I would wait until the light had begun to fade, and then I would try to make my way across the island to assess the situation.
From what I’d observed, it appeared that the men were using the island temporarily while they waited to be picked up after dark by a boat.
Eleven
After another hour, the late afternoon sun began to set, and I felt it was safe to crawl up the rocks to dry off in the warm breeze that was blowing in from the south. I had just climbed up on the rocks and stretched out on a narrow ledge when I felt something soft drop on my left leg. I jumped up to find myself staring into the blood-red, beady eyes of a large black rat that had apparently fallen from a higher rock. I kicked out at it and shook it loose and sent it scurrying away by tossing a rock.
Then I heard soft squealing sounds all around me. I stood up quickly and saw dozens of shiny, unblinking eyes. A cold shiver ran down my spine, and my hand went instinctively for the Luger, Wilhelmina. For a moment, I didn’t care if a shot would bring the men on the island looking for me.
But the rats didn’t attack. Instead, they scurried nervously back and forth, squealing softly, their claws scratching the surface of the rocks. I backed away warily, keeping my eyes on the horde, until I felt a hard, round metal object poking into my back between my shoulder blades. A harsh voice snarled, “Just stand right there!”
A hand reached from behind me and took the Luger. Then die man — it was the croupier from the casino — stepped in front of me. He was holding a snubnosed .38 in one hand and my Luger in the other. He nodded at me.. “We thought you had gotten out of die helicopter alive. We’ve been looking for you. Start walking.”
He leaned down and picked up a hunk of wood that had evidently been doused with gasoline. After lighting one end of it so that it became a flaming torch, he waved it around to clear a path through the swarm of rats, who scurried frantically away into the brush.
We climbed higher up the rocks of the island until we reached the large outcropping that I had spotted from the air. The croupier waved his gun and shoved me forward into a large hollowed-out cavern. Flaming torches were set in a circle around the entrance to keep the rats out, and their light revealed the helicopter inside. The other men were there, too — the casino director, Tregor, and the man who had grabbed Elsa on the basement stairs of the casino. I guessed that he must have been die one who had piloted the helicopter.
The others regarded me without much interest, but the casino director nodded to the croupier, “Search him, tie him up, and keep your eye on him.”
The croupier, still holding the gun on me, reached inside the helicopter and drew out a couple of lengths of rope. Then he prodded me deeper into the interior of the cavern. I raised my hands when he started to search me so that he missed finding the stilleto, Hugo, set on a spring in the arm sheath inside my coat sleeve. After the search, he made me stretch out on the ground while he tied me up securely with the rope.
I would have to bide my time. For the moment, with the croupier standing nearby holding the gun and watching me, I was helpless. But I still had Hugo up my sleeve.
It was getting dark outside. From time to time, one of the men would take a pair of binoculars and a flashlight and go outside. It didn’t take me long to realize that they were waiting to be taken from the island. My original theory seemed correct — a boat was going to pick them up.
An hour or more passed before one of the men on lookout shouted, and the others, except for the croupier who was still guarding me, hurried out. I used that moment, when my captor’s attention was temporarily diverted, to snap the spring in the knife sheath. The stilleto slipped instantly into my right hand. I had to cut through the ropes quickly. I had just managed to sever them and free my hands when the three men hurried back into the cave.
“He’s here,” the director shouted. “Well ditch the helicopter and come back for you.”
“How do I know you will return?” the croupier asked suspiciously.
The director had taken a large aluminum suitcase from the helicopter. He placed it on the floor of the cave and nodded toward it. “The money will still be here. We’ll be back.”
All of the men began to push the helicopter from the cavern. While their attention was diverted, I rolled onto my side and arched my body backwards so that my hands could reach the ropes that were binding my legs. Soon I was free, and I returned to my former position, lying still while I tried to work my arms and legs behind my back to restore the circulation. By then the men had shoved the helicopter out of the cave and the croupier had returned to my side. The voices the other three were becoming faint in the distance.
My guardian glanced at me briefly. Then he dug a cigarette out of his pocket and lit a match. I made my move, springing to my feet and lunging across to him, holding the stilletto in my hand. I flashed the knife in the startled man’s face and then poked the point gently into his belly, and with my free hand I reached for the gun.
Instead of obeying me, he foolishly raised his gun to fire. I plunged the stilletto into his midsection, and he doubled over without a sound, the lighted cigarette still dangling from his lips. I hadn’t planned to kill him, but he had given me no choice.
I grabbed his .38 and my Luger and rushed quickly to the aluminum suitcase. I snapped open the lock, and the top sprang up. There in the wavering light of the torches I looked down at the two million dollars inside.
I had devised a little plan for that money ever since the director had set the suitcase down and I had known that it was there. I hastily began to execute it. I scooped out the stacks of bills and filled the bottom of the suitcase with large rocks from die floor of the cave. Then I spread a layer of bills, no more than a couple of hundred dollars, over the rocks. I snapped the suitcase shut and left it in its original place.
I could still hear the voices of the other men faintly in the distance as I quickly unbuttoned my shirt, stuffed the money inside, buttoned up again. Two million dollars against my chest was clumsy, but, weighted down as I was, I returned to the dead croupier, grabbed him by the back of the collar, and dragged him across the cave to the outside.
The other three men were still working with the helicopter on the other side of the large flat rock outcropping. I struck out in the opposite direction, dragging the corpse behind me, until I reached some deep brush where I could hide it. Then I crawled back across the rock to a high spot where I could observe the action below.
The full moon clearly illuminated the scene. By now they had pushed the chopper into a clearing. One of the men, the’ pilot, climbed into it and set the rotor blades in motion. The copter began to rise, but when it was a few feet off the ground, the man jumped out. The pilotless helicopter suddenly shot into the air, streaked away from the rock, and plunged into the dark waters below. It sank without a trace.
Meanwhile the casino director had returned to the cave. He came running out, carrying the suitcase and shouting. I could hear the voices of the men distinctly where I was hiding, and I heard the director yell, “He’s escaped! That fellow cut himself free and got away! He took Georges with him!”
“The money? The money?” Tregor yelled back. “Is the money safe?”
The director set the suitcase on the ground, and all three of them crowded around him when he opened it
“It’s here! It’s still here!” he exclaimed. As I had hoped, he didn’t take the time to examine the money beyond the top layer of bills, since the load of rocks approximated the weight of the real bills.