‘He put me inside, tied and gagged me and warned me not to move or try to make any sort of sound. We travelled for a bit, then he stopped, opened the van and I saw where we were.’
‘Before he split, Dawn, can you remember what he was doing?’
She frowned, then nodded. ‘Yes. He had one of these superduper mobile phone things, with a mini-computer inside; a palm-top, I think they’re called. Every so often he’d take it out and fiddle with it; I think he was checking e-mail.
‘Just before he left, he switched it on, and looked at it.’ She hesitated. ‘Then, I think, he sent a couple of messages, and maybe received another. It was after that that he got up and left.’
‘Can you remember what the time was?’
‘No, only that it was hours ago.’
As she spoke, a roaring noise of which we had been aware for some time became too loud to be ignored. A lot of people have gone deaf in later life through flying military helicopters; I understand why. After a couple of minutes, the sound died down. There was a noise above our heads, feet on metal. I got up, went to the dayroom door, and waved Ardley inside as he came downstairs.
‘Dawn,’ I announced, ‘you haven’t been introduced. This is Neville Ardley, our CO.’
‘Very pleased to see you safe and well, ma’am,’ the young man said. ‘These guys did well,’ he added. ‘The ideal search and rescue mission is the one which ends with no shots fired and the captive recovered safely. Ours rarely do, of course. This one was no exception, but no damage done.
‘Come on; my men will stay on station here, to wait for the police. Let’s get all of you back on shore and into a change of clothes, then we’ll fly you back to Surrey. You’d better get all the rest you can, for once the press get hold of this story, we’re all going to be busy.’
‘No press,’ I snapped, so quickly that I surprised myself. ‘This thing’s not over. Stephen Donn’s still out there.’
‘Sure,’ Miles drawled; he sounded mentally and physically exhausted. ‘But where? He could be anywhere. The important thing is that we’ve got Dawn back and that we’ve beaten the deadline for sending the access code word.’
‘I’m not so sure,’ I countered. ‘What if he had another means of activating the account? Let’s get off this junkyard and find out. A fiver says I’m right; and if I am, I’m not going back to Surrey. I’m staying in Holland for a while.’
Chapter 54
The marines’ chopper landed at the Rotterdam police barracks from which the operation had begun four long hours earlier. As soon as he was reunited with his cellphone, Miles called his accountant and had him check with Lugano.
The return call came in less that five minutes. He stared at me as it came to an end, then stripped a fiver from a roll of cash in his pocket and handed it over. ‘The money’s been moved,’ he said. ‘How the hell did you know?’
‘I just guessed. Do you know where it’s gone?’
‘The Swiss won’t say; nor will they say how the account was activated. It would take a year and a court order to find out.’
‘Don’t worry,’ I assured him. ‘I’ll get it back for you.’
‘Oz, I’m not worried. I’ve got Dawn back, and like the soldier boy said earlier, once this story breaks, it’ll be worth fifty million in extra box office takings. You know what? I’m going to change the end again, and have you and me go in underwater, like we did today only without the marines. Forget it; let the bastard go.’
I think I looked at him as if he was daft. ‘No way, Jo-fucking-se! If this was a bit personal before, it’s really personal now.’
‘Okay,’ Miles grunted. ‘If you’re dead set on taking it further, I’ll stay on board.’
‘Thanks, but you just concentrate on looking after Dawn. You’ve got a movie to finish, then other things to look forward to. I’ll be there for work on Monday morning, but before then I’ve got to tie this business off.’
Finally, he was persuaded; he and Dawn went off at once to shower and change into fresh clothes for the flight home; but I dressed quickly and collared Ardley once again.
I found him explaining what had happened to Henke de Witt, the Dutch army captain who had smoothed the way for our operation. At first, I had been surprised that his side had been prepared to allow a British operation in their waters, but I’d realised quickly that if it had gone south, and the fourth most famous person and/or his wife had been killed during the action, they would have been more than happy to let our lot carry the can.
‘How good are your relations with your police?’ I asked de Witt.
‘Excellent,’ he replied at once. ‘We’re a small country; all our services inter-relate. Why?’
‘Because I reckon I can nail the kidnapper. To do that, I need some information. Then I need a lift to Schiphol Airport, and someone to open doors for me when I get there.’
‘I can do all that.’
‘You really think you can find Donn?’ Ardley asked.
‘If he hasn’t shot the craw already — no, even if he has — I’m bloody certain I can find him. You got that news blackout in place?’
He nodded. ‘Henke and I have got you another twenty-four hours, here and in the UK; that’s the max, though.’
‘It’s all I’ll need.’ I reached into my jacket and took out a photograph, then handed it to the Netherlander. ‘That’s our target, Captain, and this is what we need to know. .’
Chapter 55
Captain de Witt had changed into plain clothes; he and I stood at the back of the room, listening as the Dutch customs commander addressed her squad. They nodded as she spoke, each of them glancing occasionally at a copy of the snapshot with which old Joe Donn had put the finger on his nephew.
I hardly understood a word, but I knew what she was telling them. It was mid-afternoon and we had five hours before the flight which we had identified was due to take off; a KLM flight, bound for Jakarta through Singapore.
We would catch him at the gate, of course, but the sooner the better, so the customs team was being instructed to sweep the huge hub airport. The briefing was over, quickly, and the officers dispersed, leaving de Witt and me nothing to do but wait in that small office. I grew more excited, and more tense, by the minute; I’d have loved to have been out there looking myself, but it was too risky. We had one chance at this and if I was spotted first. .
‘Are you always as obsessive as this, Oz?’ the soldier asked me, idly. Like many Dutch people, his English was almost perfect. ‘You could have left the rest to us, you know, and gone back to England with your friends. I am not saying that this will be dangerous, but you never know.’
‘I’m obsessive,’ I replied, ‘when someone is obsessed with me. . and when someone thinks they can take the piss out of me and get away with it. As for going home, I have to know all the answers, and I have to hear them for myself.’
We sat there for almost an hour, almost telling each other our life stories. When I had finished mine, de Witt pursed his lips and nodded. ‘I understand you better now,’ he said. ‘I see why you have to be here.’
He had barely finished before the door opened and the commander reappeared. ‘We have a sighting,’ she said, in English, for my benefit, ‘in one of the restaurants on the upper level. Come on.’
We followed the woman out of the room, into the concourse. I know Schiphol Airport well — I travel through it often with the GWA team — so I had a fair idea of where we were headed. The place is so big that even at a brisk pace the walk took us almost ten minutes. Once or twice, air crew buzzed past us on wee motorised scooter things, and I wondered why the customs lady couldn’t have ordered up three of those. But we got there, eventually; to the place which I had guessed, a restaurant not far from the Casino, one level above the crowds.