Jack Higgins - Drink With The Devil

“Give him time. He’s got to work the ship. We’ll wait till we’re a few miles out to sea, then we’ll have words.”

He looked up at the wheelhouse and saw Tully looking down at them from the stern window. Ryan waved, grinning.

IN THE WHEELHOUSE, Muller was again at the wheel. Tully sat at the chart table, Dolan standing beside him. Grant and Fox were below in the engine room.

“You see what they’re carrying?” Dolan demanded.

“Yes, AKs.”

“Those things could cut us to pieces.”

“I know. We’ve got to box clever. Hide your gun in the chart drawer, Muller’s too, then go below and tell Fox and Grant to stow theirs somewhere in the engine room. I’ll keep mine in my pocket.”

“But I don’t understand.”

“Look, it’s obvious he’s leaving us to make our way out to sea. After a while, he’ll be coming to see me, and armed like that there’s nothing we can do. They’ll search the lot of us at gun point and won’t find anything.”

“Except yours.”

“Which might make Ryan think that’s all there is.” Dolan looked dubious and Tully pushed him. “Go on, get moving. I’ve got a course to lay.”

Dolan went out and Muller said in his heavily accented English, “So, we still go to Kilalla?”

“Well, we can’t exactly turn due south. Ryan’s no fool. For the time being we’ll simply make for the coast of County Down in a general way until we see what happens.”

“With guns such as they have it could be difficult.”

“You worry too much,” Tully said. “It’s going to work, and I’m going to take that truck from them one way or another, I promise you.”

RYAN WAITED FOR an hour before making his move. “Right,” he said, “you stay up in the cab, Kathleen, nice and comfortable, while Martin and I go and sort out the bad guys.”

“I could die for a cup of tea.”

“Well, if you look in the case beside the weapons you’ll find a damn great Thermos flask, courtesy of Mary Power. There’s an old cake tin in there, too. No cake, just ham and cheese sandwiches.”

“Uncle Michael, you’re the wonder of the world. You think of everything.”

“Not this time. Thank Mary Power.” He turned to Keogh. “Here we go, Martin, moment of truth.”

TULLY WATCHED THEM coming, Ryan in the lead, and debated for a wild moment trying to shoot him as he mounted the steel ladder to the bridge, but hastily abandoned the idea as Keogh stood back, AK raised to cover Ryan. Ryan reached the bridge safely and stood outside the open door covering Tully, Muller at the wheel, and Dolan.

“Top of the morning,” Ryan said and raised his voice. “Come away up, Martin.”

Keogh joined him a moment later. “There you are, Tully, how’s the ear?”

Tully glowered at him. “It’s been better.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

“Search them,” Ryan told him.

Keogh quickly ran a hand over Muller, then Dolan. He found the Smith amp; Wesson revolver Tully had in his pocket.

“Very naughty,” Ryan said. “I’m surprised at you.”

“I’m the captain,” Tully protested. “What do you expect?”

“Oh, almost anything from you. Where are the other two?”

“Grant and Fox are in the engine room.”

“We’ll pay them a visit and take another look at this pig boat on the way.”

“As you like.” Tully shrugged and went to the voice pipe and whistled. Fox replied and Tully said, “Mr. Ryan wants a look at the engine room. We’re on our way down.”

“Good,” Ryan said. “Let’s get moving.” He nodded to Dolan. “You too.”

FROM THE DECK below the wheelhouse a companionway led to a narrow passage, door on either side. One of the doors had Toilet painted on it. Keogh opened it and found a stall lavatory, a wash basin, and a shower.

“Is this for the whole boat?”

“No, I have a separate one,” Tully said. “It goes with my cabin. That’s under the wheelhouse.”

“And these other doors?”

“Crew quarters.”

Keogh opened the doors and had a glimpse of untidy bunks and general disorder. “What a stink. Doesn’t anybody wash on this boat?”

Tully was enraged but kept his mouth shut. Ryan said, “So where’s the engine room?”

“End of the passage.”

“Right, lead the way the both of you.”

Tully opened a door at the end and the throbbing of the engines became very pronounced. They went down a companionway and found themselves in the engine room itself, Grant and Fox oiling the pistons and other moving parts.

They paused in their work and Tully said, “Is everything okay?”

“As much as it ever will be with this old bag of bones,” Grant told him.

Keogh said, “Hands high, boys.”

Ryan raised his rifle and, sullenly, they did as they were told. Keogh retired, satisfied. “Clean as a whistle.”

“Fine,” Ryan said. “We’ll go back, then.”

THE SEA WAS building up as they went out on deck, and the Irish Rose was already beginning to roll from side to side. Rain swept in clearing the mist a little. They went back up to the wheelhouse climbing the ladder one by one.

Tully sat down at the chart table. “So what now?”

“I’ve done a boat crossing from the Lake District coast to Ulster twice over the years,” Ryan told him.

“Is that a fact?”

“Yes, so I know where the Isle of Man is – halfway between the two and we pass south, skirting what they call the Calf of Man?”

“If you say so.”

“Oh, but I do, and there it is on your top chart. I’d say we should be seeing the lighthouse there at midnight.”

“So what?”

“That should give us a landfall at Kilalla around three.”

“It depends on the weather.”

“And so it does, but keep on course. I have a marine compass in any case, and I’d be very hurt if I discovered we weren’t proceeding in a westerly direction.”

“All right,” Tully said sullenly. “Now what happens?”

“Well, as there is nowhere else I’d particularly like to spend the night on this disgusting pig boat, we’ll use the cab of the truck. It even has a bunk behind the driver’s seat.” He turned to Keogh. “Give him your radio, Martin.”

Keogh took it from his pocket and put it on the chart table. “There you go.”

“What’s this?” Tully demanded.

“Two-way radio. I have one, too, so we can keep in touch, us down there and you up here. Another thing. You have one of your men standing on the deck down there where I can shoot him if anything untoward happens.”

“You bastard.”

“I always was, but I keep my word, and I’m going to give you a chance to be sensible.” He took an envelope from his pocket and threw it down. “That’s the fifty thousand pounds Mr. Keogh took from you.”

Tully was truly shocked. “My God!”

“Count it when we’re gone. It’s all there.” Ryan smiled looking like the Devil himself. “No bloodshed, no aggravation, and you get another fifty thousand at Kilalla in a few hours. Think about it.” He nodded to Keogh. “Let’s go. You first, Martin. I’ll mind your back and you cover me.”

They went down the ladder one after the other, and Tully opened the envelope and examined the money. “Damn him!” he said.

“What’s he playing at?” Dolan asked.

“He’s giving me a way out, isn’t he? Play the game and settle for a hundred thousand.”

“And will you?”

“There’s fifty million pounds in gold sitting out there, Dolan, fifty million.”

“All right,” Dolan said, “but these are hard bastards.”

“Well so am I.”

Tully sat there frowning and examining the chart. Dolan said, “Have you any ideas?”