1978 - Consider Yourself Dead (11 page)

‘So, okay,’ he said, ‘I don’t have to worry about Marvin.’

He found his mouth was so dry, he took a drink. ‘And Gina?’

‘No problem there,’ Silk said, easing himself back in his chair. ‘She gets returned. She’s been doped. She will know nothing. She’ll be under sedation until she arrives back home. No problem.’

‘Where are you going to keep her until the ransom is paid?’

‘That’s taken care of,’ Silk said. ‘Again no problem.’

‘But where? I want to know,’ Frost persisted.

Silk stared at him. His one eye suddenly went dull, but his glass eye caught the sun coming through the big window, and the glass eye glittered.

‘First things first,’ he said. ‘How are you reacting? From what I’ve spelled out, do you think we can snatch the girl?’

Frost turned the glass of Scotch around and around in his sweating fingers while he thought. Goble began to chew on a lobster tail. Umney, leaning back in his chair, stretched his muscular arms and yawned. Silk, motionless, continued to stare at Frost.

After a long pause, Frost said, ‘Given the breaks, yes. But there are complications. The dogs are a problem. I have a hundred yards walk from my cabin to the guardroom to fix the neutralisers. The dogs could nail me before I reached the guardroom. I also have a problem doping the drinks.’

Silk’s lips moved into a smiling grimace.

‘Those, of course, are the reasons why you earn five million dollars. I picked on you, because you’re smart.’ He sipped his drink, then putting down the glass, he went on, ‘I now ask you, are you in or out?’

Again Frost thought of Marvin. Murder! Then he again thought of owning five million dollars.

He finished his drink, then set down the empty glass.

‘We haven’t talked about the ransom yet,’ he said. ‘To me, that’s the sixty-four thousand dollar question. Convince me I can get five million and spend it in safety, and then I’ll tell you if I’m in or out.’

Silk studied him for a long moment, then he waved his hands towards Umney and Goble.

‘Okay boys, grab some fresh air,’ he said.

Umney got to his feet and moved to the door. Goble grabbed two canapés and followed Umney from the room.

Silk sipped his drink, lit a cigarette, then looked directly at Frost.

‘So we’re on our own,’ he said. ‘This is strictly between you and me. I am doing this job, with or without your help. You ask about the ransom. As you say, this is the sixty-four thousand dollar question. Before I even began to make plans to snatch this girl, I solved that question. What is the use of getting twenty million dollars if you can’t spend it? I’ve now got it so fixed we can spend it, and that includes you. If I tell you how I have fixed it, you will have reached the point of no return, as Ross and Mitch have already reached the point of no return. If they lose their nerve and back out, they know I will kill them,’ Silk smiled. ‘I earn my living killing people. Ross and Mitch know that, so you had better know it too. Before I tell you how I have fixed the ransom, I want you to think about what I have told you so far. Now, it is your turn to convince me I’ve picked the right inside man. I will want to know how you will handle the dogs: how you will dope Marvin, Amando and the girl, and how you will neutralise the fence. When you have convinced me you can do all this, and when you have told me you will work with me, then I’ll tell you how I’ve fixed the ransom, and I assure you, I have fixed it.’

Frost hesitated, then shrugged.

‘Well, okay, so I exercise my brain,’ and he pushed back his chair.

‘You do that,’ Silk said. ‘Let’s get the record straight. If you haven’t the brains nor the guts to work with me, you are no good to me, nor to yourself. I am guaranteeing you five million, and I don’t give five million away to a pea-brain. So, Saturday morning you come here and convince me you can handle the dogs, neutralise the fence and dope the drinks. You’ll have to convince me, and I need convincing. So, okay, you convince me. Then you tell me if you opt in or out. If you opt in, you will have passed the point of no return. Then I will tell you how I’ve fixed the ransom, and I guarantee I have fixed it. But if you haven’t the nerve and you opt out, you will leave Paradise City and you will keep your trap shut.’ He tapped the table with his finger. ‘Make no mistake about this: I’m going ahead with this job. I will have to find another guard. It’ll mean waiting, but I’ve waited already. But suppose you think you can pick up some money by going to the cops and talking? Okay, so you go to the cops, and you tell them I’m getting set to snatch the girl.’ Silk stubbed out his cigarette. ‘If you do that, there will be no snatch, but I’ll be in the clear. You have no proof that I am planning the snatch. It’ll be your word against mine. The cops have nothing on me. So I tell them you are crazy in the head, but knowing the cops here, they’ll put a tab on me, so, no snatch, and I’ll lose five million bucks.’ He leaned forward, his one eye glaring at Frost. ‘If you talk to the cops, you won’t live long. There’s no hole anywhere deep enough for you to hide in. Be sure, I’ll come after you. Be very sure of that, and I’ll kill you.’

* * *

Frost spent the remaining two hours before he took over from Marvin, in his cabin, smoking and thinking.

Although he thought of what life would mean to him when he had five million dollars to spend, his main thinking was about Silk. During the short time he had been a detective, he had run into a number of dangerous thugs.

He had also run into a few Mafia hitmen, but none of them compared with Silk. Frost knew Silk was a professional in the top echelon bracket, and he was deadly dangerous. I will guarantee I have fixed the ransom. This, coming from a man of Silk’s calibre, meant, somehow, he had solved the ransom problem, and that meant that if Frost opted in, he would have five million dollars to spend.

He was almost sure that if he opted out, he would never leave Paradise City alive. Silk would never take the risk that he (Frost) might talk. Frost moved uneasily. He would meet with an accident. He was sure of that. So . . . he nodded to himself, he would opt in.

Now, he had problems to solve: how to dope Marvin, Amando and Gina. This was the priority problem. The second problem was how to neutralise the dogs. This also presented difficulties. The neutralising of the fence was easy once Marvin was doped and the dogs out of the way.

Frost realised he would have to collect a lot of information before he could begin to solve these problems. He looked at his strap watch. The time was 19.45: time to go to the guardroom and have dinner with Marvin.

Leaving his cabin, he looked along the narrow path that led past the villa, and to the guardroom. Soon after 21.00, Marvin would release the dogs, and they would be on the prowl. When he had doped Marvin, Frost thought, he would have to leave his cabin around 02.00, walk along this path to the guardroom to neutralise the fence. The walk was roughly sixty yards. One or all the dogs could nail him before he reached the guardroom. He looked upwards. Could he reach the guardroom by climbing a tree, swinging himself on to the villa’s roof and down to the guardroom? He dismissed this thought immediately.

He was no Tarzan, and anyway, there were no over-lapping trees. A problem!

He found Marvin watching the end of a ball game on the box.

‘Hi, Mike.’ Marvin got to his feet and turned off the set. ‘Lousy game. Had a good day?’

‘Swimming,’ Frost said. ‘I’m starved.’ He pulled up a chair and sat at the table. ‘No excitement?’

Marvin shook his head and sat opposite Frost.

‘The excitement will start on Saturday. The Big Shot arrives.’

‘So Old Creepy told me. Tell me about Grandi.’ Frost offered his pack of cigarettes. As the two men lit up, he went on, ‘How do you dig him?’

‘You and I have handled dozens of thugs in our day,’ Marvin said quietly. ‘Grandi is yet another thug, but gold plated. Watch it with him. He likes playing God. Don’t imagine because he gives you the big hello, he has taken a liking for you. I would rather deal with Old Creepy than Grandi. At least, you know Old Creepy is hostile. I’ve met Grandi twice, and twice is enough. I know because I’m an ex-cop, he hates cops. So watch it.’

At this moment, Suka came in with the dinner trays.

He sat them down on the table, bowed and went away.

Frost looked at the thick pork chop with onions and french fried potatoes, and whistled.

‘We certainly don’t starve here. Tell me about Suka, Jack.’ He began to cut into the chop. ‘He never seems to stop working.’ Frost was now probing for information. ‘Does he sleep here?’

‘Suka’s special. He looks after us, Gina, Amando and the dogs. No, he doesn’t sleep in the villa. He has a cabin around the back by the lagoon. He packs up around 23.00, and he starts work at 07.30. He’s the only resident servant here. The rest of the staff leave before I release the dogs. They all live outside the estate.’

‘There’s no night staff then?’

‘For what?’ Marvin slapped mustard on his chop. ‘The girl goes to bed around 22.00. Amando goes to his room around the same time. They don’t need anything. But it’s different when Grandi arrives. The whole staff are on duty until he goes to bed which is around 02.00. They love him! To get the staff home, I have to recall the dogs.’

Marvin shrugged. ‘He doesn’t often come, and he doesn’t stay long. He’ll be off on Monday morning, and then everyone can relax.’

Frost now had some information, and knowing Marvin was an ex-cop, he decided it would be unsafe to probe further.

Then he felt a sudden cold chill run up his spine as he looked across the table at Marvin’s relaxed, friendly face. This man was going to be murdered! Then he forced himself to think of the money he was going to pick up. Five million! Why the hell should he care about Marvin?

The food had become dry in his mouth. He forced himself to eat while his mind continued to be active.

‘Have you got a girl, Jack?’ he said, chewing hard.

‘I’ve got something better than that,’ Marvin said with an expansive grin. ‘I’ve got a son.’

For the next ten minutes while they finished their dinner, Frost was subjected to a glowing eulogy of Marvin’s son. According to Marvin, there had never been such a bright, smart phenomenon as Marvin junior. And as he listened, seeing the pride and happiness on Marvin’s face, he knew now why Silk had said Marvin would cooperate.

‘Who wants a woman when I’m so goddamn lucky to have a son like that?’ Marvin concluded. ‘I spend every hour when I’m off duty with him. I’ve got him well fixed. When the kid was born, my goddamn wife wouldn’t take care of him. All she thought about was movies, farting around, having what she called a good time. So I hired an old black mamma, and she is great! She takes care of the kid. I wouldn’t want for anyone better!’

‘Yeah,’ Frost said, pushing aside his plate. ‘You’re lucky. When you have a kid like that . . .’

‘I know it.’ Marvin got to his feet. ‘Time I got rid of the staff and let the dogs loose.’

‘You feed them, Jack?’

‘Suka does it. He has a way with dogs. He’s feeding them now.’

‘Well, so long. Happy dreams.’

When Marvin had gone, Frost sat before the monitors.

This day was Thursday. He had two more night duties.

On Saturday, he would have to see Silk again. By Saturday, he would have to come up with the solution of his problems.

He heard Suka come in to collect the tray and he looked around.

‘Fine meal, Suka,’ he said.

The Japanese paused and regarded him, his face expressionless.

Frost studied him. Instinct warned him that this little man with his wooden face could be dangerous.

‘I forgot to thank you for keeping guard, Suka,’ he went on. ‘You and I must try to keep Miss Gina happy.’

Suka inclined his head, stared for a long moment at Frost, and then left the room.

Frost grimaced, then shrugged, but again told himself that Suka could be yet another problem.

Now to see if he could solve his problems.

How was he going to dope Amando? This was the sixty-four thousand dollar question. The more he thought about it, the more complex the problem became. He had no information about Amando’s habits. On the night that Gina was to be snatched, Amando might be away on a business trip: he might be at the villa: he might . . . God knew!

Frost rubbed his sweating jaw. A problem! He sat staring at the monitors and watched the dogs, sniffing around the trees. He thought of the moment when he would have to set off for the guardroom to neutralise the fence and he studied the dogs. . . all killers!

Hell! he thought, have I problems!

It wasn’t until after midnight that an idea suddenly occurred to him. He did have some information about Amando, and he had forgotten about it up to this moment!

His heart beating with excitement, he snatched up the telephone receiver and dialled the Spanish Bay hotel. In a minute or so, he was connected with Marcia.

‘No talk, honey,’ he said, keeping his voice low. ‘Just say yes or no. Does Amando still come to you Saturdays?’

‘Yes.’

‘First Saturday in the month?’

‘Yes.’

‘What time?’

‘Nine evening.’

‘Does he take a drink?’

‘Yes.’

‘Okay, honey,’ and Frost hung up.

The first problem solved!

Now the dogs.

He got to his feet and once again examined the control panel. He concentrated on the button that activated the silent whistle that recalled the dogs to their compound.

If he could fix this, so when Marvin was doped, the whistle would get the dogs back into their compound, then the second problem would be solved. He knew nothing about electronics. He then remembered Umney had talked to the man who had fixed the alarm panel. Frost nodded to himself. Umney would have to talk to this guy again and find out how he (Frost) could fix the whistle button even if it meant twisting the guy’s arm. Maybe this would be the second problem solved.

But how was he to dope Gina?

As he thought about this, he realised that she presented a dangerous problem. When she came out of sedation after her release, she must not have any suspicion that he had engineered her kidnapping. She was an unknown quantity to him, but he had an instinctive feeling that she would throw him to the cops if she had the slightest suspicion he had been behind her kidnapping.