The Trojan Boy (34 page)

Authors: Ken McClure

Tags: #Mystery; Thriller & Suspense, #Thrillers & Suspense, #Medical, #Suspense, #Thrillers

BOOK: The Trojan Boy

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Avedissian held the gun in readiness as he sat in the cab.
When Innes opened the big doors in front of the harvesters he
would be ready for him. He would be able to get a clear shot at
him when he came through.

High above them the moon came out from behind some
clouds. A pale shaft of moonlight came through a skylight on
the barn roof and lit up the inside of the cabs with an eerie light.
Avedissian looked at the instruments and pushed the gear-stick
forward to give his knees more room.

'Are you all right?' he asked Kathleen.

'We're all right,’ replied Kathleen but she sounded on the
verge of exhaustion.

‘
Is Harry a problem?'

'We're holding each other,’ said Kathleen.

'Hold on tight.'

Avedissian ran the palm of his hand over the large starter
button that protruded from the panel in front of him. It was
pleasingly round and smooth to the touch, then, somewhere in
the distance, he could hear the sound of a car. He checked the
gun again and said to Kathleen, 'It won't be long. Remember,
keep down.'

Avedissian heard the car slow and knew that Innes had found
the turn-off. He heard the car reverse a little and then heard the
sound of its wheels on the gravel. The Tally Man had arrived.

'I think I'm going to faint
..."
said Kathleen weakly in the
darkness.

'You mustn't!' hissed Avedissian. 'For God's sake, hold on!'

Avedissian heard Innes try the side door. It rattled loudly.
Then he heard the sound of the main doors being unbarred and
his pulse rate rose. One of the huge doors swung open and Avedissian watched its edge like a hawk. His eyes were accustomed to the darkness and it was lighter outside. The
moment Innes emerged from the shelter of the door he would
fire and keep firing.

Innes had pinned the door fully open against the outside
wall. Avedissian kept his gun trained on the corner of the entrance that he must come round. He was concentrating so
hard that he had all but stopped breathing when, to his left, he
heard the sound of a sigh and then a thud and knew that
Kathleen had passed out.

Innes had heard the sound too. His voice broke the silence.
'Let's stop playing games,’ he said in a gentle but menacing Irish
brogue. 'Just give me the tapes and we can all be on our way.'

It was a bargain that Avedissian would have been glad to
make, even if the tapes had not been as useless as they now
were, but one did not make bargains with people like Innes and
live. He remained silent, still holding the gun trained on the
edge of the doorway.

Suddenly he became aware of another noise to his left and,
for a moment, he hoped it might be Kathleen coming round.
But then, to his horror, he realised that it was Harry trying to
climb down from the cab! Unable to hear or speak and left all
alone with the unconscious Kathleen in the darkness the boy
had been terrified and had left the cab to find someone.

Instinctively and uselessly, Avedissian shouted out a
warning. A moment later he heard Harry lose his grip on the
ladder and tumble to the ground and then had to watch in
absolute agony as the child crawled away from the harvester
towards the front door . . . and Innes. Innes grabbed him as he
rounded the corner and it was all over. Avedissian put his hand
to his head in anguish.

'I take it you would like the brat back alive?' asked Innes's
voice from outside.

'Yes,’ said Avedissian.

‘
Throw out the gun.’

Avedissian threw down the gun from the cab and Innes
appeared, holding the child in front of his body. He switched on
the barn lights and motioned with the gun in his hand that
Avedissian should stand up. He then circled round cautiously
to the other harvester and saw that Kathleen was slumped
unconscious in the cab before returning his complete attention
to Avedissian.

Avedissian could see the fear in Harry's eyes as he struggled
in Innes's grasp but to no avail. ‘The tapes!' said Innes.

'If I give you the tapes, will you let us go?'

'Just give me the tapes,’ said Innes as if he were growing
bored with the whole thing.

At that moment, Harry sank his teeth into Innes's hand.
Innes cried out in pain and, raising the gun above his head, he
brought it crashing down on the boy's skull with all the force he
could muster.

Avedissian almost choked on the vomit that welled up in his
throat for he knew that the child's skull could not possibly have
withstood such a blow. Sickness and anguish was replaced by
anger. 'You bastard!' he almost screamed at Innes. 'You
rotten bastard! May you rot in hell!'

Innes was breathing heavily. All trace of boredom had
gone as he pointed the gun at Avedissian and snarled, 'Shut
your trap and give me the tapes
!'

Avedissian took the two cassettes from his pocket and
made a last gambit for his life. He paused for a moment with
the tape in his hand.

'Down here!' snapped Innes.

Avedissian threw them so that they landed on the ground
but inside the leading blade of the harvester. Then, as Innes
reached out to retrieve them, Avedissian slammed his knee
against the starter button in the cab and the machine, being in gear, lurched forward.

The great paddle wheel spun round and snatched Innes in
by his arm. Such was the power of the harvester that the
motor did not even notice the obstruction caused by a mere human body. It simply reduced Innes to a boneless pulp in
seconds, spraying blood over the barn like sudden rain.
Avedissian killed the engine and climbed down slowly from the cab.

Kathleen had come round but was disorientated.
Avedissian caught her in his arms as she descended un
steadily from the harvester. 'Harry! Where's Harry?' she
asked anxiously, then she saw the child lying in the doorway
and, before Avedissian had had time to say anything, she
broke free and went to him. She held him briefly before
collapsing in tears. 'How could anyone? How could anyone?' she sobbed.

Avedissian put out the lights in the barn and tried to
comfort her before saying softly, 'We have to go.'

'I don't want to leave him,' whispered Kathleen.

'We'll take him,’ said Avedissian gently. He picked up
Harry's body and carried him to Innes's car to lay him gently
on the back seat. 'We're going to take this car,' he told Kathleen. 'It's not stolen.'

As they were about to leave, Avedissian had a sudden
thought and got out of the car to fetch a jerry can of kerosene
from the barn. He opened the doors of Feldman's car and
doused the interior before laying a trail up to the barn doors
and throwing the can inside. He moved Innes's car down the
track a little before realising that he did not have any
matches. He punched the car cigar-lighter into its socket and
waited with mounting impatience until it had warmed up to red heat.

Avedissian threw the lighter at Feldman's car and saw it
erupt in a burst of yellow fire, which raced up to the barn
and started to engulf the building in a matter of seconds. He
climbed in beside Kathleen and drove off.

'Why?' asked Kathleen.

'It's going to take the police a while to sort that mess out.
They will identify the car and their immediate assumption
will be that we died in the fire. Finding Innes's charred body
will help to confirm that impression for they don't even
know that he exists. By the time they work out that we're not
there at all we should be out of the country.'

They drove through the night in silence, Avedissian con
centrating on the road and Kathleen preoccupied with
thoughts of Harry and of what might have been. As the first
light of dawn streaked the sky in front of them Avedissian
asked, 'Are you all right?'

Kathleen came out of her trance-like state and gripped
Avedissian lightly on the arm. She said, 'Of course, but you
must be exhausted.'

'I want to get as far away as possible,' said Avedissian. 'We'll drive all through the day then stay overnight before
making for Chicago Airport tomorrow.'

'And Harry?' asked Kathleen softly.

'We'll find a place
...
a nice place.'

Avedissian took the car off the readjust after they had passed
through a copse of trees by a river and looked back. There?' he
asked.

Kathleen saw the morning sun sparkle on the waters of the
river as it moved sluggishly round a bend by the trees and said,
'Yes.'

Avedissian opened the boot of the car and found something
to serve as a digging tool. He wrapped Harry's body in a rug that
had lain on the back seat and carried him through the trees to
put him gently down by the water's edge while he dug out a
shallow grave.

Avedissian finished filling in the grave and stood up to watch Kathleen pick up a handful of earth and let it fall slowly through
her fingers. Tears were running silently down her face.

'We'll have to go,’ said Avedissian as gently as he could.

Kathleen nodded and turned away. Avedissian put his arm
round her and they walked slowly back to the car.

They drove across Iowa into Illinois and on towards Chicago as
they had planned and then, as night fell, they stopped in the
town of Penning and found a place to stay. There was a small-
town pleasantness about Penning that appealed to both of them
as they strolled in the cool of the evening, ridding their limbs of
the stiffness brought on by the marathon drive.

'Do you think there's still time to save Martin?' asked
Kathleen.

'Of course,' said Avedissian, squeezing her arm. 'Innes was still trying for the tapes. Kell will be waiting to hear from him.
He won't do anything until he's sure he has the money.'

People sat talking on verandas or walked arm in arm down
Main Street. Muted laughter drifted on the still air. Teenagers bunched on corners. 'It's another world,' said Kathleen.

'Not ours,’ said Avedissian.

'Couldn't we make believe?' asked Kathleen.

'Why not?' smiled Avedissian. 'Just for tonight.'

They walked hand in hand down the street, pretending
that that was what they did most evenings after dinner. 'How
long have we been married?' asked Kathleen.

Avedissian thought then said, 'Twelve years. It's our
anniversary next Wednesday.’

'Children?'

'Two. A boy and a girl.’

'Job?'

'I sell farm machinery.’

'What do I do?'

'You were a nurse in the local hospital until Janey came
along.’

'Who's looking after Janey tonight?'

'Your mother. She comes round every Tuesday and
Friday.’

'You're good at this game,’ said Kathleen.

'We have to cut short our walk tonight.’

'Why?' asked Kathleen.