Cry of the Hunter - Jack Higgins [39]
He staggered suddenly and lurched into a lamp post and clung to it desperately. What nonsense was he thinking of now? What was happening to him? He looked up at the lamp above him and suddenly it seemed to dim. He closed his eyes and re-opened them and it brightened again. He started to walk faster. It wouldn’t do to collapse in the street. That would be stupid.
It was with a sense of surprise that he found himself crossing the square. The lamps seemed to be dancing away from him now and when he stood in front of the door in the wall it lifted gently then settled into place again. He wrenched it open and lurched along the garden path like a drunken man.
The bell echoed away into the night and he kept on ringing it and then he started to laugh. He knew it was silly but he couldn’t stop it, and he leaned against the door, laughing hysterically, so that when it opened he fell inside.
And then he was safe. Her arms were around him and he was safe and warm, and somewhere near at hand he could hear Murphy’s voice, high-pitched and excited. But it was Anne Murray’s face he saw. Soft and warm and full of love for him. He tried to smile to her and then her face began to recede into the darkness, further and further away, until she had disappeared and he was alone again.
CHAPTER SEVEN
HE drifted up from a deep pit of darkness into the light. For a little while his vision was blurred and the walls of the room seemed to move in and out. He closed his eyes and then opened them again. There was a quick movement near at hand and Johnny Murphy leaned over him. ‘Thank God!’ he said fervently and rushed from the room.
Fallon lay staring up at the ceiling. He felt calm and rested, but drained of all strength. After a while he became aware of the dull ache in his side. He moved slightly to ease the strain and closed his eyes again. The door opened with a soft click and there was the rustle of a dress. When he opened his eyes Anne Murray was leaning over him. He smiled weakly. ‘The bad penny again,’ he said.
She smiled warmly and sat down on the edge of the bed and took his hand. ‘I was never so glad to see anyone in my life,’ she said. ‘How do you feel?’
He grinned. ‘Alive – but only just. How long have I been here?’
‘About twelve hours,’ she said. ‘You passed out when you arrived.’
At that moment the door opened and Murphy came in, carefully balancing a tray. He grinned amiably as the girl put an extra pillow behind Fallon’s back, and said, ‘Aren’t you the great one, Mr. Fallon? The whole country’s going crazy.’
Fallon frowned and looked at the girl enquiringly. ‘It’s true,’ she told him. ‘You’ve really caused a storm this time.’
‘Poor Phil,’ Fallon sighed. ‘He won’t come very well out of this at all.’
Anne Murray nodded. ‘Some reporter’s already dug up the fact that you were at University together.’ She picked up a spoon and said briskly, ‘Come on now. Cut out the talking and open your mouth. You need some of this beef stew inside you.’ He opened his mouth obediently and she began to spoon stew into his mouth as though he were a child.
Murphy said enthusiastically, ‘That was a hell of a thing you did yesterday morning, Mr. Fallon. Saving Inspector Stuart like that.’ He frowned suddenly, the smile dying on his face. ‘That Rogan’s a bad one. The sooner they get him the better, I say.’
Fallon swallowed a mouthful of food and held up his hand. ‘Do you mean to tell me he’s still at large?’ he asked incredulously.
Murphy nodded. ‘He’s pretty smart, I can’t deny that’
Fallon lay back against the pillows, frowning. ‘I can’t understand how he managed to get out of town.’
‘Perhaps he’s got another hideout in Castlemore,’ Anne Murray said. ‘Perhaps he’s still here like you are.’
Fallon shook his head. ‘No, I don’t think so. He hates me. If he’d had anywhere else to go to he’d have gone yesterday morning after planting the bomb in Stuart’s car. He came back here for one reason only – he had nowhere else to