Mambo (65 page)

Let it go, Frank. You can't change it now. He closed his eyes; he had a sense of gears grinding without purpose in his brain.

His telephone rang. The sound, so unexpected, shocked him. He picked up the receiver.

‘Frank?' It was Robbie Foxworth calling from London.

‘Foxie,' Pagan said, astonished. ‘How did you hunt me down, for Christ's sake?'

‘It wasn't easy,' Foxie said. His next words were partly lost amidst whistling sounds, interference. ‘You leave a pretty tangled trail. I've probably talked to every hotel between Cork and Connemara tonight.'

‘Now that you've found me, what do you want?'

‘There's a problem. Something in your line of work.'

‘I thought I was supposed to be on quote unquote an extended leave of absence.'

‘Hearts have obviously been changed, Frank. Your expertise is needed. They want you back here on the next plane.'

‘Do they now?'

‘That comes straight from the top. From Mr Nimmo.'

‘The bastard could have called me himself,' Pagan said.

‘Mr Nimmo doesn't make conciliatory calls, Frank. Don't shoot me. I'm only the messenger.'

‘So they want me back.'

‘Call me when you know your ETA. I'll meet you.'

‘What if I told you to tell Nimmo to fuck off?'

‘Somehow I think not. I know you better than that.'

Pagan smiled. It was strange how exuberance could come out of nowhere, how quickly your blood could be made to surge. It only took a disembodied voice at the end of a telephone.

‘Have you been listening to the news?' Foxie asked.

‘I've made a point of avoiding it.'

‘I'll bring you up to date when I see you. But you'll read about it in the papers before then. It's a biggie, Frank.'

‘How big?'

‘Disastrously so.'

‘I'll be in touch.' Pagan put the phone down.

They want me back
, he thought. They find my presence necessary. Well well. Hearts had indeed been changed. He was going home after all.

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I would like to thank for their help: Lieutenant Nelson Oramas of the Miami Police; Sergeant Bob Hoelscher of the Metro Dade Police; Richard Brams; Ed Breslin and Nick Sayers for their considerable editorial counsel; Dr Dov Levine; Major R. B. Claybourn (USMCR); Richard and Arthur Pine; and Eddie Bell for his faith at the right moment.

About the Author

Campbell Armstrong (1944–2013) was an international bestselling author best known for his thriller series featuring British counterterrorism agent Frank Pagan, and his quartet of Glasgow Novels, featuring detective Lou Perlman. Two of these,
White Rage
and
Butcher
, were nominated for France's Prix du Polar. Armstrong's novels
Assassins & Victims
and
The Punctual Rape
won Scottish Arts Council Book of the Year Awards.

Born in Glasgow and educated at the University of Sussex, Armstrong worked as a book editor in London and taught creative writing at universities in the United States.

All rights reserved, including without limitation the right to reproduce this ebook or any portion thereof in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 1990 by Campbell Armstrong

Cover design by Angela Goddard

ISBN: 978-1-5040-0708-5

This edition published in 2015 by Open Road Integrated Media, Inc.

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New York, NY 10014

www.openroadmedia.com

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