Felix shrugged.
"I don't know," he said, forcing his voice to sound harsh, "and I don't care. She's asked for it and she'll get it."
Willie nodded.
"That's the way I figured it," he said. "It's nothing to do with me what happens to her. Think I could ask the old man for a bonus?" He opened a drawer and took out a clean shirt. "There's a car I saw in Florence the other week. If the old man shells out, I might be able to buy it."
"He'll give you something," Felix said and wandered over to where Willie's gun was hanging. He got between Willie and the gun. "Don't press him. If he doesn't offer you anything, I'll have a word with him."
Willie's face brightened.
"You will? That's fine. It's time I had a bit more money. I work hard enough for what I get."
Felix's hand went behind him, his fingers closed around the butt of Willie's gun and gently eased it out of the holster. He let the gun slip through his fingers until he was holding it by its barrel.
"You'd better hurry," he said. "The old man won't give you anything if you keep him waiting much longer."
Willie shook the shirt out of its folds and slipped into it.
"Yes," he said. "I've been too long already."
He turned to the mirror and began to comb his thin, greasy hair. He saw in the mirror Felix had moved forward. Their eyes met in the reflection of the mirror. The expression he saw on Felix's face suddenly turned him cold. He saw Felix's hand flash up. He opened his mouth to shout, but he knew he had left it too late. Then the butt of the gun smashed down on the top of his head and he fell limply forward, bouncing against the toilet basin. His dying body slid to the floor.
Chapter XI
THE TUNNEL
About ten minutes after Englemann had gone, Don unlocked the bracelet around his ankle and got to his feet. He knew he was taking a risk of being discovered, but he couldn't continue to sit and do nothing. He couldn't resist the temptation to explore.
He crossed the cave and stood at the mouth of the tunnel, peering into the darkness. Luck favoured him. His sharp eyes caught the glint of metal high up against the wall, and taking out his cigarette lighter, he thumbed the flame alight. In a bracket attached to the wall was clipped a long, chromium-plated flashlight; probably put there, he thought, in case of an electric power failure. The beam of the light, when he pressed down on the button, was powerful and told him the battery was comparatively new. He set off down the tunnel, passing the ramp on his left and continued on for some fifty yards before he came to a steel door that blocked any further progress. There was a rubber-covered button near the door, but although he pressed it several times, there was no response,.and baffled, he stepped away from the door to examine it from head to foot in the light of his torch. It was set flush with the rock face, and when he pushed against it, it was immovable. He made his way back to the ramp, and climbing it, he reached the door he knew led into the corridor where Englemann's surgery was as well as the control room if what Lorelli had told him was correct. He pressed on the rubber-headed button he found by the door, heard a faint click and the door moved inwards. He peered into the brightly lit corridor. It was a temptation to go forward, but he resisted it. At least he knew he could get to the control room when he wanted to, but this wasn't the time. He would wait until Lorelli contacted him that night. He took hold of the steel rail on the door and pulled the door shut, then he went down the ramp to the tunnel again.
Having nothing better to do, he began a careful examination of the walls of the tunnel and he quickly made a discovery.
Let into the stone wall at eye level and roughly about twenty feet apart were a number of small steel plates with small knobs in the centre of them. He took hold of one of the knobs and found the plate slid back, making a peep-hole that looked directly into a room equipped as an office. There was no one in the room, and Don closed the plate. He went along to the next plate and moved that aside. He found himself looking into Lorelli's bedroom.
Lorelli was seated at her desk. She was engrossed with pencil and paper, and Don guessed she was preparing a plan of the underground fortress which she had promised him.
He was about to call to her, when he heard a sound from the door. Lorelli started, dropped her pencil, grabbed up the sheet of paper she had been drawing on and pushed it into the top drawer of the desk.
The door rattled impatiently and Felix called, "Open up. I want to talk to you."
"I'm coming," Lorelli said. She hurriedly undid the buttons of her dress and mussed up her hair, then she ran over to the door and unlocked it. "I was changing."
"Since when do you lock the door when you're changing?" Felix asked, coming in and closing the door.
"I just turned the key without thinking." She moved over to the dressing table, sat down and began to brush her hair.
"What is it?"
Felix sat on the bed. He lit a cigarette and blew a thin stream of smoke towards the ceiling.
"Alsconi was asking what happened at the villa," he said.
The hairbrush she was using nearly slipped out of Lorelli's hand. She put it down and picked up a comb.
"He seemed to think it went off too easily," Felix went on. "I told him you had no trouble: that's right, isn't it?"
"Of course," Lorelli said curtly. "I told you what happened. You don't want me to go over it again, do you?"
"So it's definite the money will be paid into the Banca de Roma in four or five days?"
"Yes; anyway that's what Micklem's secretary said." Lorelli finished combing her hair. She reached for her handbag, opened it and took out her cigarette case. She lit a cigarette.
Felix saw her .25 automatic in the bag.
"That's fine," he said and got to his feet. "The old man's still a little doubtful about you, but I told him how well you carried this job out. I'm pleased with you." He came over to the dressing table. "I think I'll give you a new handbag as a reward for your cleverness." He picked up the handbag, moving a shade faster than Lorelli, whose hand had darted out to snatch the bag out of his reach. "This one's getting shabby."
"Please put it down!" Lorelli exclaimed, her voice shrill.
Felix looked at her. She saw then how cold, white and set his face was.
"You sound jumpy." He turned the bag over. "I think one of those new lizard skin jobs would suit you." He opened the bag and took out the .25.
Lorelli sat very still, staring up at him, her eyes wide open.
"You're spoiling the shape of the bag, carrying this in it," Felix went on. He put the bag on the dressing table, holding the gun in his right hand, the barrel pointing at Lorelli's feet.
She didn't say anything. She was rigid, her hands gripped between her knees.
"It's a nice little toy," Felix went on, turning the gun over. "At close quarters it could do a lot of damage." He slid out the clip, emptied the six bullets into his hand, removed the bullet from the breech, put the empty clip back and laid the gun down on the dressing table. "Safer unloaded, don't you think?" he went on and stood the seven bullets in a row by the gun.
Lorelli watched every movement, her heart beating so violently she had difficulty in breathing.
"Yes, I must see about a new handbag for you," Felix said and wandered back to the bed and sat down.
Lorelli felt sick with relief. For a horrible moment, she had wondered if Felix had guessed she was betraying him. The business with the gun shook her nerve. She picked up a nail buffer and began to polish her nails.
A long silence hung over the room. She looked out of the corners of her eyes at him. He was leaning back, his head against the wall, looking up at the ceiling. The expression on his face set her heart thumping again.
"I was worrying about you," he said suddenly. "It's a funny thing for me to worry about anyone, but I was about you."