leaking blood through a hole, but it’s minor and not fatal. And he might
have a headache – but why should you care about that?’
‘Why, indeed?’ Kennikin stood up. ‘I think I can go along with you on
this, but I’d like to think about it a little more.’
‘Not for too long,’ I said warningly. ‘Remember the time limit.’
Elin said, ‘Have you real y captured Slade?’
I stared at her, trying to pass an unspoken message and hoping to God
she didn’t let me down. ‘Yes. Our friends are taking care of him –
Valtyr is in charge.’
‘Valtyr!’ She nodded. ‘He’s big enough to handle anyone.’
I switched my eyes back to Kennikin and tried not to show too much
relief at the way Elin had played that one. ‘Buck it up, Vaslav,’ I
said. ‘Time’s a-wasting.’
He came to the decision quickly. ‘Very wel , it shal be as you say.’ He
looked at his watch. ‘I also shal lay down a time limit. If there is no
telephone cal within two hours then you wil die regardless of what may
happen to Slade.’ He swung on his heel and faced Elin. ‘Remember that,
Elin Ragnarsdottir.’
‘There’s just one thing,’ I said. ‘I’l have to talk to Elin before she
leaves to tel her where to find Valtyr. She doesn’t know, you see.’
‘Then you’l do it in my hearing.’
I gave him a pained look. ‘Don’t be an idiot. You’d know as much as I
do, and that might be unwise. You’d know where Slade is and you might be
tempted to get him out. And where would that leave me?’ I stood
cautiously. ‘I talk to Elin privately or not at al . It’s another
stalemate, Vaslav, but I’m sure you understand that I have to look out
for my own skin.’
‘Yes, I’m sure you do,’ he said contemptuously. He gestured with the
gun. ‘You may talk in the corner, but I remain in the room.’
‘Fair enough.’ I jerked my head at Elin and we walked over to the
corner. I stood with my back to Kennikin because, for al I knew,
lip-reading in six languages might have been one of his minor talents.
Elin whispered, ‘Have you real y got Slade?’
‘Yes, but Valtyr doesn’t know about it, nor anyone else. I’ve sold
Kennikin a credible story but not the true one. But I /have/ got Slade.’
She put her hand to my chest. ‘They took me so quickly,’ she said. ‘I
couldn’t do anything. I was afraid, Alan.’
‘That doesn’t matter now,’ I said. ‘You’re going to walk out of here,
and this is how you do it. You . . .’
‘But you are staying.’ There was pain in her eyes.
‘I won’t be staying long if you do as I say. Listen careful y. You’l
leave here, walk up to the road and turn left. About half a mile along
you’l come to a big dreamboat of an American car. Whatever you do,
don’t open the boot. Just climb into it and go like a bat out of hel to
Keflavik. Got that?’
She nodded. ‘What do I do there?’
‘See Lee Nordlinger. Raise a storm and demand to see a CIA agent. Lee
and everyone else wil deny having such an article on the premises, but
if you persist long enough they’l dig one up. You can tel Lee it’s
about the gadget he tested; that might help. Tel the CIA man the whole
story and then tel him to open the boot of the car.’ I grinned wryly.
‘But don’t cal it the boot or he won’t know what the hel you’re
talking about. Cal it the trunk.’
‘So what is in there?’
‘Slade,’ I said.
She stared at me. ‘He’s /here!/ Just outside this house!’
‘It was al I could do at short notice,’ I said. ‘I had to act quickly.’
‘But what about you?’
‘Get the CIA man to make the telephone cal . You’l have just on two
hours from the time you leave here, so you’l have to be bloody
persuasive. If you can’t do it in time or if the CIA man won’t be
persuaded, then make the cal yourself and spin Kennikin some kind of
yarn. Set up a meeting to exchange me for Slade. It might be phoney but
it wil buy me time.’
‘What if the Americans won’t believe me?’
‘Tel them you know about Fleet and McCarthy. Tel them you’l give it
to the Icelandic newspapers. That should produce some kind of reaction.
Oh, yes; and tel them that al your friends know exactly where you are
– just as insurance.’ I was trying to cover al the possibilities.
She closed her eyes briefly as she memorized her instructions. When she
opened them, she asked, ‘Is Slade alive?’
‘Of course he is. I told Kennikin the truth about that. He’s damaged but
alive.’
She said, ‘I was thinking the CIA might believe Slade rather than me. He
might even know the CIA people at Keflavik.’
‘I know,’ I said. ‘But we have to take that risk. That’s why you must
tel the whole story before producing Slade. Get your oar in first. If
you pitch it real y hot they won’t just let him walk out.’
She didn’t seem too happy about that, and neither was I, but it was the
best we could do. I said, ‘Make it fast, but not so fast that you have
an accident in that car.’ I put my hand under her chin and tipped her
head up. ‘Everything wil be al right. You’l see.’
She blinked rapidly. ‘There’s something you must know. That gun you gave
me ? I’ve stil got it.’
It was my turn to blink. /’What!’/ ‘They didn’t search me. I have it on
me – in the holster under this anorak.’
I looked at her. Her anorak was admittedly very loose and no sign of the
gun was visible. Someone had slipped. It was unlikely that an Icelandic
girl would be armed, but even so it was bad workmanship. No wonder
Kennikin went off pop periodical y about the quality of his team. Elin
said, ‘Can I pass it to you safely?’
‘Not a chance,’ I said regretful y, aware of Kennikin at my back. He
would be watching like a hawk, and a Smith and Wesson .38 pistol isn’t
something you can palm in your hand like a playing-card. ‘You’d better
keep it. Who knows, you might need it.’
I put my hand on her good shoulder and drew her towards me. Her lips
were cold and hard under mine, and she trembled slightly. I drew back my
head, and said, ‘You’d better go,’ and turned to face Kennikin.
‘Very touching,’ he said.
‘There’s one thing,’ I said. ‘Your time limit is too short. Two hours
isn’t enough.’
‘It wil have to do,’ he said uncompromisingly.
‘Be reasonable, Vaslav. She has to drive through Reykjavik. The day is
getting on and by the time she reaches town it wil be just after five
o’clock – right in the middle of the rush hour when people are going
home. You wouldn’t want to lose Slade because of a traffic jam, would you?’
‘You’re not thinking of Slade,’ he said. ‘You’re thinking of yourself.
You’re thinking of the bullet in your head.’
‘Maybe I am, but you’d better think of Slade because if I’m dead then so
is he.’
He nodded shortly, ‘Three hours,’ he said. ‘Not a minute more.’
Kennikin was a logical man and susceptible to a reasoned argument. I had
won Elin another hour in which to convince the top brass at Keflavik.
‘She goes alone,’ I said. ‘No one follows her.’
‘That is understood.’
‘Then give her the telephone number she is to cal . It would be a pity
if she walked out without it.’
Kennikin took out a notebook and scribbled down a number, then ripped
out the sheet and gave it to her. ‘No tricks,’ he said. ‘Especial y no
police. If there is an undue number of strangers around here, then he
dies. You’d better know that I mean it.’
In a colourless voice she said, ‘I understand. There wil be no tricks.’
She looked at me and there was something in her eyes that made my heart
turn over, and then Kennikin took her by the elbow and led her to the
door. A minute later I saw her through the window, walking away from the
house up towards the road.
Kennikin returned. ‘We’l put you somewhere safe,’ he said, and jerked
his head at the man who held a gun on me. I was led upstairs and into an
empty room. Kennikin surveyed the bare wal s and shook his head sadly.
‘They did these things so much better in medieval times,’ he said.
I was in no mood for light conversation but I played along with him. I