by Nick Carter
“You think our men might be hiding there?” Marcel asked doubtfully.
“It’s possible. It’s just possible.”
Marcel turned the copter seaward again. We passed over lies d’Hyeres once more and continued southward. As we got closer to Satane Roc, I could see what a bleak, forbidding place it was, with nothing more than a pile of black rocks jutting up out of the sea and, here and there, a few scrawny trees and patches of waist-high brush. Satane Roc—a suitable name.
Marcel took die helicopter down until we brushed the treetops to make a slow, circular sweep of the island. As we flew close to the ground, I could see hundreds of large black rats, frightened by the sound of our engine, scurrying among the rocks.
“You see anything?” Marcel asked.
“Rats,” I answered. “Swarms of rats.”
We had almost completed our circle when I suddenly spotted something with the binoculars. It was a brilliant flash of light, the reflection of sun on metal, beneath one of the large outcroppings of rocks in the center of the island. It could be the hidden helicopter.
I told Marcel what I had seen and asked him to circle the place once more.
He nodded and banked the copter, and we started back toward the spot. Marcel was flying so low that we nearly brushed the tops of the trees below. I had my binoculars trained on the spot where I thought I had seen something and was concentrating so hard that I had no thought of danger until Marcel screamed. Suddenly I felt the helicopter lurch and sputter.
In the next second we were assailed by a barrage of bullets that slammed into the helicopter from below, smashing the glass shield of the cockpit, ripping through the copter’s metal exterior, and thudding into the motor. As I crouched behind the cockpit, I could see four or five men firing at us with upraised submachine guns from the top of some rocks.
“Marcel!” I yelled, grabbing him by the shoulder, “Get us out of here.”
When he turned toward me in his seat, I saw that his face was a bloody mask. He tried to say something, but only blood came from his mouth. His eyes closed, and he toppled sideways from his seat. I grabbed Wilhelmina from its holster, but before I had time to aim and fire at the men below, the helicopter engine blew up in a great flaming fireball. The machine plunged toward the sea, trailed by a giant sheet of flame and smoke.
The low altitude saved my life. I jammed the Luger back into the holster and jumped through the open doorway to avoid the flames just before the helicopter hit the water. The fire and smoke surrounding the copter screened me from the sight of the men who had shot us down. When I surfaced, I found that I was still hidden from the view of those on the island, the flaming helicopter, still floating on the surface of the sea, was between me and land.
I rapidly calculated the distance to the island, dove deep, and swam underwater until I felt that my lungs would burst. I kept swimming until I finally scraped up against some rocks. Feeling my way inch by inch up the rocks with my hands, I eventually broke through the surface of the water soundlessly. With only my head above water, I pressed myself flat against the rocks and gulped down air. When I was able to breathe normally again, I cautiously raised my head and looked around.
Fortunately, as I had hoped, I had come to shore a good distance from where the helicopter had crashed. From that point, I could still see the charred remains of the copter floating on the water. I watched as several of die men who had been on the island set out in rubber rafts and paddled toward the wreckage. I saw them remove Marcel’s body and place it in one of the rafts. Afterwards the men searched the water around the wreckage. They had obviously seen two men in the helicopter and were hoping to find my corpse, too. I was careful to keep low in the water and to remain partially hidden by the rocks until they had given up their search.
As the men paddled back to the island, the smoldering heap of metal that had once been the helicopter sank beneath the surface of the water. I clung to the rocks until the men had pulled their rubber rafts on shore and had returned to the center of the island. I briefly considered swimming down the shore to one of the rafts so that I could try to make it back to the mainland. But then I remembered the urgency of my assignment. The men on the island, and die money they had taken from the casino, might lead me to something vital.
I would wait until the light had begun to fade, and then I would try to make my way across the island to assess the situation.
From what I’d observed, it appeared that the men were using the island temporarily while they waited to be picked up after dark by a boat.
Eleven
After another hour, the late afternoon sun began to set, and I felt it was safe to crawl up the rocks to dry off in the warm breeze that was blowing in from the south. I had just climbed up on the rocks and stretched out on a narrow ledge when I felt something soft drop on my left leg. I jumped up to find myself staring into the blood-red, beady eyes of a large black rat that had apparently fallen from a higher rock. I kicked out at it and shook it loose and sent it scurrying away by tossing a rock.
Then I heard soft squealing sounds all around me. I stood up quickly and saw dozens of shiny, unblinking eyes. A cold shiver ran down my spine, and my hand went instinctively for the Luger, Wilhelmina. For a moment, I didn’t care if a shot would bring the men on the island looking for me.
But the rats didn’t attack. Instead, they scurried nervously back and forth, squealing softly, their claws scratching the surface of the rocks. I backed away warily, keeping my eyes on the horde, until I felt a hard, round metal object poking into my back between my shoulder blades. A harsh voice snarled, “Just stand right there!”
A hand reached from behind me and took the Luger. Then die man—it was the croupier from the casino—stepped in front of me. He was holding a snubnosed .38 in one hand and my Luger in the other. He nodded at me.. “We thought you had gotten out of die helicopter alive. We’ve been looking for you. Start walking.”
He leaned down and picked up a hunk of wood that had evidently been doused with gasoline. After lighting one end of it so that it became a flaming torch, he waved it around to clear a path through the swarm of rats, who scurried frantically away into the brush.
We climbed higher up the rocks of the island until we reached the large outcropping that I had spotted from the air. The croupier waved his gun and shoved me forward into a large hollowed-out cavern. Flaming torches were set in a circle around the entrance to keep the rats out, and their light revealed the helicopter inside. The other men were there, too—the casino director, Tregor, and the man who had grabbed Elsa on the basement stairs of the casino. I guessed that he must have been die one who had piloted the helicopter.
The others regarded me without much interest, but the casino director nodded to the croupier, “Search him, tie him up, and keep your eye on him.”
The croupier, still holding the gun on me, reached inside the helicopter and drew out a couple of lengths of rope. Then he prodded me deeper into the interior of the cavern. I raised my hands when he started to search me so that he missed finding the stilleto, Hugo, set on a spring in the arm sheath inside my coat sleeve. After the search, he made me stretch out on the ground while he tied me up securely with the rope.
I would have to bide my time. For the moment, with the croupier standing nearby holding the gun and watching me, I was helpless. But I still had Hugo up my sleeve.
It was getting dark outside. From time to time, one of the men would take a pair of binoculars and a flashlight and go outside. It didn’t take me long to realize that they were waiting to be taken from the island. My original theory seemed correct—a boat was going to pick them up.
An hour or more passed before one of the men on lookout shouted, and the others, except for the croupier who was still guarding me, hurried out. I used that moment, when my captor’s attention was temporarily diverted, to snap the spring in the knife sheath. The stilleto slipped instantly into my right hand. I had to cut through the ropes quickly. I had just managed to sev
er them and free my hands when the three men hurried back into the cave.
“He’s here,” the director shouted. “Well ditch the helicopter and come back for you.”
“How do I know you will return?” the croupier asked suspiciously.
The director had taken a large aluminum suitcase from the helicopter. He placed it on the floor of the cave and nodded toward it. “The money will still be here. We’ll be back.”
All of the men began to push the helicopter from the cavern. While their attention was diverted, I rolled onto my side and arched my body backwards so that my hands could reach the ropes that were binding my legs. Soon I was free, and I returned to my former position, lying still while I tried to work my arms and legs behind my back to restore the circulation. By then the men had shoved the helicopter out of the cave and the croupier had returned to my side. The voices the other three were becoming faint in the distance.
My guardian glanced at me briefly. Then he dug a cigarette out of his pocket and lit a match. I made my move, springing to my feet and lunging across to him, holding the stilletto in my hand. I flashed the knife in the startled man’s face and then poked the point gently into his belly, and with my free hand I reached for the gun.
Instead of obeying me, he foolishly raised his gun to fire. I plunged the stilletto into his midsection, and he doubled over without a sound, the lighted cigarette still dangling from his lips. I hadn’t planned to kill him, but he had given me no choice.
I grabbed his .38 and my Luger and rushed quickly to the aluminum suitcase. I snapped open the lock, and the top sprang up. There in the wavering light of the torches I looked down at the two million dollars inside.
I had devised a little plan for that money ever since the director had set the suitcase down and I had known that it was there. I hastily began to execute it. I scooped out the stacks of bills and filled the bottom of the suitcase with large rocks from die floor of the cave. Then I spread a layer of bills, no more than a couple of hundred dollars, over the rocks. I snapped the suitcase shut and left it in its original place.
I could still hear the voices of the other men faintly in the distance as I quickly unbuttoned my shirt, stuffed the money inside, buttoned up again. Two million dollars against my chest was clumsy, but, weighted down as I was, I returned to the dead croupier, grabbed him by the back of the collar, and dragged him across the cave to the outside.
The other three men were still working with the helicopter on the other side of the large flat rock outcropping. I struck out in the opposite direction, dragging the corpse behind me, until I reached some deep brush where I could hide it. Then I crawled back across the rock to a high spot where I could observe the action below.
The full moon clearly illuminated the scene. By now they had pushed the chopper into a clearing. One of the men, the’ pilot, climbed into it and set the rotor blades in motion. The copter began to rise, but when it was a few feet off the ground, the man jumped out. The pilotless helicopter suddenly shot into the air, streaked away from the rock, and plunged into the dark waters below. It sank without a trace.
Meanwhile the casino director had returned to the cave. He came running out, carrying the suitcase and shouting. I could hear the voices of the men distinctly where I was hiding, and I heard the director yell, “He’s escaped! That fellow cut himself free and got away! He took Georges with him!”
“The money? The money?” Tregor yelled back. “Is the money safe?”
The director set the suitcase on the ground, and all three of them crowded around him when he opened it
“It’s here! It’s still here!” he exclaimed. As I had hoped, he didn’t take the time to examine the money beyond the top layer of bills, since the load of rocks approximated the weight of the real bills.
“Come on!” Tregor yelled. “Let’s get off this damned island.”
The three began to signal with their flashlights. An answering signal came from just off the edge of the island, and a giant searchlight was snapped on. Then I saw that instead of a boat, it was a seaplane that would be taking them away. It had taxied in near the rocks and was waiting there, bobbing up and down on the water. As the men began to make their way down to the plane, I heard them speculate about me.
“Where do you think that fellow and Georges disappeared to?”
“He probably forced Georges to take him down to one of the rafts so he could get back to the mainland.”
I stayed where I was, watching until they reached the edge of the island, got into one of the rafts there, and paddled out to the plane. I didn’t feel safe until they were aboard, and the plane had taken off and disappeared to the north.
I hoped they wouldn’t discover that almost all the money was missing until they had reached their destination. By that point, it would be dangerous for them to return since they couldn’t be sure I hadn’t reached the mainland to bring back the authorities. I was still no closer to solving the case, but at least, I had managed to thwart their plans.
Twelve
The moon set soon after the plane left. It was now so dark that I could scarcely see my hand in front of my face. I tried to find the croupiers body where I had left it in the brush, but that proved to be an impossible task in the darkness. As much as I disliked die idea of spending die night on that island infested with rats, I knew it would be too risky in the darkness to try to make my way to the edge of the shore to look for one of the rubber rafts. I decided to return to the cave where a couple of the torches that the men had set up were still burning.
As I returned to die cave, I gathered up an armful of dry brush along the way and carried it back with me. I fed the dry brush into the flaming torches until there was a low flame as I sat huddled up at die entrance. It was the only way I could keep the swarming rats at bay, but I could still see their eyes gleaming in the firelight beyond the cave. I kept my Luger in my hand, and although I was tired, I didn’t dare doze off for fear that the rats would grow bold and attack.
It seemed like an endless time before dawn finally came. I was up on my feet and preparing to make my way down to the water with the first light. I checked to make sure the money was still safely buttoned up inside my shirt, and then, carrying a burning torch to keep the rats away, I set out. Before I started down the side of the island, however, I checked in the brush to find the croupier’s body. I didn’t find the corpse. There was only his skeleton with the bones picked clean. The rats had been at work in the dark.
I turned hastily away and hurried down through the brush while the rats scurried out of my way before me. I had just reached the edge of the island and had started to search for one of the rafts when I heard a humming sound from the water. When I looked, I saw a large white cruiser circling about a quarter of a mile away. At first I thought the men from the night before had returned to try to find me and the money, but when I took a closer cool, I saw that the cruiser was the police boat from Monaco. I quickly fired several shots into the air from the Luger.
The cruiser heard my signal and immediately veered toward the shore. When it dropped anchor, three men lowered a dinghy and rowed in to get me. I was surprised to see that one of the men was Chiclet. How had he known where to look for me?
“Well,” Chiclet greeted me, “you’ve turned up alive after all. We had almost given you up for lost. Tell me, what happened?”
I gave him a quick summary of the events and showed him the money I recovered. Before we left the island, we went back up the rocks and brought the croupier’s skeleton down to the dinghy. Then we cast off, leaving Satane Roc to the rodent colony.
When we were aboard the cruiser, headed back to Monaco, Chiclet told me how he had found me. “Before you and Marcel took off in the helicopter yesterday,” he said, “I placed a beeper on the copter’s tail. I’ve been receiving a signal ever since you took off. When you didn’t return by nightfall, I alerted the police and asked to have the boat standing by at dawn. We followed the signal from the beeper, and it led us to this
point just off the island where we found the helicopter underwater. The beeper still works. But I must say I was afraid you were dead when I realized the helicopter had gone into the sea.”
“I’m sorry about Marcel,” I told Chiclet. “He was a good pilot and a brave man.”
Chiclet nodded. “I’m sorry, too. But he knew the risks just as we all do.”
When we reached Monte Carlo, Chiclet made arrangements to return the money to the casino while I made another overseas call to Hawk on a scrambled wire from his office. I told Hawk what had happened and how I had recovered the money.
“Well,” Hawk said more heartily than I think he felt, “at least everything didn’t go against us. If the pattern continues as it has in the past, it probably won’t be long before there’s a new development. And Nick—”
“Yes sir?” I asked.
“I want you to take it easy for a day or two, get some rest.” He paused and added gruffly, “That’s an order. I’ll be in touch with you.”
Before I could answer, he hung up.
The police had already transferred the croupier’s remains to the local morgue and the money was on its way back to the casino. There was nothing more for me to do at the AXE office. I told Chiclet that I was going back to the hotel to sleep.
Elsa was waiting for me in my suite when I arrived. At first she pretended to be angry with me, but when she noticed how exhausted I looked, her mock petulance turned to sympathetic concern.
“Poor Dumplink,” she cooed, “you look a terrible sight. What have you been doing?”
“It was an all-night business session,” I told her, as I removed my jacket and tie. “And now I need a good hot shower and a long sleep.”
“Of course, Dumplink,” she said. “You get undressed. I’ll start the shower for you.”
Before I could protest, she had disappeared into the bath and turned on the shower.
By the time I had changed into my robe the bathroom was full of steam. Elsa emerged, pink-cheeked, pushed me in the shower, and closed the door.