“This is it,” Dillon said. “Let’s go.”
He pushed open the door and entered the saloon. There were no customers, the place totally deserted. At that moment, the door at the rear of the bar opened and the barmaid came through, a trim blonde in her forties, her hair swept up from a face that was heavily made up. She was called Dora, and Dillon knew her well. She looked upset.
“It’s you, Mr. Dillon. I thought the bastards might have come back.”
“Take a deep breath, Dora. Where is everybody?”
“The customers all made themselves scarce and who can blame them? Harry and the boys were in the corner booth having shepherd’s pie half an hour ago when Sam Hooker and four of his men came in with sawed-off shotguns.”
“Why would he do that?”
“He’s working the river these days like Harry, pleasure boats as a front. Wanted a partnership, but Harry told him to stuff it.”
“So what happened?”
“They took Harry, Baxter, and Hall. Billy put up a fight, but they knocked him unconscious. I’ve just been seeing to him in the kitchen. Come through.”
She lifted the bar flap and led the way into the kitchen. Billy Salter sat at the table drinking Scotch, a pump action shotgun in front of him. He was twenty-six, a hard young man who’d done prison time for assault and affray. Just now, the left side of his face was bruised and swollen. He glanced up.
“Dillon, what in the hell are you doing here?”
“I was hoping to see your uncle. I need his help on something, only it looks more like he could do with mine.”
“Fucking Sam Hooker, I’ll do for him myself.”
“All on your own with that shotgun? Don’t be a silly boy, Billy. According to Dora, Hooker has four goons with him. Who do you think you are, Dirty Harry? It only works in the movies because the script makes it work.”
Billy poured a little more whiskey into his glass and looked at Blake. “Who’s your friend?”
“If I said he was former FBI you wouldn’t believe me. Blake Johnson.”
“Your face doesn’t look too good,” Blake said. “Maybe a cracked cheekbone. I’d say you need the casualty department of your nearest hospital.”
“Stuff that. What I need is Sam Hooker’s head on a platter.”
“Well, you won’t get that standing here,” Dillon told him. “Where did they take him?”
“Hooker usually operates from a pleasure boat called the Lynda Jones. He ties up at the old dock at Pole End. That’s half a mile downriver from here.”
Dillon turned to Blake. “Look, this is personal, you don’t need to get involved.”
“For Christ’s sake, don’t let’s stand around talking,” Blake said. “Let’s do it,” and he led the way out.
Pole End was a desolate place, a symbol of the decay of what had once been the greatest port in the world, rusting cranes etched against the night sky. Dillon braked to a halt some distance away and they got out, Billy carrying the shotgun, and approached the dock.
“Damn it to hell,” Billy said. “Will you look at that. They’ve moved her. That’s the Lynda Jones out there.”
There were two arms to the docks stretching out into the river, the area between about three hundred yards across, and the Lynda Jones was anchored in the center.
“You’re sure that’s where your uncle will be?” Blake asked.
“Where else? Another thing, why move out there to the middle of the dock?” Billy said. “I’ll tell you. Because it’s impossible for anyone to get out there without them knowing.”
“Not quite,” Dillon said. “I introduced you to scuba diving the other year, Billy, remember? And didn’t Harry see the possibilities? I happen to know you went to Barbados on holiday and got your diving certificate.”
“So what?”
“Come on, Billy, you’ve been working a new racket. Diamonds from Amsterdam dropped overboard with a floating marker from ships passing upriver. You go out later underwater and retrieve them. That means you have the diving gear at the Dark Man, right?”
“Okay, so you’ve got me, but what are you getting at?”
“You hurry back to the pub, pick up an inflatable, a tank, fins, and a mask and get back here fast. Don’t bother with a diving suit.”
“You mean you’re going to swim out there?”
“Can you think of anything else to do?”
“But there’s five of them.”
“Well, that means with the way I’m loading my Walther, I’ll have two rounds for each of them. On your way, Billy, and don’t forget a dive bag. Here are the keys.”
Billy hurried away and Blake went to the edge of the dock and peered down through the shadows. He straightened. “Not even a rowboat down there. Are you sure about this, Sean?”
“Why not? All I need to do is hold them up, free Salter and the other two, and bring the boat in.”
“You sure as hell make it sound easy.”
They looked out toward the lights of the boat. There was a burst of laughter. “People on deck,” Dillon said.
“I make it three, and one of them’s going down the ladder,” Blake said. “It’s kind of dark down there, but I think there must be a boat.”
Which there was, for an engine roared into life and a speedboat moved across the water toward the dock. Dillon and Blake stayed in the shadows by a crane.
“You’re bigger than me, so get him from the rear, hand over his mouth and not a sound, while I have words,” Dillon said.
“You’re on.”
Strange, but standing there in the shadows, Blake Johnson felt more alive than he’d done in years, and he flexed his hands, waiting, as the speedboat coasted in to the stone steps. The man behind the wheel got out and came up. As he reached the dock, Blake moved fast and grabbed him.
Dillon put the barrel of the Walther under the man’s chin. “Not a sound or I’ll kill you. This is a silenced weapon. They won’t hear a thing. Do you understand?” The man nodded, Blake removed his hand. Dillon said, “Salter and his boys are out there with Hooker – right?”
The man was terrified. “Yes.”
“Where?”
“In the main saloon.”
“Nicely tied up?” The man nodded and Dillon said, “Hooker and three others, so what are you doing here?”
“There’s a Chinese restaurant on the main road. Hooker phoned an order through to them. He sent me to get it.”
“Considerate of him. That’s a nice tie you’re wearing.” Dillon pulled it off and passed it to Blake, who tied the man’s wrists.
“Are you thinking what I am?” Blake asked.
“I presume so. The minute you see me board at the stern, you and Billy come out in the speedboat. Hooker will think it’s his man with the Chinese.” He grinned. “Shows you where greed gets you.” He shook the man fiercely. “Where’s your transport?”
“Over there in that old warehouse.”
Dillon marched him over and found a Ford van parked in the darkness. Blake opened the rear doors and Dillon shoved the man in. “Not a sound or I’ll come back, and you know what that will mean.”
They closed the doors and returned to the edge of the dock.
Billy arrived a few minutes later, engine off, coasting down a slight incline over the cobbles. He switched off, got out, and went and opened the trunk of the car.
“Everything okay?”
“Tell him, Blake,” Dillon said, opened the rear door of the car, sat on the seat and undressed down to his underpants, slipping his glasses into a jacket pocket.
He pulled on the inflatable jacket, then clamped the tank to it. “Give me five minutes. The light under the awning at the stern is bright enough for you to see me go over the rail, then you two come out in the speedboat like I said.”
“Bloody cold out there,” Billy told him.
“Not for long.” Dillon put his Walther in the dive bag and hung it around his neck, then he went down the steps, sat on the last one and pulled on his fins. He adjusted his mask, reached for his mouthpiece, and slipped into the dark waters.