Sad Wind From the Sea - Jack Higgins [21]
They walked into total darkness. There was a click as Kossoff switched on a light and they all stood blinking for a moment or so. The girl was on a rough camp-bed in the far corner. She sat up slowly, a dazed expression on her face. They had dressed her in the short trousers and smock of a Chinese girl and as she raised a hand to push back her hair one of the wide sleeves slid back, exposing vivid bruises on her arm.
Hagen stood facing her for a moment and then she recognized him. An expression of joy came into her eyes and she rushed across the room and flung herself into his arms. 'How very touching,' Kossoff said. 'I hate to interrupt so charming a reunion but, as they say, business before pleasure.'
Hagen gently disengaged himself from her arms and stepped back until he was standing behind her facing Kossoff. The Russian sat down and lit a cigarette which he placed in a long, amber holder. He blew a thin stream of smoke to the crumbling ceiling and said: 'Miss Graham, you don't seem surprised to find Captain Hagen here. Doesn't it seem a trifle peculiar?' She started to speak and he raised a hand. 'No, please don't interrupt me. Time is short and I will not bore you with the full details of how our mutual friend happens to be here. It is sufficient for you to know that if you persist in your refusal to give me the information I desire Captain Hagen will be the one to suffer.' He pointed at Cortez who was leaning against the door cleaning his nails with a spring-knife. 'Imagine what this gentleman would be able to do to the handsome captain with his little knife. Especially if we tied him to the bed.'
Rose raised a hand to her mouth and gave a terrified whimper. 'No, you wouldn't. You can't -'
Hagen decided it was time for action. He swung her round and slapped her back-handed across the face. 'Tell him what he wants to know, damn you!' he screamed as if panic-stricken.
He heard Kossoff's high, cackling laugh and then a hand pulled him away from the girl and sent him reeling across the room. He allowed himself to fall across the bed as if off balance. Cortez moved towards him, the knife at the ready, an evil smile on his face. Hagen pulled off his hat and wrenched the gun free. He levelled it on a point just below Cortez's breast-pocket and squeezed the trigger twice. He was dead before he hit the floor.
As Hagen scrambled to his feet the Chinese dipped a hand into his pocket and pulled out an automatic. He was still trying to aim as Hagen shot him twice in the stomach. Kossoff already had the door open and the last two rounds chased him through, with no visible effect except to accelerate his progress. Hagen flung himself against the door, banged it shut, and rammed the bolt into position.
He picked up the automatic belonging to the second man who was coughing and writhing in agony on the floor. Hagen disregarded him and moved over to the window. It refused to budge when he tried to lift the sash and a quick examination showed that it had been screwed into place. He turned and gripped Rose by the shoulders. 'Are you all right? Did Kossoff harm you?'
She shook her head. 'He never laid a finger on me and the others couldn't get at me. They wanted to but they're all afraid of him. I think he was going to question me properly tonight.' She looked pale but managed to smile.
Hagen pushed her to one side and picking up a chair smashed it into the window. He battered away until the chair splintered into pieces but he had achieved his object and the entire window had dissolved into a snowstorm of flying glass. He leaned over the sill and looked down. Two storeys below was the wharfside. Only wings would help them there. He looked upwards and, as the sound of battering commenced on the door, he knew that