A Woman Involved. John Davis Gordon
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waited. She massaged her temples.
‘Ten minutes later, a car arrives. I had locked myself in the house. It was a white man. He beat on the door, saying he had come to take me to the Russian embassy for my own protection. That’s why I let him in. But I told him I wasn’t going to go.’ She breathed. ‘I don’t trust the Russians. He began to shout.’ She glanced at him. ‘He told me to get all the documents out of Max’s safe and come with him. Now I was really frightened. I told him Max had no safe – I told him to get out. He shouted that I’d better show him where it was or he’d drag me back to the embassy and they’d get it out of me. He shouted, “Tell me the names of the foreign banks where he has safety-deposit boxes!” He tried to grab me and I ran up the stairs. He chased me. I ran into the bedroom …’ She closed her eyes and breathed: ‘I grabbed the gun Max kept in his bedside drawer … I ran into the bathroom. But he was right behind me. He shoved the door open and I staggered backwards. He lunged at me …’
Morgan waited, in suspense. She took a quivering breath.
‘It was … instinctive. I was frantic. I fired blindly.’ She closed her eyes again. ‘I hit him in the forehead. He crashed into the bath.’
‘Jesus …’ He leant out and squeezed her hand once.
She sat up and wiped her eyelids.
‘I was in shock. All I knew was I had to get out of the house … Get away from the island. And take whatever was in Max’s safe. I knew the combination, though I hadn’t used it for years. I opened it. There was a pile of documents, and keys and things. And some money. I just stuffed it into a handgrip.’
‘Everything?’
She nodded. ‘And the gun. I started to run out of the house. To drive to the airport. I was going to get Max’s aeroplane and fly away. Then I remembered the body.’ She put her fingertips to her eyes. ‘Oh God, I was frightened. I was going to be shot by the Revolutionary Army for murder … I had to get rid of the body. But where? I dragged him out of the bath. There was blood in the bath, so I turned on the shower, to wash it away. I tied a towel tight around his head to stop getting blood on the floor.’ She pressed her eyes. ‘And I dragged him. Through the bedroom. Down the stairs. Oh God, it was horrible …’
He squeezed her knee.
She continued bleakly: ‘I got him downstairs. I somehow got him into the car. The front passenger seat. Then … Then I didn’t know where to take him.’ She shook her head. ‘Where? And where was I going to run to afterwards? The mobs. The curfew. The army would be at the airport. Then I knew the only place I could run to was the Governor’s house.’ She breathed deep. ‘So I drove the car into town.’
‘The Russian car?’
She nodded. ‘It was dark now. I drove without lights. If I was stopped, I was going to say I was taking an injured comrade to the hospital.’ She sighed deeply. ‘I took back roads, through the shacks. Everything was deserted because of the curfew. But then I could hear the sounds of mobs. I stopped the car in a lane. I pulled the towel off his head. I … I had the presence of mind to remember my fingerprints. I wiped the steering wheel. Then I abandoned the car …’
Morgan sighed grimly. ‘Then?’
‘Then I walked. Through the back streets. Then up the hill, to Government House.’
‘And nobody challenged you?’
‘No. All the action was several blocks away.’
‘Did anybody see you abandon the car?’
‘It was a dark lane. Nobody would have seen me until I was a hundred yards away.’ She added: ‘I hope.’
‘What did you do with the towel?’
‘I threw it down a drain. Half a mile away.’
‘And the gun is the one you were pointing at me?’
She nodded.
He picked it up, and put it in his pocket. ‘We must get rid of that. At the bottom of the ocean.’
She looked at him. ‘But the Russian embassy knows one of their men went to my house. What’s going to happen?’
He took a tense breath.
‘I’m not a lawyer. But with all the mayhem on this island, one dead Russian is not particularly surprising. And even if you are implicated, you have the argument of self-defence.’
‘Do you think the Revolutionary Army will listen to that?’
‘There’s not going to be any Revolutionary Army after this, the Yanks aren’t here on a goodwill tour.’ He ran his hand through his hair. ‘And the things from the safe?’
She waved her hand. The handgrip stood in the corner.
‘Have you read the documents?’
She nodded.
‘And? Is there anything significant? That the Russians would be so interested in?’
‘No.’ He knew she was lying. She said: ‘There’s Max’s will. Unsigned, by the way. In which he leaves everything to me.’
‘What about the keys? What locks are they for?’
She said, ‘Probably his safety-deposit boxes. They’re not labelled.’
He put his finger on her chin and turned her face to him. He said: ‘What is it the Russian wanted to know?’
She held his eye. ‘I’ve told you – No.’
He hardly cared, as long as he was with her.
‘Can I look through those documents?’
She demanded, ‘Why?’
‘Because the Russians are after you. Because you know something that Max knew. I want to know what that is.’
She demanded again, ‘Why?’
He didn’t care a damn about his assignment, or about deceiving her – all he was worried about was her safety. ‘So I know what we’re up against, Anna! The Russians have tried once to kidnap you, to get this information. After they’d got it they might have murdered you! I need to know what they’re after so we can evade them next time.’
Her eyes were steady. She said slowly:
‘The British sent you to get the same information, didn’t they?’
He hardly cared what lies he told her.
‘Bullshit! My job is over! I gave the Americans my local knowledge, and we’ve secured Government House! The only reason I need to know what Max told you is to protect you!’ She looked at him grimly. He went on: ‘You’ve got to tell me sometime, Anna! Because when you’re off this island you’re coming to live with me. And if I’ve got to deal with Russians I need to know why.’
Her nerves near breaking; she said softly:
‘Oh, no, Jack – I can’t live with you. I’m not involving you in this.’ She clenched her fist in her lap. ‘I’m not letting you fight my battles for me. When we get off this island I’ve got my own thing to do and I’m going to politely disappear until it’s done.’
He said: ‘You’re not going anywhere without me, Anna.’
She clenched her fist. ‘I’m a marked man! – I’m red-hot, and they’ll kill you too if you’re in their way!’
It was all still staggering to him. He held up both hands, to calm her. Outside there was the thud of gunfire. He said:
‘We’ll cross the bridges as we come to them …’ He sighed angrily. ‘All right, now, why don’t you try to sleep?’
She closed her eyes.
‘I haven’t slept