Pursuit of Arms by Gerald Hammond

Author:Gerald Hammond [Hammond, Gerald]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Endeavour Media
Published: 2018-07-25T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nine

“This is a judgment on me,” Keith said hoarsely. “It’s my fault for getting involved. You’re always telling me not to, and now I’ve done it once too often and brought this on us.”

He felt Molly shaking him gently. “I told you to get involved,” she said. “If it’s anybody’s fault it’s mine. So stop thinking about whose fault it is. We couldn’t have stood by and done nothing when something so terrible had happened close to us. Are we going to call the police?”

“Have they really got her?”

“They sent the hair ribbon which she had on this morning.”

Keith opened his eyes. He had stopped shaking. He found himself looking into Molly’s eyes, which were wet with tears. In them he saw his own reflection and more. He could see that although she was at the limit of her strength she would hold up until the crisis was past. Then, he thought, they could crack up together.

“No police,” he said. “You saw what they wrote. We can’t take any chances. We’ll have to do what they say.”

She was still in the circle of his arms, but she held his lapels and shook him again. “You’re not thinking.”

“I know,” he said. “My mind’s gone numb.”

“You must think,” she said. “If we ever needed your mind, it’s now.” She broke out of his clasp and stood up. Standing behind him, she began to rub his neck muscles in just the way which she knew relaxed him. She was clumsy, and he could feel shudders coming though her fingers. “I heard what that man York told you last night,” she said. “These people have gone so far that now they’ll kill at the least sign of danger. Do you think they’d really let us have Deborah alive once she’s been in their hands, seen their faces and heard them talking?”

“If we paid the money . . .”

“No,” Molly said firmly. “They’d take the money if they thought they could get away with it, and they’d keep her alive until then. But once they had it they’d kill her and whoever brought the money as well. No, Keith, if we want to see her . . . alive . . . again, we’ve got to do something or let the police do it.”

“No police,” Keith said again. “Just Munro.” And hearing his own voice uttering one firm decision, he knew that he had accepted the unacceptable as a fact and was ready to wrestle with it. As both Munro and York had reminded him, he had faced such challenges in the past and had triumphed without the help of the police or even despite their active opposition. But this time, it mattered. This time, it was essential that he prevailed. And his heart sank, because every gambler knows that when he must win, that is the time when he will lose.

Keith pushed the thought aside. Already his mind was racing.

“Could Paul York help?” Molly asked.

“Maybe, but not yet. I think he’s Special Branch.”

“He’s what?” Molly said.

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