Night Over Water - Ken Follett [204]
“I’m coming, too,” said Nancy.
Because the seaplane was roped to the launch, the two vessels rose and fell together on the waves, and the gangway shifted relatively little. Mervyn disembarked first and held out a hand to Nancy.
When they were both on deck, Mervyn said to the man on the launch: “What happened?”
“They had fuel trouble and had to splash down,” he replied.
“I couldn’t get them on the radio.”
The man shrugged. “You’d better go aboard.”
Getting from the launch to the Clipper involved a little jump, from the deck of the launch onto the platform made by the open bow door. Once again Mervyn went first. Nancy took off her shoes and stuffed them inside her coat, then followed suit. She was a little nervous, but in fact it was easy.
In the bow compartment was a young man she did not recognize.
Mervyn said: “What happened here?”
“Emergency landing,” the young man said. “We were fishing, saw the whole thing.”
“What’s wrong with the radio?”
“Dunno.”
The youngster was not very bright, Nancy decided. Mervyn must have had the same thought, for he said impatiently: “I’d better speak to the captain.”
“Go this way—they’re all in the dining room.”
The boy was not very sensibly dressed for fishing, in his two-tone shoes and yellow tie, Nancy thought with amusement. She followed Mervyn up the ladder to the flight deck, which was deserted. That explained why Mervyn had been unable to raise the Clipper on the radio. But why were they all in the dining room? It was odd that the entire crew should leave the flight deck.
She began to feel uneasy as she went down the stairs to the passenger deck. Mervyn led the way into number 2 compartment and stopped suddenly.
Looking past him, Nancy saw Mr. Membury lying on the floor in a pool of blood. She put her hand to her mouth to stifle a cry of horror.
Mervyn said: “Dear God, what’s been happening here?”
Behind them, the young man in the yellow tie said: “Keep moving.” His voice had become harsh.
Nancy turned to him and saw that he had a gun in his hand. “Did you do this?” she said angrily.
“Shut your fuckin’ mouth and keep moving!”
They stepped into the dining room.
Three more men with guns were standing in the room. There was a big man in a striped suit who looked as if he might be in charge. A little man with a mean face was standing behind Mervyn’s wife, casually fondling her breasts: when Mervyn saw this he let out a curse. The third gunman was a passenger, Mr. Luther: he was pointing his gun at another passenger, Professor Hartmann. The captain and the engineer were also there, looking helpless. Several passengers were seated at tables, but most of the dishes and glassware had fallen to the floor and smashed. Nancy caught a glimpse of Margaret Oxenford, pale and frightened; and in a sudden flash she recalled the conversation in which she had glibly told Margaret that regular people did not need to worry about gangsters because they only operated in the slums. How stupid of her.
Mr. Luther was speaking. “The gods are on my side, Lovesey. You have arrived in a seaplane just when we need one. You can fly me and Mr. Vincini and our associates over the navy cutter that the treacherous Eddie Deakin has summoned to trap us.”
Mervyn looked hard at him and said nothing.
The man in the striped suit spoke up. “Let’s get moving, before the navy starts to feel impatient and comes along to investigate. Kid, you take Lovesey. His girlfriend can stay here.”
“Okay, Vinnie.”
Nancy was not sure what was going on, but she knew she did not want to be left behind: if Mervyn was in trouble she would rather be by his side. But no one was asking what she preferred.
The man called Vincini continued giving instructions. “Luther, you take the Kraut.”
Nancy wondered why they were taking Carl Hartmann. She had assumed this was all something to do with Frankie Gordino, but he was nowhere in sight.
Vincini said: “Joe, bring the blonde.”
.The little man pointed his gun at Diana Lovesey’s bosom. “Let’s go,” he said. She