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Authors: Kate Furnivall
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that —’
Dodie opened her eyes.
‘Ah, Miss Wyatt, I see you are with us again.’
Slowly Dodie raised her head. It felt as if a jack-hammer was at work in it. She tried to brush her wet hair from its sprawl over her face but her hand wouldn’t come, and she jerked round to find her right wrist handcuffed to Ella’s left wrist. Worse was that they were both attached to a brass rail behind them at shoulder level.
‘You bastard! You murderer!’
‘Enough of that, Miss Wyatt. No good yelling. We’re in the middle of the ocean.’
‘Just let us go.’
‘Now why would I do that? You are proving too dangerous. I should have had my boys finish you off before, but I didn’t want to draw attention to you. It would have had even our sleepy police asking awkward questions if you had turned up dead right after Morrell did. But nice of you to drop in to see us.’ He was standing back against the wooden wall opposite, his grey eyes inspecting her coldly. ‘Interesting dress code.’
She was almost naked. It hadn’t seemed to matter till then, but now her skin flushed uncomfortably.
‘Give her something, Hector!’ Ella had somehow found her diplomat’s wife voice.
With a shrug he unlatched a drawer next to him and threw Dodie a flowered beach sarong that must have belonged to his wife. ‘Here, you might as well be decent when they find you dead.’
Dodie draped it over herself and with Ella’s help tied the knot.
‘Why don’t you just shoot us and get it over with?’ Ella demanded bitterly.
‘Ah, my dear Ella, I really hate to shoot a woman.’
‘Easier to dump us at sea. Is that the plan?’
‘Something like that. Or leave you here on the boat to die of thirst.’
‘What about Tilly? How can you do this to her? She’ll find out, you know she will. She’ll discover what you’ve done to Dan and to us and report you to —’
‘Detective Calder, I admit, is more of a problem.’ Hector glared at Ella as if she were to blame for that. ‘The police don’t like to lose one of their own.’
‘Goddamn you to hell for this.’
‘There’s no such thing as hell, Miss Wyatt. Only this world and what we have in it. I was just doing a deal to make a lot of money. That’s all. Nothing wrong with that. Then came the all-hail Sir Harry Oakes.’ Hector’s face stiffened as he said the name. ‘He believed that this island was his fiefdom and he should decide what did or didn’t go on here.’
‘Hector,’ Ella said, ‘no normal person kills a man for spoiling a deal.’ Her voice was husky from the tears she’d shed for Dan. ‘Let Dodie go, please.’ Her face was looking gaunt and desolate.
‘Tell us,’ Dodie said, ‘what happened?’
He was never going to let them go, she knew that. But if she could keep him talking, the more time that passed, the more she could gather the parts of her head together and come up with ideas.
Hector pushed himself off the wall and lit a cigarette. ‘Christie and I have a good deal going. We are buying Portman Cay from Oakes and developing it into a centre of luxury hotels and a casino for tourists after the war. This war has widened ordinary people’s horizons like never before and they’re going to want more. It can’t fail. Of course the mob wanted to be in on it. They’re paying for the development but we have to put up money too. Big money.’
‘What about the no-gambling laws?’
Hector gave Dodie a sly smile. ‘The Duke is in on it. He’ll make sure the law is changed. That bastard Oakes loaned us millions. He backed us to the hilt till we were both in over our heads and then he pulled the bloody rug from under us.’
‘What?’
‘He called in the loans. I’d have gone bankrupt, Christie too, and we all know the one thing you don’t do is owe the mob money, if you want to keep out of a concrete grave.’ He wiped sweat from his neck. It was very hot down in the small claustrophobic space.
Dodie asked for a drink.
‘No.’
‘Ella
Dodie opened her eyes.
‘Ah, Miss Wyatt, I see you are with us again.’
Slowly Dodie raised her head. It felt as if a jack-hammer was at work in it. She tried to brush her wet hair from its sprawl over her face but her hand wouldn’t come, and she jerked round to find her right wrist handcuffed to Ella’s left wrist. Worse was that they were both attached to a brass rail behind them at shoulder level.
‘You bastard! You murderer!’
‘Enough of that, Miss Wyatt. No good yelling. We’re in the middle of the ocean.’
‘Just let us go.’
‘Now why would I do that? You are proving too dangerous. I should have had my boys finish you off before, but I didn’t want to draw attention to you. It would have had even our sleepy police asking awkward questions if you had turned up dead right after Morrell did. But nice of you to drop in to see us.’ He was standing back against the wooden wall opposite, his grey eyes inspecting her coldly. ‘Interesting dress code.’
She was almost naked. It hadn’t seemed to matter till then, but now her skin flushed uncomfortably.
‘Give her something, Hector!’ Ella had somehow found her diplomat’s wife voice.
With a shrug he unlatched a drawer next to him and threw Dodie a flowered beach sarong that must have belonged to his wife. ‘Here, you might as well be decent when they find you dead.’
Dodie draped it over herself and with Ella’s help tied the knot.
‘Why don’t you just shoot us and get it over with?’ Ella demanded bitterly.
‘Ah, my dear Ella, I really hate to shoot a woman.’
‘Easier to dump us at sea. Is that the plan?’
‘Something like that. Or leave you here on the boat to die of thirst.’
‘What about Tilly? How can you do this to her? She’ll find out, you know she will. She’ll discover what you’ve done to Dan and to us and report you to —’
‘Detective Calder, I admit, is more of a problem.’ Hector glared at Ella as if she were to blame for that. ‘The police don’t like to lose one of their own.’
‘Goddamn you to hell for this.’
‘There’s no such thing as hell, Miss Wyatt. Only this world and what we have in it. I was just doing a deal to make a lot of money. That’s all. Nothing wrong with that. Then came the all-hail Sir Harry Oakes.’ Hector’s face stiffened as he said the name. ‘He believed that this island was his fiefdom and he should decide what did or didn’t go on here.’
‘Hector,’ Ella said, ‘no normal person kills a man for spoiling a deal.’ Her voice was husky from the tears she’d shed for Dan. ‘Let Dodie go, please.’ Her face was looking gaunt and desolate.
‘Tell us,’ Dodie said, ‘what happened?’
He was never going to let them go, she knew that. But if she could keep him talking, the more time that passed, the more she could gather the parts of her head together and come up with ideas.
Hector pushed himself off the wall and lit a cigarette. ‘Christie and I have a good deal going. We are buying Portman Cay from Oakes and developing it into a centre of luxury hotels and a casino for tourists after the war. This war has widened ordinary people’s horizons like never before and they’re going to want more. It can’t fail. Of course the mob wanted to be in on it. They’re paying for the development but we have to put up money too. Big money.’
‘What about the no-gambling laws?’
Hector gave Dodie a sly smile. ‘The Duke is in on it. He’ll make sure the law is changed. That bastard Oakes loaned us millions. He backed us to the hilt till we were both in over our heads and then he pulled the bloody rug from under us.’
‘What?’
‘He called in the loans. I’d have gone bankrupt, Christie too, and we all know the one thing you don’t do is owe the mob money, if you want to keep out of a concrete grave.’ He wiped sweat from his neck. It was very hot down in the small claustrophobic space.
Dodie asked for a drink.
‘No.’
‘Ella
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