A Devil is Waiting

A Devil is Waiting
Jack Higgins

THE NEW HIGGINS HAS LANDED! The mesmerizing new Sean Dillon thriller of murder, terrorism and revenge from the Sunday Times bestselling author.Fresh from his mission in THE JUDAS GATE to seek out and eliminate one of al Qaeda’s most valued agents, a traitor responsible for countless soldiers’ deaths in Afghanistan, Sean Dillon is back in a blistering new adventure.The American President, on a planned visit to Europe, is entertained by the British Prime Minister on the terrace of the House of Commons. On the same day, London born Mullah Ali Salim makes an impassioned speech at Hyde Park Corner accusing the President of war crimes, objecting to his presence and offering a blessing to anyone who will assassinate him.Dillon, Major Ferguson and Daniel Holley are called into action, helped by a new recruit, Intelligence Corp Captain Sara Gideon, a war hero in the Afghan conflict, whose speciality is Pashta and Iranian. They quickly find themselves trying to handle a massive upsurge in terrorism from enemies near and far, all with links to al Qaeda.As a Sephardic Jew from a wealthy and ancient English family, Sara will find herself at the heart of the firestorm when she is swept into the heart of the terror organisation. Though their leader may be gone the threat remains as terrible as ever, and though Dillon and company may have won the first battle with al Qaeda, they will learn the war is far from over. A devil is indeed waiting and the assassination plan is only the beginning…

For Tessa-Gaye Coleman

Night & Day,

You Are the One

Where there is a sin

A devil is waiting

–IRISH PROVERB

Table of Contents

Title Page (#u5c6791ed-3800-57c0-9db8-0d88402bf7ca)

Dedication (#u0b288e4a-8fd0-5803-a38e-54c97200759d)

Epigraph (#u13b07126-b0b3-5e6a-9d69-566ea3e15726)

Brooklyn: London (#u2d6515ea-d7c1-5a97-80cd-2df0da6ae614)

Chapter 1 (#ufc81fffd-2caa-5e2a-83dd-8e25335158e5)

Washington: Afghanistan (#u8e07560d-9e3b-5e23-bb4a-4619db76a330)

Chapter 2 (#u31d0d9c0-1e5e-5a29-9a60-9e7c3971415b)

New York (#uc853226f-e8a4-513a-9c32-860a123ee93d)

Chapter 3 (#u1a3ce511-9d27-523a-b81e-d0c8c557e353)

London (#uf545f52f-768d-5898-93dc-8f5be6664487)

Chapter 4 (#ud5892986-8e23-5f66-95e3-5d831d93056c)

Chapter 5 (#u1a282d75-ccb0-5888-bbde-4b4f7d1edbf6)

Chapter 6 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 7 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 8 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 9 (#litres_trial_promo)

Pakistan: Peshawar, Afghanistan (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 10 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 11 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 12 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 13 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 14 (#litres_trial_promo)

Epilogue (#litres_trial_promo)

Also by Jack Higgins (#litres_trial_promo)

Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)

About the Publisher (#litres_trial_promo)

BROOKLYN

1

It was late afternoon on Garrison Street, Brooklyn, as Daniel Holley sat at the wheel of an old Ford delivery truck, waiting for Dillon. There were parked vehicles, but little evidence of people.

Rain drove in across the East River, clouding his view of the coastal ships tied up to the pier that stretched ahead. A policeman emerged from an alley a few yards away, his uniform coat running with water, cap pulled down over his eyes. He banged on the truck with his nightstick.

Holley wound down the window. ‘Can I help you, Officer?’

‘I should imagine you could, you daft bastard,’ Sean Dillon told him. ‘Me being wet to the skin already.’

He scrambled in and Holley said, ‘Why the fancy dress? Are we going to a party?’

‘Of a sort. You see that decaying warehouse down there with the sign saying “Murphy & Son – Import-Export”?’

‘How could I miss it? What about it?’ Holley took out an old silver case, extracted two cigarettes, lit them with a Zippo, and passed one over. ‘Get your lips round that, you’re shaking like a leaf. What’s the gig?’

Dillon took a quick drag. ‘God help me, but that’s good. Ferguson called me from Washington and told me to check the place out, but not to do anything till I got a call from him.’ He glanced at his watch. ‘Which I’m expecting just about now.’

‘How kind of him to think of us. Brooklyn in weather like this is such a joy,’ Holley told him, and at that moment, Dillon’s Codex sounded.

He switched to speaker and General Charles Ferguson’s voice boomed out. ‘You’ve looked the place over, Dillon?’

‘As much as I could. Two cars outside it, that’s all. No sign of life.’

‘Well, life there undoubtedly is. I made an appointment by telephone for you, Daniel, with Patrick Murphy. Your name is Daniel Grimshaw, and you’re representing a Kosovo Muslim religious group seeking arms for defence purposes.’

‘And who exactly is Murphy and what’s it all about?’ Holley asked.