probably going to die, for nothing. It was almost better to go on believing what he’d always believed, that at least there was a kind of justice to it.
Watching the turmoil in the younger man’s face, suddenly it occurred to McKendrick that they’d been talking about this for too long. That too long had passed since he’d checked the monitors or Horn had listened at the kitchen door. He turned abruptly and strode back into the hall.
Another of the screens had gone blank. It didn’t matter. McKendrick could see where Hanratty’s man was. He was standing in the courtyard, in full view of one of the three remaining cameras, waiting patiently for someone to notice him, and he was holding Beth McKendrick in front of him like a shield.
CHAPTER 13
HORN COULDN’T SEE the monitors from where he sat in the kitchen. And McKendrick didn’t cry out or even gasp. Instead he locked down, willing his body to be still, freeing up all his energies, all his considerable mental acumen, to tackle this new challenge. To weigh up what it meant and work out how to deal with it.
But a stillness that absolute creates a kind of shock wave. It traveled out from the hall, and when it reached the kitchen Horn straightened up and listened, and after a moment he hauled himself to his feet and walked quietly through the sitting room. He couldn’t have guessed what was meant by the almost concrete silence, but he knew it wasn’t natural and he doubted it was good.
When he reached the hall, he could see what McKendrick could see. Immediately he knew exactly what it meant. Though his tone was tissue-thin, he managed to keep it steady. He was pleased about that. “So now you open the door.”
McKendrick didn’t answer. Perhaps he didn’t hear. All his attention was focused on the monitor. “What the hell did she go outside for?”
“She didn’t,” said Horn. “He did what I said he’d do—he found a way inside.”
McKendrick looked round at Horn as if he’d forgotten he was there. “Then why is he out there again and not in here?”
It was pretty obvious to Horn, but then his emotions weren’t involved, or not in the same way. “Because we can’t rush him down a camera cable. He can update us on the new situation without the risk that one or both of us will come over all heroic and take him on.”
McKendrick looked the younger man up and down, taking in the old bruises and the new ones.
Horn felt himself flush under the scrutiny. “Yeah, well,” he growled, “he doesn’t know about that, does he? As far as he’s aware, I’m pretty well back to fighting fitness. And you’re in good shape for a middle-aged guy, and you’re her father. Any animal will fight for its cub. He doesn’t want to fight. He just wants to get the job done. Now he has.”
McKendrick’s face had drained to the color of old grate-ash. Behind that, though, the intellectual arrogance that had made him a rich man was wrestling with the shock. Deep in the marrow of his bones was a part of him that couldn’t believe, that wouldn’t believe, that he’d been outmaneuvered. “He thinks now he can have you without a fight. That I’ll open the shutters and you’ll walk meekly outside.”
“Yes.” Horn couldn’t think of anything else to say.
“A straight trade. You for Beth.”
“Yes.”
“Will he honor it? When he has you, will he leave?”
The truth couldn’t do him much good now. Whatever the ultimate outcome, McKendrick had no choice about what he did next. Horn said what the man needed to hear. “He might. If he can get me without a struggle, he might decide to quit while he’s ahead. You’ll call the police as soon as you can get to a phone that works, but he’ll be miles away by then, with all middle England to vanish into.”
McKendrick’s eyes were coming back into focus. “Won’t he be worried that I’ll give the police his description?”
“He’s a pro. He’ll change how he looks. You could see him again, a week from now, crossing Waterloo Bridge with an umbrella under his arm, and you’d never recognize him. He knows that.”
“That’s not what you said before.”
A moment’s hesitation as Horn back-pedaled. “No.” He gave a tiny grin. “I thought I had a better chance if your best interests were the same as my best interests.”
“And now you don’t?”
“I think my chances are all used up. But you