Ник Картер - Assault on England

“Augie Fergus. He was in your commando unit.”

Jupiter’s eyes lit up with recognition. “Ah, yes. Fergus. I remember him now. Good night fighter.” Then he snapped his fingers in recall. “The hospital. Of course. He was wounded in the same action I was. Occupied the bed next to mine. Most of the time we had nothing to do but talk about where we’d go after the war. I remember now. That was when the germ of my plan was born. We were discussing all sorts of ways a man could make a million pounds, and I said how easy it would be to extort the money from the government. Just kill a few cabinet ministers, then demand... oh, I don’t remember the figure... for the safety of the rest. You say Fergus knew John Elmore is the assassin? He must have remembered the conversation, then put two and two together. But that doesn’t matter now, does it, Mr. Carter?”

“You’ve got the money,” I said. “Let us go and show the government your good faith.”

Jupiter started to smile again, but suddenly his face switched and a reflection of pain showed in his cold eyes. He raised his hand to the side of his head.

“The plate,” he said harshly. “It causes pain at times. And they are responsible for it, those men who sit in the government. What were they doing during the war, Mr. Carter? While I was having the top of my skull blown off, what were they doing?”

His eyes grew wilder as he continued. “I’ll tell you what they were doing. They were sitting in the safety of London. And those same men — how did they repay me for my services? By taxing my business to the limit. Everything I own, all the money I made, went into that business. And now it is on the verge of bankruptcy. It is their fault,” he was raging now, “all their fault. But they will pay,” he chuckled madly. “They will pay dearly. And the two of you will pay dearly for the difficulties you have caused me. That is why I had you brought here rather than killed immediately. You gave me a very large headache when you barged into my plant with your ridiculous story. The tour was free then, Mr. Carter, but you will pay for it now. You and this lovely creature.” He looked hungrily at Heather. “I have plans for you, my dear.” He bent down and ran a hand along her thigh; she tried to move away from him.

Anger had been building inside me and when Jupiter touched Heather, it exploded. I came off the floor awkwardly and threw myself at him, knocking him backwards. “Leave her alone, you bastard!” I yelled.

Jupiter’s face hardened and madness glinted behind the eyes. The man on the landing moved closer with the gun.

“No!” Jupiter told him.

He closed the distance between us. He was as tall as I and looked as hard as nails. Suddenly he jabbed his fist into my stomach, just under the heart. I grunted in pain as the breath was knocked out of me. I fell back against the wall, Jupiter moving in after me.

I kicked out at his groin but he side-stepped and I caught his thigh instead. He delivered a hard chop over my right ear. I slumped to one knee but managed to stagger back to my feet. Jupiter came at me again. This time the edge of his hand struck me on the neck, the paralyzing blow knocking me to the floor.

“Don’t!” I heard Heather scream.

The kick got me in the side. I let out a yell, my whole body aflame with pain. My hands struggled automatically against the handcuffs holding them. I wished as much as I had ever wished for anything that they were free and locked around Jupiter’s throat.

He stood over me, breathing heavily. “I’ll have more time for you later,” he growled.

“This — sort of thing isn’t going to — get you your fourteen million pounds,” I gasped.

“How kind of you to worry about me, old fellow,” Jupiter said acidly. “But I’ll get the money and my satisfaction. I’ve already warned them about further delay. Now I’m going to show them how determined I am. There is going to be a fourth assassination, ahead of schedule.”

Heather and I stared at him. His eyes shone brightly and his cheeks were flushed in an ugly way. Elmo Jupiter looked like what he was: a madman.

“It will be a really big fish this time,” he said, smiling again. “And there will be others caught in the same net. Well, I’ve warned them.”

“Don’t do it,” I said. “Let us contact our superiors and we’ll set things straight about the money. I’m sure it’s only a misunderstanding.”

“Misunderstanding, yes,” he said. “Of Elmo Jupiter. When I promise to kill, Mr. Carter, I kill. I never make empty threats.” He paused to offer that psychotic grin. “Perhaps it will give you something to think about, Mr. Carter, to know that I propose to kill you. Very slowly.”

I shrugged with an elaborate unconcern I did not feel. “If that’s the way you want it. But why not ease off on Heather in the meantime? Look at her hands.”

Jupiter’s sparkling eyes turned from me to Heather. He nodded to the man with the gun.

Heather’s cuffs came off. She rubbed her wrists to get the circulation going.

“Now put the cuffs on her only not so tightly,” Jupiter said. He wasn’t taking any chances. “Are Mr. Carter’s cuffs tight?” he asked. The flunky checked them and nodded. “Good,” Jupiter said. “Leave them that way.”

He gave us a parting grin, then he and his man were gone.

When we could no longer hear them on the stairs, I turned to Heather. “Who do you think Jupiter has marked off now?”

“The Prime Minister, I’m afraid,” she said. “But surely he can’t get past the massive security!”

“He’s done it twice before, not counting Wellsey,” I said. “Damn, we have to get out of this place. It’s obvious this isn’t listed in Jupiter’s name or Brutus would have been here by now.”

“We’re off toward Oxford somewhere,” Heather said. “I could tell that much from watching where they drove,” she said. “Maybe around Beaconsfield. There are a number of large estates in the area.”

I moved over closer to her and looked at her hands. The metal cuffs were no longer cutting into her flesh but her hands were swollen. “Knead your hands,” I said. “Rub them together.”

“They’re very sore, Nick.”

“I know. But if we can get the swelling down, we’ll try working on my belt buckle again. With your fingers functioning properly, you may be able to unsnap the clasp.”

“All right,” she said obediently. “I’ll knead.”

The hours passed. Soon the light through the small opening in the oak door exceeded the feeble sunlight coming through the barred window. It was almost dark outside.

The swelling had gradually gone down; Heather’s hands were almost back to normal.

“Do you want to try the buckle again now?” I asked. “Or wait?”

Heather rubbed her hands behind her. “They feel fairly good, Nick. But I can’t promise anything.”

“I know,” I said. “But let’s try.”

She backed up to me and found my belt. “Yes, higher,” I told her. “Now pull the buckle toward you. Right. I can see the damned catch despite this lousy light. Now, move your index finger to your left.”

“That’s it, isn’t it?”

“Right. Now it has to be pushed to your right.”

“I remember. But the bloody thing is stuck somehow, Nick. Or else I’m doing it all wrong.”

“Keep trying. Try depressing the button slightly before pushing it to the right.”

I heard her grunt as she manipulated her hands awkwardly behind her. Suddenly, miraculously, there was a tiny clicking noise and I felt the belt loosen. I looked down and Heather turned her head questioningly.

“You did it!” I told her.

Heather took hold of the buckle and pulled the belt off. She turned back to me, holding the belt behind her. “Now what?”