loose to bring your lawsuit. If you don’t tell us and we don’t find them, you’ll never get to bring your lawsuit, friend. I make you a promise. You will die in the most painful way I can possibly devise for you.” He turned to Jerry. “Take him away. Lock him in Penthouse Three. Notify the switchboard that there are to be no outgoing calls from Penthouse Three. And if anyone calls or comes and asks for Mr. Gary, you never heard of him. If they ask for Father Callahan, get them to me.”
“You have just arranged for your own destruction when I get out of this,” Gary said.
“You arranged for your own destruction when you walked into this hotel and involved yourself with the Willises,” Chambrun said. “You have an out, though. You can talk.”
Gary turned to Jerry Dodd and held out his arms as though he expected to be handcuffed. The little dog in Victoria Haven’s lap snarled angrily as Jerry took his prisoner away.
“OF COURSE , he knows you’re bluffing,” Zachary said when Jerry had taken his man away.
“Then he’s living in a fool’s paradise,” Chambrun said. “There isn’t an ounce of bluff in anything I told him.”
“You’d actually think of killing him?”
“If Miss Ruysdale isn’t returned to me unharmed, I wouldn’t have anything to live for,” Chambrun said. “I couldn’t wait to get at him.”
If anyone but Chambrun had made such a threat, I’d probably have thought it was just big talk. Knowing him, I was almost certain he meant it.
“Are you going to just camp here on Romy Romanov’s trail,” Chambrun asked the Air Force man, “or are you going to check out all the people on your list of suspects and the one Romy gave us? You and your intelligence people could be useful if you weren’t determined to take an easy way out. Have you decided Gary is telling the truth? That would make it simpler for you, wouldn’t it?”
Zachary was struggling to keep his anger from flaring up again. “I think Gary is a liar,” he said. “Haskell here and the boy make it pretty certain. He was ‘Father Callahan.’ But where does that get us? He’s a tough cookie. He isn’t going to talk, threats or no threats. So, he’s part of a team working for the enemy. Romanov is probably part of that same team. Major Willis could never have been suckered into a trap by anyone but a friend. Romanov was such a friend. Romanov actually knew Willis and his wife were going down to the Blue Lagoon. He’d been invited to go with them. He was ready for them when the time came.”
“So?”
“So my next move is to try to find someone who has been in contact with both Romanov and Gary during the last few days. That would take us a step closer to the main man, whoever he is.”
“And meanwhile, what happens to Betsy Ruysdale and the Willises? Can we wait for that kind of investigation? It could take days.”
“I keep telling you,” Zachary said, his voice rising, “turn the boy loose. Someone will pick him up and they’ll lead us to the people you want to save.”
Guy Willis faced Chambrun. “I’m not afraid, if it would do it, Mr. Chambrun. You say you don’t want to live if Betsy isn’t all right. Well, I don’t want to live if my parents aren’t all right.”
“So we let them use you to force your father to talk,” Chambrun said. “And, when he has talked, you will all be dead because your father and mother, and Betsy, can expose them. The one hope I can see for keeping them alive, boy, is not to let you be used to make them talk. If Captain Zachary would get off his butt we just might find another lead to them without involving you. You, here and safe, are the one card we have to play to keep the people we love alive for a little longer. For God’s sake, Zachary, get sensible!”
Zachary swore softly under his breath, turned away, and walked out of the penthouse. Toto, the Japanese gentleman friend, snarled angrily as he left.
“Not a nice man,” Victoria Haven said.
“You have just arranged for your own destruction when I get out of this,” Gary said.
“You arranged for your own destruction when you walked into this hotel and involved yourself with the Willises,” Chambrun said. “You have an out, though. You can talk.”
Gary turned to Jerry Dodd and held out his arms as though he expected to be handcuffed. The little dog in Victoria Haven’s lap snarled angrily as Jerry took his prisoner away.
“OF COURSE , he knows you’re bluffing,” Zachary said when Jerry had taken his man away.
“Then he’s living in a fool’s paradise,” Chambrun said. “There isn’t an ounce of bluff in anything I told him.”
“You’d actually think of killing him?”
“If Miss Ruysdale isn’t returned to me unharmed, I wouldn’t have anything to live for,” Chambrun said. “I couldn’t wait to get at him.”
If anyone but Chambrun had made such a threat, I’d probably have thought it was just big talk. Knowing him, I was almost certain he meant it.
“Are you going to just camp here on Romy Romanov’s trail,” Chambrun asked the Air Force man, “or are you going to check out all the people on your list of suspects and the one Romy gave us? You and your intelligence people could be useful if you weren’t determined to take an easy way out. Have you decided Gary is telling the truth? That would make it simpler for you, wouldn’t it?”
Zachary was struggling to keep his anger from flaring up again. “I think Gary is a liar,” he said. “Haskell here and the boy make it pretty certain. He was ‘Father Callahan.’ But where does that get us? He’s a tough cookie. He isn’t going to talk, threats or no threats. So, he’s part of a team working for the enemy. Romanov is probably part of that same team. Major Willis could never have been suckered into a trap by anyone but a friend. Romanov was such a friend. Romanov actually knew Willis and his wife were going down to the Blue Lagoon. He’d been invited to go with them. He was ready for them when the time came.”
“So?”
“So my next move is to try to find someone who has been in contact with both Romanov and Gary during the last few days. That would take us a step closer to the main man, whoever he is.”
“And meanwhile, what happens to Betsy Ruysdale and the Willises? Can we wait for that kind of investigation? It could take days.”
“I keep telling you,” Zachary said, his voice rising, “turn the boy loose. Someone will pick him up and they’ll lead us to the people you want to save.”
Guy Willis faced Chambrun. “I’m not afraid, if it would do it, Mr. Chambrun. You say you don’t want to live if Betsy isn’t all right. Well, I don’t want to live if my parents aren’t all right.”
“So we let them use you to force your father to talk,” Chambrun said. “And, when he has talked, you will all be dead because your father and mother, and Betsy, can expose them. The one hope I can see for keeping them alive, boy, is not to let you be used to make them talk. If Captain Zachary would get off his butt we just might find another lead to them without involving you. You, here and safe, are the one card we have to play to keep the people we love alive for a little longer. For God’s sake, Zachary, get sensible!”
Zachary swore softly under his breath, turned away, and walked out of the penthouse. Toto, the Japanese gentleman friend, snarled angrily as he left.
“Not a nice man,” Victoria Haven said.
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