Assault on England (6 page)

"We just might, and I don't propose to waste it."

I moved close to her, circled her waist with my hands and started to draw her to me. She arched her back so that the soft curves of her pressed against me.

"I've been looking forward to this," I said, placing a kiss on her neck just under the blond hair.

"I've been wanting you ever since you walked into Brutus's office," she whispered back.

She helped me off with my jacket and Wilhelmina and then my shirt. I was undoing the catch that held her skirt up. In a moment it dropped to the floor. She stood there in sheer lace panties, all willowy curves and softness, her skin milky white and smooth as velvet.

"We can't use the bed," I said, watching her slide the panties over her hips. I removed the rest of my clothes and drew her down beside me on the bedroom rug.

I pressed her back onto the floor and kissed her. She responded eagerly, moving her hips against me in gentle undulating movements. I caressed her as I kissed her and felt her thighs part at my touch. Obviously, she was in no mood to waste time either. Gently, I covered her body with mine.

I entered her in one smooth, flowing motion. Her hands were doing magical things on my back, moving lower and lower, caressing, fondling, exciting me more and more. I started to move quicker, and I could feel Heather respond. Her legs parted wider as if she wanted me as deeply inside her as I could possibly go. Her breath came in rasping sobs. I thrust farther into her and she moaned as we climaxed together, perfectly.

Afterwards, we dressed slowly. When Heather had pulled on the jersey again, I leaned over and kissed her lightly on the lips.

"We're going to have to make a custom of this lend-lease business," I said.

"I'll see what Brutus can arrange." She smiled.

We hadn't been dressed for long when I heard a car stopping. Heather was in the kitchen. I moved quickly to the bedroom window, pulling my jacket on. A black sedan had pulled up in front of the house. There were three men in it. One of them was Novosty.

I rushed to the bedroom door as Novosty and his pals got out of the car and moved toward the house. "Heather!" I whispered harshly. "They're here!"

A key scraped in the lock. Heather was nowhere in sight. I ducked back into the bedroom as the front door opened.

"It is possible I can get someone else besides Marsh here," one of the men was saying as the three entered. I glimpsed a heavyset, curly-haired character carrying a bag of groceries. He moved through the front room to the kitchen and I figured him for Koval. "But you understand that this is very short notice."

I held my breath as Koval entered the kitchen. Heather was in there somewhere. Maybe she had managed to slip into the pantry. I could hear the curly-haired man moving about the kitchen.

"You can tell that to the Kremlin, Comrade." It was Novosty, and it was said with heavy sarcasm. I saw him as he sat down in a chair near the doorway. I eased the door shut, leaving just a half-inch slit. Heather's purse, I noticed out of the corner of my eyes, wasn't on the bed anymore. Had she taken it with her…? And then I saw it in the far corner by the bed where it must have fallen somehow. Her Sterling automatic would be in it.

I set my jaw in frustration. Heather was unarmed and we were separated. It had been rotten timing.

A tall angular Briton with a neat mustache moved to a couch near Novosty.

"I know a chap what might work out," he told the Russian. "Harry the Ape, they call him. A right sort he is for a bashing fracas. He's keen on a fight of any kind."

Novosty's voice betrayed impatience. "We can't use ordinary hoodlums in this operation, Marsh. We need men with good heads or the mission will fail."

"Right enough," the Briton said, unperturbed.

Koval stuck his head in from the kitchen. "A glass of vodka, Comrades?"

"I'll give it a go," Marsh said.

"Yes, please." Novosty nodded. He rose, took off his jacket — and headed straight for the bedroom.

I made a dash for the closet. Just as I pulled the door closed, Novosty entered the room and threw his jacket on the bed. He pulled his tie off and for a moment I thought he was coming to the closet with it. I had Wilhelmina out and ready to fire if he opened the door. But he turned short of the closet and slipped out of my field of vision for a moment, apparently hanging the tie on some hook on the wall. He had been three feet from a 9mm slug in the chest. In another moment, he left the room.

I hadn't had time to leave the closet when I heard a commotion from the kitchen. Koval exclaimed loudly in Russian, and then there was a crash. He had found Heather. Seconds later, she screamed.

I slammed the closet door open and rushed into the living room. Novosty heard me coming and was waiting for me. Metal slammed against my skull and I saw Novosty's arm and the gun butt that had hit me as I went down, pain ricocheting in my head.

I fired Wilhelmina automatically, but the slug only splintered wood behind Novosty's head. As I hit the floor I almost lost the Luger, but I held on grimly while my legs grabbed for purchase. I had Wilhelmina aimed for a second shot when Marsh's big fist rammed my face. The impact knocked me fiat and this time I did lose the Luger.

"Try not to kill either of them!" Novosty called out. There was another crash from the kitchen and a yell from Koval. Heather was keeping him busy. But I was in big trouble of my own. Marsh had moved over me now, waiting for me to get up. I chopped at his leg, connected with his shin, and he cried out. I grabbed his foot, pulled hard and he hit the floor beside me.

I got my feet under me finally. My head was spinning, but as Marsh struggled up, I grabbed him by the lapels, turned with him in a half circle and flung him against Novosty, just as the Russian was aiming his snub-nosed automatic at me. Marsh knocked Novosty back over a table and both men crashed to the floor.

I started toward them but this time Novosty was too quick for me.

"Stay where you are!" The Russian was up on one knee, the automatic pointed at my chest. I had little choice; Hugo the stiletto could not be brought into play fast enough.

"Anything you say," I said.

Koval emerged from the kitchen at that point, holding Heather.

"Well," Novosty said with obvious satisfaction, "our two friends from Land's End. It is a pleasure to meet you again."

"I wish I could say the feeling is mutual," I said.

Marsh now staggered back to his feet.

"Go wash your face off," Novosty told him. "Koval, tie these two up."

Koval grunted. He released Heather and disappeared into the kitchen again while Novosty held the gun carefully on us. In a minute, Koval was back. He tied my hands behind me with a length of strong rope. Then he tied Heather. Novosty had us sitting on the old flower-patterned sofa in the middle of the room by the time Marsh returned, his face washed and a couple of strips of adhesive across his cuts. He glowered at me.

Novosty brought a chair up near us and sat down. He lighted a cigarette, the brand we had found in the wastebasket.

"Now," he said, blowing smoke toward my face. "Do you work for MI5?"

The rules are that you never tell the enemy anything he doesn't know already even if it seems insignificant at the time. Novosty knew this but he had to ask.

"We're with Scotland Yard," Heather said coolly. "You're moving drugs, aren't you?"

Novosty laughed. "Oh, really," he said. "You can do better than that, I'm sure."

Heather's face remained expressionless. She seemed not to have been badly hurt in her fight with Koval, I was relieved to see. Novosty turned to me.

"And what is your story?" he asked.

I looked into those flat eyes and wondered again how this man could be our killer. Novosty could kill all right and undoubtedly had that very thing in mind for us. But he would do it coldly and ruthlessly and without emotion because it was a job that had to be done. There would be no remorse in it, but no real pleasure either. He was a, professional.

"I don't have a story," I told him.

Novosty smiled an easy smile and took a gentlemanly drag on the long cigarette. Again he blew the smoke towards me. 'The girl is MI5," he said smoothly. "No, wait. SOE. I recall a dossier. And you with your American accent. A ruse maybe, or are you on loan from the Americans?"

Novosty was smart. I leaned back against the sofa and glared at him. "You figure it out."

He shrugged. "It makes little difference which agency you're working for," he said lightly.

"Let Marsh work on him," Koval suggested.

"Yeah, I'll give the bleeding bloke something to think about," Marsh growled.

"You see how eager my friends are?" Novosty grinned at me. "It would be well for you to consider cooperating."

"I told you!" Heather said. "We're undercover policemen. Why don't you just show us where the heroin is and cop a plea? We'll recommend leniency at the Yard."

Novosty shook his head, smiling. "You have an imaginative colleague," he said to me. "But not a very realistic one, I'm afraid." The smile faded. He leaned over and carefully squashed the cigarette in an ashtray. When his eyes met mine again, he meant business.

"I know you killed one man at Land's End. What about the other two? Did you kill them too or are you holding them for interrogation?"

"No comment," I said.

He nodded to Marsh; the big Englishman slugged me across the mouth with his open hand. My head snapped back so hard, I thought for a moment he might have broken my neck. Blood ran from the corner of my mouth. I saw Heather watching anxiously.

Well?" Novosty said. "What did you overhear at the cottage? Are any of our friends there alive and what have they told you?"

I sat and stared at him, conscious of the blood trickling down to my chin. Novosty looked at Marsh, and the big hand came at me again, this time balled into a fist. The blow knocked me on to my side on the sofa. I lay there for a moment, groggy, and then the big hands pulled me back to a sitting position.

"I don't like to do this," Novosty said, "but you give me little choice. How long were you at the window of the cottage before our friend saw you?"

I licked swollen lips. "What window?" I said.

Novosty's eyes narrowed- "So that is the way it is going to be."

Koval moved closer to Novosty. "Let Marsh work on the girl," he said quietly. He jerked his head at me. "He likes her — I can tell."

"All right," Novosty said. "But start off mildly. We want to know what they've learned."

"Perhaps quite mildly, eh?" Koval said. He nodded at Heather's long and lovely legs.

Novosty waved a hand. "Whatever you wish."

Koval gave Marsh a look, and Marsh put on a big grin. He moved over to Heather and pulled her to her feet. Koval held her while Marsh untied her hands. Koval ran a fat hand over her breasts, slowly, grinning now. Heather hauled off and slapped his face.

Koval responded by slapping her back, hard. She would have lost her footing if Marsh hadn't been holding her. Her face was red from the blow.

I set my jaw and tried not to watch. It was going to get worse before it got better. But if they found out that we knew about the Defence Ministry, we would have lost the only advantage we had.

Koval and Marsh were wrestling Heather's clothing off. She fought them as best she could, grunting but otherwise silent. In a moment, she was naked. Marsh held her while Koval ran those pudgy hands of his over her very slowly. Novosty looked bored.

"Leave the girl alone," I said. "She knows nothing. Neither do I. I arrived at your damned window too late to hear anything."

Novosty eyed me narrowly, appraising what I had said. "That undoubtedly means you know everything or most of it. Now, save the girl further problems by telling me who you have passed this information on to. Have you managed to reach your headquarters?"

"We found out nothing," I said. "We have nothing to tell."

Novosty studied my bruised and bloody face and nodded to Koval. Marsh threw Heather bodily to the floor in front of me; he and Koval both watched my reaction. Koval held Heather's arms above her head.

"You want to see your girl friend raped?" he said. "How would you like that? She's a lovely thing, isn't she?"

Marsh grinned and licked his lips. Just looking at him made me sick. I didn't want to look at Heather.

I hesitated. Was it worth going on with this? How much, actually, did we have to gain by playing dumb? We were protecting little information. On the other hand, by admitting what we knew and bluffing a little to boot, we might at least find out if Novosty and his crew were an assassin team or if they were up to some other game altogether.

"Okay, I'll tell you what you want to know," I said. "Let the girl go."

"I hope you're not playing games again," Novosty said.

Marsh glared in frustration, but Koval gave him a look that said there would be plenty of time for such things later, before they killed Heather. Koval released her arms and she sat up, trying to cover her nakedness with her hands.

"Take the girl into the bedroom. Give her clothes," Novosty said. "You do it, Koval. Marsh, you stay here."

Heather looked at me questioningly as she moved past me to the bedroom, holding her clothes against her. Koval followed and closed the door. I remember Heather's purse then and wondered if she'd have a chance to get to it — and her little gun — before Koval saw it.

"Now, my friend," Novosty said. "We will talk business. First, what dealings did you have with Augie Fergus in Egypt?"

"He was going to sell me some information. But he was killed by his Arab friends before he could give it."

"And what was this information?"

"He didn't say," I lied. "But what was Fergus to you?"