climbing the ladder one by one.
Tully sat down at the chart table. “So what now?”
“I’ve done a boat crossing from the Lake District coast to Ulster twice over the years,” Ryan told him.
“Is that a fact?”
“Yes, so I know where the Isle of Man is – halfway between the two and we pass south, skirting what they call the Calf of Man?”
“If you say so.”
“Oh, but I do, and there it is on your top chart. I’d say we should be seeing the lighthouse there at midnight.”
“So what?”
“That should give us a landfall at Kilalla around three.”
“It depends on the weather.”
“And so it does, but keep on course. I have a marine compass in any case, and I’d be very hurt if I discovered we weren’t proceeding in a westerly direction.”
“All right,” Tully said sullenly. “Now what happens?”
“Well, as there is nowhere else I’d particularly like to spend the night on this disgusting pig boat, we’ll use the cab of the truck. It even has a bunk behind the driver’s seat.” He turned to Keogh. “Give him your radio, Martin.”
Keogh took it from his pocket and put it on the chart table. “There you go.”
“What’s this?” Tully demanded.
“Two-way radio. I have one, too, so we can keep in touch, us down there and you up here. Another thing. You have one of your men standing on the deck down there where I can shoot him if anything untoward happens.”
“You bastard.”
“I always was, but I keep my word, and I’m going to give you a chance to be sensible.” He took an envelope from his pocket and threw it down. “That’s the fifty thousand pounds Mr. Keogh took from you.”
Tully was truly shocked. “My God!”
“Count it when we’re gone. It’s all there.” Ryan smiled looking like the Devil himself. “No bloodshed, no aggravation, and you get another fifty thousand at Kilalla in a few hours. Think about it.” He nodded to Keogh. “Let’s go. You first, Martin. I’ll mind your back and you cover me.”
They went down the ladder one after the other, and Tully opened the envelope and examined the money. “Damn him!” he said.
“What’s he playing at?” Dolan asked.
“He’s giving me a way out, isn’t he? Play the game and settle for a hundred thousand.”
“And will you?”
“There’s fifty million pounds in gold sitting out there, Dolan, fifty million.”
“All right,” Dolan said, “but these are hard bastards.”
“Well so am I.”
Tully sat there frowning and examining the chart. Dolan said, “Have you any ideas?”
“Not at the moment. If we don’t pass the Calf of Man he’d know it. On top of that he’s got a marine compass.” He shook his head. “No, we’ll have to stay on course and wait for our chance. There’s bound to be one. Maybe in the early hours of the morning when we’re closer to Ireland.”
Dolan nodded. “They’ll be tired then.”
“And seasick with any luck. I didn’t tell the bastard, but I checked the weather forecast and it’s deteriorating. Winds gusting to seven around midnight, and you know what this old tub is like in rough weather.”
“The original beast.”
The radio crackled and Keogh’s voice sounded. “As the song says, is that the captain of the ship?”
Tully pressed the answer button. “What do you want?”
“A man on deck.”
“All right.” Tully turned to Dolan. “Down you go, Mick. Two hours, then I’ll have Muller relieve you, and you’d better take an oilskin. You’ll need it.” He smiled savagely. “See, it’s started to rain again.”
DOLAN’S SHIFT BEING over, it was Muller who stood by the ladder, clearly visible in the sickly yellow glow of the deck lights, a miserable-looking figure as he tried to shelter from the rain under the lower canopy of the wheelhouse.
“Now isn’t that the great sight!” Keogh demanded as he devoured one of Mary Power’s ham sandwiches.
Kathleen laughed as she passed him a cup of tea. “You’re a terrible man, Martin.”
Ryan said, “His bad luck he’s on the wrong side. Here, I’ll put the heater on for a while.”
A warm glow spread throughout the cabin within seconds. “God, but that’s nice,” Kathleen said.
Ryan took another sandwich. “You’ll be fine back there in the cabin. Nice and cosy on that bunk bed. You get your head down and get some sleep.”
“What about you and Martin?”
“Oh, we can snatch an hour or two just sitting here. We’ll take it in turns.”
They finished eating and she put the rest of the sandwiches and the Thermos away and looked out into the darkness where the sea was angry, whitecaps driving in, rolling the
Kathleen clutched at Keogh’s arm. “Exciting, isn’t it?” he said sardonically.
“Damn you, Martin, I’m bloody terrified and you know it.”
“It always gets worse before it gets better, that’s the way of it,” he teased her.
She punched him in the shoulder. “You can stop that.”
Ryan looked at his watch. “Nine o’clock. Get on the bunk and try to sleep. You’ll be better off.”
“Yes, well, first I want to go to the toilet.”
“The one thing we don’t have,” he said.
“It’s all right for you and Martin. You can stand at the side of the truck. I can’t do that.”
“Dear God.” Ryan picked up the radio and called the wheelhouse. “Tully, come in.”
“What do you want?” Tully demanded.
“My niece wants the toilet. Keogh is going to escort her, and just to keep you in order he’ll take Muller with him.”
“All right,” Tully said.
Keogh opened the door on his side and stepped down, his AK at the ready, the stock folded. The wind was much stronger now driving in the rain as he approached Muller.
“The lady needs the toilet, so you lead the way and watch yourself.”
Muller glared at him but did as he was told, opening the door to the companionway and leading the way down. Keogh followed, the girl at his heels. He kept Muller covered while she went inside.
When she came out, Keogh said to Muller, “Go on, you first.”
Muller obeyed sullenly and took up his station under the wheelhouse canopy whilst Keogh and Kathleen returned to the truck and climbed inside.
“Lie down now,” Ryan told her. “There are blankets there. Try and sleep.”
She did as she was told and Keogh and her uncle sat there, looking out as rain streamed down the windscreen and the ship rolled.
“Better than a roller coaster, this,” Ryan said.
“The Germans built them for inshore work,” Keogh told him. “The bottom’s almost flat.” He lit a cigarette. “I’ve been thinking. Very convenient, Tully having the one pistol.”
“I know. I wouldn’t believe that for one minute.”
“That ploy of yours giving him the fifty thousand back. Will it work?”
“I’d like to think so, but I doubt it. He’s a greedy animal, that one, but it was worth the try.”
“So what’s your best guess?”
“Oh, he’ll stay on course because I can check with my marine compass. I should imagine he’ll wait till we’re close to the Irish coast. The early hours would be best. They’ll expect us to be tired, so I suggest you get your head down for a while and I’ll keep watch.”
