CHAPTER SIX
“Come in, Mr. Dillon. I’ve been expecting you.”
Dillon drove the Porsche Cayman through the gated entrance and pulled up in front of the house. Mrs. Pringle gave him a straight hard-faced look and closed the front door as Dillon went up the sweeping staircase. Hart came and stood at the head of the stairs as he had done the last time the two men had met. Only this time, he was dressed in a dark blue business suit that had a thick chalk stripe running through it, a silk shirt and a deep maroon silk tie.
“You know the way.” Hart stood aside for Dillon to enter the drawing room, he crossed to the mini-bar and poured them both a large bourbon with ice.
Dillon had chosen a seat facing the view of the harbour, but was also able to view the door.
“You must have someone with a lot of technical knowledge researching my background, and a lot of friends in very high places.” He raised his glass. “To you.”
Hart was smiling quietly as he sat in the chair opposite Dillon.
“You’re a wise man who has survived a long time in a precarious and often highly dangerous environment. But at the end of the day it’s sometimes better to come second than to not finish at all.”
“Your riddle has lost me, I’m afraid,” Dillon confessed.
“I’m sure it hasn’t.”
“You must have a lot of video footage of me by now. But what’s the point of it all?”
“And much sound recording as well. It’s been very worthwhile, and makes extremely good viewing. Now what’s on your mind? It’s a long way to drive for a social visit, although I do appreciate you having called first.”
“The speed at which you operate, Charlie. Faster than any man I can recall. Far too fast for me. In fact, so fast that I certainly can’t keep up and would like to call a truce. This entire thing was never going anywhere and was a monumental waste of my time, anyway.”
“You’ve driven all this way to tell me something I already knew? Listen, the reason it hasn’t gone anywhere is because there was never anything to find out.”
Dillon had the strangest feeling, almost like he was standing on the platform of a station waiting for a train that might never arrive. He couldn’t leave because it might turn up, but then if it did turn up, where would it take him?
“If I’m wasting my time, why all the surveillance and why see me at all?”
Dillon gazed at Hart who wore the unreadable expression of an experienced and successful card player, barely a twitch of an eye or even a smile. Yet, he managed to convey that whatever Dillon said he could have said it for him. Dillon thought it wasn’t anticipation, but rather the power of knowledge. It was starting to get under his skin and that was something he had never allowed in all the time he’d worked in intelligence.
“I like my beliefs confirmed. So far, you haven’t said or done anything to contradict or allay those beliefs.”
“In which case, I suppose that’s my cue to leave,” Dillon said irritably, putting his drink down. “My mistake; I apologise.”
He was halfway to the door when Hart said, “For heaven’s sake, come back and sit down, Jake. Let’s get rid of all this bullshit. After all, you’ve come here to tell me that you and the firm you work for are willing to drop the investigation into my personal and business affairs, in exchange for me allowing you to get back to a normal unhindered life. Isn’t that about the size of it?”
Dillon nodded. “Yes. That’s about it. Is there anything wrong with that?”
“Nothing wrong with that, Jake. If the intention were genuine, that is. I’m bored with all of this pussying around on tiptoes. You know what I’ve done to you and you also know why. You’ve had a few warnings in quick succession and it’s made you think twice. All of a sudden I’m too hot to handle. Well, at least you’ve found that out.”
“How succinctly put. I think that we should leave it at that, don’t you?”
“I’m afraid that won’t be possible. You see, Jake, it’s not that I’m trying to conceal anything of any importance, or that I’d be overly worried if you found out that I’d got one or two skeletons in my wardrobe. Because everything of any importance is all on record. It’s the fact that someone in a position of authority has deemed it acceptable to let you barge into my life and pry into my affairs. I won’t tolerate that sort of bullish behaviour. It’s a bloody outrage and is spoiling the tranquillity of my life. It’s for these reasons that I can’t leave it at that, as you put it.”
“And you’d go to the extreme of killing just to protect that, would you?”
“Believe me. If I’d set out to kill you, you would already be dead. But why say that?”
“Because I was under the impression that we weren’t pussy footing around anymore. How else do you expect to stop me, unless we both agree to call it a day?”
Hart laughed. He took a sip of his bourbon, placing the glass down onto the arm of the chair he was sitting in.
Dillon sensed that Hart was someone who never gave more away than he wanted, or had, to give. He wondered if Hart ever dropped his guard, or even became confused sometimes as to whether he was playing out the role of the aggressive hard man or just himself. Questioning killing was simply smoke and mirrors, when he had deliberately left it as the only course to take if he continued. As Hart picked up his glass again, his eyes told a different story — they were slightly bloodshot with the tell-tale signs of a few sleepless nights. He suddenly looked much older and for one fleeting moment Dillon would have sworn that Hart had tuned-out. He didn’t even notice Dillon sitting almost opposite him; there was a sudden panic in his eyes. And then it was gone and although he appeared weary, his eyes were suddenly alert as he saw Dillon staring at him from where he was sitting opposite.
“Now, where were we? Oh yes,” said Hart. “You’re saying that you do not want to continue prying into my affairs. And, I do not believe you.”
“You’re calling me a liar?”
“No, I’m not.” Hart dismissed Dillon’s comment with a wave of his hand.
“I figure that your integrity is without doubt, Jake. Which is the point that I’m making. On the one hand, you want to terminate the investigation for the safety of the lovely Isabel Linley. But it’s not in your nature to give up so easily, is it? And even if by some strange quirk you did, sooner or later your curiosity would be aroused again. And that, Jake, is the problem. It’s the real reason why I agreed to see you. So that you know which way I’m running with this situation, and the reasoning behind any decisions I may make. I’m sorry; I like you, but that’s how it is. And I’ve never let personal feelings get in the way of my gut instinct about someone. It’s a hard life, I’m afraid.”
Dillon gazed out through the wall of glass at the uninterrupted view of the Purbeck hills cutting across the horizon. He’d driven back down to Dorset without telling Issy or even LJ, with the notion of coming to some sort of understanding with him. But it had served no purpose and it now disturbed him that Hart knew far more about him than he did himself.
“Nothing to say, Jake? You mustn’t beat yourself up over this. After all, we all meet our match sooner or later.”
Hart stood up and went and refilled his glass. He returned to the chair he’d been sitting in and relaxed back into the luxurious seat.
“Still nothing to say? I’m surprised. But then, I shouldn’t be. Ever since your employers, whoever they might be in London, decided to embark on this vendetta against me, you’ve been scratching around in the dirt and you’re still no wiser about who I am or what I do,” Hart said triumphantly.