Passage by Night - Jack Higgins [52]
'I'll bet it wasn't. How did you get on to me so quickly?'
Viner's teeth gleamed in the darkness. 'I've had Morrison's room wired for sound from the moment he arrived. I sat in my office and listened to every word you said to him. If you're hoping for help from Nassau you can forget it. I'm afraid he never even got out of the hotel after leaving you.'
'And Orlov?'
'Quite simple. A phone call from the reception clerk to say that you wanted him to meet you at the boat as soon as possible.'
He was right. It had been simple. Too damned simple and Manning swallowed the black anger that erupted inside him and forced himself to consult the chart.
'You seem to have it all neatly worked out.'
'I think so. Is there anything I've overlooked?'
'What happens at the other end?'
Viner smiled. 'I'm afraid you'll have to wait for the answer to that one.' He opened the door and said to Charlie, 'Tell Paco I want him.'
The native waved to the man in the stern who came forward at once. 'What's the idea?' Manning said.
'It's a clear run to Jackson Cay now. Paco can take the wheel for a while. You can go back to your friends. I'll call you when I need you. Go with him, Charlie.'
Manning walked along the deck and went below. Seth and Anna were making coffee and Hans sat against the wall beside the entrance to the gallery, his finger crooked in the trigger guard of his submachine gun.
Manning ignored him and crouched beside Papa Melos. 'How's it going, Papa?'
The old man looked better than he had since San Juan. 'I'll make out, boy. Don't worry about me.'
Manning clapped Seth on the shoulder and moved across to Orlov and Morrison. 'Anyone got a cigarette?'
Morrison produced a pack and held it out. 'Rather battered, but still smokable.'
He was very pale and Manning noticed a livid bruise on the side of his neck. 'Looks like you got careless.'
The American nodded. 'For once.'
Manning turned to Orlov. 'What about you? Viner said anything?'
'The usual things. If I'm a good boy and do as I'm told, they'll make things easy for me.'
'A fair offer under the circumstances.'
'I know it is.' Orlov sighed heavily. 'The trouble is it's always been a policy of mine never to go back to anything.'
Seth brought the coffee in from the galley and Anna followed with a plate of sandwiches. As she leaned across to put them in the centre of the table, Hans ran his hand up her leg. She turned and struck him blindly and he grabbed her wrist and twisted it, forcing her to one knee.
Before Manning could move, Orlov was on his feet. 'Take your hand off her, you pig!'
He moved forward and Hans pushed the girl away and raised the submachine gun. 'Another step and I fill your belly.'
'Go ahead!' Orlov laughed harshly and extended his arms. 'Viner will like that. I'll be so useful when I'm dead.'
The German's forehead was beaded with sweat and his tongue flickered over dry lips. 'Sit down and shut up.'
'Better do as he says, mister,' Charlie called from the companionway. 'I could always lay the barrel of this thing across the side of your head.'
Orlov ignored him, extending his hand to Anna and sat her at the table. He smiled down. 'No repetition, I promise you.'
Manning was conscious of a sudden irrational jealousy as she smiled warmly at the Russian. And yet he had no right. No right at all. He went to the table for coffee and returned to his seat.
For a little while Orlov sat beside her and they talked in low voices and then he yawned, moved across to the other bench seat beside Seth and her father, and leaned back, eyes closed.
Manning folded his arms and let his head tilt forward. It was quiet in the cabin except for the rush of the water against the hull and he sat there feeling strangely fatalistic about everything. He was on a course already charted and there could be no going back. The ultimate end of things was something none of them could avoid.
Anna bowed her head on her arms. For quite some time he thought she was sleeping and then she turned her head sideways and opened her eyes. She stared at him