A Fine Night for Dying pc-6

by Jack Higgins

  “Something troubling you?” Chavasse inquired politely.

  “Your gun.” Rossiter held out his hand. “No nonsense, now. There’s a good chap.”

  Chavasse shrugged, produced the Smith amp; Wesson and handed it over. “You’re the boss.”

  “For a few hours more. Now let’s join the others.” He nodded to Jacaud. “Any time you’re ready.”

  Chavasse went down the companionway to the cabin and found the rest of them already seated on either side of a central table, looking absurdly formal, as if it were some kind of board meeting and they were waiting for the chairman. Jones pushed up to make room for him on the padded bench and smiled.

  “What kept you?”

  Before Chavasse could reply, Rossiter appeared. He leaned on the end of the table, his hands taking his weight. “Ladies and gentlemen, we’re about to commence the final leg of your journey. If the weather holds, and I can assure you that the forecast is a favorable one, you will be landed approximately seven hours from now in a creek near a small village not far from Weymouth on the English coast. A member of our organization will be waiting there to take you on to London by road. For the rest of the voyage, I must ask you to stay in your cabin. Are there any questions?” No one spoke, and he smiled. “You’ll find sandwiches through there in the galley, if anyone feels hungry, and a small stove on which you can make coffee. I’ll see you later.”

  He left, and almost immediately the engines coughed into life and the boat started to move. Chavasse peered out of the nearest porthole and saw Mercier standing under the lantern on the jetty as the Leopard moved out to sea. He walked away and Chavasse sat down again.

  Jones offered him a cigarette. “Well, what do you think now?”

  “They seem to know what they’re up to.” Chavasse leaned across to Famia. “Everything okay?”

  She smiled brightly. “Fine, just fine. Mr. Rossiter has been so kind. He gives one such a feeling of confidence. I’m sure everything is going to be all right now.”

  “Let’s hope so.”

  Chavasse leaned back. The business with the Smith amp; Wesson had given him something to think about. There could well be some sinister motive behind it. On the other hand, it was perfectly possible that Rossiter was simply taking every precaution. Not that it mattered, for Chavasse, who had long ago learned by bitter experience never to leave anything to chance, still had the Walther PPK automatic, which before leaving, he had strapped to the inside of his left leg just above the ankle with a piece of surgical tape.

  He sat back, eyes half-closed, and watched Cheung, who was reading a book at the far end of the table on the opposite side, next to Mrs. Campbell. Chavasse wondered what it was, and in the same moment remembered two things: Rossiter’s excellent Chinese and the copy of the Quotations of Chairman Mao Tse-Tung he had seen in his room. Yes, indeed, the more he thought about it, the more interesting Mr. Cheung became.

  With a love of the sea not unnatural in a man whose Breton ancestors had been voyaging to the coast of Newfoundland to fish long before Columbus had discovered the New World, Chavasse had been running a thirty-foot motor yacht out of Alderney for eight years and knew the Gulf of St. Malo and the general area of the Channel Islands like the back of his hand.

  Because of this, he was able to keep a reasonably accurate check on their progress, not only from an estimate of the boat’s speed, but by direct observation of various lights that were familiar to him.

  Although the weather remained fair, the boat pitched considerably in the turbulence common to the area because of the great tidal surge that drives in through the Channel Islands, raising the level of the water in the Gulf by as much as thirty feet. Both Hamid and Mrs. Campbell were suffering from seasickness in spite of the pills that Rossiter had handed round at the inn before leaving, and the old man didn’t look at all well.

  It wasn’t just the pitching of the Leopard that was causing the trouble. There was an all-pervading stench of fuel that seemed to have gotten steadily worse for the last hour. Chavasse looked out of the porthole as they rounded Hanois Lighthouse on the western tip of Guernsey.

  He told Jones, “A clear run from here. Shouldn’t take more than a couple of hours, if the weather holds.”

  Jones made a wry face. “Much more of this and I’ll be sick myself. That fuel sure stinks.”

  Chavasse said, in a low voice, “I’m not too happy about it. Think I’ll go on deck and have a word with our friend.”

  The door at the top of the companionway was locked. He hammered on it with his clenched fist. After a while, it opened and Rossiter peered in.

  “What do you want?”

  “We’re getting one hell of a whiff of fuel down here,” Chavasse told him. “Old Hamid’s been sick several times now. He doesn’t look too good.”

  Rossiter crouched down and sniffed. A frown appeared on his face. “I see what you mean. Better bring him up for a breath of air while I get Jacaud to check the engine.”

  Jones and Chavasse took the old man up the companionway between them. There was a fair sea running, and a strength three wind, if Chavasse was any judge, but the old boat was coping nicely. The masthead light swung rhythmically from side to side. Jacaud crouched beside the bow hatch, which gave access to the engine. He disappeared from view, and Chavasse left Jones to look after Hamid and crossed to the open hatch.

  There was only four feet of headroom inside, and Jacaud had to squat at the bottom of the short ladder while fumbling for the light switch in the dark. He found it, and in the sudden illumination, the trouble was plain enough to see, for an inch or so of fuel slopped around his feet.

  He edged forward and disappeared from view, reappearing almost immediately. “How bad is it?” Chavasse asked, as he came up the ladder.

  Jacaud ignored him, replaced the hatch and went aft to the wheelhouse. Chavasse returned to Jones, who stood at the rail with an arm around Hamid.

  “What gives?” Jones demanded.

  Chavasse shrugged. “Jacaud wasn’t exactly forthcoming. I’d say he has a leak in the fuel tank.”

  “Quite correct.” Rossiter joined them, a match flaring in his cupped hands as he lit a cigarette. “As it happens, we have auxiliary tanks that carry enough fuel for the entire trip in themselves. Jacaud has switched over to them. I think you’ll find that things will improve very quickly now.”

  “Do we have to return below?” Chavasse asked.

  “One of you can stay up here with the old man for another ten minutes or so. He should be all right again by then.”

  He went back into the wheelhouse and Chavasse turned to Jones. “You okay here?”

  “Sure.”

  “Good-then I’ll go below and see how the others are getting on.”

  When he went down the companionway to the saloon, the smell of fuel still lingered, but it was nowhere near as strong as it had been earlier. Mrs. Campbell looked pale and wan, but Famia seemed fine, and Cheung leaned back in his seat, eyes closed, hands folded across his chest.

  Chavasse glanced out of the porthole above his head. In the distance, the green-and-red navigation lights of a ship following the steamer lane that ran up-Channel from Ushant disappeared, as if a curtain had dropped into place. He peered out, frowning, and there was a step on the companionway.

  Jones eased old Hamid into a seat and grinned. “Not too good out there now. Mist coming in off the water and it’s started to rain again.”

  At that precise moment, the boat was rocked by a muffled explosion. Mrs. Campbell screamed as she was thrown half-across the table and Chavasse fetched up against the far wall. As he picked himself up, the Leopard came to a dead halt and started to drift.

  Chavasse hammered on the door of the companionway. It opened almost at once and Rossiter peered in, a gun in his hand. His face had turned very pale, the eyes glittered, and yet the gun didn’t waver in the slightest.

  “Back you go.”

  “Don’t be a damn fool,” Chavasse said. “If there�
�s trouble, we’ve got a right to know about it.”

  “When I’m good and ready.” Rossiter pushed him back and slammed the door.

  “What’s wrong up there?” Jones demanded. “It certainly didn’t sound too healthy to me.”

  In the stress of the moment, his accent had undergone a surprising transformation, replaced by the kind of faultless clipped English common to the products of the English public school system.

  Mrs. Campbell was sobbing hysterically and Famia was trying to comfort her. Old Hamid seemed to have come to life in some strange way and was on his feet, an arm around both women. It was Cheung’s reaction that was the most interesting. No panic, no hysterics. He sat at the table, face expressionless, eyes watchful.

  Chavasse unscrewed one of the portholes and peered out. There was a smell of burning, and Rossiter and Jacaud were arguing in French just above his head.

  “It’s no good, I tell you,” Jacaud cried, and there was panic in his voice. “The old tub has had it.”

  “How far from the coast are we?” Rossiter demanded.

  “Five or six miles-maybe seven.”

  “Good-we’ll continue in the rubber boat. Get it over the side. Our friends at Fixby can run us back to Saint Denise.”

  The rest of the conversation was blown away on the wind and Chavasse turned to face Jones, who knelt on the seat beside him.

  “What’s going on?” Jones demanded.

  “From what they say, the Leopard’s had it. They’re talking about going the rest of the way in the rubber boat.”

  “Can it be done?”

  “I don’t see why not. It’s about six miles to the coast and they’ve got a good outboard motor on that thing. Of course, there’s only room for four passengers, but I shouldn’t think that will present much of a problem to Rossiter.”

  The door to the companionway was flung open with startling suddenness, and Rossiter appeared, the gun in his hand. He waved it at Chavasse and Jones. “Right, sit down and stay down.”

  They did as they were told. Chavasse leaned across the table and groped for the butt of the Walther PPK that was strapped to his leg above the ankle.

  Rossiter nodded to Famia. “All right, Miss Nadeem, on deck.”

  She shook her head, complete bewilderment on her face. “But I don’t understand.”

  The mask of calmness cracked into a thousand pieces. He grabbed her roughly by the arm and cried wildly, “You want to die, do you?” He pushed her up the companionway. “Go on-get on deck.”

  Mrs. Campbell sagged into her seat as Famia stumbled out of sight, and Chavasse said, “What do we do? Go down with the ship singing, ‘Abide with me’?”

  Rossiter ignored him and spoke to Cheung in rapid Chinese. “On deck quickly. The boat is sinking.”

  The Chinese man pushed past Hamid and Mrs. Campbell, and Chavasse leaned across the table, his hand fastening around the butt of the Walther. “I’ve certainly got to give it to you, Rossiter. It must have taken nerve to see Harvey Preston off the way you did, but this is even better. Four at one go…”

  Rossiter turned and fired, blindly and in a kind of reflex action, the bullet splintering the bulkhead behind Chavasse and a foot to one side. Mrs. Campbell screamed again. Chavasse sent Jones to the floor with a shove in the back and brought the Walther up fast. The bullet caught Cheung on the side of the face, gouging a bloody furrow across one cheek, chipping wood from the doorpost as it went on its way.

  Cheung didn’t utter a sound. He spun round and flung himself up the companionway, and Rossiter fired three shots wildly. Chavasse went under the table. As the echoes died away, the door was slammed shut and the bolt clicked.

  He got to his feet and found Jones already on his way to the companionway. Chavasse got to him just in time and dragged him back as two more shots came through the door.

  “Wait, man-wait! He was expecting one of us to do that,” Chavasse said.

  They flattened themselves against the wall on either side of the companionway, and Jones said softly, “You know your business, I’ll say that for you.”

  Chavasse grinned. “You don’t do too badly yourself for a barrister.”

  Jones showed no surprise at all. “You know who I am?”

  “Darcy Morgan Preston, age twenty-nine, profession: barrister; in practice in Jamaica since August 1967. Married, two children. You’re trying to find out what happened to your brother, Harvey.”

  “And you know?”

  “Our friends put him over the side, wrapped in about six pounds of anchor chain.”

  Darcy Preston straightened and moved away from the wall, his face sagging. At the same moment, the outboard motor coughed into life outside.

  “Let’s go,” Chavasse said, and jumped into the companionway.

  He fired four times, splintering the wood around the lock, raised his right foot and stamped hard. The door swung back and he went through to the deck, crouching. He was already too late, the sound of the outboard fading into the darkness and mist.

  CHAPTER 8

  “Nice people,” Darcy Preston said quietly. “Now what do we do?”

  There was a sudden hiss, as if gas were escaping, and a cloud of steam billowed from the engine-room hatch. The stern was already low in the water and the Leopard wallowed sluggishly, hardly lifting as the swell undulated across the sea.

  There was a sudden exclamation from the companionway, and when Chavasse turned, Old Hamid was standing there. In the diffused yellow light from the masthead lamp, he looked about a hundred years old. He didn’t seem afraid in the slightest when he spoke.

  “They have gone, Mr. Chavasse? They have left us to drown?”

  “Not if I can help it,” Chavasse told him. “How’s Mrs. Campbell?”

  “Not too good, I’m afraid.”

  Chavasse turned to Preston. “Get her up on deck and see if you can find some liquor. Jacaud liked his rum, so there must be a few bottles around. Make her drink as much as you possibly can. Anything to calm her down. I’ll see what I can find up here. And hurry, for God’s sake. We haven’t got long.”

  He found three life jackets in a locker in the wheelhouse and passed one to Hamid. The old man started to unbutton his overcoat and Chavasse shook his head.

  “Keep that on, whatever you do. It’s going to be cold out there.”

  The old man pushed his arms through the straps and Chavasse did a final deck check. The only movable item that might support a person’s weight was the aft hatch cover. He got it off and eased it toward the rail, as Preston appeared with Mrs. Campbell.

  She looked ghastly in the yellow light, eyes dark and fearful, her body shrunken with terror. Chavasse could smell the rum. Preston was holding one bottle in his hand and there were two more under his arm.

  He passed one across to Chavasse. “Stick that in your pocket. It might come in handy.”

  Chavasse gave him the two life jackets. “The best I can do.”

  “And what about you?”

  “There’s an old cork life belt here that will keep me going. Now hurry it up. We’ve only got a few minutes.”

  Suddenly it seemed very quiet, the rain falling in dull steel lances through the light, and they stood by the rail together, ready to go. The sea was already over the stern and slopped in across the deck in a green curtain.

  Chavasse glanced at his watch. “Dawn in another hour. We’re between five and six miles off the coast, possibly less, but the tide will start to go in fast soon and we’ll go with it. Don’t try to swim-you’ll tire quickly that way and lose body heat-and don’t try to take any clothes off. That would be the worst thing you could do. Mrs. Campbell, we’re going to put you on the hatch. I want you to just lie still, even if the water breaks over you. The rest of us will hang on to the sides. It’s important we try to stay together-any questions?”

  The Leopard gave a sudden lurch to one side, and Preston lost his balance and went into the water. He surfaced and grabbed for the rail. He even managed a smile. />
  “We should do this more often. Better get the hatch over fast. Somehow I don’t think the boat has much longer to live.”

  Strange how one always thought of a boat as a living creature with a soul of its own. Swimming awkwardly, the cork life belt under his armpits bumping the side of the hatch as he pushed hard, Chavasse glanced back and watched the Leopard slide smoothly under the surface. For a brief moment, the green-and-red navigation lights gleamed above the swell at the masthead, and then they too were dimmed.

  IT was the darkness that was the real enemy, not the cold, though that was bad enough to begin with. But after a while, the body temperature adapted itself and the fact that they were all fully clothed helped considerably, as Chavasse knew it would.

  But the darkness remained for quite some time, and Mrs. Campbell moaned continuously, breaking into terrible fits of crying every so often that no one could do anything about.

  Gradually the dawn came with a kind of gray luminosity because of the mist. Visibility was no more than a hundred yards, and Chavasse noticed with some unease the freshening breeze cold on his left cheek and the whitecaps that were starting to appear all about them.

  He turned to Hamid, who hung on to the hatch beside him. The old man was well out of the water because of his life jacket, but his turban was soaked, his skin shrunken so that every bone showed.

  “Are you all right? Can you hang on?”

  Hamid nodded without replying and Chavasse pulled his way round to the other side to Darcy Preston, who gave him a tired grin.

  “Give me Montego Bay any time. This is no joke.”

  “The wind is picking up,” Chavasse said. “Can you feel it? It’ll push us inshore that much faster, but things are going to get rough, so watch out.”

  Preston’s mouth opened in a soundless cry. Chavasse turned and saw a gray-green wall of water coming in fast, blocking out the sky. There wasn’t a thing he could do about it, nothing anyone could do. This time Mrs. Campbell, God help her, didn’t even get time to scream. The wave lifted the hatch like a cork chip, turned it over and smashed it down.