The Money Stones

by Ian St. James

  'Champagne for Mike please, Albert.' Hallsworth might have been speaking to a child. 'Answer the door, Pamela, there's a good girl.'

  Jean and I sat on the sofa, while Albert filled the glass from an open bottle.

  'He said it was a surprise.' Jean's voice was barely a frightened whisper. 'A celebration. For us. Then that other man arrived - with her.'

  I put an arm across her shoulders and watched Hallsworth, conscious that he had called Sue 'Pamela' and grappling with the significance of it.

  'So?' I said. 'True colours at last.'

  But any reply Hallsworth might have made was cut short by the arrival of Pepalasis who almost wrenched the door from its hinges in his hurry. Sue followed him in, a pace behind, her face as worried as his. His gaze flickered briefly from Jean to me and on to Hallsworth. 'Why are we meeting here?' Temper blazed in his voice. 'This is madness. I could hardly believe your message -'

  'Mike and Jean have been to Malta,' Hallsworth interrupted. To the Dragon's Lair. Asking questions. Putting two and two together and making four.'

  Pepalasis stifled an oath and turned accusing eyes at me. 'An accountant's mentality, I'm afraid.' I faked the confidence which I lacked, and added, 'Making things add up.' I let that sink in and then asked: 'Where's Frascari by the way?'

  Pepalasis plunged a hand into his jacket pocket and I could hear the kombolois clicking even before he withdrew them. Sue's eyes rounded and Hallsworth almost dropped his glass. Their surprise really was most gratifying and I used their silence as an opportunity to counter-attack. 'Perhaps I'm not the idiot you've all taken me for. The dream's finished. This is the one con job you're not going to get away with.'

  'Get away with what, exactly?' Hallsworth recovered first.

  For the obvious reason that I did not know I turned to things I did. 'The game's over, Hallsworth. I've got it all. The meetings in Malta. That girl there - Sue, Pamela, whatever you call her - phoning from Barmouth that time for you to burgle this place.' Nerves wagged my tongue. 'And you had me followed, didn't you? And staged that beating up in the Dorchester. You all the time. What was it supposed to do? Chivvy me up to put the cash together?'

  'Well, it didn't take you long, did it?' He might have been paying me a compliment.

  I looked from face to face and it was as if scales had been lifted from my eyes. I saw them afresh - the smooth playboy, an ageing adventurer, a white-faced girl who was neither as young or pretty as I remember.

  'Come on, Jean.' I tucked a hand under her elbow and pulled myself upright from the sofa. 'Let's get out of here.'

  But Albert moved first, two quick steps, blocking my path like a stone slab in a tomb.

  'Shouldn't you consider your own position?' Hallsworth asked quietly and I heard a threat in his voice.

  'Which is what?'

  'Blow the whistle on us and we'll beat you to it with details of the fifty thousand in your Barclays account.'

  So that was it! I looked at Pepalasis. 'I paid it back.'

  'I forgot about your cheque,' he smiled. 'And never presented it.'

  'That fifty thousand came from here,' Hallsworth added quickly. 'And by the time the books are rearranged it will look uncommonly like embezzlement. Fifty thousand, milked from the day to day running of Townsend and Partner, of which you had sole charge.'

  His sneer of triumph was the last straw. All the worry and the hate and the feeling of betrayal, erupted into action. I launched myself at him, catching a shin on the coffee table as I went over, arms outstretched to grab his lapels, cursing as his knee caught me, momentum carrying me on until one hand made contact with his jacket and gripped hard as my other arm swung in a punch. Then Jean's rising scream as the roof fell in and Albert took over. A huge, chopping blow delivered from behind, his other hand lifting and turning me, backing me to the wall and doubling me with quick punches to the ribs and stomach. I would have fallen, tried to fall, anything to escape the power of those hands, but other punches straightened me, lifting me from the floor as one hand groped for my throat to pin me to the wall. I jerked from outstretched fingers, my watering eyes catching a blurred glimpse of Jean, her mouth opening to scream as Pepalasis swung his arm with a crack like a pistol shot to send her toppling backwards beyond my view. Another punch, expelling every ounce of breath from my lungs, sent me to the floor, fighting for air through a haze of pain before Albert dragged me back to my feet and pushed me contemptuously into a chair. I heard Jean sobbing and Pepalasis shouting at her, the sharp sound of a blow followed by her cry of pain - and then silence, broken by the rasping of my strangulated breath.

  'Come on, we need a meeting with - ' Pepalasis checked himself. 'Leave Albert here with these and -'

  'No.' Hallsworth sounded positive, an order, crisp and businesslike. 'The closer we stick to original plans the better. Get her up, Albert.'

  Her could only mean Jean. Even without seeing the direction of his glance I knew that.

  'Leave her alone!' I started across the room, legs buckling underline, my eyes on Jean, oblivious of all else, not seeing Pepalasis turning, not realising - until the red hot stab of pain as his shoe smashed into my kneecap. I dropped, crawling, dragging the dead leg, desperate to reach Jean first. But we were there together, Albert already pulling her upright, rough fingers at the shoulders of her dress, fabric tearing, the sound joining her cry of protest as she struggled against him.

  'Get him back here,'Hallsworth commanded.

  They came together, two men in a hurry, the Greek trapping my arms from behind as Albert brought his knee up hard into my groin. I think I screamed. I was incapable of thought, writhing and kicking, conscious only of savage pain tearing my body in a blazing merciless ache as they dragged me across to a chair.

  Pepalasis used my own necktie to bind my hands twisting my arm like a child working Plasticine. I glimpsed Jean in a chair opposite me, eyes wide and frightened, the entire lower half of her face covered by Albert's hand.

  It was all over so quickly. A few minutes before I had been confused but still capable of rational thought. Able to speak, make decisions, to reason and to behave like a human being. God, was this all it took? Five minutes? To reduce me to this! Bathed in sweat, twisted with pain, humiliated, afraid.

  A minute passed and predictably it was Hallsworth who broke the silence.

  'Jean, I want you to listen carefully. We shall avoid violence if we can. Believe me, it's not our style. But if you scream, Albert will hit you. Very hard. Understand? Do as you're told and you won't be hurt.' He paused, while Jean's eyes sought mine and I found myself nodding to do as he said. -

  'Very well,' he turned to Albert. 'Release her.'

  Jean sucked air into her lungs and wiped her mouth clean of Albert's grip, while her other hand reached for the shoulder of her torn dress.

  'It suits us best,' Hallsworth spoke to me as normally as he would in a business meeting, 'if things stand as they are. Contracts exchanged on Wednesday as planned. You and Smithers sign for the consortium. Ari collects the bank draft and it's all over.'

  It was incredible! I couldn't believe they still intended to go through with it. 'It's all over now,' I answered bitterly. 'The deal's off. I'll make sure that the consortium never sign.'

  'Never say never,' he said and the threat was back in his voice. 'And I think you'll change your mind. After all, there's nothing illegal about our transaction. Whereas embezzlement? If we release details of that -'

  'You'll do that anyway,' I interrupted, never more sure of anything in all my life.

  'How perceptive of you.'

  'That was the plan, wasn't it? You scream embezzlement - I disappear - presumed skipped the country.'

  'There are many plans.' He smiled, all his confidence back now, the situation well under control. 'An operation like this. Three years is a long time to work for something. Contingency arrangements exist for all manner of things including-'

  'Including me not signing?' I jeered. 'Try planning your way out of t
hat.'

  'We're wasting time,' the Greek complained to Hallsworth. 'We must have a meeting to -'

  'Not yet.' Hallsworth silenced him, then turned back to me. 'I'll tell you once more, it suits us best if you co-operate and-'

  'And I say never!'

  They stared at me, Pepalasis scowling and truculent, Sue white-faced, a vein pulsing at her neck, and Hallsworth as calm as a judge. The loudest noise in the room was the clicking of the Greek's worry beads. Almost a minute passed. Then Hallsworth turned his gaze away from me and looked at Jean.

  'Stand up, Jean, will you please,' he said softly. 'And don't forget my warning about Albert.'

  Jean turned enquiring eyes to me and my brain jammed in a panic of indecision.

  'STAND UP!' Hallsworth shouted suddenly, so that we all jumped.

  Jean stood, one hand still at the torn shoulder of her dress.

  'Now turn around, will you.' His voice lowered to little more than a menacing whisper. 'That's right - right round. And now back again - to face me.

  'No, don't sit down, not yet. Jean, I've never told you before, but you've got a magnificent figure. I've often thought it, of course, but I've never told you. Have I?'

  She blushed, unsure of what was expected of her. Her cheek still bore the imprint of the Greek's hand and her face slowly reddened to cover the mark. The room was suddenly very still.

  'HAVE I?' Hallsworth shouted at her.

  'No - no - you haven't,' her answer was almost a sob.

  'No, I've never told you,' Hallsworth whispered, almost to himself. His dark eyes devoured her and his expression was set and tense. Then, without looking away from Jean, he said: 'Albert, don't you think Jean's got an exciting body?'

  I swung my gaze to Albert, the hairs along the back of my arms and neck rising and alarm knotting my stomach as I watched his eyes widen and a slow greedy smile spread on his face. Hallsworth was still looking at Jean. 'There's only one thing wrong, Albert, isn't there. Too many clothes spoil the view, don't you think?'

  Albert's hands opened and closed with a child's anticipation. It was enough. Tied or not, I was moving, kicking the chair backwards, half rising to my feet. But the Greek had anticipated me, an arm already locking over my neck and snapping my head back until air rasped from my windpipe.

  'Let him go!' Jean was shouting. 'Damn you - ' But even as my head bent backwards I saw Albert grab her, blotting out her words with a huge hand. Seconds later a noose was around my neck and knots jerked into place as my arms were wrenched high up my back. I glimpsed Pepalasis' face, sweat stained above his open shirt as he linked his own tie to mine to truss me like a chicken on a butcher's slab. By the time he had finished any attempt to free my hands jerked my head backwards and my efforts to free my head forced my arms an inch higher up my back.

  'Remember what I said, Jean,' Hallsworth was saying, and I squirmed into a position to see him. 'One sound.'

  He nodded at Albert who removed his hand and took a step backwards, while Jean and I exchanged helpless glances across the three or four yards separating us.

  'Now take your clothes off, Jean,' Hallsworth said. 'All of them.'

  'No!' It was my shout and the edge of the Greek's hand which thudded into my throat to kill the sound of it as Hallsworth continued, 'A word from me, Jean, and Albert will strip you. The choice is yours.'

  I swear before God that there was nothing I could do. Just twist in the chair as my eyes sought hers in an unspoken plea for forgiveness. And never once did she look away.

  'Beautiful,' Hallsworth murmured a minute later. 'Quite enchanting. But I knew you would be. And I did say all your clothes, Jean.'

  He might not have been there for all the notice she took of him. I sensed more than saw her nakedness, filling my consciousness with the blue of her eyes, knowing that to as much as blink would be the biggest act of betrayal of my life.

  But Hallsworth's little drama still had its climax. 'The bedroom's behind you, Albert. Take her there for a while. Play with her if you like. We'll look in later and -'

  Even silk biting deep into my windpipe and Pepalasis fighting hard to hold me down couldn't keep me in that chair. 'Stop it! For Christ's sake -' I was up, then down again as my curiously hunchbacked position toppled me to the floor, conscious only of Jean struggling and kicking as Albert half pulled, half carried her through the doorway.

  Hallsworth stood over me. 'Well? The deal goes ahead?'

  'You bastard! Get that - that animal away from her. D'you hear me? You fucking...?

  'An appropriate word I would imagine - in another minute or two. You're wasting time, Townsend. The deal? On or off?'

  'Anything. Get her back. For the love of-'

  'The deal. Goes ahead. Right?'

  'Right. Get her-'

  But he had gone. I shut my eyes to blot out the memory and listened to Hallsworth shouting commands like a man with a trained dog. And then they were back. Jean wrapped in my old dressing gown, so big on her that she could have camped in it.

  'Nothing happened?' I began as she leaned over me, cradling my head in her arms, her cheeks still wet with tears. She put a finger to my lips, shaking her head, her eyes brimming with tears and trying to smile at the same time.

  'Cut him loose,' Hallsworth said above me. 'I doubt we'll see any more heroics. But a warning, Michael. Albert's been denied a pleasure beyond his wildest dreams. He'll bear you a grudge for that, for the rest of his life.'

  'Or yours,' Pepalasis muttered as he rolled me over to untie the knots.

  Jean helped me to a chair like a nurse guiding a geriatric, whilst I scraped my ribs back together and rubbed the circulation into my wrists. When I was settled, Hallsworth began to dictate the terms of my surrender.

  'Ari, you and Albert will take Jean to - ' he checked himself. 'To where you were going when you got my message.'

  'No!' I snapped. 'Jean gets on a plane and goes home to her family.' I thought about her grizzled old sea dog of a father. He wouldn't thank me much for sending his daughter back to him in such a state but at least she'd be safe.

  'Don't be a fool, Townsend,' Hallsworth said coldly. 'Without her we can't control you. She'll come to no harm. As long as you behave yourself.'

  'How the hell do I know that?'

  He hesitated. 'She'll speak to you. Once a day.'

  'Once a day? For God's sake! How long's this going to last?'

  'Until the agreement's signed. And the money's handed over.'

  'That's Wednesday. Then we go free?'

  'Not immediately.' He glanced quickly at Pepalasis. 'In fact you'll come with us. We'll put you down safely, a few days later, outside the country.'

  The prospect amused Pepalasis enough for him to smile. 'A nice sea voyage. Just what's needed.'

  There was no more argument. Not with Hallsworth rattling out orders and Albert standing a foot away waiting to finish what he had started.

  We collected Jean's clothes and went to the bedroom for her to dress - Albert watching hungrily from the open doorway. I kissed her and a few minutes later she left, walking between Pepalasis and Albert, Sue Ballantyne leading the way, the bedroom door closing as I was locked in. I wondered when I would next see her and for the first time in years found myself saying the Lord's Prayer.

  Two

  Sleep cheated me when it came, the sought-for refuge turning to a chill nightmare, until waking lifted the mists of unconsciousness and my mind ran away to hide, terrified by the discovery that it was all true - real - had happened.

  Something had disturbed me. I held my breath, not daring to move, waiting and wondering. Seven o'clock in the morning, bathed in sweat in my bed in Hill Street after an hour's troubled sleep. Every nerve in my body listening, almost certain that the noise I heard was outside the door. A board creaked and I knew I was right. Someone was in the corridor. Doing as I was - waiting and listening. Then the key turned slowly in the lock, and raw nerves and bruised muscles screamed in unison as I jerked upright. Albert was f
ramed in the open doorway, dressed in the same sweater and slacks as last night, crumpled now from sleeping in them, his greasy hair uncombed, and the lower half of his face dark with stubble. He looked slyly satisfied, like a tiger watching a tethered goat. I wasn't going anywhere and we both knew it. Neither of us spoke. I was in no mood for conversation and he couldn't if he tried. It was one of the things I had found out last night. He was a mute. Or as near being one as makes no difference; with a repertoire of noises, grunts mostly, the deep threatening sounds being the ones to watch for. But he couldn't actually say a word.

  It had been midnight when I had made the discovery, when he returned, alone and seemingly tired from a long journey. Hallsworth had explained the rules to both of us. I was to be locked in my room by night and given the run of the building in the daytime, shadowed by Albert in the flat and Hallsworth in the offices. Outside phone calls were forbidden and incoming ones accepted only with Hallsworth on an extension, ready to break the connection on an ill judged word. That apart, I was to act normally - or try to. Any move to escape, or show of defiance, would be punished by an act of compelling simplicity. They would kill Jean.

  Kidnap may have become a part of everyday life in the seventies, but not part of mine. No newspaper headline ever prepared me for the dreadful hopelessness of it all. The frustrating impotence. The haunting, worrying fear for the safety of a loved one. I was terrified for her safety. And Hallsworth knew it.

  Albert followed me to the bathroom, staying so close that I could smell him. I soaked in the bath for a while, with him squatting on the floor watching me like a trained Doberman waiting to rip my throat out. I ignored him, or at least pretended to, while I splashed in the water and hummed the refrain from 'Chorus Line'. Not a memorable performance but the warmth of the bath eased enough of the ache from my body for my mind to function again.

  My only bit of comfort was the thought that Jean would be safe until morning at least. Whatever they threatened, they wouldn't harm her until the contract was signed. Which gave me twenty-seven hours to find a way out. It was a good thought to start with because there wasn't much to follow. Except the reverse of the coin. Three years to plan, Hallsworth had said. And it could all go wrong in the next twenty-seven hours. Which would make them as jumpy as I was.