Night Over Water - Ken Follett [54]
He hesitated, then shrugged. “Why not?”
She wanted to faint with relief. “Oh, thank God,” she said. “I’m so grateful.”
“Don’t mention it.” He stuck out a big hand. “Mervyn Lovesey. How do you do?”
She shook hands. “Nancy Lenehan,” she replied. “Am I pleased to meet you.”
Eddie eventually realized he needed to talk to someone.
It would have to be someone he could trust absolutely; someone who would keep the whole thing secret.
The only person he discussed this kind of thing with was Carol-Ann, She was his confidante. He would not even have discussed it with Pop when Pop was alive: he never liked to show weakness to his father. Was there anyone he could trust?
He considered Captain Baker. Marvin Baker was just the kind of pilot that passengers liked: good-looking, square-jawed, confident and assertive. Eddie respected him and liked him, too. But Baker’s loyalty was to the plane and the safety of the passengers, and he was a stickler for the rules. He would insist on going straight to the police with this story. He was no use.
Anyone else?
Yes. There was Steve Appleby.
Steve was a Lumberjack’s son from Oregon, a tall boy with muscles as hard as wood, a Catholic from a dirt-poor family. They had been midshipmen together at Annapolis. They had become friends on their first day, in the vast white mess hall. While the other plebes were bitching about the chow, Eddie cleaned his plate. Looking up, he saw that there was one other cadet poor enough to think this was great food: Steve. Their eyes had met and they understood one another perfectly.
They had been pals through the academy; then later they were both stationed at Pearl Harbor. When Steve married Nella, Eddie was best man; and last year Steve did the same service for Eddie. Steve was still in the navy, stationed at the shipyard in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. They saw each other infrequently now, but it did not matter, for theirs was a friendship that would survive long periods with no contact. They would not write letters unless they had something specific to say. When they both happened to be in New York, they would have dinner or go to a ball game and would be as close as if they had parted company only the day before. Eddie would have trusted Steve with his soul.
Steve was also a great fixer. A weekend pass, a bottle of hooch, a pair of tickets for the big game—he could get them when no one else could.
Eddie decided to try to get in touch with him.
He felt a little better having made some kind of decision. He hurried back into the hotel.
He went into the little office and gave the number of the naval base to the hotel’s proprietress; then he went to his room. She would come and fetch him when the call came through.
He took off his overalls. He did not want to be in the tub when she came, so he scrubbed his hands and washed his face in the bedroom, then put on a clean white shirt and his uniform pants. The routine activity calmed him a little, but he was feverishly impatient. He did not know what Steve would say but it would be a tremendous relief to share the problem.
He was tying his tie when the proprietress knocked at the door. He hurried down the stairs and picked up the phone. He was connected with the switchboard operator at the base.
He said: “Would you put me through to Steve Appleby, please?”
“Lieutenant Appleby cannot be reached by telephone at this time,” she said. Eddie’s heart sank. She added: “May I give him a message?”
Eddie was bitterly disappointed. He knew Steve would not have been able to wave a wand and rescue Carol-Ann, but at least they could have talked, and maybe some ideas would have come out of the discussion.
He said: “Miss, this is an emergency. Where the hell is he?”
“May I ask who is calling, sir?”
“This is Eddie Deakin.”
She dropped her formal tone immediately. “Oh, hi, Eddie! You were his best man, weren’t you? I’m Laura Gross. We met.” She lowered her voice conspiratorially. “Unofficially, Steve spent last night off the base.”
Eddie groaned inwardly. Steve was doing something he shouldn’t—at just the wrong time.