by Dan Latus
One problem I had to face was his gun. Another was time. There was very little of it for discussion, still less for negotiation. It was now or never. Time was nearly up.
I rapped on the door with my own gun to warn him and began to spin the levers that would open it. When the door was free, I stood to one side and opened it a couple of inches. Then I called to him unseen and made my pitch.
‘Blue, stay where you are for the moment, but we need to talk. And you’ve got a decision to take.’
‘Is that right?’
He sounded calm, in control of himself. I was relieved. Perhaps we could talk sensibly.
‘The ship is sinking.’
‘Crap!’
‘We’ve pulled the plug. We’re scuttling it, and a helicopter will take us all off in the next few minutes. If you want to come with us, you’re going to have to accept my terms for letting you out of there.’
‘Or what?’
‘Or I shut the door again and you can stay where you are. It’s up to you.’
Tense, I waited for … what? Bullets? A charge at the door?
‘OK,’ he said. ‘Go on. What are you offering?’
I breathed more easily. He was listening. He was being reasonable.
‘If you come with us, you’ll be under armed guard and you’ll be handed over to the police when we get back to Middlesbrough. Then it will be up to them. OK?’
He hesitated, weighing it up. Then he said, ‘How would we do it?’
‘First, I want you to slide your gun across the floor, so I can see it. Then I want you to sit on the floor well away from the gun. When I’m satisfied you’ve done that, I’ll open the door wider and bring you out. OK?’
I waited until a gun appeared on the floor, without a hand holding it. Then I paused a moment to rub my brow with the back of my hand. The next bit was going to be tricky.
‘You’re sitting down?’
‘Yeah.’
I edged the door open a little more and risked a quick glance round the edge. He was sitting down on the floor on the far side of the cabin. I blew out with relief and opened the door wider, ready to take the next step.
‘What now?’ he said.
‘Stay where you are,’ I told him.
I edged into the cell, covering him with the Glock. He didn’t move. I kept going until I stood next to the gun he’d slid along the floor. Then I reached down and picked it up, without letting my eyes leave him.
‘The ship’s going down, eh?’ he said conversationally.
‘Yeah. Together with the Challenger tank and all that stuff Logan stole, plus Steele’s legal cargo. The whole damned lot’s going down. It’s the only way. Logan’s going to be pissed.’
‘Logan,’ he said with a wry smile.
I motioned to him to get to his feet and lean against a wall. Then I patted him down, searching for another weapon.
‘He’s not your boss, is he?’ I said.
‘Logan?’
‘Yeah.’
Still smiling, he shook his head.
But something was wrong here, I realized. For a guy in his position, he was far too relaxed and comfortable. I couldn’t see why.
‘If the ship’s going down,’ he said quietly, giving me another little smile, ‘we’d better get out of here.’
There it was again, that expression of quiet confidence in himself. He behaved as if he was the one in control. I couldn’t understand it. But he was right. We had to move.
‘I want to propose a deal,’ he said quietly.
‘I thought we had one?’ I stared hard at him, wondering where he was going with this.
He shook his head. ‘Not one I can live with.’
‘Then what?’ I asked, perplexed. ‘You’d rather stay here?’
Again he shook his head. ‘I’m not going with you. It’s as simple as that. I want you to cut me loose in a lifeboat. Do that, and I’ll be in your debt. You can name your price.’
I just stared at him.
Chapter Forty-Four
The initial urge to give him an angry mouthful passed. Was he serious? I realized he was.
‘Which part don’t you fancy,’ I asked him, ‘Middlesbrough or police custody?’
He just smiled.
Keeping well away from him, I thought fast. Could I trust him? No. Should I listen to him? Maybe. Why not?
The ship gave some alarming creaks that vibrated along the length of the wall nearest to us. I managed not to flinch, but it was worrying.
Blue looked around with interest. ‘We haven’t got much time,’ he pointed out, ‘if what you say is true.’
‘Oh, it’s true, right enough. I’m just considering what you said.’
‘Better be quick.’
Amazingly, he seemed more relaxed than I was. I had to hand it to him.
‘What can I help you with?’ he asked conversationally. ‘There must be something you need, or want.’
There certainly was, but … I laughed in his face. ‘There are a couple of things I want,’ I told him, ‘but you can’t help with either of them.’
‘Try me. Is one of them to do with the boy?’
Astute bugger!
I nodded. ‘The boy, yes. I would consider doing a deal with you if you could guarantee that the boy will be safe, now and in the future.’
‘OK. What about his old man? Do you want security for him, too?’
The ship lurched, and a whole series of vibrations ran through the deck beneath our feet. It was going down, and fast.
I smiled ruefully. ‘Come on,’ I said. ‘We’re wasting valuable time. Let’s get out of here.’
He stayed right where he was. ‘I can deliver security for them both,’ he said, ‘now and in the future – permanently.’
I stared at him. ‘And how can you do that?’
He shook his head impatiently and said, ‘Is there anything else?’
‘You’ve taken his mother hostage. I want her released.’
‘His mother?’ His eyebrows shot up and he shook his head. ‘I know nothing about that. It must be Logan’s doing. But I can fix that as well.’
‘How?’ I said again.
‘Let me make a couple of phone calls.’
I hesitated. What was he up to?
‘You have nothing to lose,’ he pointed out calmly.
No? Perhaps not.
There was nothing he could do to turn the situation round, so far as I could see. He couldn’t organize a rescue party out here. There was no time. A reception party back on land was out of the question, as well. Armed cops would be waiting for us when we landed.
‘No tricks, I promise you,’ he said briskly. ‘This is a straightforward deal between me and you. Whatever happened in the past, it’s over. It was never personal anyway. I hold nothing against you.’
Curiously, perhaps, I understood and accepted that. I knew what he meant. For him, it was strictly business, and had been since the outset. Nothing personal, as he said. The unfortunate Bryce Logan had not been his son, after all.
What was in it for him now? Well, that was no mystery. He wanted his freedom, even if it was on the open seas. He would take his chances. That was better than the certain prospect of the rest of his life in prison.
For me, if there was a chance of getting Tom Steele out of the hole he and his family had dug, it was a chance worth taking. But could it be done? It seemed unlikely.
Yet what would change if Blue didn’t, or couldn’t, deliver? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Tom would be no worse off.
The ship suddenly lurched and it seemed as if there would be no end to the creaks and vibrations this time. We were going down.
‘One call,’ I snapped. ‘Make it fast.’
He shook his head. ‘Two,’ he said firmly. ‘Two, and they must be private.’
I shrugged and walked away a few paces. ‘OK,’ I said, turning back towards him. ‘Come out of there and make your calls.’
Senga appeared on the ladder in the companionway
.
‘What’s going on?’ she mouthed.
I gave her a thumbs-up and a smile.
She looked anxious, not surprisingly. But she seemed prepared to wait.
Blue walked towards me a minute or two later. ‘It’s done,’ he said.
I waited.
‘Tomorrow – today, I should say – at ten a.m. exactly, you and the woman—’ He broke off to nod towards Senga, ‘You must visit Logan in the farmhouse where he is staying. Do you know where that is?’
‘Near Greatham?’
‘That’s right. You must go there. Nobody else. Just the two of you.’
‘What happens then?’
‘You will receive proof that I am keeping my side of the bargain. Now, if you would be so good, I would appreciate your help in launching a lifeboat.’
I stared at him, thinking, calculating. What proof did I have, here and now, that what he had promised would happen? None, none at all.
‘You are wondering if you can trust me?’ he said mildly.
I nodded. ‘Of course.’
‘You have my word.’
‘Not good enough,’ I said.
Astonishingly, he seemed surprised. ‘Where I come from…’ he began. Then he stopped and shrugged.
‘OK. These modern lifeboats all have homing devices,’ he said. ‘If this morning you do not receive the guarantee that you require, then feel free to alert the authorities to search for me.’
He wouldn’t have got far by then. They would find him pretty quickly.
‘Frank!’ Senga called anxiously. ‘We have to go.’
‘In a moment,’ I called back.
‘Now, Frank! The pilot says now.’
Blue resumed, undistracted.
‘If you or the authorities visit the farmhouse before ten a.m.,’ he said calmly, ‘you will not receive the guarantee you require. I repeat: you and the woman, and nobody else, must go there at the time I have said. If you are not satisfied, advise the authorities to arrest Logan and to look for me. It is that simple,’ he concluded.
Simple? It wasn’t. Of course it wasn’t.
‘As for now,’ he added with a dismissive gesture, ‘I will not go with you. So you must decide soon, I think, or it will be too late for us all.’
I did the algorithm. It was brutal. If we took Blue with us, there would be no guarantees for the future of the Steele family. Simple as that. Blue would be arrested, charged, and imprisoned probably, and so would Logan be, but the Steeles would continue to live in fear and jeopardy.
In any case, how could I get him aboard the chopper now if he refused to go? I believed him implicitly when he said he wouldn’t leave with us. And leave soon was what we had to do.
‘Frank!’ Senga called again.
She was beginning to sound fearful. It wasn’t surprising. The ship was making unnatural sounds and movements, and there were more and more of them. The ss Anne was screaming to be put out of her misery.
I decided it was worth a shot. If nothing came of it, the cops could collect Logan and gang, and probably find Blue as well. He wouldn’t have got far in a lifeboat in just a few hours.
‘OK,’ I told him. ‘Let’s do it.’
Chapter Forty-Five
With the aid of a couple of crew members, we got it done. The lifeboat dropped into the sea, with Blue in it. Then we scrambled into the chopper. The captain was there, along with the rest of his crew. Tom was there. So was Josh. Josh was talking to the pilot, and no doubt urging patience and understanding.
One or two of the men grinned at me and made hand signals to suggest I had been holding things up. Fortunately, it was too noisy to ask or answer questions. We sat down on long bench seats, as if we were paratroopers. Someone slammed the door shut and moments later the Chinook lifted off.
Senga stared at me, desperate for an explanation. ‘Not now,’ I told her, pointing to my ear. ‘I’m a bit deaf. I’ll tell you later.’
She seemed ready to argue the point but then she gave up and settled back, leaving me to consider how much I would tell her anyway.
We didn’t fly away speedily. Not immediately. We hovered for a few minutes and we circled. Josh gestured for me to come to a window beside him. I moved over. Then I stood with him, and together we watched waves begin to break over the ss Anne as she settled in the water.
The pilot took us in gentle circles for a few minutes, and we watched until the sea came up and over the bridge of the ship. In all the turmoil, I didn’t even notice the lifeboat. In fact, I forgot to look for it. Josh looked at me with a question in his eyes and on his lips: Enough?
I nodded. It was enough. I turned away to sit back down next to Senga. She smiled and took my arm. Conversation was virtually impossible, given the noise level, but conversation wasn’t needed. Certainly not by me.
The captain glanced across from where he sat and gave me a wry smile. I nodded back. It was probably a sad moment for him, but he was taking it very well. At least he didn’t have to go down with his ship.
Josh went forward to speak to the pilot again. The engine noise increased. I felt the power surge through the Chinook as it began the homeward flight. A last glance over my shoulder revealed no sign now of the ss Anne. It was as if she had never been. I couldn’t say that about Blue.
Back at Josh’s compound, there was a holiday atmosphere. Josh and Tom were laughing and punching each other. Julie was there, talking wildly to Senga. Gerald was there, too, organizing drinks and food for everyone. I wondered if the man ever went home. I also wondered what price he would get for his memoirs, if he ever chose to write them.
Only Anne wasn’t there, and nobody was talking about that for the moment. It was the middle of the night. Perhaps they thought she was home, in bed. I didn’t ask.
No one seemed interested in the man we had left in the lifeboat either, or indeed in the two men he had shot and tipped overboard. Not to mention all the others no doubt down to him in a long criminal career of abductions, murders and whatever else he had been up to. Still, he was a man alone in perilous circumstances. I couldn’t forget that.
‘What are you thinking about?’ Senga asked, joining me and linking her arm in mine.
‘Blue.’
‘What? Out there, all alone?’
I nodded, surprised she had picked up on that thought.
‘And that worries you?’
‘It concerns me.’
That was only part of it, of course, a small part. I was also wondering what he was going to do. Did he have anything in mind? Or was evading the police and arrest enough for him? Perhaps being in control of his own destiny still was all that really mattered. He was a tough guy. I wouldn’t say I admired him, but he was impressive.
‘Tell me, Frank, what would have happened if he’d overpowered you when you opened the door?’
I sighed. ‘He would have shot me, and whoever else got in his way. I don’t have any doubts about that whatsoever.’
I grinned and added, ‘He would have taken the helicopter, as well, and tipped you lot out!’
‘There you are, then. You did the right thing. He’d caused enough trouble in his life.’
‘What a sensible woman you are!’
Senga obviously thought his life was as good as over now. I wasn’t so sure.
I held off for the moment from telling her that we both had a continuing role to play. There would be time for that soon enough.
‘Frank,’ she added solemnly. ‘Back there … you know, back when … you didn’t really distrust me, did you?’
‘Of course not,’ I lied.
She smiled and said, ‘Come and join the party.’
Josh was in good form. After a little while he took me aside and we planted ourselves on easy chairs in his office, nursing mugs of coffee from a fancy machine that made every kind of coffee known to man, and then some.
‘What do you think?’ Josh asked happily.
I smiled. ‘Well, we’ve certainly solved a couple of problems
, Josh. We’ve got Tom back, and the police won’t be able to find anything incriminating on the ship now.’
He chuckled. ‘That was a brilliant idea of Senga’s.’
I thought so too.
But there was still a lot of sorting out to do. We had trumped the police search and stopped delivery of the tank, but Anne was missing and so far as I knew the threat to Tom remained in place. The police wouldn’t have given up either. We weren’t out of the woods yet. We had scarcely reached the woodland edge.
Josh looked at me with a funny expression on his face and said, ‘Are you and her…?’
‘Me and Senga? Oh, I don’t know, Josh. Let’s just wait and see, shall we?’
‘Of course,’ he said, grinning. ‘Good luck with that!’
I stirred my coffee with a plastic spoon, chasing bubbles around the surface. I was hoping the exercise would help me think more clearly. Josh didn’t seem to know that his wife was missing, abducted. What would be gained by me telling him?
I decided it could wait a few more hours. I didn’t want him running around in circles tearing his hair out. Nor did I want to rain on his parade. Not just yet anyway. That could wait till ten o’clock. Meanwhile, let him exult in the safe return of his son.
‘Of course,’ he reflected soberly, ‘I’ve lost all that merchandise.’
‘And a ship.’
‘At least some good will come of that, though,’ he said with a grin.
‘Oh?’
‘The ss Anne will be a natural sea park in a few years’ time, a man-made reef – a divers’ paradise! It will teem with wildlife.’
‘Just like Middlesbrough.’
‘In the old days,’ he agreed with a chuckle.
‘By the way,’ I added, ‘I was surprised your skipper wasn’t more upset about losing his ship.’
Josh laughed. ‘You know why?’
‘It wouldn’t be anything to do with money, would it?’
‘What a cynic you are, Frank! Why, no. It wasn’t that at all.’
‘What, then?’
‘He’s getting a new ship out of it. I promised him a bigger and better one, once the insurance comes through.’