Quintin Jardine - Screen Savers

It would have taken a lot of slap to make up Prim’s sister that morning. She was white as a sheet, apart from the patches under her eyes. She smiled at me though. ‘I was quietly cooking breakfast,’ she replied, ‘and this Navy Seal burst in and shot the shit out of my kitchen.’ I grinned back at her, relieved that she really was okay. Between us, Miles still seemed to be in a state of shock. ‘How did you manage to get in on the act?’ she asked.

‘Miles has a friend in high places,’ I told her, in my matter-of-fact voice. ‘He lent us a couple of his boys They’ll be here in a few minutes.’ I took a mouthful of egg; it tasted okay but had the consistency of a stick-on nylon sole. ‘When did he leave?’

‘It must have been about three hours ago. He kept me in here, with my wrists held in sort of plastic handcuff things; then all of a sudden, he just got up from his chair and cut them. He told me to sit still, and to wait; that I was a lucky lady — that was the first time he’d spoken to me since we left the mansion — and that someone would be along for me by the end of today.

‘I was terrified, all the time; I did what he said; sat here, scared even to step out into the corridor. And then I heard the helicopter take off. Once I was certain he was gone, I took a look around for a radio, or anything that I could use to call for help, but there was nothing. I went into one of the cabins and tried to sleep, but I couldn’t, so eventually I got up and looked around again, till I found the food he’d left.’

Miles looked as if he wanted to speak, but had lost the power. So he simply reached out and squeezed her hand.

‘What happened back at the house?’ I asked her.

‘When I got back from the studio, I was up in our room, getting ready to take a shower, and he just came in. I thought I was seeing things at first, then I was going to yell, until he showed me his gun and I knew it was for real. He told me to get dressed and come with him; he took me down the fire escape, and out through a back gate I didn’t know was there. He had a van outside.

‘He put me inside, tied and gagged me and warned me not to move or try to make any sort of sound. We travelled for a bit, then he stopped, opened the van and I saw where we were.’

‘Before he split, Dawn, can you remember what he was doing?’

She frowned, then nodded. ‘Yes. He had one of these superduper mobile phone things, with a mini-computer inside; a palm-top, I think they’re called. Every so often he’d take it out and fiddle with it; I think he was checking e-mail.

‘Just before he left, he switched it on, and looked at it.’ She hesitated. ‘Then, I think, he sent a couple of messages, and maybe received another. It was after that that he got up and left.’

‘Can you remember what the time was?’

‘No, only that it was hours ago.’

As she spoke, a roaring noise of which we had been aware for some time became too loud to be ignored. A lot of people have gone deaf in later life through flying military helicopters; I understand why. After a couple of minutes, the sound died down. There was a noise above our heads, feet on metal. I got up, went to the dayroom door, and waved Ardley inside as he came downstairs.

‘Dawn,’ I announced, ‘you haven’t been introduced. This is Neville Ardley, our CO.’

‘Very pleased to see you safe and well, ma’am,’ the young man said. ‘These guys did well,’ he added. ‘The ideal search and rescue mission is the one which ends with no shots fired and the captive recovered safely. Ours rarely do, of course. This one was no exception, but no damage done.

‘Come on; my men will stay on station here, to wait for the police. Let’s get all of you back on shore and into a change of clothes, then we’ll fly you back to Surrey. You’d better get all the rest you can, for once the press get hold of this story, we’re all going to be busy.’

‘No press,’ I snapped, so quickly that I surprised myself. ‘This thing’s not over. Stephen Donn’s still out there.’

‘Sure,’ Miles drawled; he sounded mentally and physically exhausted. ‘But where? He could be anywhere. The important thing is that we’ve got Dawn back and that we’ve beaten the deadline for sending the access code word.’

‘I’m not so sure,’ I countered. ‘What if he had another means of activating the account? Let’s get off this junkyard and find out. A fiver says I’m right; and if I am, I’m not going back to Surrey. I’m staying in Holland for a while.’

The marines’ chopper landed at the Rotterdam police barracks from which the operation had begun four long hours earlier. As soon as he was reunited with his cellphone, Miles called his accountant and had him check with Lugano.

The return call came in less that five minutes. He stared at me as it came to an end, then stripped a fiver from a roll of cash in his pocket and handed it over. ‘The money’s been moved,’ he said. ‘How the hell did you know?’

‘I just guessed. Do you know where it’s gone?’

‘The Swiss won’t say; nor will they say how the account was activated. It would take a year and a court order to find out.’

‘Don’t worry,’ I assured him. ‘I’ll get it back for you.’

‘Oz, I’m not worried. I’ve got Dawn back, and like the soldier boy said earlier, once this story breaks, it’ll be worth fifty million in extra box office takings. You know what? I’m going to change the end again, and have you and me go in underwater, like we did today only without the marines. Forget it; let the bastard go.’

I think I looked at him as if he was daft. ‘No way, Jo-fucking-se! If this was a bit personal before, it’s really personal now.’

‘Okay,’ Miles grunted. ‘If you’re dead set on taking it further, I’ll stay on board.’

‘Thanks, but you just concentrate on looking after Dawn. You’ve got a movie to finish, then other things to look forward to. I’ll be there for work on Monday morning, but before then I’ve got to tie this business off.’

Finally, he was persuaded; he and Dawn went off at once to shower and change into fresh clothes for the flight home; but I dressed quickly and collared Ardley once again.

I found him explaining what had happened to Henke de Witt, the Dutch army captain who had smoothed the way for our operation. At first, I had been surprised that his side had been prepared to allow a British operation in their waters, but I’d realised quickly that if it had gone south, and the fourth most famous person and/or his wife had been killed during the action, they would have been more than happy to let our lot carry the can.

‘How good are your relations with your police?’ I asked de Witt.

‘Excellent,’ he replied at once. ‘We’re a small country; all our services inter-relate. Why?’

‘Because I reckon I can nail the kidnapper. To do that, I need some information. Then I need a lift to Schiphol Airport, and someone to open doors for me when I get there.’

‘I can do all that.’

‘You really think you can find Donn?’ Ardley asked.

‘If he hasn’t shot the craw already — no, even if he has — I’m bloody certain I can find him. You got that news blackout in place?’

He nodded. ‘Henke and I have got you another twenty-four hours, here and in the UK; that’s the max, though.’

‘It’s all I’ll need.’ I reached into my jacket and took out a photograph, then handed it to the Netherlander. ‘That’s our target, Captain, and this is what we need to know. .’

Captain de Witt had changed into plain clothes; he and I stood at the back of the room, listening as the Dutch customs commander addressed her squad. They nodded as she spoke, each of them glancing occasionally at a copy of the snapshot with which old Joe Donn had put the finger on his nephew.