The Savage Day - Jack Higgins [30]
'They did.'
I pulled her to her feet and Binnie said, 'By God, but you're the close one, Major, and I didn't hear a damn thing.'
'You wouldn't.'
'I'd have had them if the Thompson hadn't jammed.'
He kicked it towards me and I picked it up and tossed it over the rail. 'A bad habit they had, the early ones. Now let's get rid of the evidence.' I turned to Norah Murphy. 'Pump some water up and get the deck swabbed down. Make sure you clean off any bloodstains.'
'My God,' she said, a kind of horror on her face. 'You must be the great original cold-blooded bastard of all time.'
'That's me,' I said. 'And don't forget the broken glass in the wheelhouse. You'll find a broom in the galley.'
Whatever she felt, she turned to after that and Binnie and I dealt with the two guards, stripping their bodies of any obvious identification before putting them over the rail. Then I went back to the wheelhouse and examined the chart quickly.
Norah was sweeping the last of the glass out and paused. 'Now what?'
'We need a place to hole up in for a few hours,' I told her. 'Time to breathe again and work out the next move before we put in to Stramore.' I found what I was looking for a moment later. 'This looks like it. Small island called Magil ten miles out. Uninhabited and a nice secluded spot to anchor in. Horseshoe Bay.'
Binnie was still at the rail at the spot where we had thrown the two bodies over. From where I stood it looked as if he was praying, which didn't seem all that probable - or did it?
I leaned out of the window and called, 'We're getting out of here.'
He turned and nodded. I switched off the deck lights, took the Kathleen round in a tight circle and headed out to sea again.
Magil was everything I could have hoped for and Horseshoe Bay proved an excellent anchorage, being almost landlocked. It was still dark when we arrived, but dawn wasn't very far away and there was a kind of pale luminosity to everything in spite of the heavy rain when I went out on deck.
When I went below, Binnie and Norah Murphy were sitting on either side of the saloon table, heads together.
'Secrets?' I said cheerfully. 'From me? Now I call that very naughty.'
I got the Jameson and a glass out. Norah said harshly, 'Don't you ever drink anything else? I've heard of starting early, but this is ridiculous. At least let me get you something to eat.'
'Later,' I said. 'After I've had a good four hours' sleep you can wake me with another of those bacon sandwiches of yours.'
I moved towards the aft cabin and she said angrily, 'For God's sake, Vaughan, cut out the funny stuff. We've got to decide what to do.'
'What about?' I said, and poured myself a large Jameson which for some reason, probably the time of day as she had so kindly pointed out, tasted foul.
'The guns,' she said. 'What else? You are the most infuriating man I've ever met.'
'All right,' I said. 'If you want to talk, let's talk, although I would have thought it simple enough. You'll want to get in touch with your Small Man to see about another consignment and I can assure you the price has gone up after last night's little fracas. The Royal Navy and ten years inside is one thing, but your friend Barry and his bloody Sons of Erin are quite another.'
She glanced at me, white-faced. 'How much?'
'A subject for discussion.' I poured myself another drink. 'On the other hand, maybe you don't have the funds.'
'We have the funds,' she said.
I tossed back the whiskey, most of which, like the previous one, had actually gone down the leg of my left gumboot, and tried to sound slightly tight when I laughed.
'I just bet you have.' I poured another drink, spilling a little. 'Maybe we'll ask for gold this time. Something solid to hang on to in this changing world of ours.'
Binnie's hand went inside his coat where the Browning once more safely nestled and Norah Murphy said fiercely, 'What in the hell are you getting at?'
'Oh, come off it, angel,' I said. 'I know the Small Man was behind that bullion raid on the Glasgow