At that moment the telephone rang and the two women exchanged glances. ‘If it’s him, wait a few seconds before you say anything, try and sound scared, and keep him talking as long as possible.’ Nina took off her wristwatch and put it on the table in front of her. ‘OK, answer now.’
Sounding scared won’t be a problem, thought Sukey as she picked up the receiver. Her lips felt stiff and her mouth was dry; her cautious ‘Hullo!’ was a feeble croak.
‘Good morning, Pepita.’ He sounded genuinely cordial, like someone greeting an old friend.
Sukey’s hand shook as she pressed the tracer button. She cleared her throat and licked her lips. ‘Why do you keep phoning me? What do you want with me?’ she asked. There was nothing simulated in the way her voice trembled.
‘I thought it’d be nice if we got to know one another a little better,’ he said. Despite the metallic, slightly nasal accent, the voice had an oily quality that sent a shiver down her back.
‘Why should I want to get to know you?’ she quavered. ‘I never asked you to phone me and I don’t want to talk to you – please leave me alone.’
‘Oh, but we must talk. I like to be on friendly terms with the people I work with… or should I say, work on?’ He gave a low, drawn-out chuckle. ‘Did you sleep well, Pepita?’
‘Do stop calling me that!’ Sukey almost shouted into the phone. ‘Can’t you get it into your head that I’m not Pepita, I don’t know anyone called Pepita, you’ve got me mixed up with someone else—’
‘You think I’d fall for that story? You must think I’m stupid.’
‘It’s true – please believe me! You’re making a dreadful mistake—’
‘You’re the one who made the mistake, Pepita, when you betrayed Roddy.’ The voice sank to a menacing whisper. ‘A woman who betrays her man can be dangerous, very dangerous. You’re dangerous, Pepita, and you must pay the price.’
‘What price? What are you going to do?’
‘You’ll find out when I’m good and ready.’
‘There must be some way we can sort this out.’
‘Oh don’t worry, it’ll be sorted out very soon. Goodbye for now.’
‘No please, don’t go away.’
His only response was a chilling laugh before the receiver at the other end was replaced.
‘Well done, you sounded petrified,’ said Nina approvingly as Sukey too hung up.
‘I am petrified,’ said Sukey grimly. She went back to her chair on legs that had turned to jelly. ‘D’you think I kept him talking long enough?’
‘Two and a half minutes from picking up the phone,’ said Nina calmly as she clipped her watch back on her wrist.
‘What happens now?’
‘The source of the call should have been located the moment you pressed that button and the police will home in and throw a cordon round the area. That’s the theory, at any rate. We’ll just have to wait and see how quick off the mark they’ve been. Whereabouts did the earlier calls come from?’
‘They were all fairly local.’
‘Let’s say, on average, within half an hour’s drive from here. If you want to have that shower it might be as well to get on with it. If there’s anything to report, the police will get through to me on the mobile.’
Sukey hurried through her shower, got dressed, dried her hair and went back downstairs to find Nina once more reading the newspaper.
‘Any news?’ she asked.
‘Not yet. D’you want this?’
Nina offered the paper, but Sukey waved it away. ‘No thanks, I couldn’t concentrate. How long d’you think it’ll be before we get news?’
‘Impossible to say. We could be in for a long, boring wait.’
It was over two hours before Nina’s mobile rang. Sukey waited, itching with nerves, while the undercover policewoman calmly listened with only the occasional ‘Yes’, ‘Right’, or ‘OK’ in response to whatever was being said at the other end. When the call was over she put down the phone and said quietly, ‘They’ve got him.’
‘Thank God!’ Sukey could have wept with relief. ‘What happened?’
‘He was in a callbox about five miles away. By a lucky chance a police patrol was quite near, on their way back to the station at the end of a shift. He’d gone by the time they arrived, but a woman who was about to use the phone had seen him, told them which direction he’d taken and actually went with them in the car to look for him. She was able to point him out and they went after him, but he saw them coming and bolted. I didn’t get all the details, but it ended up with him taking refuge in some woods and they had to scramble the helicopter.’
‘Brilliant!’ Spontaneously, Sukey flung her arms round Nina and gave her a hug. Her hand encountered something hard and she froze for a second before releasing her. ‘Gosh, is that your gun?’ she asked.
‘Sure.’ Nina patted the spot beneath the loose shirt where the weapon lay concealed.
‘Have you ever actually shot anyone?’
Nina smiled and shook her head. ‘I had to show it a couple of times, but thank goodness I’ve never had to fire it – except in practice of course.’
‘What happens now?’ asked Sukey.
‘We stay in touch and wait for instructions.’ Nina glanced at her watch, then flexed her arms and shoulders. ‘I get a bit tense during these operations and the muscles tend to seize up,’ she explained. ‘You must be pretty uptight yourself – how about a short run to wind down?’
Sukey shook her head. ‘No thanks. I work out at a fitness club, but I’m not into road running. Besides, Jim might get in touch so I’d rather stay here. You go – I’ll be fine now.’
‘You’re sure?’
‘Of course.’
‘Right. I’ll only be fifteen minutes or so.’ Nina picked up her mobile, clipped it on to her waistband and let herself out by the back door. The bleeper screeched a warning and Sukey reached up and switched off the system.
‘Am I glad I’ve heard the last of that thing,’ she declared fervently.
She was upstairs making her bed when, less than ten minutes later, the front doorbell rang. Glancing out of the window she saw a British Telecom van parked outside her gate and a figure in blue overalls on the doorstep. Assuming that he had been sent to remove the specially adapted telephone, she ran down and opened the door.
‘You haven’t wasted any time,’ she said cheerfully, then froze in terror as the man turned to face her. Dark glasses, cropped hair, gold earring.
White teeth flashed against tanned skin as he gave a slow, wolfish smile. ‘Hi, Pepita!’ he said. ‘We meet at last.’
Twenty-Six
For a moment, Sukey stood like a statue, paralysed with shock and disbelief. It was impossible: he was under arrest after having been cornered during an elaborate police operation. How could they have let him get away and why had she and Nina not been warned? Her heart seemed to stop and her lungs would barely admit enough breath for her to gasp, ‘How did you get here – how did you escape?’
‘Escape? Where from?’
‘From the police… they said you’d been caught.’
‘They got it wrong, didn’t they? What a joke!’ His smile was mirthless, mocking her. He moved forward, lifting his right arm, which until then had been hanging at his side. A casual observer, seeing from a distance a man in BT overalls holding something in his hand, would assume it was a mobile telephone and think nothing of it. But it was not a telephone that she felt pressed against her stomach as he said, ‘This will only take a moment. Let’s go indoors.’ On legs that felt on the point of collapse, Sukey backed into the hallway. He followed, casually closing the front door behind him with his free hand while keeping the gun pointing steadily at his intended victim.
‘That’s better,’ he said in the harsh, nasal accent she had come to dread hearing. ‘We don’t want to frighten the neighbours, do we?’
‘What do you care about frightening people?’ she faltered. ‘I believe you enjoy it!’
‘I have to admit I do… sometimes… in certain cases, and this is one of them,’ he taunted her. ‘In fact, Pepita, you’re a very special case. You’ve given us all a lot of trouble, especially Roddy.’
‘I’m not Pepita! How many times do I have to tell you?’ she pleaded. ‘This man Roddy you keep talking about… I don’t know him, I’ve never met him, so how could I betray him?’
‘Save your breath, Pepita – you’ve come to the end of the road. From now on, the filth will have to find someone else to do their dirty work for them, won’t they?’ He glanced down at the gun, shifting it slightly between his fingers, almost fondling it.
‘You’re a fine one to talk about dirty work!’ Sukey snapped in a sudden surge of spirit. If she was going to die, she wasn’t going to cringe to this vermin. ‘What do you call your paymasters – philanthropists?’
‘Big words, Pepita.’
‘You’re really getting a kick out of this, aren’t you?’ She could hear her voice rising, thin and hysterical. Fear had her once more in its claws. Nina was out and powerless to defend her; somewhere the police were frantically seeking an escaped prisoner. Would it occur to them that her house would be the first place he would head for, to carry out his assignment and make his getaway? Even if it did, could they get here before her life was blanked out in a searing flame of agony? If she managed to keep him talking until Nina got back there might be a chance… she’d said fifteen minutes or so and it must be ten since she left… another five minutes would be an eternity, but it was her only hope. A desperate wish to survive stung her brain into life. ‘You want to see me grovel, don’t you?’ she said defiantly. ‘I’m sorry to disappoint you, but I’m not going to.’
‘Pity – it would add to the fun,’ he acknowledged with a sneer.
‘Well, I’m not going to indulge your perverted idea of fun.’
‘Have it your way. I’m a bit pressed for time, so I think we’ll get on with it. Turn round!’ The change of tone was like a whiplash. He raised the gun and levelled it at her head. ‘Tum round… now!’
‘No!’ A sudden recollection of the way Crowson, Morris and Lockyer had died flashed into her mind. Their executioner had shot his victims in the back of the head. A whim… or a weakness, an inability to meet their gaze as he pressed the trigger? ‘If you’re going to shoot me, you’ll have to look me in the eye!’ She heard him exhale sharply, saw his jaw tighten… and knew she had found his weakness. Her one chance now was to play on it. ‘You have a problem with that, don’t you?’ she said softly.
‘Cut out the bullshit – turn round!’ he repeated, but some of the sting had gone out of the command. He was wavering; a muscle at the corner of his mouth had begun to twitch and the hand that held the gun was shaking slightly.
‘You really do have a problem, don’t you?’ she repeated. ‘What is it – some traumatic experience that makes it easier to blow someone’s brains out from behind so that you don’t have to face them… is that it? Why don’t you tell me about it?’ she rushed on. ‘Remember what they say about a trouble shared?’ To her astonishment she even managed a smile on the last words.
‘Do as you’re told, you fucking bitch!’ His voice was hoarse and unsteady; now he was really rattled. ‘Turn round!’
‘And make it easy for you? Why should I?’ Looking him defiantly in the eye, she began to move backwards along the passage. Almost as if mesmerised by her gaze he followed her, step by step, as she inched towards the kitchen. If she could move quickly enough, there might be a chance of escape through the back door. She felt the door frame pressing against her spine, then an arm grabbed her from behind, dragging her sideways; simultaneously a voice – Nina’s – shouted, ‘Armed police! Drop the gun!’
Something whizzed past Sukey’s ear and shattered the kitchen window. The gunman dropped his weapon with a howl of pain, clutched his right shoulder and slid to the floor, landing in a crumpled heap against the wall, his face contorted with pain, his eyes closed and blood pouring down his arm. Shaking in every part of her body, Sukey watched in bewilderment as Nina leapt forward to retrieve the gun.
‘You’re nicked,’ she said coolly. Keeping him covered, she unhooked her mobile phone from her belt and manipulated it one-handed.
‘Target disarmed and arrested at Number Twelve, Woodbine Close,’ she reported. ‘He’s hit in the shoulder and bleeding so we’d better have an ambulance. No other casualties.’ She snapped off the phone, returned it to her belt and studied her prisoner with almost clinical detachment. ‘We’ve got to keep you in good condition, haven’t we? You’re going to be very useful to us.’
He gave a groan and opened his eyes, then blinked in disbelief as his gaze moved from Nina to Sukey and back again. ‘Jesus, I’m seeing double,’ he said weakly.
‘No, there really are two of us,’ Nina assured him. ‘But you might be interested to know that my friend was telling the truth. She isn’t Pepita – I am.’
‘What a fucking cock-up!’ he muttered. ‘When Wallis finds out he’ll do his nut.’
‘Tell us where to find him and we’ll break the news for you,’ Nina promised.
He shot her a look of sheer hatred. ‘Get stuffed!’ he snarled.
The telephone rang. ‘You get it, Sukey,’ Nina ordered without taking her eyes off the would-be assassin.
Sukey stumbled into the kitchen and picked up the receiver. ‘Who is it?’ she asked in a shaky whisper.
‘Sukey?’ It was Jim, his voice unnaturally loud, rough with anxiety. ‘I’ve just been told… there’s been a shoot-out at your house… are you all right?
‘Yes, I’m fine. Nina arrested the hitman and we’re waiting for the police and an ambulance.’
‘You’re not hurt?’
‘No, I’m all right, truly, but…’ The tears were streaming down her face; delayed shock made her voice thick, almost unintelligible. ‘Get here, Jim, please… just get here!’
‘It was the most unbelievable cock-up,’ said Jim.
‘Funny, that’s what the hitman said when he saw Sukey and me together – or words to that effect!’ Nina observed.
‘I couldn’t believe what was happening,’ said Sukey. ‘One minute we hear he’s safely banged up in the nick and the next he appears on my doorstep waving a gun. How on earth did he do it?’
‘He didn’t – that’s where the cock-up comes in,’ said Jim. A trace of harshness in his voice told Sukey that beneath his cool, reassuring exterior he was seething with anger.
‘Tell us exactly what happened, Jim,’ Fergus begged.
It was seven o’clock in the evening and the four of them were sitting at the table in the dining room of Number Twelve Woodbine Close amid the debris of a takeaway meal. Despite Sukey’s protests that she was perfectly all right, Jim had insisted on calling a doctor, who had given her a sedative and ordered her to bed. She had slept until six and awoke to find that the kitchen window had been repaired, Fergus brought home and Jim and Nina in charge of the catering arrangements.
‘It was another case of mistaken identity, of course,’ Jim began. ‘The guy they arrested wasn’t the one who made the call to you, but another one answering the rough description which was all we had to go on. He must have been waiting to use the phone and nipped into the box the minute our man left.’
‘So the woman identified the wrong man?’ Sukey closed her eyes, thinking how close to death the blunder had brought her.
‘Exactly. The mistake would have been realised straight away if the chap hadn’t made a bolt for it the minute he saw the police car.’
‘I suppose he was a criminal too,’ said Fergus.
‘He’d escaped from a youth detention centre earlier in the day, nicked a car and had just phoned his girlfriend in London to check that she was home.’
‘And meanwhile the hitman was heading in my direction,’ said Sukey with a shudder.
Under the table, Fergus gave his mother’s hand a squeeze. ‘You did brilliantly, Mum,’ he said prou
dly. ‘I reckon you ought to get a commendation.’ He turned to Jim and said, ‘Wasn’t it a bit premature to give the all clear the minute the guy was arrested? I’ll bet if you’d still been on the case…’
‘It certainly was premature,’ said the detective. ‘It put your mother’s life in danger. Someone who shall be nameless was so pleased with himself on getting what he saw as a result so soon after taking over the case that he couldn’t wait to spread the glad tidings. He’s got a lot of egg on his face over this one,’ Jim added, not without a certain relish.
‘What a bit of luck that Nina got home in time.’ Fergus shot a grateful smile at the woman who had saved his mother’s life.
‘Not luck. As soon as the mistake was realised I got a call on my mobile,’ Nina explained. ‘You see, although we’d been told an arrest had been made, I hadn’t been officially taken off the case, so I kept the mobile and my gun at the ready.’
‘Thank God for that!’ said Sukey fervently.
‘I reckon you’re the one who deserves the commendation.’
‘It was providential that you’d turned off the bleeper,’ said Nina. ‘If our friend had heard that, things might have turned out differently.’
‘What happens now, Jim?’ asked Sukey. ‘We’re hoping this character – he says his name’s Martin Goreman, but whether it’s genuine or not we’ve yet to find out – will lead us to Wallis and his mob. There might even be a chance of recovering some of Patterson’s art treasures. The case isn’t closed yet, not by a long way.’
‘There’s Roddy to track down as well,’ Fergus pointed out. ‘Or do you think his body will turn up one of these days?’
‘I doubt it. From the trouble they took to take him out of our reach, I reckon his masters have an interest in keeping him alive – so long as he agrees to dance to their tune.’
‘And carry out more robberies, you mean?’ Fergus looked puzzled. ‘I don’t see how… wouldn’t he be recognised?’
‘In England, yes – but there are plenty of art collections in other countries. Interpol has been alerted so with luck he’ll get his come-uppance before too long. Anyway, that’s enough talk about villains.’ Jim laid down his knife and fork and glanced round at the others. If he had seen the momentary flicker of pain on Nina’s face, he gave no sign. ‘I believe there’s fruit salad to follow,’ he said. ‘Shall I get it?’
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