They looked around, expecting the worst, but found it better than they had feared. Kathleen turned down one of the bed covers and looked at the linen. 'Good,' she said. 'I half expected to find it still warm.'
Avedissian drew the curtains and opened the medical case that he had taken from the Inn. He took out what he needed and laid it out in order on a bedside table. 'I have to look at the boy's neck,' he said quietly to Kathleen.
'It's not going to be easy,' she replied. 'But we'll try.' She smiled at the child and spoke to him all the time as she gently teased away the temporary dressing from his neck. At first he was uncertain but confidence started to grow in him. It lasted until it became clear that Avedissian was going to touch him again, then fear returned to his eyes and he drew close to Kathleen. She cuddled him and whispered yet more reassurance.
'It will have to be done,' whispered Avedissian.
Kathleen laid the boy gently back on the bed and took Avedissian's hand. She held it to her cheek in a gesture of trust for the child's benefit. The boy looked puzzled so she repeated the gesture, nodding as she did so.
It took some little time but the child eventually decided to give Avedissian another chance. He did not draw away when Avedissian made to examine his neck but his small body was rigid with uncertainty.
'Is it bad?' asked Kathleen.
'No,' replied Avedissian. The implant was just under the skin but I'll have to put in a couple of stitches to keep the edges together.'
'More pain?'
'A little, but nothing like last time.'
Kathleen held the boy while Avedissian did what he had to and then breathed a sigh of relief. 'It's done,' he said. He rubbed the child's hand and said, 'Well done. You were very brave.' The child stared at him blankly.
Avedissian took a bottle of red liquid from the table and poured some out on a spoon. This elixir will help him sleep,' he said to Kathleen. 'It tastes nice too.'
Kathleen encouraged the boy to accept it and was rewarded by a ghost of a smile. 'It's bed for you,’ she whispered, giving the boy another hug.
When Kathleen had tucked the child safely into bed she returned to Avedissian. Now free of the need to play-act for the child's benefit, her face showed all the signs of the strain that she felt. 'What on earth are we going to do?' she asked.
'Our first priority is to get out of Kansas City,' replied Avedissian. 'We have to get away from NORAID. A couple with British accents and moving around with a child are not going to be too difficult to trace, and they must want us pretty badly.'
'If only they knew that the boy was not the royal child,’ said Kathleen.
'Right now it wouldn't make that much difference,’ said Avedissian. They think that we killed Roker and Shelby as well as the other two.'
Kathleen asked about 'the other two' and Avedissian told her what had happened during the chase. 'What a mess,’ she sighed, nervously wringing her hands. 'It's all gone wrong.'
Avedissian found the comment strange but, at that moment, the boy moved in his sleep and Kathleen went to check on him. Avedissian watched while she settled him again. 'We'll try to make for Chicago,’ he said. 'It has a big airport. Maybe we can slip through after a few days.’
'How do we get there? They'll be watching all the stations.’
'We'll have to get a car.’
'Hire one, you mean?' asked Kathleen.
'I've got a credit card.’
'Aren't we taking the same risk? A man with a British accent hiring a car?'
'We have to do something.’
'First thing in the morning?'
'Second. I have to go to the bank first.’
'The bank?' asked Kathleen in astonishment.
'I have to open an account,’ said Avedissian.
'You're not making sense.’
'When I left you at the hotel for a few minutes, I went back to Jarvis's room and took the tapes from the recording machine.’
'Why?' asked Kathleen.
'Because somewhere on the tapes is the voice of Roker saying "Archimedes". That's what I meant when I said that I was securing the boy's future.’
It took a few moments for Kathleen to see the full implication of what Avedissian had said, but when it did dawn on her she exclaimed, 'Of course, that's brilliant! The password with the correct voice print! You can get the money!'
'I hope so,’ said Avedissian. 'NORAID are not going to let the money lie in that account for ever but I think the deaths of both Roker and Shelby might slow them up with alternative arrangements. That and the fact that they must know by now that the money was not transferred after the exchange. They probably feel that there is no danger of anyone getting to it.’
'Sheer genius,’ said Kathleen quietly but Avedissian got the impression that her thoughts were elsewhere.
'You know what?' she said.
'What?'
'I'm starving!'
Avedissian had to admit that he was hungry too. He could not remember when they had last eaten properly. ‘I’ll nip out and see what I can get,’ he said, putting on his jacket. Before he left he removed the pistol from the pocket and handed it to Kathleen, asking if she knew how to use it. 'Lock the door behind me,’ he said. 'If anyone insists on entering, shoot first, we'll discuss your options later.’
Avedissian was gone for about fifteen minutes. He returned with a selection of take-away food from a McDonald's restaurant to appreciative sounds from Kathleen. He could not help but notice the change in her mood in the past hour. For some reason she seemed to have been instilled with new hope.
'The coffee's a bit cold,’ she said.
'I should have run faster,’ said Avedissian quietly watching her.
Kathleen stopped eating and looked up. 'Oh, what a stupid thing to say!' she exclaimed. 'My mind was miles away. Forgive me?'
'You're forgiven.'
Kathleen came round to Avedissian's side of the table and sat down on his knee. She traced her finger-tips along his forehead and said softly, 'Whatever happens now, you are the most wonderful man I've ever known. It's the wrong time and the wrong place to say it but that is the plain unvarnished truth.' She kissed him lightly on the lips.
'We've not really had much say about times and places,’ said Avedissian.
'No, but for what it's worth, I'm so glad I met you.'
'And I you.'
Kathleen crawled into bed beside the child in case he should wake up and panic during the night. Avedissian took the other bed and fell into a fitful sleep after savouring the quiet darkness for some minutes. His fear that he might not be able to sleep at all was overcome by sheer exhaustion. He had a great deal to think and worry about but his mind protested at any more anxiety in one day and insisted on rest. His sleep was, however, shallow and he woke at three a. m, puzzled by the sound of scratching.
The sound was not being made by an animal, he decided. It was too regular. Mice noises were intermittent. What was it?
Where was it coming from? Avedissian raised himself on one elbow to listen more intently. The noise changed to a gentle tapping. It was coming from somewhere near the door…
Silently Avedissian swung himself out of bed and found his jacket in the darkness. The gun was not in the pocket. He remembered that he had given it to Kathleen but he didn’t know where she’d put it.
Another change in the noise and, all at once, Avedissian realised what it was. Someone had been etching the glass panel beside the door of the chalet with a glass cutter. The tapping had been to remove the etched area and allow access to the interior!
As the piece of glass was being removed Avedissian flung himself across the room, picking up the only weapon he could find on the way — the forceps he had used earlier when suturing the child's wound. A hand came through the opening beside the door to fumble for the lock, and Avedissian plunged the tips of the forceps into the back of it. He felt them go right through and heard the intruder grunt in pain before cursing him in an accent that he realised was not American.