Ring of Lies (83 page)

Jack
took his gun out of the holder and placed it on the ground in front of him
, then
slowly raised his
arms
.
‘
What do you want,
Salazar
?
’

‘
I see you
know
who I am
,
’
He
pocketed Jack’s gun
and patted him down.

‘
Yeah,
Catherine
told
me
what you do for a living
.
’

‘
Then you know I’ve come for my money and the disks.
’

‘
Can’t help you, man. Besides, I have to meet someone.
’
His eyes focused on the grey swelling sea.

Salazar came closer.
‘
You mean the lovely
Mrs.
Elliott and her equally beautiful sister? I’m afraid that’s not a possibility. They met one of my associat
es
along the way while they were out for what appears to be an afternoon run.
’

Jack’s eyes flickered.
‘
Where are they
?
’

‘
They’re
safe. Come, I will show you.
’

Salazar dug the barrel of his
g
un into
Jack
’s
ribs
.
‘
If you don’t let me show you, Agent West, I’m l
ikely to put a large hole right here.
’

‘
I wouldn’t want that,
’
said Jack flatly.
‘
I just bought this shirt. I wouldn’t be able to take it back to Nor
d
stom’s.
’

‘
You’re every bit as droll as I was led to believe. Let’s go see your lady friends, shall we?
’

They walked slowly
towards the
tall
white
,
hexagonal
structure of the range light.

Salazar
swung the door open, and shoved
Jack
inside.
Weak strands of light from a
mottled window thirty feet above his head cast
yellowed
shadows over the floor
.

Grace and Catherine
were hunched
together
on the bottom step of the
narrow
spiral staircase
leading to
the lantern room and gallery at the top
of the hundred and five foot tower.
A thin, wiry man
stood guard over them
.

Salazar
nodded
to
Catherine
.
‘
Start climbing. You
go next, Vasquez.
’

Grace was about to scream when
Vasquez
bent down and shoved
her
into the corner. She let go a hissing sound as her head connected with the steel wall.

‘
Bastard!
’
shouted Jack.
‘
When I get free, you better—
’

‘
I better what, Agent West? Don’t you see how powerless you are?
’

Salazar reached over to Catherin
e
and yanked
her
to her fee
t.
He looked in her in the eye for a long moment. She lifted her head defiantly and, with a smirk, spit into Salazar’s left eye. He lost his balance, wiping his eye with his free hand. Then clucking softly in
disapproval,
he
slapped her hard and
slammed
her
against the wall
.
A low tortured sob escaped her lips
and she rubbed her head
.

‘
Let go of my sister,
’
howled Grace, still dizzy. A trickle of blood flowed down her forehead.
‘
Let her go, damn you!
’

‘
Of course,
’
said Salazar. He released his grip on Cath
erine. She sagged for a moment
then Vasqu
e
z encircled her neck with his left arm, and forced her up the stairs.

‘
Now you,
Mrs.
Elliott.
’

She looked at Jack, eyes filled with darkness and terror.

‘
Do as he says
, Grace
.
You’re worth more alive than dead
to him
,
’
said Jack.

‘
Take Agent West’s advice
,
Mrs.
Elliott
.
If you do not—
I’ll kill him.
With pleasure.
’

Grace started to climb,
each unsteady step clanging on the metal staircase.
‘
It’s me you
want
. Let them go.
’

‘
Very touching
. But I’m afraid
it’s too late.
’

Catherine stumbled and lurched, and fell head first onto the tread above. Blood trickled from the corner of her mouth onto her T-shirt. Vasquez grabbed a handful of hair and
yanke
d
her to her feet. She screamed,
the sound reverberating off the steel tower.

‘
Make him stop!
’
shriek
ed
Grace.
‘
Make him stop hurting her.
’

‘
Ah, sisterly love. What a pity Catherine doesn’t feel the same way about you,
Mrs.
Elliott.
’

‘
That’s enough,
Salazar
,
’
Jack growled.
‘
Call off
your
gorilla
. There’s no
point hurting them. They don’t know anything
.
’
Salazar gouged him in the back with his revolver. Jack groaned in pain.
‘
And among other sins, you killed Kennedy. Didn’t you? Why?
’

Salazar shrugged.
‘
He got
greedy
. It’s quite all right for me to be greedy, Agent West, but
not those I hire. So it was a case of bang-bang
,
bye-bye. Yes. I think that sums it up quite nicely.
’

Jack’s muscles tensed.
Above him, one of the women whimpered loudly. There was another clanging sound. Grace? He had to stay focused.
‘
What
about
Anderson?
’

‘
Let’s say h
e
won’t be coming to your aid anytime soon.
He met Vasquez.
’

Another muffled cry. Jack couldn’t tell if it was Grace or Catherine. He looked into Salazar’s empty eyes and searched for a crack in the armour.

‘
You
’ve got a pretty
slick operation,
Salazar
.
It’s just too bad you picked
the wrong man to launder your money. When did you
realize
Elliott was skimming cash from your accounts?
’

Salazar sighed and shook his head.
‘
Two months ago
.
When
I asked him about the losses
,
he blamed the
fluctuations in
currency exchange rates. At first I believed him, but
the sums involved were too large and the losses too regular
.
’

‘
So you had
him
killed.
’

Salazar
’s
tongue darted over his lips.
‘
A large dose of barbiturates slipped into a lunchtime curry ensured that he fell asleep behind the wheel.
’

‘
Let me guess.
That lawyer
,
Parous set up the dummy corporations and bank accounts
, and
told you about Elliott
buying
Sand Dollars.
And
Jacobs flew the counterfeit drugs
into the U
.
S
.
, right?
’