“Have you told Kytros?”
She shook her head. “Apparently he went out just before I arrived.”
Lomax got to his feet slowly, an unpleasant, crawling sensation in the pit of his stomach. “Things don’t look so good, do they?”
“There are forty or fifty men waiting in the street outside,” she said. “And more arriving every minute.”
He slumped down on to the bed again, his mouth suddenly dry, and she took an automatic out of the pocket of her sheepskin jacket and handed it to him.
“I’m afraid it’s rather old, but it’s the best I could do.”
His hand tightened over the worn butt and he frowned. “Are you suggesting I use this?”
“Is Dimitri Paros worth dying for?”
It was in that moment, knowing that she too believed he had killed Paros, that he realised just how hopeless the position was if he stayed.
“What have you got in mind?” he said. “Even if I overpower Stavrou, I can’t just walk out of the front door. Is there a rear entrance?”
“Only a walled yard and others beyond that until finally you reach a narrow alley that brings you out further along the waterfront. I’ll be waiting with the jeep by the town hall.”
“It’s dark, remember,” he said. “I could easily lose my way.”
She shook her head. “Not with Yanni to guide you. He’s out there now.”
“Then what happens?”
“Oliver and I have arranged things between us,” she told him calmly. “All I have to do is get you to the villa. He’ll have the launch ready for sea. You can be in Turkey in twelve hours. It’s all quite simple, really.”
For a moment he was going to tell her that nothing was ever that easy hi hie, that there was no place on top of earth where a murderer could run for cover, but there was no time. A step sounded hi the corridor and the key turned in the lock.
Lomax started to get to his feet and Katina caught hold of his sleeve. “Don’t hurt him,” she whispered. “He’s a good man.”
He nodded briefly and waited, the automatic held against his thigh. The door swung back against the wall and Stavrou came in.
“I’m sorry, Katina,” he said. “You’ll have to go now. If Kytros finds you here there’ll be hell to pay.”
In the same moment he turned to Lomax and looked into the barrel of the gun. His face turned pale and then his shoulders sagged. Quite suddenly, he seemed to have aged ten years.
He turned again to Katina and said bitterly, “You bitch. I’ll lose my job over this.”
“Do as I say and you won’t get hurt,” Lomax said. “Take off your tie and belt and lie face down on the bed.”
Stavrou complied reluctantly and Lomax handed the gun to Katina and tied the man’s wrists and ankles. For a gag, he used her headscarf.
They moved outside and he locked the cell and followed her through into the office. At the door, she paused and looked up at him without speaking. He held her hand tightly for a moment and then she went out and he locked the door behind her.
When he glanced through the slats of the shutters he could see the crowd scattered along the street in groups. He heard the voices and recognised the menace. Here were the beginnings of a mob. All they needed was a leader, someone with the courage to take them inside. He had an idea it wouldn’t be long before one turned up.
He watched Katina drive away and then went along the corridor to the rear door. It was secured by two rusty bolts and he pulled them back with some difficulty and tried to open it. It still refused to budge and he slipped the automatic into his hip-pocket and worked his way through the half-dozen keys on the ring. The fourth one did the trick and he opened the door and moved cautiously ouside.
It was very still and he stood there for a moment waiting for his eyes to become accustomed to the dark before going forward.
The wall was perhaps twelve feet high. As he paused and looked up at it, a stone rattled under a shoe and Yanni appeared at his side.