She returned to the kitchen and O’More laughed.
‘You’ve taken ten years off me already.’
‘Don’t speak too soon.’ Rogan walked to the window and looked out at the rain. ‘Soames and Jack Pope, how much are they mixed up in this thing?’
‘They aren’t/ Colum said. ‘They were paid in advance for their part. As far as I’m concerned, they don’t even know where we are or what we’re doing. I’ve seen Soames in person once. Pope I only know from a photograph. Since then I’ve used the Kendal accommodation address in the name of Charles Grant. I’ve covered my tracks
every step of the way. That’s why I decided to use Hannah as a go-between. Even her uncle doesn’t know about this place.’
‘I didn’t like the way Pope was playing things. The night I crashed out, after I left, I parked the car down the road and went back on foot. He and Soames had their heads together in the living room of the cottage.’
The old man frowned. ‘So what?’
‘Jack Pope’s in Ambleside now. He’s already been in contact with Morgan. Hannah overheard him and Fletcher talking about it. From what she said, her uncle’s in it up to the tide mark on his dirty neck.’
‘The lousy bastards,’ the old man said. ‘They’ve sold me out.’
‘You let Soames recruit them for you. The link was there from the start. How much have Morgan and Fletcher had already?’
‘Five hundred each. The rest to be paid out two weeks after the job’s finished, through a man I know in Liverpool.’
Rogan shook his head. ‘Not enough, Colum. These men are professionals. When they work for wages they expect half in advance, half after the job’s finished. You should have smelt a rat the minute they said they were willing to accept such a small advance.’
‘And how would I be knowing that?’ Colum O’More demanded angrily. ‘When have I needed to work with riffraff like this before?’
‘No cause for alarm.’ Rogan held up a hand and smiled coldly. ‘This thing is beginning to interest me.’
‘And me, too, by God.’
The old man leaned across to the table, opened a diawer and produced a heavy Colt automatic of the type used by American officers during the war. He tossed it across.
Rogan caught it deftly, extracted the magazine, checked it, then rammed it back into the butt. ‘A long time since I handled one of these.’
‘I’m not suggesting you leave any corpses around when you’ve finished, but it might come in handy,’ the old man said. ‘When do you think they’ll make their move?’
‘At the farm after the job’s finished. If they tried anything earlier, they might really mess things up. I don’t think Morgan’s that stupid.’
Colum cursed and slammed his hand hard against his> bad leg. ‘I have to sit here, crippled and useless and you alone.’ –
‘There’s always Hannah. At least I can rely on her.’ Rogan got to his feet. ‘Don’t worry, Colum, there’s always a certain strength in knowing the opposition for what it is.’
Hannah came in from the kitchen, belting her raincoat. ‘Are you ready?’
‘As ever was.’ Rogan punched the old man heavily on the shoulder. ‘Every tinker to his own trade, Colum, and this is mine. The one thing I had a talent for.’
He went outside. It was raining heavily and he ran across the yard, scrambled into the shooting brake and switched on the radio. It was almost half past the hour and a few moments later, the news headlines came on. As he was listening, Hannah opened the other door and got behind the wheel.
There was a political crisis in the Far East, car workers were on strike again and the Opposition seriously disagreed with the Government’s policy towards immigration. The final item was a brief mention of the fact that Rogan was still at large, that the moor was being combed thoroughly and that the Chief Constable confidently expected his early recapture.
Rogan switched off and turned with a slight smile. ‘So far, so good Let’s get back to the farm.’
She moved into gear and took the brake back along the rutted track towards the main road.