him.
Janusz sobbed with self-pity. He was lost now. He no longer had the strength to run. They had him and they would punish him for the wicked things he had done.
He raised his head. The lights had found him. They were coming close, exposing him in the roadway as if he were some helpless animal, broken-limbed and prey to anything that should come along. Janusz tried to shield his eyes against the blaze, but there was no strength left in his arms.
The light was almost upon him. He waited in despair.
But now the bright beams were passing him, shining beyond. He blinked and it took an eternity for his eyes to discern the big black car that had drawn up alongside his prone body. The engine was still quietly running and nothing happened for a while. Then a rear door opened.
“Moge cie zrobic niewidzialnym, Janusz,' a soft voice said from within. 'I can make you invisible.' (And in a way, Kline did make him invisible.)
24 CORA'S ANGUISH
'Why jackals, for God's sake? There are plenty of other breeds that make better guard dogs.' Halloran had craned his neck round to look through the black limousine's rear window, halfexpecting to see shadowy shapes back on the roadway.
Palusinski shrugged, then gave a short laugh, his eyes becoming small behind the wire-rimmed glasses he wore. 'Perhaps Felix cares for the underdog.' He laughed again, enjoying his joke.
Halloran faced the front. 'I've never heard of trained jackals before.'
'All animals can be trained, moj kolega. As can all men.'
'I thought they were nocturnal, yet I saw one roaming in daylight yesterday.'
'They prefer night hunting, but even inherent habits can be changed. The dogs obey their master.'
'Kline?'
'Ah no.' Palusinski's foot gently touched the brake pedal as they gathered speed on the hill. The lights of Neath were like a beacon against the leaden slopes behind. 'Even an old dog such as I has learned some new tricks over the past two days. Your driving instructor teaches well.'
'Let's hope you never have to use those techniques.' The older man nodded. 'I am informed that you, yourself, had to do so yesterday.' Halloran made no comment. 'How long have you been employed by Felix Kline, Mr Palusinski?' he asked instead.
'Please, you may call me Janusz. Rest assured, I bear you no ill-will for your rough treatment of me two nights ago. I appreciate that you were merely pointing out the weakness of our defence. And there was no pain at the time, only an aching of the neck muscles afterwards. A skilful blow, sir, if I may say so.'
'Pity your partner can't forgive as easily.'
'Monk? An animal. A beast. It would be prudent to watch yourself with that one. Now, as to your question, I'm sure your company has access to the files on all of us. You must know how long I have been in Felix's employ.'
'Those files are pretty vague. They give no account of length of service.'
'I see. And you are curious, naturally.' The car pulled up behind the silver Mercedes at the front of the house. 'Felix brought me from Poland some years ago,' Palusinski said as he switched off the engine.
'Fourteen or fifteen years ago, I think.' Halloran was startled and about to question the Pole further, but Palusinski was already getting out of the car. 'Wait,' he said, and the older man bent down to look back inside. 'How old is Kline?' Halloran asked.
Palusinski smiled, his eyes narrowing behind the spectacles. 'Felix is older than you would imagine, sir.'
Then he was gone, walking around the front of the car towards the house.
Halloran quietly tapped on the door and waited. He was tired and that was due to more than just the lateness of the hour. There was a tension about this house that had little to do with any kidnap threat. Yet the day before there had been a stillness in Neatly a brooding heaviness which dragged at the spirit. That had now given way to a peculiar atmosphere of instability and he could almost feel a charge in the air, as if the building itself had been roused by the visitors like some slumbering monolith disturbed into a tensed wariness. He pushed the fanciful idea aside. A house was a house, bricks and mortar, timber and glass.
The events of the day and the unpredictability of his client were having an adverse effect on him. That Dieter Stuhr was still missing -Mather had phoned Halloran an hour before to inform him of this-added to his general unease for, as the Shield Organiser, the German was at the hub of an ongoing operation.
Nothing seemed right about this particular assignment.
He raised a hand to tap on the door again, but stopped when he heard the lock click from the inside.
Cora looked out at him.
'I wondered if you were okay,' he said, then added: 'You weren't at dinner.' Her hair was damp around her face as if she'd just stepped from the bath or shower. 'I wasn't hungry,' she told him.
'Nor was anyone else. I ate alone.' He was silent for a moment, waiting for some response from her.
When none came, he said, 'Can we talk?' Hesitation, then: 'I'm sorry, I'm acting like a stranger to you.'
She opened the door wide and stood aside so that he could enter, their roles reversed from the previous night.
He rested a hand against the doorframe. 'I didn't know .
'Come in, Liam. Please.' He entered the room and saw that it was bigger and more comfortable than his own. One half contained a small sofa and armchair, a coffee table in between, an antique writing bureau by the wall; the other side was occupied by a four-poster bed, bedside cabinet and dressing table, and a wardrobe of cavernous proportions. An open door led off and he assumed this was to an en suite bathroom. The curtains at the windows were drawn closed, which seemed unnecessary considering Neath's remote location.
Cora shut the door behind him and went to a table. 'Can I offer you a drink?' she asked, adjusting the belt of the white towelling robe she wore. 'Oh no, I forgot. You're always on duty, aren't you? I suppose you won't be surprised if I have one.' She poured herself some wine from a bottle on the table and settled back in the sofa, drawing her legs up under her.
'Why the antagonism, Cora? After last night = He stopped when she bowed her head as if the words had stung her.
'Have I disillusioned you?' There was scorn in her voice. 'I drink too much, I make love in an odd fashion, I'm subservient to a man who's half-mad, half-genius. I can imagine what you think of me.'
Halloran sat next to her, their bodies touching. 'The only thing I can't figure out is what you really drink.'
Cora had to smile. 'Whatever happens to be on offer,' she replied with only a hint of sullenness. She sipped the wine and he noticed the bottle level was down to the last quarter. 'Did I shock you last night?'
Cora asked, looking into her glass.
'Sure,' he answered.
She looked up sharply.
'I'd be a liar if I said I didn't enjoy it, though,' Halloran added.
'He made me do it.'
'What?'
'He made me go to your room.' She reached for the bottle and topped up her wine glass, even though it was still half-full. 'Felix told me to go to you last night.' Halloran was stunned. 'I don't understand.'
'He ordered me to seduce you. I don't know why. Perhaps he was testing you in some way. Or testing me. Perhaps he got some kind of kick out of it, finding another way to degrade me, turn me into a whore.'
'Why should he want to do that?'
'Felix enjoys corrupting people. But it's too soon for you to have realised that.'
'Cora, this doesn't make sense.'
'You already know there's no sense to any of this, Liam. Why persist in looking for it? I'm sorry if I've bruised your ego, but the truth is I was merely obeying instructions last night.' Her hand was shaking and she quickly drank to prevent the wine spilling over. She glanced at him and was surprised to find him smiling still, but this time that coldness was there, the glint of cruelness that somehow was constantly lurking beneath his surface manner.
'Maybe Kline wanted me kept busy,' he said.
