ordered him to give the ransom note to the British but Kell found out.'
'What happened to your brother?'
'Kell had him shot before my eyes,’ replied Kathleen, looking down at her knees.
'But you managed to escape?'
'I was to be shot too, but the man detailed to do it had other plans for me first.'
'He was the one who beat you up?'
'Yes. After he raped me he fell asleep. I managed to knock him out and get away before he came round.'
'You've had a horrific experience,’ said Avedissian softly.
'I dare say the O'Neill family have been responsible for some horrific experiences of other people in their time,’ said Bryant coldly.
'So what happens now?' asked Jarvis.
'Two days ago the IRA placed an ad in The Times indicating their willingness to negotiate with the kidnappers. Our people will stay close.'
'Where will the IRA get the money?' asked Avedissian.
'Certainly not from the banks,’ said Bryant with a cold smile. It will have to come from outside interests.'
'Meaning?'
'NORAID,’ replied Bryant. 'Misguided, interfering American clowns.'
'But that much?' said Jarvis. Twenty-five million?'
'It's an all or nothing operation,’ said Bryant.
'And where do we come into it?' asked Avedissian.
'We have assembled a rescue team comprising people of every skill known to man. Drivers, climbers, parachutists, you name it, we have it. It will be their task to recover the child. When they have done their job the boy will be handed over to you two for the return home, while everyone else guards your rear, so to speak. It will be your job, Doctor, to look after the boy's health.'
'And me?' asked Jarvis.
'You will be the link between the team and Avedissian.'
'When do we start?' asked Avedissian.
'Soon.'
'And until then?'
'You will all remain here.'
'Miss O'Neill too?' asked Avedissian.
Bryant smiled and said, 'Her too. So far her information has proved invaluable to us. There is probably a lot more she can tell us about Kell and his people. There is a suite of rooms on the second floor where you will be comfortable. If there is anything else you want, no reasonable request will be denied.'
SIX
Avedissian found himself drawn to Kathleen O'Neill. At first he managed to convince himself that his concern was medical and then, as the bruising disappeared, that it was pity he felt for her. But while it was true that she had lost more than anyone should at the one time, for she was to receive a new identity and leave the only country that she had ever known, it was also true that Avedissian felt a strong personal attraction towards her. As her injuries healed he was struck by how beautiful she really was. He knew about her hair and deep green eyes but the soft lines of her face, which had been obscured by the swelling after the beating, were a revelation and afforded her an air of serenity that he found totally captivating.
It was also clear that Bryant and Jarvis did not share his regard for Kathleen, apparently crediting her with the sins of her family. In her absence Bryant always referred to her as the O'Neill woman. Paul Jarvis was ever civil but made no overtures of friendship towards her.
Although not permitted to leave the precincts of the building the limits of their 'house arrest' did allow Avedissian, Jarvis and Kathleen the use of the garden, something that Avedissian and Kathleen made full use of while Jarvis tended to confine himself to using a small gymnasium on the top landing in his continual quest for fitness.
Avedissian's attempts to get Kathleen to speak of her family background and the philosophy behind her regard for her brother had been largely unsuccessful. He tried again as they walked together in the garden. 'You wouldn't understand,' she said, to Avedissian's annoyance.
'Why not?' he asked.
'You have no understanding of our history.'
'History!' exclaimed Avedissian. 'It's always 'history'.'
'It's important.'
'I would have thought that the future was a damned sight more important,' said Avedissian.
'A nice, comfortable view,' replied Kathleen.
'I want to understand. I really do,' said Avedissian.
Kathleen smiled and said, 'Let's stop talking politics shall we?'
Avedissian hesitated for a moment then agreed. He said, 'Tell me about your teaching. You are a teacher aren't you?'
Kathleen spoke readily of her job at the High School. She was obviously fond of children and her career had clearly been important to her, maybe even as important as his had been to him. Her enthusiasm made him wonder if she had yet faced the fact that it was probably over. But to point this out was something that Avedissian found he had no heart for. Instead he smiled and laughed at the tales of the High School and its pupils. 'You never married?' he asked when there was a lull in the conversation.
'No. You?'
'She died.'
'I'm sorry.'
Avedissian found himself taken unawares when Kathleen started asking him about his own life and career. Up until then she had been content to let Avedissian make all the running in their talks and he had come to accept that as the norm. Now he felt the need to become evasive and did not enjoy the feeling.
'Did you always want to be a doctor?'
Avedissian considered taking the easy way out and saying yes but did not. For some unaccountable reason he felt that he did not want to lie to Kathleen. 'No,’ he replied, hoping that the inquiry would stop there. 'That came later.'
'Later than what?'
Avedissian took a deep breath and said, 'I was in the army.'
Kathleen looked at him with surprise on her face. 'But not here?'
'Yes, here. I was an officer in the Paras.'
Kathleen looked away and they continued their walk. They had come to the rose bushes and she stopped to examine a giant yellow bloom before she asked, 'How did you like that?'
'I didn't,' replied Avedissian.
'So you became a doctor?'
'Yes.'
'Good for you.'
Avedissian was left with the feeling that he had learned nothing about Kathleen from the exchange. They returned to the house, unaware that Bryant had been watching them from a first floor window for some time.
Seeing Avedissian and the O'Neill woman walking together in the shrubbery had given Bryant an idea. Kathleen O'Neill had been his biggest stroke of luck since taking on the Irish problem and she could not have happened at a better time. Perhaps she could still be of use.
The triumph over the INLA at the very inception of a new IRA-INLA pact had made Bryant look good and it
