A key clicked in the lock. The door was opened slowly by the smaller man. The monster was not with him.
“My friend is leaving,” John said.
The slick-dressed man smiled politely. “Of course professor.” He had brought into the room a smell of cheap cologne.
“Goodbye, John,” Nick said.
“Goodbye, Chris.”
When Nick was outside the room, the man shut and locked the door. He pulled out of his belt an Army .45 automatic. He pointed it at Nick’s belly.
“What is this?” Nick asked.
The slick man still had his polite smile. “Insurance that you leave quietly.”
Nick nodded and started down the stairs with the man behind him. If he tried anything, he might endanger the professor. There was still no sign of the other man.
At the front door, the slick man said, “I do not know who you really are. But we are not foolish enough to believe that you and the professor listened to British music while you were up there. Whatever you have in mind, do not try it. We know your face now. And you will be watched closely. You have already placed those persons concerned in great danger.” He opened the door. “Goodbye, Mr. Wilson, if that is your real name.”
Nick knew the man meant the wife and boy when he said “persons concerned.” Did they know he was an agent? He stepped outside into the night air. The rain had turned to mist again. The door was shut and locked behind him.
Nick breathed deeply of the crisp night air. He started walking. There’d be little chance of his getting a taxi in this district at this hour. His main enemy right now was time. In two or three hours it would be daylight. And he didn’t even know where to begin looking for the wife and boy. He had to get in touch with Hawk.
Killmaster was about to cross the street when the huge apeman stepped out of a doorway, blocking his path. The hair bristled on the back of Nick’s neck. So he would have to deal with this creature after all. Without a word, the monster stepped up to Nick and reached for his throat. Nick ducked and sidestepped the monster. The man’s size was awesome, but because of it, he moved slowly. Nick struck him on the ear with an open palm. It didn’t phase him. The ape-man grabbed Nick’s arm and tossed him like a rag doll against the building. Killmaster’s head hit the hard structure. He grew dizzy.
By the time he came out of it the monster had his throat in his huge, hairy hands. He lifted Nick off his feet. Nick felt the blood pounding in his head. He chopped at the man’s ears, but his movements seemed painfully slow. He kicked at the groin, knowing his blows were reaching their mark. But the man did not seem to even feel it. His hands squeezed tighter around Nick’s throat. Every blow Nick tried would have killed an ordinary man. But this Neanderthal didn’t even blink. He just stood with his legs apart, holding Nick off the street by his throat, all the strength in those huge hands. Nick began to see flashes of color. His strength was gone, he felt no power in his blows. The panic of impending death squeezed his heart. He was blacking out. He had to do something quick! Hugo would work too slowly. He could probably stab the man twenty times before killing him. By that time it would be too late for him.
Wilhelmina! He seemed to move in slow motion. His hand took forever getting to the Luger. Would he have the strength to pull the trigger? Wilhelmina was out of his belt. He stuck the barrel into the man’s throat and with all his dying strength pulled the trigger. The recoil almost knocked the Luger out of his hand. The man’s chin and nose were immediately blown from his head. The explosion echoed throughout the deserted streets. The man’s eyes blinked without control. His knees started weaving. Yet the strength in his hands remained. Nick pushed the barrel into the monster’s fleshy left eye and pulled the trigger again. The shot blew the man’s forehead away. His legs started to buckle. Nick’s toes touched the street. He felt the hands relaxing their grip on his throat. But life was leaving him. He could hold his breath four minutes but that had already passed. The man was not releasing him fast enough. Nick fired twice again, completely blowing off the ape-man’s head. The hands fell away from his throat. The monster staggered back, headless. His hands reached up to where his face should have been. He sank to his knees, then topped over like a freshly chopped tree.
Nick coughed, sinking to his own knees. He breathed deep, smelling the acrid stench of gunsmoke. Lights began popping on in windows all over the neighborhood. The area was coming alive. There would be police, and Nick had no time for police. He forced himself to move. Still gasping, he trotted to the end of the block, then started walking briskly out of the neighborhood. From far off, he heard the unusual ringing of a British police siren. Then he realized he still had Wilhelmina in his hand. He quickly shoved the Luger into his belt. In his career as Killmaster for AXE, he had come close to death many times. But he’d never been quite that close.
Once the Reds discovered the mess he’d just left, they would immediately connect it with Ossa’s death. If the smaller man who had been with Ossa was still alive, he would have contacted them by now. They’d put those two deaths together, along with his visit to Professor Loo, and know he was an agent. He could just about figure his cover was blown now. He had to get in touch with Hawk. The professor, as well as his family, was in great danger. Nick shook his head as he walked. This assignment was not going well at all.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Hawk’s unmistakable voice came at Nick over the scrambler. “Well, Carter. From what you’ve told me, it looks like your assignment has changed.”
“Yes, sir,” Nick said. He had just brought Hawk up to date. He was in his hotel room on the Victoria side of Hong Kong. Outside his window the blackness of night was beginning to fade a little.
Hawk said, “You know the situation there better than I do. I’ll handle the woman and boy on this end. You know what has to be done.”
“Yes,” Nick said. “I’ve got to find some way to find the professor’s wife and son, and get them out of China.”
“Take care of it any way you can. I’ll get to Hong Kong sometime Tuesday afternoon.”
“Yes, sir.” As always, Nick thought, Hawk was interested in results, not methods. Killmaster could use any method he needed, as long as it brought results.
“Good luck,” Hawk said, ending the conversation.
Killmaster had changed into a dry business suit. Since the pad of clothing around his waist hadn’t got wet, he left it there. It seemed a little ridiculous to be still wearing it, especially since he was almost certain he’d blown his cover. But he planned to change into the clothing as soon as he knew where in China he was going. And around his waist was a convenient way to carry it. He knew the clothes would be a bit tattered when he got ready to put them on because of the dagger cuts on his stomach. If he hadn’t had the padding, his belly would have been sliced open like a fresh-caught fish’s.
Nick doubted if Hawk would learn anything from the woman in Orlando. If she was as well-trained as he thought, she’d kill both herself and the boy before she told anything.
Killmaster rubbed his bruised throat. Already it was beginning to discolor. Where could he start looking for the professor’s wife and son? He might go back to the house and make the slick-dressed man talk. But he’d already put John Loo in enough danger. If not the house, then where? He needed a place to begin. Nick stood by the window looking down at the street. Few people were on the sidewalk now.
He suddenly felt hungry. He hadn’t eaten since checking into the hotel. A melody kept haunting him, as some songs do. It was one of the numbers that girl had sung. Nick stopped rubbing his throat. It was a straw, meaning probably nothing. But at least it was a place to start. He’d have something to eat, then go back to the Bar Wonderful.