“Did you ever hear him talking on those phones?”
“Only once. But it was a kind of double talk, and I didn’t understand it”
“Twice when I was there, he got calls,” said her sister. “I didn’t get what he was talking about either. But I think I do now.”
“Tell me about it, Terri.”
“Well, he seemed very angry. And he said something like, listen, don’t pressure me, general, And don’t threaten. Remember, if I go, everything goes with me. And that includes Moscow, general I arrived there with two suitcases for the conference. But somehow, one got lost.” And then he paused and he said, ‘Does that tell you anything, general?’ ”
“I don’t know what it tells the general,” I commented. “But it tells me plenty. Warnow’s got the system rigged so that if he dies, all the cities including Moscow will die with him. He’s not only an evil bastard, he’s a damn clever one.”
For a minute my mind spun as I sorted out the various aspects of a workable plan. Then I said, “On the one hand, time is the most important factor. But I don’t see any way to hurry the action. I can force Marcus to take one of you to that door. But I can’t make Warnow open it unless he takes the initiative. That is, unless he has already sent Marcus for you.
“Also, I can’t force my way in behind you without killing Marcus, who will be standing right at the door where Warnow can see him. And before I could take care of Marcus, he’d slam the door in my face. So everything depends on you girls. Whoever is today’s vio-tim has to jam something in that door to keep it from shutting completely, and do it without being seen by Warnow. And that calls for a miracle of timing.”
“I have a better idea,” said Terri. “The one who has the nod from the professor goes into the bedroom with him, gets him primed and in bed. Then she pleads that she has to go to the john. He can’t argue with that, so shuts herself inside the bathroom, flushes the john, then runs through to the office side, and opens the steel door for you. Then she gets back through the connecting door and climbs in bed with Wamow.”
“Pure genius,” I said.
“But meantime, you’ll have to get rid of Marcus,” Terri rushed on, “and be waiting at the door.”
“Give me about five minutes,” I said. “And I want Marcus lured in here by the gal who stays behind — so I can take care of him quickly and silently.”
“He doesn’t usually want both of us for the morning quickie,” said Jerri. “But suppose he does?”
“Don’t worry, I’ll be prepared for almost anything,” I told her.
There was another thoughtful silence and then I said, “Now all we have to do is wait. But for how long?”
“He’s like a clock,” said Terri. “It should be any minute now.”
“Sure,” said Jerri. “But if this is his big day to wipe out New York, maybe he’ll be nervous and hell have no appetite for the bed.”
“Oh Jesus,” Terri groaned.
And I said nothing, Because the enormity of that question and the potential disaster riding on the answer numbed my brain.
Twenty-One
There was a sort of dressing table in a dim corner of the room and I crouched behind it, completely screened from the door. The minutes ticked off endlessly as my cramped muscles begged for relief. At last I stood. It seemed foolish to remain in that awkward position when there would certainly be the warning sound of a key in the door.
A half hour went by as I reasoned that the enormous question had been answered Warnow was going to dispense with frivolous entertainment and keep his mind on the grim business of the day, his hand ready to send the signal that would blast the city of New York into the sky. And unless at the last hour the President decided to risk a national panic and evacuate Manhattan, the fate of all those people was in my hands.
Waiting, I fought an expanding sense of dread by calculating the feasibility of half a dozen alternate plans. They were all practical and clever enough. But each came to a dead end — at the impregnable steel door between me and Warnow.
From time to time, I heard vague, muted sounds from the tunnel corridor. Garbled voices, the hollow thump of heavy feet, the clank of metal. The girls listened for me with ears pressed close to the door, but reported that they could hear nothing of importance, just useless bits of chatter as a number of men, all apparently in a hurry, went striding past.
Then, after a long period of silence, as I was about to gamble on any desperate ploy, no matter how insane the risk, there was an impatient knock on the door, followed instantly by the rasp of a key in the lock.
I was already well concealed when Marcus burst into the chamber of the professor’s concubines and bellowed, “You there — Little-Miss-Mole, the American demands your services on the double! The professor has been delayed by a visit from the high brass, and he says if you don’t come at once hell feed you to the general’s dogs for supper.”
“Oh Lord, those dogs would gobble poor little me in three bites,” said Terri in her dumb blonde voice. “Let’s hurry before the professor loses his hot.”
“I think you mean his cool, not his hot, Terri dear,” corrected Jerri.
“I call ‘em like I see ‘em, darling,” she answered, and scampered toward the door.
“Oh, Marcus!” cried Jerri, “after you deliver my sister, would you come back for just a teeny minute?”
“Come back?” snapped Marcus irritably. “What for?”
Tm lonely and — and I need a real man, not that tired old bag of bones.”
“Yeah? Is that so now?” said Marcus, his voice crackling with excitement. “And what could you do with a real man in only a teeny minute?”
“Could you spare two teeny minutes?”
“I could spare plenty but I might get into trouble.”
“I won’t tell. And don’t you think I’m worth taking a weeny chance?”
And then, after a dreadful, uncertain pause, “Yeah, HI be back. In less than a minute. Be ready!”
As if it were an exclamation point of acceptance, the door slammed with a thud. And there was then a great vacuum of silence.
“Don’t waste a second,” I low-voiced to Jerri “And keep him busy!”
“Hell never know what hit him,” she murmured, and I ducked down again.
In a matter of seconds, Marcus returned.
“As you see, I’m ready, lover-man,” said Jerri.
“I’m more ready than you’ll ever be,” he told her with a nervous chuckle. “But I’m supposed to be guarding Warnow’s door and there’s no time to undress.”
“Forget that silly door,” answered Jerri. “A wild bunch of elephants twenty feet tall couldn’t break it down if the room inside was floor-to-ceiling with peanuts.”
Apparently Marcus was too far under the hypnosis of desire to answer. But after a minute he let out a couple of all-business grunts as Jerri said, “Oh — my — Cod, you are just too much!” and I sneaked from behind the dressing table.
I stepped lightly but swiftly forward with the stiletto. I hovered above them for an instant as I hoisted the weapon over his broad back. Jerri’s open eyes dilated at the sight of me.
Suddenly, prodded perhaps by some animal instinct, or by the look in Jerri’s awe-stricken eyes, Marcus lifted his head and turned half toward me.
So instead, I buried the blade in his chest.
His mouth gaped and his eyes were positively incredulous. But then, with only a small cry and a terrible grimace as I swiftly withdrew the knife, he obediently collapsed on top of Jerri and was still.
I wiped the blade on his uniform Jacket and restored the weapon while Jerri, wearing the most horrified expression, tried vainly to shove the body away from her. So I grabbed him by the shoulder and yanked, and he rolled off to the floor. He stared up into an eternity of space.