Once more Tanner pressed the receiver down. His third call was to his own home.
«Ali? Everything’s fine, darling. There’s nothing to worry about. Now, don’t talk. Put Bernie on the phone right away… Ali, not now! Put Bernie on the phone!… Bernie, it’s John. I’m sorry I took off but I had to. I know who Omega is but I need your help. I’m calling from the Village. I’ll need a car later … not now; later. I don’t want mine seen in the Village. I’ll use a taxi. Meet me out at the Lassiter depot at two-thirty. Turn right out of the driveway and go east on Orchard—it curves north—for about a mile. You’ll see a large pond, there’s a white fence around it. On the other side is Lassiter Road. Go down Lassiter a couple of miles and you’ll see the depot… It’s over, Bernie. I’ll have Omega at the depot at two-thirty. For Christ’s sake don’t, don’t blow it! Trust me! Don’t call anybody or do anything! Just be there!»
Tanner hung up the telephone, opened the door and ran towards the Mercedes coupe.
28
He stood in the darkened doorway of a toy store. It occurred to him that Scanlan’s Mercedes was a familiar car in the Village and the Tremaynes, the Cardones, and perhaps even the Ostermans knew Scanlan was his nearest neighbor. That might be to his advantage, he considered. If the assumption were made that he’d borrowed the automobile, it would be further assumed that he remained in the area. The hunt, then, would be thorough. There was nothing to do but wait now. Wait until a little after two o’clock before driving out to the Lassiter depot.
Wait in the center of the Village to see who came after him; who tried to stop him from making the rendezvous. Which couple? Or would it be all three? For Omega had to be frightened now. The unutterable had been said; the mystery brought out into the open.
Omega would have to try to stop him now. If anything Fassett had said was true, that was their only course of action. To intercept him before he reached the depot.
He counted on it. They wouldn’t stop him—he’d make sure of that, but he wanted to know in advance who the enemy was.
He looked up and down the street. There were only four people visible. A couple walking a Dalmatian, a man emerging from the Pub, and the driver asleep in the front seat of his taxi.
From the east end of town Tanner saw the headlights of a car approaching slowly. Soon he saw it was his own station wagon. He pressed back into the recessed, unlit doorway.
The driver was Leila Osterman. Alone.
Tanner’s pulse quickened. What had he done? It had never occurred to him that any of the couples would separate in a crisis! Yet Leila was alone! And there was nothing to prevent Osterman from holding his family as hostages! Osterman was one of those being protected, not one of the hunted. He could move about freely, leave the premises if he wished. Force Ali and the children to go with him if he thought it necessary!
Leila parked the station wagon in front of the Pub, got out, and walked rapidly over to the taxi driver, shaking him awake. They talked quietly for a moment; Tanner couldn’t hear the voices. Eventually Leila turned back to the Pub and went in. Tanner remained in the doorway, fingering the dimes in his pocket, waiting for her to come out. The waiting was agony. He had to get to the phone. He had to get through to the police! He had to make sure his family was safe!
Finally she appeared, got in the wagon, and drove off. Five or six blocks west she turned right; the car disappeared.
Tanner raced across the street to the telephone booth. He dropped in a dime and dialed.
«Hello?»
Thank God! It was Ali!
«It’s me.»
«Where are you …»
«Never mind that now. Everything’s fine… Are you all right?» He listened carefully for any false note.
«Of course, I am. We’re worried sick about you. What are you doing?»
She sounded natural. It was all right.
«I don’t have time. I want …»
She interrupted him. «Leila went out looking for you. You’ve made an awful mistake… We’ve talked. You and I were wrong, darling. Very wrong. Bernie got so worried he thought …»
He cut her off. He didn’t have the seconds to waste; not on the Ostermans, not now. «I’ve got to get off the phone. Stay with the guards. Do as I say. Don’t let them out of your sight!»
He hung up before she could speak. He had to reach the police. Every moment counted now.
«Headquarters. Jenkins speaking.»
So the one man on the Saddle Valley police force cleared for Omega was back. MacAuliff had recalled him.
«Headquarters,» repeated the patrolman testily.
«This is John Tanner …»
«Jesus Christ, where have you been? We’ve been looking all over for you!»
«You won’t find me. Not until I want you to… Now, listen to me! The two policemen in the house—I want them to stay with my wife. She’s never to be left alone! The children either! Never! None of them can be alone with Osterman!»
«Of course! We know that! Now, where are you? Don’t be a damned fool!»
«I’ll phone you later. Don’t bother to trace this call. I’ll be gone.»
He slammed down the receiver and opened the door, looking for a better vantage point than the storefront. He couldn’t run unobserved from the doorway. He started back across the street. The taxi driver was asleep again.
Suddenly, without warning, Tanner heard the roar of an engine. The blurred outline of a car without headlights sped toward him. It came out of nowhere at enormous speed; he was its target. He raced toward the opposite sidewalk only feet ahead of the rushing car. He threw himself toward the curb, twisting his body away from the automobile.
At the same instant he felt a great blow on his left leg. There was a piercing sound of tires braking on asphalt. Tanner fell, rolling with his plunge, and saw the black car narrowly miss the Mercedes, then speed away down Valley Road.
The pain in his leg was excruciating; his shoulder was throbbing. He hoped to Christ he could walk! He had to be able to walk!
The cab driver was running toward him.
«Jesus! What happened?»
«Help me up, will you, please?»
«Sure! Sure! You okay?… That guy must’ve had a load on! Jesus! You could’ve been killed. You want me to get a doctor?»
«No. No, I don’t think so.»
«I got a telephone right over there! I’ll call the cops! They’ll have a doctor here in no time!»
«No! No, don’t! I’m all right… Just help me walk around a bit.» It was painful for him, but Tanner found he could move. That was the important fact. The pain didn’t matter now. Nothing mattered but Omega. And Omega was out in the open!
«I better call the police anyway,» said the driver, holding on to Tanner’s arm. «That clown should get yanked off the road.»
«No… I mean, I didn’t get the license. I didn’t even see what kind of car. It wouldn’t do any good.»
«I guess not. Serve the bastard right, though, if he plows himself into a tree.»
«Yeah. That’s right.» Tanner was walking by himself now. He’d be all right.
The telephone at the taxi stand rang across the street.
«There goes my phone… You okay?»
«Sure. Thanks.»
«Saturday night. Probably the only call I’ll get on the whole shift. Only keep one cab on duty Saturday night. That’s one too many.» The driver moved away. «Good luck, buddy. You sure you don’t want a doctor?»
«No, really. Thanks.»
He watched the driver take down an address, then heard his voice as he repeated it.