The Devil To Pay (Hennessey.) (91 page)

‘How much?’ This time his tone was curt.

‘About eight and a half thousand dollars.’

He nodded, ‘you drew out thirty thousand dollars, then you realised that she would have to declare anything over ten thousand.’

Her head snapped up. She didn’t know why she was surprised that he knew about the money, of course he would. He probably found the remainder in her bag at the cabin, that’s why she had had the feeling that someone had moved the bag.

He watched her put it together then said, ‘you wanted to give her more but were afraid she would be stopped and maybe searched then have to explain away why she was carrying so much cash. It was also very wise not give her exactly ten grand.’

Adela nodded, ‘the DEA use that amount as an indicator to identify drug traffickers.’

He laughed at her knowledge of American government agencies and their rules.

He said, ‘all those crime books certainly came in useful on this vacation didn’t they?’

She said nothing so he asked, ‘so what else did you give her?’ Of course he already knew the answer to this he just wanted to test how honest she was being with him.

She looked perplexed then recalled the watch she had given to Olivia at the private airfield. The lie was a feeble attempt, ‘nothing.’

He smiled, ‘come on, Miss. Faraday, of course you did. You didn’t just send her off with a measly eight and a half grand in her purse did you?’

‘Eight and a half thousand dollars might be measly to you, Mr. Hennessey, or whatever your real name is, but it’s a lot to some of us.’

‘Yes it is, to someone like Desi, but not to you.’

She was aghast. He couldn’t know about her millions could he? Of course not he was just fishing. She said, ‘I don’t  know what you mean.’

He laughed, ‘I told you once that you were an awful liar, Miss. Faraday and you are. You have money, lots of it.’

‘I don’t know where you get that idea.’

‘From you. You give a hundred dollars to a charity as though it was pocket change. You hand out twenty and fifty dollar bills for tips in café’s and diners as though handing out flyers. You paid for a private plane for Desi without a second thought; you drew out thirty thousand dollars from your account and didn’t even bother to put the remainder back when you discovered you didn’t need it all. Not to mention the big old house of your childhood fantasy that you purchased just before you came here for your seven week dream holiday. And please don’t insult me by telling me it’s your savings, even the Queen of England’s personal cleaner wouldn’t earn enough to save for all of that.’

She looked back at him
, ‘whether I’m as wealthy as Bill Gates or as poor as a church mouse has nothing to do with…with Desi.’

He grinned, ‘no, it doesn’t does it. I’m just curious. But you still haven’t answered my question. What else did you give her?’

‘A hat.’

‘A hat?’

‘Yes. My hat, she liked it so I gave it to her, something to remember me by.’

His features softened as he said, ‘I’m sure she won’t need a hat…or anything else come to that…to remember the woman who helped her escape a life of misery.’

She glared at him and her tone was filed with venom, ‘a life
you
want to send her back to. For what? For a man like Glissando, for the money he promised to pay you? For personal satisfaction? Tell me; what drives a man like you, what drives him to accept a job that will send a young girl back to a life of subjugation, of pain, of slavery?’

His eyes were surprisingly gen
tle as he said, ‘you’ve just named two of the reasons that drive me. Money and personal satisfaction.’ He sighed heavily, ‘maybe I shouldn’t have taken the job in the first place, sometimes I wish I hadn’t, but I did, and now I have to see it through, it’s a matter of principle.’ He recalled his conversation with Carson and how he had said the same thing and what Carson had said to him.

Adela’s face was full of contempt as she said, ‘I suppose not killing women and children is a matter of principle too.’

He looked surprised at the jibe then smiled wryly, ‘ah, Desi. She seems to have shared an awful lot with you.’

‘Yes she did.’ Her tone changed from accusing to almost pleading now, 'you must know some of what happened to her too. Have you no sympathy, no compassion, no pity, no human feelings at all?’

He tried not to look away from her intense gaze but found it impossible. He looked over the top of her head at the wall behind her for a moment then his tone no longer gentle or placating said sharply, ‘as interesting as this conversation about my lack of principles or morals is, you’re here to answer
my
questions, Miss. Faraday, not the other way around.’

‘Maybe
my
questions are too difficult, or perhaps it’s the answers that are too hard for
you
.’

She could not help the shiver that went through her as a mask seemed to slide over his features, leaving only his eyes with any expression an
d they were cold. His voice was also icy as he said, ‘stop stonewalling, Miss. Faraday, it’ll avail you nothing in the end. So now, you’ll answer my questions. So, who was the other person there that night in the street?’

Her frown of confusion was not fake he could see that. She said, ‘other person?’

‘Yes, the person you called out too for assistance.’

He saw realisation at dawn and she shook her head, ‘there was no one else there, I just pretended there was so as to make those men think I had help.’

He had of course guessed this but still he was struck yet again how inventive she was, especially in moments of crisis. To her amazement he threw back his head and laughed out loud. She said, ‘I’m happy to see I’m still the object of amusement for you, Mr. Hennessey.’

His laughter stopped but he continued to smile, ‘not an
object
of amusement, only a source of it. Your resourcefulness and coolness under fire never ceases to amaze me. You’re one of a kind, Miss. Faraday.’

‘Very soon to be extinct.’

He stopped smiling and stared at her. He saw cold fear in her eyes, yet here she was giving as good as she got, no,
more
than she got.

He shrugged,
‘so back to business, what else did you give Desi?’

She sighed in defeat and licked her now dry lips, ‘a watch.’

He smiled a thin, satisfied smile. ‘A watch, worth what? Ten thousand, twenty?’

‘Twelve.’

He laughed, ‘let’s say fifteen. You’re very smart, Miss. Faraday, very smart indeed. So you gave her enough cash to live on and something to pawn. So she should be able to manage for quite a while out there in her brave new world.’

‘She’ll find a job, she’s smart and savvy, she’ll survive and be happy, and what’s more important,
free
.’

He gave that complacent smile she hated so much, ‘not for long she won’t.’

Her face paled and he regretted his words, ‘don’t worry too much about her, she’s survived this long with Glissando. What I meant was he won’t kill her. I assure you. He’s quite fond of her in his own way.’

She was incredulous, ‘fond? If he treats those he’s fond of in that way what does he do to those he hates?’

Hennessey raised his eyebrows pointedly and she paled and her shoulders slumped as the fight went out of her. He said quickly ‘look, I’m not going to hand you over to Glissando, that wasn’t part of the deal.’

She searched his face looking for the lie but he seemed sincere. Then again she had been fooled by those eyes before. But Desi had said he didn’t kill women or children, well, she was a woman wasn’t she.

He said more firmly, ‘but you have to answer my questions, and it’d pay you to be truthful. I’ll know otherwise. Again a shiver went through her at his tone and the look on his face. He said, ‘she caught a plane so it stands to reason she had a passport right?’ She nodded, ‘you saw this passport.’

‘I didn’t help her to get that, she already had it.’
She said defensively.

This time he nodded as though she had said something very important. He leaned toward her and said, ‘what name was in the passport?’

She had not seen that coming, her face turned white and her eyes opened wide followed by her mouth before she closed it again.

He said, ‘remember what I said, Miss. Faraday about my patience. Come on, what name did she use?’

‘I don’t know, she didn’t tell me.’ Playing for time she said, ‘I need to use the bathroom.’

He smiled and said quite nicely, ‘of course you do after all that water you’ve drunk, and you can as soon as you answer my question.’
She didn’t answer, ‘come on, it’s not a difficult question, what name did Desi use in the passport?’

She felt light-headed and sick and her tongue felt as though it was stuck to the roof of her mouth and if she could she would have ripped it out for letting it betray her yet again.

He stared at her, waiting. She swallowed deeply, ‘I…I don’t know.’ She tried to sound convincing but the quiver in her voice put the lie to her words.

He leaned further towards her so that only six inches separated them and there was anger in his eyes now but he said quite calmly, ‘I told you,
don’t
lie to me.’

Her words tumbled over each other as she blurted, ‘I don’t…I never showed it, I mean she didn’t show it to me, I never saw it.’

She sensed he was fighting for control but he didn’t raise his voice and somehow his calmness was far more frightening than his anger. He said softly, ‘you’re lying.’

‘No.’

‘Yes, yes you are, Miss Faraday, I know you well enough to know when you’re lying.’

She shook her head and with one swift movement he leapt out of his chair and the next thing she knew he was towering over her, she looked up at him
then down at the floor. ‘Look at me, Miss. Faraday.’ He demanded. She didn’t, she couldn’t. But his tone was insistent, ‘look at me.’

This time she did and what she saw in his face caused her to jerk back in her seat. She couldn’t take her eyes from his as he leaned down so that their noses were almost touching. She saw his jaw clench and she gulped in her throat. Again despite the menace in his eyes and in his demeanour his voice was low and calm but there was a definite threat in his tone as he said, ‘I’m fast losing patience with you, Miss, Faraday, so no more games. What name was she using?’

Adela tried to look away from those terrifying blue eyes but couldn’t. ‘I swear I don’t know. She didn’t tell me and I didn’t ask. Just as I didn’t ask where she was going to settle, I didn’t want to know so that I couldn’t tell.’

He stared at her and then quite suddenly he shot to his feet and into her face he yelled, ‘DON’T FUCK WITH ME.’

She jerked back so hard the chair tipped backwards and she thought she would fall but he put out a hand and stopped it. He kept it suspended on its back legs and his face still only centimetres from hers said through gritted teeth, ‘what name did she use?’

Te
ars came to her eyes as she insisted, ‘I don’t know. I never saw…She gasped as he pushed the chair backwards so that she tipped back again but again he caught it and held it but this time her head was suspended only a foot from the floor. Her heart hammered like a piston in her chest.

‘I told y
ou my patience was not infinite, Miss. Faraday,’ he declared menacingly, ‘for you I’ve stretched it as far as it will go, but it’s just about to snap. So one last time. What. Name. Did. She. Use?’ He emphasised each word as though she was an imbecile unable to understand simple words.

The tears made her eyes shine as they looked back at him but this time there was no softening of his features, no sympathy, only an icy emptiness. She could hardly speak so frightened was she, eventually she managed, ‘I swear I don’t… She got no further because now she was lying on the floor the back of the chair beneath her. Luckily he had not let it go but lowered it quickly to the floor. Her hands and back hurt where they dug into back of the chair. She felt dizzy and disoriented as he straddled her putting a hand either side of her head.

She found it impossible to tear her gaze from his. His face was so close to hers that his breath blew her hair as he spoke, ‘now for the
very
last time, Miss. Faraday, what name was in Desi’s passport?’

In that moment all hope left her, the hope that because of their relationship he would not kill her. She knew she had been fooling herself to believe that he would just leave her alive. After all, that’s what he did for a living. Kill people. She knew that he had lied before when he said he had not been hired to kill her, she saw it in his eyes, that single minded purpose, that ruthlessness, that empty dead look of someone already damned. No matter what happened here in this shack; no matter what she said or did he would kill her anyway. And with that realisation came a renewed courage. She stared back at him pursed her lips then turned her head away. He said, ‘look at me, Miss. Faraday.’ She did not comply. His hand coming down with a hard slap at the side of her head made her jump but she did not look back at him.