Night Over Water

He had her safe. He rested for a moment, saying, “It’s okay, baby. I’ve got you,” while she choked and spluttered. Then he hauled her up to the platform.

He held her hand while she turned and stood up, then he helped her inside the plane.

She fell into his arms, sobbing. He pressed her dripping head against his chest. He felt tears come but forced them back. The three gangsters and Captain Baker were looking at him expectantly, but he ignored them for a few moments more. He held Carol-Ann tightly as she shook violently.

At last he said: “Are you okay, honey? Did these bastards hurt you?”

She shook her head. “I’m okay, I guess,” she said through chattering teeth.

He looked up and caught the eye of Captain Baker. Baker looked from him to Carol-Ann and back again, then said: “Jesus Christ, I’m beginning to understand this....”

Vincini said: “Enough talk. We got work to do.”

Eddie released Carol-Ann. “Okay. I think we should deal with the crew first, get them calmed down and out of the way. Then I’ll take you to the man you want. Is that all right?”

“Yeah, but let’s get on with it.”

“Follow me.” Eddie crossed to the ladder and went up. He came out onto the flight deck first and began speaking right away. In the few seconds before Vincini caught up with him, he said: “Listen, guys, please don’t anybody try to be a hero. It isn’t necessary. I hope you understand me.” He could not risk more than that hint. A moment later Carol-Ann, Captain Baker and the three hoodlums came up through the hatch. Eddie went on. “Everybody keep calm and do what you’re told. I don’t want any shooting. I don’t want anybody to get hurt. The captain is going to tell you the same thing.” He looked at Baker.

“That’s right, men,” Baker said. “Don’t give these people any reason to use their guns.”

Eddie looked at Vincini. “Okay, let’s go. Come with us please, Captain, to calm the passengers. Then Joe and Kid should take the crew to number one compartment.”

Vincini nodded assent.

“Carol-Ann, will you go with the crew, honey?”

“Yes.”

Eddie felt good about that. She would be away from the guns, and she could also explain to his crewmates why he was helping the gangsters.

He looked at Vincini. “Do you want to put your gun away? You’ll scare the passengers—”

“Fuck you,” said Vincini. “Let’s go.”

Eddie shrugged. It had been worth a try.

He led the way down the stairs to the passenger deck. There was a hubbub of loud talk, some semihysterical laughter and the sound of one woman sobbing. The passengers were all in their seats and the two stewards were making heroic efforts to look calm and normal.

Eddie went along the plane. The dining room was a mess, with smashed crockery and broken glass all over the floor; although fortunately there was not much spilled food because the meal had been almost over and everyone had been having coffee. People went quiet when they saw Vincini’s gun. Behind Vincini, Captain Baker was saying: “I apologize for this, ladies and gentlemen, but please remain seated and try to keep calm and it will all be over shortly.” He was so smoothly reassuring that Eddie almost felt better himself.

He passed through number 3 compartment and entered number 4. Ollis Field and Frankie Gordino were sitting side by side. This is it, Eddie thought; this is where I set free a murderer. He pushed the thought aside, pointed to Gordino and said to Vincini: “There’s your man.”

Ollis Field stood up. “This is F.B.I, agent Tommy McArdle,” he said. “Frankie Gordino crossed the Atlantic on a ship that reached New York yesterday, and he is now in jail in Providence, Rhode Island.”

“Jesus Christ!” Eddie exploded. He was thunderstruck. “A decoy! I went through all that for a goddamned decoy!” He was not going to free a murderer after all; but he could not feel glad because he was too scared of what the gangsters might do now. He looked fearfully at Vincini.

Vincini said: “Hell, we ain’t after Frankie. Where’s the Kraut?”

Eddie stared at him, flabbergasted. They were not after Gordino? What did it mean? Who was the Kraut?

Tom Luther’s voice came from number 3 compartment. “He’s in here, Vincini. I’ve got him.” Luther stood in the doorway holding a gun at the head of Carl Hartmann.

Eddie was mystified. Why the hell would the Patriarca gang want to kidnap Carl Hartmann? “What do you guys want with a scientist?” he said.

Luther said: “He’s not just a scientist. He’s a nuclear physicist.”

“Are you guys Nazis?”

Vincini said: “Oh, no. We’re just doing a job for them. Matter of fact, we’re Democrats.” He laughed coarsely.

Luther said coldly: “I am no Democrat. I am proud to be a member of the Deutsch-Amerikaner Bund.” Eddie had heard of the Bund: it was supposed to be a harmless German-American friendship league, but it was funded by the Nazis. Luther went on. “These men are just hired hands. I received a personal message from the Fuhrer himself, requesting my help in apprehending a runaway scientist and returning him to Germany.” Luther was proud of this honor, Eddie realized: it was the greatest thing that had ever happened to him. “I paid these people to help me. Now I am going to take Herr Doktor Professor Hartmann back to Germany, where his presence is required by the Third Reich.”

Eddie caught Hartmann’s eye. The man looked sick with dread. Eddie was stricken with guilt. Hartmann was going to be taken back to Nazi Germany, and it was Eddie’s fault. Eddie said to him: “They had my wife ... what could I do?”

Hartmann’s face changed immediately. “I understand,” he said. “We are used to this sort of thing in Germany. They make you betray one loyalty for the sake of another. You had no choice. Don’t blame yourself.”

Eddie was astonished that the man could find it in his heart to console him at a moment like this.

He caught the eye of Ollis Field. “But why did you bring a decoy onto the Clipper?” he said. “Did you want the Patriarca gang to hijack the plane?”

“Not at all,” Field said. “We got information that the gang want to kill Gordino to stop him squealing. They were going to hit him as soon as he reached America. So we let it out that he was flying on the Clipper, but sent him on ahead by ship. Round about now, the news will be on the radio that Gordino is in jail and the gang will know they’ve been fooled.”

“Why aren’t you guarding Carl Hartmann?”

“We didn’t know he was going to be on this flight—nobody told us!”

Was Hartmann completely unprotected? Eddie wondered. Or did he have a bodyguard who had not yet revealed himself?

The little gangster called Joe came into the compartment with his gun in his right hand and an opened bottle of champagne in his left. “They’re quiet as lambs, Vinnie,” he said to Vincini. “Kid’s back there in the dining room. He can cover the whole front part of the plane from there.”

Vincini said to Luther: “So where’s the fuckin’ submarine?”

Luther said: “It will be here at any moment, I’m sure.”

A submarine! Luther had a rendezvous with a U-boat right here off the coast of Maine! Eddie looked out of the windows, expecting to see it rising from the water like a steel whale; but he saw nothing but waves.

Vincini said: “Well, we’ve done our bit. Gimme the money.”

Keeping Hartmann covered, Luther stepped back to his seat, picked up a small case and handed it to Vincini. Vincini opened it. It was packed tight with wads of bills.

Luther said: “A hundred thousand dollars, all in twenties.”

Vincini said: “I better check it.” He put his gun away and sat down with the case on his knee.

Luther said: “It’ll take you forever—”

“What do you think I am, green?” Vincini said in a tone of exaggerated patience. “I’ll check two bundles. Then I’ll count how many bundles there are. I’ve done this before.”

Everyone watched Vincini count the money. The passengers in the compartment—Princess Lavinia, Lulu Bell, Mark Alder, Diana Lovesey, Ollis Field and the Frankie Gordino impostor—looked on. Joe recognized Lulu Bell. “Hey,