Danny Dempsey and the Unlikely Alliance (31 page)

But the USB man, even though taken by surprise, called on all the years of training he'd undergone to make him what he was. As the gun went flying, he had the presence of mind to grab Harrington's ankle and bring him crashing down. Harrington's head hit the ground with a sickening thud, momentarily stunning him. As he lay there dazed, the man jumped to his feet and whipped his hunting knife from its sheath.

He'd learned his lesson. This time, he told himself, get the job done and gloat afterwards. He dropped to his knees and raised the knife to sink the blade to the hilt into Harrington's chest. Less than six inches from its target, the killer found his wrist clamped in a grip of steel as the Superintendent's huge hands closed around it. Try as he did, the man couldn't budge his arm another inch. Then Harrington's fist few up to connect with his chin, despatching him to Dreamland.

‘Thanks, sir,' Harrington said as he slowly got to his feet, feeling the back of his head with tentative fingers.

‘Likewise, I'm sure,' the Superintendent replied, rubbing his chest gingerly. ‘Isn't that what comrades are for? Eh? One good turn and all that.' He glanced at Harrington's first wrestling partner, pleased at what he saw. ‘Nice job, Harrington. Now make the same sort of package of this one.'

Harrington went about tying up the second killer the same way he had the first. He used the man's own belt, bandolier, bootlaces and shirt to bind him, his hands tied behind his back, his ankles securely bound together. Teddy Tattoo would have nodded his head in approval at the job Harrington carried out. Top marks being for having the foresight to remove boots, socks, jackets and trousers, then hiding the lot in the bushes. Now the pair lay face downwards in the grass in their underwear, out to the world, no longer a threat to anyone.

Harrington and the Superintendent were picking up the killer's weapons to rearm themselves for the task ahead, when the armadillo hove into sight. They scooped up a gun and a hunting knife apiece, not having a notion whether what was approaching was friend or foe, prepared to take it on if that was what they had to do. Then they heard Danny's voice coming from somewhere behind it. ‘I hope the Super and Harrington are all right. They disappeared into thin air after all that firing started.'

The Superintendent sighed in relief. ‘Looks like the cavalry have arrived, Harrington, even if it's not the conventional kind.' He raised his voice a few octaves. ‘Over here, Danny! And it wasn't thin air we disappeared into. We just popped behind a tree when the fireworks started.'

L
ily had been watching and listening through a keyhole as Anna and Myles were talking. None of the connecting doors in her section of the house were locked, and she was allowed to wander from one to the other of them as she pleased. She'd heard the front door opening and closing after the gunfire outside had stopped, and hadn't known what to think. She'd listened eagerly to find out more. The man sounded very posh altogether. Lily was used to refined accents and correct speech, but she was still surprised to hear someone talking so grandly in here. She couldn't see the man's face, though she knew that even if she had, for some weird reason, she'd forget what he looked like as soon as he was gone, and she supposed it was probably the ongoing stress of having been kidnapped that was effecting her memory for faces at this stage.

From what she heard, the man was relieved that Anna had returned safely. She wondered if it was the police who'd been doing the shooting. They might have come to rescue her. Perhaps her Daddy hadn't been able to raise enough ransom money to satisfy the kidnappers. It was very frustrating, not knowing what was what. But then the man had told Anna that they might have to make a hasty exit. That bit sounded promising. And he'd mentioned discretion being the better part of valour as well. Lily knew what that meant. They were taught things like that all the time by Miss Collins in English class. But the scary bit had been about
taking care of the girl
and
eliminating the other gentleman
. Lily wasn't sure of what that might mean, but she had a fair idea it didn't bode too well for her safety. Or for the welfare of the other gentleman, whoever he might be.

Lily decided that she'd have to try and discover what the man really meant. As soon as he told Anna to follow him, she waited about ten seconds before she opened the door she'd been eavesdropping behind. She sneaked outside and followed them, her heart in her mouth at the thought of what might happen if one of them looked backwards. But they didn't.

Lily was surprised to shortly find herself in a part of the house she'd never seen before. Earlier, Myles had entered the deserted control room as soon as he'd seen Anna start to run back to the building. He'd engaged the mechanism to slide some of the dividing partitions in the house down into the ground. This gave him direct access from his office to both Matthew Dawson's room and the section Lily was kept in. But Lily wasn't to know this. Nor did she care. She had to try and find out more.

Ahead of her, Anna and the man disappeared around a corner. Lily almost fell as she hurried to keep up. When she reached the corner, she stopped. Then peered around it tentatively. It led to a short corridor. She half expected the man to be waiting there to grab her. But he wasn't. Both Anna and himself had vanished. Lily sneaked up to the door they must have gone through. It was very thick and looked like the entrance to a panic-room or something, with a steel box attached to the front of it. She knew even before she tried to push it open that the door wouldn't budge.

As she was making her way back towards the main entrance to see if Anna might have forgotten to lock it, she found she'd taken a wrong turning. She asked herself how she'd managed that. Or what sort of a house it was that seemed to be changing by the minute. She was about to retrace her steps when she noticed something. A solid mahogany door was staring her straight in the face. There was a key inserted in the lock. She could hardly believe her luck. Even if it wasn't a direct means of escape, at least she could lock herself inside to prevent
being taken care of
. She'd hide herself in there until the police found her.

Matthew Dawson heard the key being turned in the lock. He'd decided that the time for action had arrived, that he was going to do everything he possibly could to assist the police in their rescue bid. After all the shooting outside, he too had come to the same conclusion as Lily that they'd finally discovered the kidnapper's hideout. And the fact that the shooting had stopped so abruptly had made his spirits soar. There was little doubt in his mind that the authorities had won the gun battle. And he was going to do what he could to help them mop up what remained of the gang. There were bound to be a few stragglers still lurking in the house somewhere. Whoever was at the door was probably one of them. More than likely come to finish him off out of pure frustration. Well, if that was the case, Matthew told himself, he was going to go down fighting, old man or not, bad heart or no bad heart.

There were two heavy brass candlesticks on the mantelpiece, one either side of the gold-framed mirror hanging just above it. Matthew grabbed one of them, switched off the light, then went and hid himself behind the crimson drapes covering the blacked-out window. He took a deep breath and told himself to remain utterly still. As he did so, he heard the door being opened very, very slowly. Matthew raised the candlestick above his head to be ready to strike immediately as soon as the intruder pulled the drapes across to flush him out. He hoped it was the leader of the kidnappers, and was looking forward to crashing the candlestick down on his head.

*

From the safely of the sealed office, Myles and Anna were surveying the situation outside through a bank of monitors which gave them a complete view of everything they wished to see. ‘Poor Mr. Tattoo,' Myles observed on seeing Teddy's predicament. ‘Who would have thought that anything short of a bolt of lightning would have been capable of putting a stop to his progress? Not to labour the point, but are you absolutely sure it was a swarm of
insects
you saw descending on him, Miss Conway.'

‘I'm certain, Boss' Anna told him for about the fifth time since they'd entered the office. ‘I don't know what they were, but they covered him from head to foot just as he was about to tie up the second intruder.'

‘Remarkable, ‘Myles said. ‘Absolutely remarkable. And then, you say, the one they refer to as Mr. Pearson turned him into a living statue by remote control or something similar.'

‘That's exactly the way it happened. If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn't have believed it either.'

‘Forgive me, Miss Conway, if I appeared somewhat sceptical at the outset, but now that I see for myself Mr. Tattoo's inability to move, I no longer have the slightest doubt that what you observed actually did occur.' He rubbed his chin between his thumb and forefinger, remained that way for a brief spell, turning over in his mind the possible connection between flying insects and instruments resembling remote controls, but failed to come to any rational conclusion. The only way to unlock the mystery would be to have a civilised chat with Mr. Pearson. After, of course, relieving him of the said instrument. But that, Myles told himself, would have to be stored away in the recesses of his mind as a future project. At the moment there were more pressing matters to be attended to. ‘First things first, Miss Conway,' he continued, as though she'd been privy to his thoughts. ‘
One
of our priorities is to ensure Mr. Tattoo is in our company before, as they say, we fly the coop. Have you any suggestions as to how we might accomplish that?'

Anna examined each monitor in turn. ‘Well, right now looks to be our best chance,' she replied, watching as the rescue party were heading for the main entrance of the house
en masse
, tucked in behind Charlie. ‘If we're quick about it and slip out the back while they're converging on the front, we should be able to get him into the helicopter before they realise what's going on.'

‘An admirable plan. I do believe you have hit on the solution. I can engage the engine silencers on takeoff and land practically beside where Mr. Tattoo is situated. They won't hear a thing.' He smiled broadly as though at something hugely amusing. ‘Except for the two gunshots ringing out from within the house while they are still struggling to break open the main door.' He looked at her meaningfully. ‘Surely you weren't forgetting, Miss Conway?'

Anna groaned inwardly, though didn't let her expression change. She'd been hoping it would never really come to this. ‘No, Boss,' she said calmly enough, ‘but don't you think it might be a bit risky at this stage?' She glanced at a monitor. ‘They're not all that far away now. Isn't collecting Mr. Tattoo and getting out of here more urgent than -'

Myles glanced at the same monitor, his smile becoming broader than ever. ‘They still have the obstacle of the door to deal with, Miss Conway. We've an abundance of time.' He slid his hand into his pocket and produced a pistol, then handed it to Anna. ‘Seeing as your own weapon is now bereft of ammunition, I believe this loaded one should be more than adequate for your purpose.' He delved into his other pocket and extracted a second gun, then spun it expertly around his finger by the trigger-guard before clasping it by the butt in a businesslike manner. ‘Let us proceed, Miss Conway,' he said, leading the way to the outer door of his office which led back into the house. ‘As prominent representatives of Moran Enterprises, it would be less than honourable of either of us should we shirk our final duties.'

Anna followed him out into the corridor with a sinking heart.

*

Despite Harrington's continued impatience, the Superintendent insisted that they advance with all due caution. Having exchanged information with Danny and Mr. Pearson, and huddled in behind the protection Charlie was providing, he was determined that no more unnecessary chances were going to be taken. ‘We still don't know what's waiting to greet us. Let's not ride our luck any more.' He gave Harrington a meaningful glance. ‘Not after what happened the last time. Eh?'

Harrington sighed. ‘I understand, sir.' Even as he said it, he still couldn't help feeling things weren't moving nearly as quickly as he would have liked. Relieved though he'd been to learn that the armadillo was really Charlie, and not some monster the kidnappers had created, he wished Danny would urge him to get a move on.

Linda, still perched on Danny's shoulder, was thinking much the same thing. She was wondering if they were ever going to get to their destination. As far as she was concerned, a couple of pairs of armadillo skates wouldn't have gone amiss right now. ‘Are they aware of my presence?' she whispered in Danny's ear, indicating the crouching forms of The Superintendent and Harrington. ‘Or the part my forces have played so far?'

‘Don't worry, Linda,' Danny assured her softly. ‘They'll be brought up to speed just as soon as we've finished the job. And they'll be thrilled to learn that you and your squadrons engineered their escape. I wouldn't be surprised if you make the headlines after this is all over.'

‘And not before time we received some recognition, either --'

‘I don't mean to be rude, Linda,' Danny murmured softly, ‘but could be discuss the details later? Charlie's making better time than anyone thinks. We're almost there.'

Harrington glanced at the Superintendent, then put his mouth to his ear. ‘What's Danny talking to himself for?' he whispered, unaware that Danny was conversing with a ladybird.

The Superintendent shrugged his shoulders. ‘Don't worry about it, Harrington. When you've known him as long as I have, you'll discover there's usually method behind the apparent nuttiness. Just keep your head down in case another sniper is lurking somewhere up ahead. All right? Eh?'

‘Yes, sir,' Harrington replied, then bumped straight into the back of the armadillo's hard shell, resulting in him ending up on his backside on the grass. ‘What- -'

‘Sh – u –sh!' Mr Pearson hissed, taking his elbow and struggling to help him to his feet. ‘We've arrived.'

‘Oh,' Harrington said, going pink with embarrassment when he realised why Charlie had stopped so suddenly. He couldn't have been happier, though, to at last see the building right smack in front of them. And couldn't wait to play his part in freeing the hostages.

*

The room was in darkness as Lily cautiously pushed the door open, quickly closing it behind her and locking it from the inside. She felt relieved and scared at the same time, wondering to herself if she should try and find the switch to turn on the light to see what sort of a room she was in. It was very dark, and there didn't appear to be any windows anywhere. Which seemed a bit odd, but then maybe it was a storeroom of some sort. She decided to wait until her eyes became more accustomed to the dark before risking switching on the light. Then she heard a faint rustling coming from the far side of the room. She froze where she was. Had she imagined it? No, there it was again. A soft swishing sound. There was someone, or something, in here with her. She was sure whatever it was could hear her heart thumping in her chest it was beating so loudly.

Matthew gingerly drew the drapes an inch or two apart where they met in the middle. He squinted through the gloom to see if he could make out who it was. There'd been an unnatural quietness after he heard the door opening and being locked again. Had it been locked from the inside or the outside? And the light hadn't been switched on. This wasn't their usual way of going about things. Maybe it was their leader playing games with him, putting him through more mental torture before finally shooting him. Well, he'd have to find him first, and when he did - -

Lily felt very uneasy. The sound had stopped, and now she really didn't know whether she'd imagined it or not. She could see a little better too, and could make out the shapes of armchairs and other furniture, and what she thought was a double bed over against one of the walls. Perhaps she'd stumbled into the posh man's bedroom. If it was, she knew it couldn't be him in here. He was off elsewhere with Anna. Realising she couldn't just stand there and do nothing, Lily decided on her plan of action. It seemed the most sensible thing to do if there really was someone lurking nearby.