Marxist League, the Nationalist Liberation Group, the United Anarchists, and so on--and all the contributions presented as educational grants."
"And next time there's a riot in London, how many of the members will be there?" Hannah asked.
Roper shrugged. "She's very clever. Everything is done in the open and aboveboard. Many people would applaud what she's doing."
"On the surface, maybe," Ferguson said. "She's clever, all right. What about Act of Class Warfare?"
"Despite its name, it seems pretty innocuous. Its biggest feature is a kind of outdoor educational program for kids from twelve to eighteen. School parties, canoeing, trekking, mountain climbing."
"I wonder what the older students get?" Dillon asked.
"Its headquarters is in western Scotland, in a town called Moidart, at Loch Dhu Castle. Yes, it belongs to the Countess."
Ferguson was astonished. "But I've been there. We all have."
Even Roper was surprised. "What do you mean?"
It was Dillon who answered. "A few years ago, we had to deal with a very bad article named Carl Morgan who'd rented that castle for a few weeks. The General, Hannah, and I took him on from Ardmurchan Lodge on the other side of the loch."
Hannah turned to Ferguson. "But Lady Katherine owned it."
"Actually, it's a little more complicated than that," said Roper. "When Sir Paul Dauncey received the title of Earl of Loch Dhu from James the First, it was an old castle even then. It was rebuilt in mid-Victorian style by one of the later Earls, starting in 1850, but the family hardly ever used it--they preferred Dauncey Place. More recently, they leased it to the Campbell family for fifty years. On the death of Lady Katherine Rose five years
"Does that mean you don't think you'll find anything?" Ferguson asked.
Roper's scar tissue lifted in what passed for a smile. "I said she'd try. I didn't say she'd succeed."
LONDON OXFORD HAZAR
Chapter 5.
R OPER'S APARTMENT IN REGENCY SQUARE WAS ON THE ground floor, with its own entrance and a slope to the door to facilitate his wheelchair. The entire place, including the kitchen and bathroom, which had a specialized shower and toilet system, was designed not only for a handicapped person but for one who, as in this case, was determined to fend for himself. In what should have been a sitting room, there was instead a computer laboratory and workbench, and the equipment there was state-of-the-art, some of it classified, obtained not only because he was a Major on the Army reserve list but because Ferguson used his muscle whenever he had to.
Three days after Quinn's meeting with the President, the front doorbell sounded at ten in the morning. Roper pressed a remote control and a moment later, Ferguson, Dillon, and Hannah Bernstein came in.
"So, what have you got?" Ferguson asked Roper.
"Well, as you said, the Rashid Educational Trust pours money into an incredible variety of causes. The list's as long as your arm. Most of them appear legit, but not all of them. This Children's Trust in Beirut, for instance, is definitely Hezbollah. And she's got other trusts scattered around Syria, Iraq, Kuwait, the Oman. I'm still working on them, but I'd bet you anything some of them are terrorist fronts as well."
"What on earth's she playing at?" Ferguson said.
"She's consolidating her power," Dillon said. "Establishing links with all the major Arab leaders. Gaining influence through either peace or violence, depending on what suits her particular needs."
Roper nodded. "And don't forget the size of her oil interests in the Middle East. Rashid Investments controls a third of all production there. She could bring down the whole house of cards if she wanted to."
"Christ," Ferguson groaned. "A third of Mideast oil production."
Dillon turned back to Roper. "What about here at home? She hasn't made grants to the IRA or the Ulster Freedom Fighters or anything like that?"
"No, but there are a lot of fringe organizations, like the People's Army, the Socialist Marxist League, the Nationalist Liberation Group, the United Anarchists, and so on--and all the contributions presented as educational grants."
"And next time there's a riot in London, how many of the members will be there?" Hannah asked.
Roper shrugged. "She's very clever. Everything is done in the open and aboveboard. Many people would applaud what she's doing."
"On the surface, maybe," Ferguson said. "She's clever, all right. What about Act of Class Warfare?"
"Despite its name, it seems pretty innocuous. Its biggest feature is a kind of outdoor educational program for kids from twelve to eighteen. School parties, canoeing, trekking, mountain climbing."
"I wonder what the older students get?" Dillon asked.
"Its headquarters is in western Scotland, in a town called Moidart, at Loch Dhu Castle. Yes, it belongs to the Countess."
Ferguson was astonished. "But I've been there. We all have."
Even Roper was surprised. "What do you mean?"
It was Dillon who answered. "A few years ago, we had to deal with a very bad article named Carl Morgan who'd rented that castle for a few weeks. The General, Hannah, and I took him on from Ardmurchan Lodge on the other side of the loch."
Hannah turned to Ferguson. "But Lady Katherine owned it."
"Actually, it's a little more complicated than that," said Roper. "When Sir Paul Dauncey received the title of Earl of Loch Dhu from James the First, it was an old castle even then. It was rebuilt in mid-Victorian style by one of the later Earls, starting in 1850, but the family hardly ever used it--they preferred Dauncey Place. More recently, they leased it to the Campbell family for fifty years. On the death of Lady Katherine Rose five years
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