Hell Is Too Crowded - Jack Higgins [33]
Some sixth sense must have warned her and she looked up sharply, looking oddly prim in hornrimmed spectacles.
"Surprise, surprise!" he said softly.
She laid down her pen and said calmly, "What have you done with Karl?"
"He felt tired," Brady said. "So I left him to have a nice, long sleep."
She reached casually towards a drawer and he raised the .38 threateningly. "You do, and I'll put one right through your hand."
When she spoke, her voice was still calm, but a couple of deep lines had appeared between her eyes. "What do you want?"
"The girl will do for a start."
She lit a cigarette calmly and shook her head. "You're too late, lover. She's on board the S.S. Kontoro in the Pool of London and they go down-river in an hour."
"What game are you playing?" he said.
She shrugged. "No game. I told you I had to get rid of her, Brady. She knew too much."
"And this way you could make something on the transaction?"
"That's right, and there's nothing you can do about it--not a thing."
"Isn't there?" His voice was ice-cold and infinitely menacing. He reached forward and held the .38 six inches from her stomach. "If that boat goes before we can get her off, I'll put a bullet in your guts, I promise you. You're a big woman and you'll take a long time to go."
For the first time her composure broke. "You wouldn't dare."
"I've got nothing to lose," he said.
She got to her feet slowly. "I don't think I can get her back. I've already been paid my end by Captain Skiros and he expects to make something on the deal when he reaches Port Said."
"How much did you get?"
"Five hundred."
"You'd better get it and fast," he told her. "Time's running out."
She lifted a painting down from the wall and opened a small wall safe. After a moment she returned to the desk with a wad of five-pound notes held together by a rubber band.
He took the money from her and stuffed it into his pocket. "Now we go for a little drive. I've got a car outside. You can take the wheel."
"What happens when we reach the ship?"
He shrugged. "We'll play it as it comes."
"Skiros is a pretty hard apple, lover," she said. "He doesn't take kindly to people who try to lean on him."
"All you need to worry about is getting us on board," he said. "I'll handle the rest."
The house was quiet as they went downstairs. She got a coat from the cloakroom and Brady helped himself to a raincoat. They left by the side entrance.
The rain was falling heavily and slanting through the lamplight as they went down the drive and turned into the street. The car was still there. Brady unlocked the door quickly and she squeezed her massive bulk behind the wheel.
As he got in beside her, she said calmly, "What happens if the law stops us?"
"You'd better pray it doesn't," he said. "If they get me, they get you. That's a firm promise."
She shrugged, and moved into gear without replying. The roads were jammed with traffic and conditions were bad due to the early darkness and heavy rain, but she handled the wheel expertly and they made good time.
As they approached the docks, the streets became quieter until they were moving through dark canyons flanked by great warehouses, shuttered and barred for the night.
She braked to a halt underneath a lamp in a narrow alley beside a gate. Through the iron bars, he could see out into the river and somewhere, an anchor-chain rattled and a ship's hooter sounded faintly down-river.
"We'll have to walk from here," she said.
He got out and moved round to join her. The main gates were locked, but a small Judas gate at one side opened to her touch and they passed through.
The watchman's hut was dark and empty. "Where is he?" Brady demanded.
She shrugged. "Where he always is, I suppose. In the pub at the end of the street. He won't bother us."
As they rounded the corner of the first cargo shed, rain drifted in a cloud across the river, driven by the wind. Brady lowered his head to avoid the worst of it and followed her across the black shining cobbles to the ship which was moored at the far end of the wharf.
The Kontoro was brilliantly lit and