Wilbur Smith's Smashing Thrillers (60 page)

‘
What do you
mean by that
?’
he demanded.

‘
The night before last, Nicholas was here, and he loved me in a way you
never could. I'm going back to him, and I'll tell the world why.
’

‘
You
bitch.
’

‘
He is so strong, Duncan. Strong where you are weak.
’

‘
And you
are a whore.
’
He half turned away, and then paused.
‘
Just be at St Nazaire on Tuesday.
’
But she could see he was hurt, at
last she had cut through the carapace and touched raw quick nerves.

‘
He loved me four times in one night. Duncan, magnificent soaring love.
Did you ever do that?
’

‘
I want you at St Nazaire , smiling at the
creditors on Tuesday.
’

‘
Even if you succeed with Golden Dawn, within six
months Nicholas will have your job
.’

‘
But until then you'll do exactly
what I say.
’
Duncan braced himself, a visible effort, and began to walk
away.

‘
You are going to be the loser, Duncan Alexander,
’
she screamed after him,
her voice cracking shrilly with frustration and outrage.
‘
I will see to
that - I swear it to you.
’

He subdued the urge to run, and crossed the
terrace, holding himself carefully erect, and the storm of her hatred
and frustration bur
st a
round him.

‘
Go into the streets where you belong, into the gutter where I found you,
’
she screamed, and he went up the stone staircase and out of her sight.
Now he could hurry, but he found his legs were trembling under him, his
breath was ragged and broken, and there was a tight knot of anger and
jealousy turning his guts into a ball.

‘
The bastard,
’
he spoke aloud.
‘
That bastard Berg.
’

‘
Tom? Tom Parker?
’

‘
That's right, who is this, please?
’
His voice was so clear and strong,
although the Atlantic Ocean separated them.

‘
It's Nicholas, Nicholas Berg.
’

‘
Nick, how are you?
’
the big voice boomed with genuine pleasure.
‘
God, I'm glad you called. I've been
trying to reach you. I've got good news. The best.
’

Nicholas felt a
quick lift of relief.

‘
Samantha?
’

‘
No, damn it
,’
Tom laughed.
‘
It's the job. Your Job.
It went up before the Board of Governors of the University yesterday.
I had to sell it to them hard - I'll tell you that for free - but they
okayed i
t. You're on, Nick, isn't that
great
?’

‘
It's terrific, Tom.
’

‘
You're on the Biology faculty as an associate, it's the thin end of the
wedge, Nicholas. We'll have you a chair by the end of next year, you
wait and see.
’

‘
I'm delighted.
’

‘
Christ, you don't sound it,
’
Tom roared.
‘
What's bugging you, boy?
’

‘
Tom what the hell has happened to Samantha?
’

And Nicholas sensed the mood change, the silence lasted a beat too long,
and then Tom's tone was guileless.

‘
She went off on a field trip - down the Keys, didn't she tell you?
’

‘
Down
the Keys?
’
Nicholas
’
voice rose with his anger and frustration.
‘
Damn it,
Tom. She was supposed to be here in France.
She promised to come over for the launching of my new vessel. I've been
trying to get in touch with her for a week now.
’

‘
She left Sunday,
’
said
Tom.

‘
What is she playing at?
’

‘
That's a question she might want to ask you
sometime.
’

‘
What does that mean, Tom?
’

‘
Well, before she took off, she
came up here and had a good weep with Antoinette - you know, my wife.
She plays den mother for every hysterical female within fifty miles, she
does.
’

Now it was Nicholas turn to be silent, while the coldness settled
on his chest, the coldness of formless dread.

‘
What was the trouble?
’

‘
Good God, Nick, you don't expect me to follow the
intimate details of the love life
-‘

‘
Can I speak to Antoinette?
’

‘
She
isn't here, Nick. She went up to Orlando for a meeting. She won't be
back until the weekend.
’

The silence again.

‘
All that heavy breathing's costing you a fortune, Nicholas.
You're paying for this call.
’

‘
I don't know what got into Sam.
’
But he
did. Nicholas knew - and the guilt was strong upon him.

‘
Listen, Nick. A word to the wise. Get your ass across here, boy. just
as soon as you can. That girl needs talking to, badly.
That is, if you care about it
.’

‘
I care about it,
’
Nicholas said quickly,
‘
But hell, I am launching a tug in two days
’
time. I've got sea trials,
and a meeting in London.
’

Tom's voice had an air of finality.
‘
A man's
got to do what he's got to do.
’

‘
Tom, I'll be across there as soon as I
possibly can.
’

‘
I believe it
.’

‘
If you see her, tell her that for me, will
you?
’

‘
I'll tell her.
’

‘
Thanks, Tom.
’

‘
The governors will want to meet you, Nicholas. Come as soon as you can.
’

‘
It's a promise.
’
Nicholas cradled the receiver, and stood staring out of
the windows of the site office. The view across the inner harbour was
completely blocked by the towering hull of his tug. She stood tall on
her ways. Her hull already wore its final coat of glistening white and
the wide flaring bows bore the name Sea Witch and below that the port of
registration, Bermuda.

She was beautiful, magnificent, but now Nicholas did not even see her.
He was overwhelmed by a sense of imminent loss, the cold premonition of
onrushing disaster, Until that moment when he faced the prospect of
losing her, he had not truly known how large a part that lovely golden
girl had come to play in his existence, and in his plans for the future
.

There was no way that Samantha could have learned of that single night
of weakness, the betrayal that still left Nicholas sickened with guilt -
there must be something else that had come between them. He bunched his
right fist and slammed it against the sill of the window. The skin on
his knuckles smeared, but he did not feel the pain, only the bitter
frustration of being tied down here in St
.
Nazaire, weighed down by his
responsibilities, he should have been free to follow the jack-o'-lantern
of happiness.

The loudspeaker above his head gave a preliminary squawk, and then
crackled out the message,
‘
Monsieur Berg. Will Monsieur attend upon the
bridge?
’

I
t was a welcome distraction., and Nicholas hurried out into
the spring sunshine. Looking upwards, he could see Jules Levoisin on
the wing of the bridge. His portly figure foreshortened against the
open sky, like a small pugnacious rooster, he stood facing the
electronics engineer who was responsible for the installation of Sea
Witch's communications system, and Jules cries of
‘
Sacr
e
bleu
’
and
‘
Merde
’
and
‘
Imb
e
cil
’
carried clearly above the cacophony of shipyard noises.

Nicholas started to run as he saw the engineer's arms begin to wave and
his strident Gallic cries blended with those of Sea Witch's new Master.
It was only the third time that Jules Levoisin had become hysterical
that day, however it was not yet noon. As the hour of launching came
steadily closer, so the little Frenchman's nerves played him tricks, he
was behaving like a prima ballerina awaiting the opening curtain. Unless
Nicholas reached the bridge within the next few minutes, he would need
either a new Master or a new electronics engineer.

Ten minutes later, Nicholas had a cheroot in each of their mouths.
The atmosphere was still tense but no longer explosive, and gently Nick
took the engineer by the elbow, placed his other arm around Jules
Levoisin's shoulders and led them both back into the wheelhouse.

The bridge installation was complete, and Jules Levoisin was accepting
delivery of the special equipment from the contractors, a negotiation
every bit as traumatic as the Treaty of Versailles.

‘
I myself authorized the modification of the MK
.
IV transponder
,’
Nicholas
explained patiently.
‘
We had trouble with the same unit on Warlock. I
should have told you, Jules.
’

‘
You should have,
’
agreed the little Master
huffily.

‘
But you were perceptive to notice the change from the specification
,’
Nicholas soothed him, and Jules puffed out his chest a little and rolled
the cheroot in his mouth.

‘
I may be an old dog, but I know all the new tricks.
’
He removed the
cheroot and smugly blew a perfect smoke ring.

When Nicholas at last left them chatting amiably over the massed array
of sophisticated equipment that lined the navigation area at the back of
the bridge, they were paging him from the site office.

‘
What is it?
’
he asked, as he came through the door.

‘
It's a lady
,’
the foreman indicated the telephone lying on the littered
desk below the window.

‘
Samantha,
’
Nick thought, and snatched up the receiver.

‘
Nicky.
’
He felt the shock of quick guilt at the voice.

‘
Chantelle, where are you?
’

‘
In La Baule.
’
The fashionable resort town
just up the Atlantic coast was a better setting for Chantelle Alexander
than the grubby port with its sprawling dockyards.
‘
Staying at the Castille. God, it's too awful. I'd forgotten how awful
it was.
’
They had stayed there together, once long ago, in a different
life it seemed now.