The Terminators (28 page)

He shook his head. "No. It had to be done. Too much was involved; too many people. He'd spread it too wide, made it too complicated, too dangerous. I think. ... I think he was really trying to commit suicide, Eric."

"He sure went the long way around the barn to do it," I said. "But you could be right." "Where is he now?"

"They took him. His old Norwegian comrades in arms. Maybe they'll put him in a Viking ship and set it on fire and let it sail into the sunset. . . . There was a man named Lars. He stopped the others from finishing me off, after the gim of the first guy up the stairs jammed up tight. Lars said that Sigmund must not be known to have died, at least not like that. He said they would handle that problem, if we'd do our best to hush up the rest. I said we'd try."

"The diplomatic circuits have been very busy," Mac said. "Judicious pressure has been applied here and there. His total disappearance will help. But why did they follow him on such a wild and pointless adventure, those old friends of his?"

I shrugged. "I can only quote old Lars. He said, 
It is not so interesting a life we lead today
.''

"How did he die?"

We were no longer talking about Lars. I looked at the man beside the bed, and said, "The details don't really matter, do they, sir?"

"Tell me." It was an order.

I said, "I let them find two guns and a knife on me. They figured that was enough weapons for any one man, and didn't look further. I used a lousy little hideout .25, one full clip and the cartridge in the chamber. You never know what kind of a job a pipsqueak gun like that is going to do."

"Very well." He drew a long breath and changed the subject. "You may be interested to hear that Kotko is dead. The 
Paris Herald
 has it, in case you want to read about it in English. Here. Financier shot to death in argument with bodyguard, who has disappeared. Would you know anything about that, Eric?"

"Yes, sir," I said. "I thought you'd be willing to settle for Kotko, since he was the man actually responsible for our trouble seven years ago, and since you don't much like political pressure or the gents who exert it. I needed Denison's help and I figured it earned him a break. And I won't go after him again, sir. You can't kill everybody."

There was a little silence. "Very well. We will consider the whole matter closed, Eric." It was a big concession. We don't usually try to tell him what we will or won't do, or get away with it if we do try. "As for killing everybody, somebody seems to be making an effort in that direction. A young man named Yale, Norman Yale, was found floating in the Vestfjord off the Lofoten Islands. Any ideas?"

"Probably Elfenbem," I said. "He may have learned that Yale was selling him out to anybody who'd buy. Or he may just have been covering his tracks after an unsuccessful job." I hesitated. "Has anybody heard anything about a girl calling herself Madeleine Barth, or Diana Lawrence?"

"No," Mac said, "there have been no reports of a woman being found, dead or alive, under circumstances occasioning comment. It's just as well. We've had enough troublesome comments already. But I think it's all under control now." He rose. "The doctors inform me that you will probably make a fast recovery, Eric, I am happy to say."

I said deliberately, "I'm happy you're happy, sir."

He looked at me for a long moment. He said quietly, "I know. I gave the instructions, and you interpreted them correctly. I have no complaints. It had to be done."

I watched him leave the room. We'd never been exactly friends, but we'd been closer at other times than we were at the moment. Well, as he'd often told me, friendship has no place in our line of work. I slid down into the bed and went to sleep. When I awoke, she was standing there, with a clean white bandage on her hand.

She was a little paler than I remembered her and she was wearing a neat, wool dress and moderately high heels. I'd never before seen her in anything but slacks. Her legs were slim and lovely and her eyes were green and angry as she looked at me, moving closer.

"You're a treacherous louse!" she said.

"Did I ever say I wasn't?"

"You left me there for them to take!"

"With instructions and a gun," I said. "Don't give it to 
anybody
, I warned you. If 
anybody
 tries to take it from you, I told you, consider him hostile and shoot him dead. So you handed it to the first gent who asked. What do you want, sympathy?"

Diana's smile was slow but wonderful. "That's my Matthew," she murmured. "Thank you, darling. I was so afraid you'd disillusion me. I was terrified that you'd try to explain or apologize or justify yourself or something. I hope your shoulder hurts like hell, like my hand hurts."

"The pain is adequate, thanks," I said. "What happened?"

"That nasty little man tied me to a heavy kitchen chair in an old deserted farmhouse and pinned my hand to the table with a big knife and left me there to die. I sat there all night, slowly freezing to death, among other problems, until your friend Denison came and turned me loose. He'd got hold of Elfenbein somehow, and made a deal, sending back the daughter in return for the address. He said to tell you goodbye. Mr. Paul Denison was making .one more public appearance—he said you'd understand—and then he was vanishing from the face of the earth, and never mind who was taking his place, or where. Oh, and he said to tell you he hadn't taken a dive under the railroad tracks, whatever that might mean." I didn't say anything. 

She said, "Matt?"

"Yes?"

"I spent that whole night hating you."

"It probably saved your life. If you'd had nothing to think about but the blackfooted ferret and the fur seal and the whooping crane, you wouldn't have made it past midnight Nothing like a good hate for survival."

"I know," she said. "That's what I told myself when they first brought me here to fix my hand and I heard you were here. Just keep right on hating him, I told myself, if you know what's good for you. So what am I doing back here?"

"I don't know," I said. "But I'll make a serious effort to find out, as soon as I get a little strength back."

I did.