High Water (1959) (21 page)

Mason’s cheeks flushed, and he made a quick gesture with his free hand. ‘So you know about that, do you?’ He shook his head pityingly. ‘You see? There’s no hope for you at all, is there?’

Cooper slouched into view, shaking the rain from his jacket.

‘Car’s ready, boss,’ he said. ‘Fair dropping down outside it is. Like a bloody bog!’

Mason’s eyes jerked round at the interruption, and in that instant Vivian sprang forward, all the pent-up fury and suspense acting like an explosive charge behind him.

Mason emitted a half-strangled cry and pulled at his pocket, but even as the gun glinted in his hand Vivian reached him, his hands grasping him savagely by the throat. With a quick twist, he flung the twisting body against Cooper, whose expression of pop-eyed amazement changed to one of snarling rage as Mason struck him in the chest, and they both fell on to the floor in a tangled heap. Mason rolled on to his side, his voice a thin croak. ‘Quick, Morrie, you fool!’

From the corner of his eye Vivian saw Morrie lumbering towards him, his face an indistinct blur. Must keep out of his reach, he thought desperately. Once in those ape-like arms, and I’m done for.

As Cooper scrabbled on the floor, dazed and cursing, Vivian lashed out viciously with his foot, and a thrill of satisfaction ran through him as he saw him fall on his back, his mouth covered in blood. Then Morrie was on him, his huge hands groping for a hold. Vivian side-stepped out of reach and swung a blow at the craggy jaw. The shock made his arm tingle, but although the other man grunted with the pain, he shook his head and came on.

One clutching hand clawed at his shirt and he felt the cloth tear from his shoulders and then, as he tried to step back, a sickening blow caught the side of his head, making his senses reel. Before he could recover, Morrie’s arms had him in a vice-like hug, pressing his spine in from behind, making him gasp for breath, and lights dance before his eyes. Slowly but surely the giant increased his grip, while Vivian struggled and twisted, his arms pinned uselessly to his sides. He could vaguely see Karen’s terrified face over Morrie’s shoulder, until it was blotted out by the shifting bulk as he swung Vivian round, straining to increase his hold.

His breath jerked in spurts of agonized fire as he felt his resistance ebbing, and a red mist swirled before his eyes. With one final, supreme effort, Vivian drew back his leg, and then, with his last reserve of strength, he drove his knee savagely upwards into Morrie’s groin.

In one jerk the crushing grip had gone and he staggered back, gasping for breath, while Morrie rolled across the floor, doubled up in agony, emitting small, short screams, his eyes shut against the pain.

A high, cracked voice pierced Vivian’s thoughts as he reeled against the wall.

‘Stand still! Don’t make another move, or …’ His words were unfinished, but Vivian knew at a glance that he was beaten.

Mason stood behind the girl with one of her arms twisted cruelly up her back, so that her body curved like a bow, her lips parted in pain. Her eyes were wide and staring sideways at the razor which Mason held against her cheek, the edge already threatening to slice the soft skin as it shook in Mason’s unsteady hand.

Vivian dropped his hands to his sides and shook his head urgently, as if to show his defeat.

‘All right, Mason, you win. Now let her go, for God’s sake!’

He saw the look of relief flit across Mason’s narrowed eyes. And he stood heavily, watching Cooper struggling to his feet, wiping the blood from his chin with his handkerchief and feeling in his mouth for the broken teeth.

‘Take over!’ snapped Mason and stepped quickly from behind Karen, the gun again in his grip, and the look of fear giving way to one of cruel composure. He closed the razor and tossed it to Cooper, who snatched it angrily.

‘For once I’m glad you had that thing on you,’ said Mason smoothly, ‘otherwise our little friends might have got away.’

‘I’m sorry, Philip,’ Karen’s voice was shaky. ‘I couldn’t——’ Her voice ended in a scream as Cooper struck her twice across the face with his hand, leaving scarlet weals, and in a quick jerk he gripped her hair in the other hand and twisted it into a yellow knot, pulling her head hard back.

‘Hold it!’ barked Mason as Vivian moved forward. ‘No more tricks or I shall shoot!’ The cold eyes left little doubt.

Cooper grinned, his face distorted by the blood stains on his chin. ‘What’d ya think of this, Skipper?’ He ran his hand over the girl’s throat and breast so that she struggled wildly, kicking out in fear and pain.

A slight scraping movement, followed by a hiss of painful breath, made Cooper shift his attention.

Morrie lumbered to his feet, his eyes red with the fires within him. He stood swaying like a tree, holding his body, and grunting loudly.

‘Put your hands behind you, Vivian!’ Mason’s hand was steady again, the gun pointing straight and unwavering.

‘Tell that swine to take his hands off her!’ Vivian’s voice was a sob.

‘All right, Cooper, just hold her but let her be!’ It was a command, and Cooper’s face twisted sulkily.

‘Let me handle her, boss,’ he pleaded. ‘I’ll make the little bitch snivel!’

‘Drop it, and do as you’re told.’

Vivian stood silent, his limbs heavy and limp, while his eyes rested on Karen, trying to tell her that he had tried and failed. He felt his wrists jerked behind him and clumsily tied with a length of cord, which was pulled so tightly that already his fingers felt numb. Morrie spun him round, his breath hot and panting in his face. The small, stony eyes glinted murderously, although the rest of his expression was again as impassive as usual. With a quick, deliberate gesture, he tore Vivian’s shirt from his body and stood back, leaving him naked to the waist, then he spat into his huge hands, never taking his eyes from Vivian’s face.

‘Steady, Morrie!’ Mason’s voice was harsh. ‘Don’t mark him too badly. I’m not having you hot-headed fools messing everything up now!’

Watching the other man, Vivian saw a brief shadow of childlike disappointment cross his features, then Morrie dropped his eyes, examining Vivian’s body, as a dog examines a bone before taking the first bite. With a great sigh, he drew back his fist. Vivian gritted his teeth, feeling his stomach muscles bunching to take the blow. But when it came it was like a rod of hot steel, smashing down on to his unprotected skin. The lights were dancing again and there was a great roaring in his ears. Cooper was laughing, as the next blow landed beneath his heart. He heard his own voice cry out in agony, but it didn’t seem to belong to him any more. He slipped to the floor and rolled on to his side.

Only dimly now, the voices, the faces, swirling round in a great vortex of pain and fire.

He saw the two gigantic feet by his face, and then he saw one of them swing back. He heard Karen scream from a long way away, and then the boot struck him behind the ear.

The all-engulfing blackness was almost a pleasure, as he plunged down into nothingness.

The great, black waves surged and roared in angry torment, vying with each other to drag his body deeper, pulling and sucking his sodden limbs until he could feel his lungs choking and his heart beginning to burst.

One final effort to get to the surface, one last feeble struggle to beat the savage shock of each throbbing pain in his racked body.

He became dimly conscious of a soft, continuous movement across and around his body, stroking and probing at the fire in his limbs, and bringing relief at each gentle touch. It was essential that it didn’t cease, and his subconscious mind sweated with fear lest it should suddenly depart and leave him in the grip of the hot claws which tore at his inside.

He opened his eyes, the very effort making his throat constrict, and his brain spun dizzily at the vision of swirling lights and mists which danced before his eyes. It all seemed to have a pattern, a pattern centred around a pale, shining shape, which floated above him like a pure, untroubled planet.

He moved his parched lips painfully, feeling his tongue lolling against his teeth.

Immediately the pale shape floated nearer, and he felt a strange sense of elation. As he strained his eyes again, the shape became clearer, and before he plunged down once
more
into the sea of blackness and delirium, he saw the blue eyes and felt the soft, gentle hands moving and massaging his body, but he was still too far under the waves to feel the girl’s tears against his feverish skin.

For some moments he could only gasp for breath, the sour taste of vomit in his throat, while the two small, soft hands held him firmly as each fresh tremor shook him from head to toe.

He found that his own hands were untied, and as he tried to raise himself he felt the rasp of the dirt floor against his bare skin. He threw back his head, gulping in the hot, heavy air, trying to ignore the great throbbing in his head. Gingerly he explored the skin behind his left ear and winced as his fingers contacted a ragged bruise where the boot had struck home.

‘Oh, Philip! What have they done to you?’ Her eyes were watching him fearfully as she pillowed his head on her knees.

He swallowed hard, and grinned crookedly. ‘I’ll be all right in a second or two.’ A fresh dart of fire coursed through his ribs, and he grimaced. ‘How long have I been out?’

She shook her head. ‘It’s seemed like an age.’ Her voice trembled. ‘They’ve left us alone. I have been watching you.’

He stared down at the bright red marks on his body and watched her hands resting on his chest. They fascinated him, and through the intermittent waves of pain he felt content just to stare at them, content to lie in a semi-dazed state of helplessness.

Then, like a man recovering from amnesia, his memories came flooding back, and a stream of pictures flashed across the darkness of his mind. Morrie, with his fists raised; Mason with the gun; and Cooper—he went cold—Cooper—he
saw
Karen struggling in his grip, saw him pawing her lovely body, while all the time he jeered at him, his uneven teeth twisted into an expression of sadism and real enjoyment. Vivian felt the mounting sweat cool on his skin, and twisted round into a sitting position, gritting his teeth.

‘Karen, you’re all right? He didn’t touch you any more?’ His eyes explored her face desperately.

She smiled down at him, her features melting gently into a quiet mould of trust and affection. ‘He has been too busy. He has been repairing the damage you did to his face!’

Vivian gripped her by the arms. ‘It’s been hell for you, and I let it happen,’ he said thickly.

‘Always we worry about each other, Philip. That is good. But now we must try to think of what to do next. Please, Philip, do not keep blaming yourself for all this. They are bad men. You are not used to dealing with such men, I think.’

He nodded. ‘You’re about right there.’ He cocked his head at the closed door. ‘I must have a word with Mason before anything else happens. I must tell him that I’ve still got half the plates.’

Her eyes widened. ‘Half the plates? Were you going to try to make a bargain with that—that beast?’

He nodded. ‘It was just an idea I had. If Lang has gone back to the boat and I send Mason running back for the rest of the plates, well, it might keep us safe for a bit and he’ll run straight into trouble.’

She regarded him sadly, and then dropped her eyes. ‘I’m afraid he’s gone.’

‘Gone? Who d’you mean?’

‘Mason.’

Her voice brought another chill of angry helplessness to his feverishly working brain.

‘He drove off in a car immediately after they had
dragged
you back here.’ She let her hand rest lightly on his shoulder. ‘He is coming back, I think, to pick up the others.’

He shook his head, his face dark. ‘I suppose all this really is happening? It’s more like a mad dream.’ He slid his arm about her shoulders and she nestled against him.

‘Tell me, Karen, what made you leave the boat? Who came for you?’

‘It was Morrie. He told me that unless I came at once,’ she paused, ‘they would kill you. I was so confused, I just followed him.’ She shuddered. ‘As we turned behind those big sheds something was thrown over my head and I was pulled into a car. They held me on the floor until we got here. You know the rest.’

‘If only——’ He stopped, listening. ‘Someone’s coming!’ In a flash he was up on his feet, facing the door, and although his body ached in a hundred different ways his mind was clear and his eyes were steady.

Karen rose lightly and stood behind him.

Carefully the door opened and Cooper peered into the room. He stood well back from the entrance, and he held his gun straight in front of his blood-stained jacket.

‘So you’re all fixed up, eh?’ As he bared his teeth, Vivian felt a momentary stab of pleasure at the sight of the gaps in his lower jaw. ‘Well, I guess this is the end of the road for the pair of you.’ There was something different in his manner, a new hardness in his whole appearance which made Vivian stiffen into fresh caution.

‘Why, what’s the little man got planned now?’ asked Vivian coolly.

A momentary flash of fire showed in the deep-set eyes, but again Cooper controlled himself. ‘Well,’ his voice dropped to a soft drawl, ‘I guess there’s no harm in knowing what’s to become of you.’ He darted a quick glance from
one
to the other, his gun never wavering. ‘We’ve got your car outside,’ he nodded at Karen, ‘and you two are goin’ for a ride together.’ He chuckled. It was not a nice sound. ‘Only a short ride, I guess.’