Cry of the Hunter - Jack Higgins [59]
Fallon grabbed for the wrist and deflected the weapon so that the bullet went into the floor. For a moment they swayed together and then he managed to get purchase and twisted and threw the small man over his hip. Rogan crashed heavily to the floor and Fallon kicked the revolver from his hand. As he moved forward Rogan grabbed at his legs and pulled and Fallon fell against the table. The small man scrambled to his feet and moved in. His right fist thudded home under Fallon’s ribs and a terrible pain flared through his wound causing him to half scream. In his agony he lashed out blindly and his fist caught Rogan in the mouth. He went flying across the room and crashed into the door and Fallon lurched after him and hit him again. Rogan began to slide down the wall, a glazed look in his eyes, and Fallon held him by the coat and began to hit him in the face, the blows thudding home mercilessly.
He could hear confused babbling of sound behind him and Anne Murray was screaming and then hands wrenched him away and he was staring down the twin barrels of a shotgun that was firmly grasped in Hannah Costello’s hands. She thumbed back the hammers and said grimly, ‘If you make another move I’ll blast you, Martin.’
Fallon turned and leaned on the table gasping for breath and Hannah wrenched open the door and said to Rogan. ‘Go on, get out of it while you’re still in one piece.’
Rogan staggered to the doorway. For a moment he leaned there and then he said in tones of the utmost malevolence. ‘I’m going to kill you, Fallon. I swear it. Somehow, somewhere I’ll catch up with you.’ He lurched into the night and Hannah closed the door. A moment later the van bumped across the yard and out into the road and the sound of its engine faded away into the night.
Hannah walked over to a cupboard and put the shotgun away. She said calmly, ‘I wasn’t going to have you kill him, Martin. He isn’t worth it.’
For a moment Fallon stayed leaning heavily on the table and then he stood up and moved across to the far door. ‘I think I’ll go to bed,’ he said in a steady voice. He staggered against the door, clutching for support, and Murphy moved quickly to aid him. Fallon pushed him away and turned to face them. ‘We’ll have to leave first thing in the morning,’ he said. ‘We can’t stay now. There’s no telling what Rogan might do.’ He looked across at Anne Murray who was standing by the table looking somehow forlorn and alone. ‘And you’ll catch that train in Stramore tomorrow,’ he said.
For a moment it seemed as if she was going to speak and then she suddenly sat down at the table and burst into tears. For a little while Fallon stood looking at her, a great pity in his heart, and then he opened the door and quietly left the room.
CHAPTER TEN
FALLON shared a bed with Murphy but his wound pained him and what little sleep he did manage to get, was disturbed and full of bad dreams. He lay in that empty world between sleeping and waking and stared at the ceiling. It had stopped raining and a white band of moonlight sprawled across the bed. He lit a cigarette and glanced at his watch. It was almost two o’clock. He lay back against the pillow, his whole body wet with perspiration, and on a sudden impulse, lifted the blankets aside and slipped out of bed.
He quickly dried his body on a towel and dressed. Murphy was sleeping peacefully, his breathing steady and regular. Fallon crept stealthily across to the door and opened it gently. The corridor was dark and quiet with an irregular patch of light on the floor at the far end where the moon showed through the window. He moved quietly along to the stairs and then froze as he heard a door click open in the kitchen.
For a moment Fallon didn’t move, his ears strained for the slightest sound, and then he went cautiously downstairs and paused outside the kitchen door listening. There was no sound. He turned the knob carefully and flung the door open and stepped quickly into the room. There was no one there.
For a moment he stood there, a puzzled frown on his face, and then he heard the click