The de Vere Deception (David Thorne Mysteries Book 1) (33 page)

            As the woman turned, Brent moved in quickly and plunged a hypodermic needle into her arm. She turned and frowned at him. “I say, what’s that you’re doing, you little toad. I think it’s best you keep your hands to yourself. You’ve no call to— to—” She began to slur her words and she sat at a small table. “I’m dizzy. What is it you’ve done— I’m—” Brent eased her head down onto her hands as she passed out.

            Brent returned the syringe to its packet and motioned for Kelly to follow. They moved stealthily through the dining room and looked into the parlor where Gweneth sat near the fireplace, listening to music on the radio.

            Brent led the way, and Kelly tapped him on the shoulder. As Brent turned, he saw Charles and his wife, Mairead, sitting across the room on a couch, reading magazines. He took out two needles and whispered to Kelly, “Get them to turn their backs away from me. I’ll come in from the other door and get behind them.”

            Kelly nodded, walked casually into the parlor and pointed to the kitchen. “Pardon me, but there doesn’t seem to be anyone back there. Can you help me find the gas meter?”

            Charles and Mairead were both on their feet immediately. Charles moved across the room with Mairead and said, “I’m sorry, you’ll have to find—”

            Brent was behind Charles with a sap and brought it down hard on the big man’s head. He staggered and fell to the floor. Brent quickly placed his hand over Mairead’s mouth and stuck the syringe in her arm. He held her until she became limp in his arms and slowly lowered her to the floor beside Charles. He moved over and stuck the syringe in Charles’ arm and went across to Gweneth, who had turned in the direction of the sounds of scuffling.

            Brent placed a handkerchief over her mouth and injected her with another syringe. She went limp and Kelly tied her with a cord so she remained upright in the wheelchair. He quickly pushed her wheelchair in the direction of the kitchen. Brent followed after dragging the unconscious Charles and Mairead behind a sofa.

            Kelly opened the rear door of the van and lifted the wheelchair and Gweneth inside. He braced the wheelchair so it wouldn’t move and closed the door. “That should do it,” Brent said. “Now let’s take her to the safe house.”

            “What about the other three people inside the house?” Kelly asked. “You’re just going to leave them to wake up and call the cops?”

            “We have not been instructed to do anyone except the target. Don’t worry, I gave them all heavy doses. They’ll all be out for hours.”

Once inside the safe house, Brent taped Gweneth wrists, stuffed a handkerchief into her mouth, and placed a strip of tape across it. He surveyed the front room and checked the clip in his automatic pistol. “All right, let’s take care of Thorne.”

Chapter 82

The young man left his desk in the foyer of the castle and went to where Thorne was seated in the Great Hall. “Pardon me, Mr. Thorne, but there’s someone on the telephone in the foyer who wishes to speak with you.”

            Thorne frowned. He was curious as to why anyone would call him on the phone at the front desk, but he followed the young man out. “Hello, this is Thorne.”

            Brent said, “Mr. Thorne, we need to have you help us. We’ve detained Miss Bada, and we assume you do not want anything to happen to her.”

            “Who is this? What are you talking about?”

            “Mr. Thorne, I’m sure you know what this means. We have Miss Bada and we won’t harm her as long as you do what we wish. Don’t contact the police and don’t reveal this conversation to anyone.”

            “What do you want?”

            “We want you to bring two badges and meet us at one o’clock at  the Triton Truck stop on Banbury Road five miles east of Bridgetown. Please put the following names on the badges. Robert Jones and William Baker. Now, don’t worry about finding us. We know what you look like, so we’ll find you . . . and Mr. Thorne, I’m sure you know how these things work. I’m in contact with the people who have Miss Bada, and if anyone else gets wind of this—if you notify the police—well— you understand, don’t you?”

            The phone went dead, and Thorne hung up.

            “Is everything all right, Sir?” the young man asked.

            “Everything’s fine,” Thorne said. “Could you please get me my notepad at my desk in the hall?”

            As the young man disappeared through the door into the Great Hall, Thorne opened a drawer and took out two blank badges. He quickly typed the names given him on the badges and wrote their names on the authorized visitors list before the young man returned.

Kelly drove the van to the side of the building at the Triton Truck stop. He pointed to Thorne standing against a wall. “That’s him. I remember him.” He laughed. “He probably has my little trademark scar on his forehead.”

            Both men got out of the van and approached Thorne. Brent said, “Please come with us.”

            As Kelly took his arm, Thorne remembered the foul breath of the young man. “Hello, Sweet breath. Beat up any innocent bystanders lately?”

            Kelly smirked and said sourly, “Only those who need it.”

            Inside the van, Thorne sat between the two men, turning his head to avoid the stench of Kelly’s breath. He took out the two badges and handed them to Brent. “All right, I’ve brought you the badges. Now what?

            Brent said, “We wish to return with you and get a few of the documents you have on display. I assume you’re authorized to take them from the castle?”

            Thorne didn’t answer. Then he said, “Another thing, how do I know you have Gweneth Bada?”

            “I’ll take your silence as a yes—and yes, we do have Miss Bada. You just have to trust us, unless you want to take a chance on her life.”

            Thorne said, “All right, I’ll take you to the castle and get the documents. We leave together, I assume?”

            ”Correct. You know, you’re smart. You already know how it’s supposed to work.”

            Kelly took out a sheet of paper and unfolded it. “All right, this is what we want,” he whispered to Thorne. “Get one of your people to help you with the glass tops and put all of the documents listed here, in your briefcases. And remember, that cute little girl we got sure would like to see you again—Ha Ha.” Kelly laughed at his little inside joke.“

            “What about Miss Bada? When do I get her back?”

            Brent said, “Soon enough. Let’s take it one step at a time.”

The young man at the desk smiled as Thorne came through the front door, The two men arrived a few minutes later. “May I please have your names and badge numbers?” he asked. Both men handed their badges to him and waited.

            He checked the list of authorized visitors against their badges. “Thank you, Mr. Jones, Mr. Baker,” he said as the two men went through the door to the Great Hall.

            Brent and Kelly strolled around casually, nodding and smiling at the others as they pretended to be examining the documents. Kelly followed closely as Thorne and an assistant picked out the documents listed on the sheet of paper furnished by Kelly.

            After replacing the glass panels, Thorne organized all of the documents neatly into various stacks on his desk and placed them in separate plastic folders. He then retrieved two large briefcases from under his desk and loaded the documents into them.

            Brent and Kelly watched Thorne from across the room as he loaded the briefcases. Neither paid attention as Thorne put lip salve on his lips, and then with his hands under the desk, slathered the salve on both wrists.

            He nodded to the young man at the desk as he carried the two briefcases through the doors and into the Foyer. “I’ll be out for the rest of the day,” he said as he went out the front doors into the courtyard. Brent and Kelly came out a few minutes later, and the three walked slowly out the main gate to the waiting van.

Chapter 83

When they reached the van, Kelly pushed Thorne up against the side, away from the view of those entering the castle. “Hands behind your back,” he barked.

            Brent took the briefcases from Thorne and moved behind Kelly. He blocked the view of anyone passing by as Kelly wrapped four turns of duct tape around Thorne’s wrists. Thorne fidgeted as the tape was wrapped around his wrists He knew if he was to have any chance of getting loose, he would need a little slack in his bindings to go with the lip balm he had smeared on his wrists.

            Kelly backhanded him across the face. “Keep still.”

            Brent loaded the two briefcases in the rear of the van and pushed Thorne toward the passenger’s door.

            The three sat in the front seat with Thorne in the middle. As Kelly pulled out of the parking lot, Brent put a strip of tape across Thorne’s eyes and pulled down the cap they had placed on his head. After ordering Thorne to drop his head as if he were asleep, Brent said, “Let’s go to the safe house. Be sure to take the back road.”

Inside the safe house, Brent ripped the tape from Thorne’s eyes and motioned with the automatic pistol. “Sit in that chair.”

            “I’ve got to go to the toilet,” Thorne said.

            Kelly took a folding knife from his pocket and cut the tape from his wrists. Brent motioned in the direction of the back room. “Come with me.”

            As Thorne passed through the narrow hallway, he glanced into the bedroom and saw Gweneth in the wheelchair. Her head drooped, and she was still.

            “Gwen!” he said.

            She raised her head slowly and stared into the distance. “David? Is that you?”

            “Don’t worry, Gwen, everything is going to be all right.”

            Brent said, “Hurry it up. I’ll be right outside the door.”

            Inside the small windowless bathroom, Thorne looked for what he might use—a towel bar or curtain rod. Nothing. After he finished, he washed his hands in the dirty sink and dried them on his shirt. He removed the tube of lip balm from his pocket and rubbed it on his wrists.

            Back in the kitchen, Brent motioned with the pistol. “Hands behind your back,” he said as he replaced the strip of tape over Thorne’s eyes.

            As Kelly wrapped his wrists with the duct tape, he said, “Hold your hands still. Stop moving around.” The big man pushed him into a small chair. He put his mouth close to his ear and said, “The sooner you accept what you’re getting, the better off you’ll be.” Thorne’s upper body was encircled with five or six wraps of duct tape, then his ankles were wrapped. Two short strips of tape were added over his eyes. A wad of tissue paper was stuffed into his mouth before a strip of tape was placed over it.

            Kelly looked in Brent’s direction. “Now what?”

            Brent said nothing, but went into the back room where Gweneth was bound in her wheelchair. He smiled benignly and said softly, “Don’t worry, dear, we’re not going to hurt you. Just remain calm.” He gave her another injection and returned to the front room.

            “Check that back door again,” he ordered. “Make sure it’s locked.”

            Kelly tried the knob on the door. ”I guess you know what you’re doing, but I thought we were going to—”

            Brent frowned and shook his head. “I’ll fill you in later,” he said as he took the packet with syringe from his pocket. He injected the drug into Thorne’s upper arm and massaged the spot where he’d punctured the skin.

            “Let’s go,” Brent said to the perplexed Kelly.

            As they went to the front door, Kelly stopped Brent and asked, “Do you want to fill me in now on what’s going on? I thought we were supposed to get rid of Thorne. Take him out and—”

            “All in good time. That’s not your concern. He’ll be out for at least an hour. I didn’t give him a heavy dose because I’ll need to move him around later, when I finish the job.”

            Kelly said, “Look, I’m involved in this, too. He’s seen my face. All those people at the castle saw my face. How are you going to do it? I thought we were going to take him out and make him disappear. I need to know what you’re going to do.”

            Brent said patiently, “I can tell you this. It’s just as easy to give two people a heart attack as it is to put them to sleep. Do you understand? They’ll both be found on a cot in the back room and— well, you get the picture, don’t you? And besides, we may need him later after everything else is complete.

            “All right,” Kelly said in exasperation, “I just need to get up to speed on this.”

            A smile crossed Brent’s small fat face. “All of this has created a small change in plans.” I need you to call your boss and tell him we’re both coming to deliver the material.”

            “But—”

            “Where can we meet him? We need a public place—noisy, yet where we won’t be noticed, but where we could be alone. Maybe a private meeting room. I don’t want to go to his home or office.”

            “The R and G would be a good place.”

            A large truck roared by and Brent stepped back inside the house and asked in a loud voice, “The R and what?”

            “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern’s. It’s that busy tourist place up the road from the bar where we first met. It’s always crowded with tourists, and we’ll go unnoticed there. They have a private dining rooms. He’s used it before for meetings.”

            Brent looked at his watch. “Let’s have lunch first. Call him, and tell him to get a private room and meet us there in an hour. We’ll drop off the material to him, then I’ll come back and take care of the rest of this business here.” He patted the big man on his shoulder again. “And don’t worry so much. You’ll be out of it soon,” he said as he locked the deadbolt with a key.

            Thorne heard the roar of the passing truck and the voices in the distance, but the mild injection of the sleep-inducing drug was slowly beginning to take effect. He felt as if he was swimming in whipped cream. Then everything slowly went black.