Samuel Edwards - Neptune

‘Reliable?’

‘If she isn’t,’ Porter said, ‘we’re in for it. Her husband is crazy about her, and he’s the one running this show, not the Corporation. He-

Porter broke off abruptly as a bright light flashed-on the horn-shaped peninsula.

An instant later something struck the wall above their heads, and chips of stone dropped on them.

Without hesitation Porter threw Adrienne to the floor of the balcony, falling on top of her and covering her body with his.

Adrienne remained calm even though his weight was suffocating her. ‘Bullet?’

‘Definitely. I saw the flash. A silencer-equipped rifle.’ He peered hard at the end of the peninsula, but only the fringes at the tops of the firs were in motion in the wind.

‘If you’d be good enough to move,’ she said, ‘I can look, too.’

‘I’ve been protecting you,’ he said, raising himself so she could crawl out from beneath him.

‘Your gallantry leaves me breathless.’ She stayed low, too, and studied the point with him. ‘Shouldn’t we sound the alarm?’

‘I suggest you do that very thing, once we’re reasonably certain it’s safe to stand. But I’ll bet a quid to a penny that our assassin will be gone long before the police or Franklin Richards’ security people can seal off that property.’

‘You’re probably right,’ she conceded.

‘It’s one of my more maddening traits.’ He took a deep breath. ‘Ready, steady, go!’ In one quick bound he reached his feet.

The silence was all-encompassing.

‘All right now, my love. You’ll be safe.’ He hauled Adrienne to her feet.

While she hurried to the telephone he took a small knife of manganese steel from his valise and, returning to the balcony, chipped expertly at the hole. In a short time he recovered the bullet, which he wrapped in a tissue. ‘We’ll see what our own ballistics lads think of this,’ he said, ‘I didn’t want the locals to botch things.’

The head of the private security detail and Franklin Richards himself were at the door.

Wasting no words, Porter told them what had happened, showed them the bullet hole and pointed to the spot where he had seen the flash.

They hurried away.

He closed the bedroom door after them, and his smile was wry. ‘That will keep them busy. As for us, now that we’ve awakened the household, I suggest we get dressed for breakfast.’

Adrienne hesitated as she faced him, holding her low-cut negligee closed with one hand, ‘I was sharper than I intended to be. Ordinarily I’m not rude when someone saves my life.’

‘Think nothing of it,’ he said. ‘It just goes to prove that not even a lifetime spent in this rotten trade can ruin a good man’s instincts.’

She extended her hand.

Instead of grasping it he took her in his arms.

To his surprise she returned his kiss with a warmth and vigour that matched his.

Porter released her. ‘I offer you first use of the tub. If you don’t accept, and quickly, we shall bathe together, and then we’ll be here until lunch. Unfortunately, there’s no time for sport this morning.’ He moved to the telephone.

Adrienne started towards the bathroom, then paused. ‘What’s on the agenda?’

‘You’ll carry on at the shipyard as though nothing untoward has happened. Stay away from balconies, of course, and ride in closed cars.’

‘What will you be doing?’

‘I’m ordering an aircraft that will take me to Washington as quickly as one of mine host’s helicopters can deposit me at the Seattle-Tacoma airport.’

He sounded so cheerful that Adrienne was puzzled. ‘I’ve never before met anyone who seemed to enjoy being a target for an assassin.’

Porter laughed aloud for the first time since they had met. ‘We’re making progress, my love, and much sooner than I had hoped.’

‘We are?’

‘You and I were given an impossible assignment. We were ordered to search for a pig in a poke. But we didn’t know there was any pig, much less that a poke existed. Now a good friend -Russian or Chinese, or perhaps a domestic nut – has given us a genuine clue. I’ve lolled about long enough in the manor houses of the rich, and now I’m going to work!’

When Brian Davidson was disturbed he polished his hornrimmed glasses endlessly.

Porter paid no attention as he paced the length of his superior’s office, and he ignored the view of the Washington Monument from the double windows, too. ‘The situation is basic,’ he said. ‘The killer missed my head by eighteen to twenty-four inches, which is unusual in a trained killer. Ballistics has established that he used a seven point six-two rifle. Certain to reach its target in the right hands. Except – and heed this, Davidson – he used a silencer, which requires a compensation of eighteen to twenty-four inches in one’s aim. Always aim lower when using a silencer. I’ll bet you didn’t know that. Obviously my would-be-murderer didn’t.’

‘I insist that the Corporation conduct its investigation of this matter in its own way.’ Davidson was indignant.

‘You may insist until the Thames freezes in July,’ Porter said. ‘Aside from being personally aggrieved and seeking vengeance in my own way, I see an opportunity to learn how much may be known on the outside about Project Neptune. Give Adrienne Howard all the help she wants on the West Coast. She has her hands full there. Now then. Show me a list of the known Chinese agents in this country.’

‘We have none.’ Davidson’s voice was bleak.

‘Chinese informers?’

‘None.’

‘I am dazzled by the efficiency of the Corporation. Very well -Russian agents.’

‘This is highly irregular.’

‘So is my assignment, not to mention the attempt to kill me when I was Franklin Richards’ house guest.’

Davidson sighed, opened a small safe and removed a single sheet of paper.

Porter snatched it from him, and scanned a list of names. ‘Ah! Georgi Verschek!’

*We have reason to believe he’s currently the head of clandestine operations in North America. He surfaced here months ago, and we keep him under constant surveillance.’

Porter’s eyes became dreamy. ‘Georgi and I are old friends. Pick him up for me so he and I can have a good old reunion.’

Davidson was outraged. ‘Moscow will recall him, and we’ll have the devil’s own time identifying and locating his replacement.’

‘I suggest you start looking for my. replacement on Project Neptune. In my letter of resignation, copies of which will be sent to all Council members, I shall underline your refusal to cooperate.’

His superior’s voice rose an octave. ‘This will require the Director’s personal approval!’

‘Get it. If you’re afraid, I’ll happily see him myself. One way or another, I want Verschek. Give him the distinguished prisoner treatment. No necktie, belt or razor. Lights in his cell day and night. The finest Corporation slop for his meals. No physical torture, however. Remember that. It just stiffens Georgi’s backbone. Make him malleable for two or three days, and then I’ll have my little tete-a-tete with him.’

Porter sat at the bare table in the whitewashed basement room of the Virginia safe house. Heavy bars covered the window, which was only a few inches above ground level, and a naked light bulb burned in a ceiling socket. He rolled and lighted a cigarette, then looked up in simulated surprise as a tall, middle-aged prisoner was shoved into the room, the door closing behind him.

‘Georgi! How very nice to see you again!’

Verschek sank wearily into the room’s only other chair. ‘I might have guessed it would be you.’

‘Our last meeting was in Lubyanka Prison. Remember?’ Porter’s smile was solicitous.