He reached a clearing and looked up and down the wide stretch of deserted beach, then Frost dropped on him, his knees smashing into Hi-Fi’s back, slamming him on to the sand.
Hi-Fi let out a yell as hard, vicious fingers encircled his throat. He tried to struggle, but the fingers tightened.
‘Take it easy, sonny,’ Frost said quietly. ‘Just answer questions. Are you from Silk?’
Hi-Fi wriggled, heaved and tried vainly to throw off the crushing weight that kept him flat on the sand.
‘Don’t act stupid, sonny.’ Frost said and releasing his grip on Hi-Fi’s throat, he grabbed his right wrist and put a lock on it. ‘Talk or I’ll bust your arm.’
Hi-Fi felt the pressure. The pain that shot up his arm nearly made him faint.
‘Are you from Silk?’ Frost asked him.
‘Yeah... yeah. You’re breaking my arm!’ Hi-Fi moaned.
Frost released him and stood up. Hi-Fi lay still, then turned on his back, glaring up at Frost.
‘Don’t try a thing, sonny,’ Frost said. ‘Just go back to Silk and tell him I don’t like being tailed. The next time I spot you following me, I’ll break your arm. Okay?’
They looked at each other. Hi-Fi had often been in the hands of the police. He knew a cop when he saw one.
‘Okay,’ he mumbled, and watched Frost walk back across the sand to where he had left his car.
Four
Mitch Goble, a half-eaten hotdog in his fat hand, stormed into the room, overlooking the Ace of Spades’ swimming pool, where Silk and Umney had just finished a tray dinner.
‘Hi-Fi blew it!’ Goble said, and sat down heavily at the table, facing Silk. ‘Frost caught him, gave him the treatment, and the little jerk shot with his mouth.’
Umney gave Silk a startled look, but Silk shrugged.
‘So what? Frost is an ex-cop. He’s smart. I wouldn’t have picked him unless I was sure he was smart. So, okay. He now knows we are keeping tabs on him. Relax, Mitch. It doesn’t matter. We’ll leave him alone. We wait.’
Goble finished his hotdog, wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and eyed the debris on the two trays.
‘I’m telling you, Lu, Frost could be too smart. He bothers me.’
‘We can’t do without him.’ Silk lit a cigarette. ‘I can handle him. Relax. We’re doing all right. You planted the seed. A guy like Frost is going to think what five million will mean to him. We give him time. In a couple of days, he’ll come here to screw Marcia... that will be his reason for coming here, but he’ll be looking to talk business. I’ll be here to talk business. Once I convince him he’ll lay his mitts on five million, he’ll play.’
‘Just watch him,’ Mitch said. ‘You’re smart, I’m smart, Ross is smart... just watch he isn’t smarter.’
While they were talking, Frost was eating corn beef hash with Jack Marvin.
‘Ran into your buddy, Tom Lepski,’ Frost was saying I casually.
‘That right?’ Marvin grinned. ‘Now there’s a shrewd, dedicated cop. When Chief Terrell retires, it’s my bet Tom will be Chief of Police here. What a worker! He has ambition like a tiger with a hornet up his ass.’
‘Yeah. He tried to give me the treatment,’ Frost said quietly. ‘I cut him down to size.’
Marvin paused in his eating and regarded Frost.
‘What does that mean?’
‘Your buddy started throwing questions. The boys have been making inquiries about me — fair enough. He said they were bothered that I didn’t stay with any job long. I’ve nothing to hide, but I don’t get leaned on by an ambitious cop. So I leaned on him. If the Chief wants answers, he has only to ask. I don’t dig answering questions from a first grade detective.’
Marvin rubbed his jaw as he laid down his knife.
‘Maybe you played it wrong, Mike. Tom’s a little touchy: better to have him as a friend than an enemy.’
‘I’ve nothing to be nervous about,’ Frost said curtly and pushed back his chair. ‘Between you and me, I don’t give a damn about your buddy. I read him. He’s ambitious... so was I when I was on the force. Okay, but no one leans on me.’ He stood up, stretched, then went on, ‘Nothing happen today?’
Looking a little worried, Marvin got to his feet.
‘The same old routine. She must be goddamn lonely. I’m sorry for her. She spent the afternoon with the dogs. She can handle them better than I can.’
Frost registered this piece of news.
‘Those tigers dig her?’
‘They love her the way kids love candy. She’s got a way with animals.’
And a way with men, Frost thought.
When Marvin had left and Suka had collected the trays, silently, not looking at Frost, except to bow slightly in his direction, Frost went over to the signal panel by the monitors and studied it.
Up to now, he hadn’t bothered to look at the panel carefully. The top row of red lights indicated any break-in attempt. The next row were switches marked: Fence Neutralises. Cabin 1 & 2 alarms. Dog whistle. F.A. alarm. Below these switches were red lights marked: Police alarm, F.B.I, alarm. Fire alarm. Below these lights, were green lights and switches marked Neutralises for all alarms.
Frost guessed the F.A. alarm was the alarm switch direct to Amando’s sleeping quarters.
The Trojan horse!
With a flick of a few switches, the Grandi estate would become vulnerable!
He settled in the chair before the monitors, lit a cigarette and thought about Silk: a dangerous, deadly man. Frost moved uneasily. Suppose he agreed to be the inside man? Once Silk got his hands on Gina, what was to stop him putting a slug into Frost? Again Frost moved uneasily. He now knew Silk was a better shot than he was. If he acted as the inside man, how could he be sure of getting the five million and getting away with his life? How could Silk also be sure of getting away with the ransom?
Frost stubbed out his cigarette, frowning. He needed to know what Silk’s plan was, then, if he decided to be the inside man, how he could safeguard himself and his share of the money? He was still brooding on the problem when he heard a sharp knock on the door behind him, then the door swung open.
Amando came in.
‘All quiet, Frost?’ he asked, in his low hissing voice.
Frost got to his feet. At least this snake of a man hadn’t crept up on him, he thought, and hid a grin. He had thrown a scare into him.
‘Yes, sir,’ he said. ‘Nothing to report.’
Amando nodded, his suspicious black eyes running over Frost
‘Keep alert. Mr. Grandi will be coming at the end of the week. He will want to see you.’
‘Yes, sir.’
Again Amando eyed him.
‘This isn’t much of a job for a man of your physique. I’ve been studying your record. You don’t seem to keep jobs for long.’
‘I like changes, sir,’ Frost said quietly. ‘Security work offers changes, that’s why I went in for it. I guess this job isn’t permanent, is it?’
‘No, I wouldn’t say it’s permanent. I trust Miss Grandi will be out of danger in a few months’ time.’
‘I’m glad you think so, sir. From my experience Miss Grandi must always be in some degree of danger.’
Amando stared thoughtfully at him, nodded, and went away.
When Marvin came in at 08.00, Frost told him what Amando had said.
‘Looks like you’re going to lose your job you like so much, Jack,’ he said.
Marvin grimaced.
‘You were right to tell him. As long as there are billions lying around, there will be an attempted snatch.’ He put the coffee percolator on. ‘But maybe Grandi is realising he can’t keep her penned up like this, but what the solution is beats me.’