Night Over Water - Ken Follett [145]
A fast launch would be waiting in the area and would approach the Clipper. The captain would think they had come to help. He might invite them aboard, but failing that Eddie would open the door to them. Then the gangsters would overpower the F.B.I, man, Ollis Field, and rescue Frankie Gordino.
They would have to be quick. The radio operator would have sent out a Mayday before the plane touched water, and the Clipper was big enough to be seen from some distance, so other vessels would approach before too long. There was even a chance the Coast Guard might be quick enough to interfere with the rescue. That could ruin it for Luther’s gang, Eddie thought; and for a moment he felt hopeful—then he remembered that he wanted Luther to succeed, not fail.
He just could not get into the habit of hoping that the criminals would get what they wanted. He racked his brains constantly for some way of foiling Luther’s plan, but everything he came up with had the same snag: Carol-Ann. If Luther did not get Gordino, Eddie would not get Carol-Ann.
He had tried to think of some way to ensure that Gordino would get caught twenty-four hours later, when Carol-Ann was safe; but it was impossible. Gordino would be far away by then. The only alternative was to persuade Luther to surrender Carol-Ann earlier, and he had more sense than to agree to that. The trouble was, Eddie had nothing with which to threaten Luther. Luther had Carol-Ann, and Eddie had ...
Well, he thought suddenly, I’ve got Gordino.
Wait a minute.
They’ve got Carol-Ann, and I can’t get her back without cooperating with them. But Gordino is on this plane, and they can’t get him back unless they cooperate with me. Maybe they don’t hold all the cards.
He wondered whether there was a way for him to take charge, seize the initiative.
He stared blindly at the opposite wall, holding on tight, lost in thought.
There was a way.
Why should they get Gordino first? An exchange of hostages should be simultaneous.
He fought down surging hope and forced himself to think coolly.
How would the exchange work? They would have to bring Carol-Ann to the Clipper on the launch that would take Gordino away.
Why not? Why the hell not?
He wondered frantically whether it could be arranged in time. He had calculated that she was being held no more than sixty or seventy miles from their home, which in turn was about seventy miles from the location of the emergency splashdown. At worst, then, she was four hours’ drive away. Was that too far?
Suppose Tom Luther agreed. His first chance to call his men would come at the next stop, Botwood, where the Clipper was due at nine a.m. British time. After that the plane went on to Shediac. The unscheduled splashdown would take place an hour out of Shediac, at about four p.m. British time, seven hours later. The gang could get Carol-Ann there with a couple of hours to spare.
Eddie could hardly contain his excitement as he contemplated the prospect of getting Carol-Ann back earlier. It also occurred to him that it might give him a chance, albeit slender, of doing something to spoil Luther’s rescue. And that might redeem him, in the eyes of the rest of the crew. They might forgive his treachery to them if they saw him catch a bunch of murdering gangsters.
Once again he told himself not to raise his hopes. All this was only an idea. Luther probably would not buy the deal. Eddie could threaten not to bring the plane down unless they met his terms; but they might see that as an empty threat. They would reckon that Eddie would do anything to save his wife, and they would be right. They were only trying to save a buddy. Eddie was more desperate, and that made him weaker, he thought; and he plunged once more into despair.
But still he would be presenting Luther with a problem, creating a doubt and a worry in the man’s mind. Luther might not believe Eddie’s threat, but how could he be sure? It would take