The Trojan Boy (17 page)

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Authors: Ken McClure

Tags: #Mystery; Thriller & Suspense, #Thrillers & Suspense, #Medical, #Suspense, #Thrillers

BOOK: The Trojan Boy

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'And me?' asked Jarvis.

'You will be the link between the team and Avedissian.'

'When do we start?' asked Avedissian.

'Soon.'

'And until then?'

'You will all remain here.'

'Miss O'Neill too?' asked Avedissian.

Bryant smiled and said, 'Her too. So far her information
has proved invaluable to us. There is probably a lot more
she can tell us about Kell and his people. There is a suite of
rooms on the second floor where you will be comfortable. If
there is anything else you want, no reasonable request will be denied.'

SIX

Avedissian found himself drawn to
Kathleen O'Neill. At
first he managed to convince himself that his concern was
medical and then, as the bruising disappeared, that it was
pity he felt for her. But while it was true that she had lost
more than anyone should at the one time, for she was to
receive a new identity and leave the only country that she
had ever known, it was also true that Avedissian felt a strong personal attraction towards her. As her injuries
healed he was struck by how beautiful she really was. He
knew about her hair and deep green eyes but the soft lines
of her face, which had been obscured by the swelling after
the beating, were a revelation and afforded her an air of
serenity that he found totally captivating.

It was also clear that Bryant and Jarvis did not share his
regard for Kathleen, apparently crediting her with the sins
of her family. In her absence Bryant always referred to her as the O'Neill woman. Paul Jarvis was ever civil but made
no overtures of friendship towards her.

Although not permitted to leave the precincts of the building
the limits of their 'house arrest' did allow Avedissian, Jarvis
and Kathleen the use of the garden, something that
Avedissian and Kathleen made full use of while Jarvis tended
to confine himself to using a small gymnasium on the top
landing in his continual quest for fitness.

Avedissian's attempts to get Kathleen to speak of her family background and the philosophy behind her regard
for her brother had been largely unsuccessful. He tried again
as they walked together in the garden. 'You wouldn't understand,' she said, to Avedissian's annoyance.

'Why not?' he asked.

'You have no understanding of our history.'

'History!' exclaimed Avedissian. 'It's always "history".'

'It's important.'

'I would have thought that the future was a damned sight more important,' said Avedissian.

'A nice, comfortable view,' replied Kathleen.

'I want to understand. I really do,' said Avedissian.

Kathleen smiled and said, 'Let's stop talking politics shall we?'

Avedissian hesitated for a moment then agreed. He said,
'Tell me about your teaching. You are a teacher aren't you?'

Kathleen spoke readily of her job at the High School. She
was obviously fond of children and her career had clearly
been important to her, maybe even as important as his had
been to him. Her enthusiasm made him wonder if she had
yet faced the fact that it was probably over. But to point this
out was something that Avedissian found he had no heart
for. Instead he smiled and laughed at the tales of the High School and its pupils. 'You never married?' he asked when
there was a lull in the conversation.

'No. You?'

'She died.'

'I'm sorry.'

Avedissian found himself taken unawares when Kathleen
started asking him about his own life and career. Up until then she had been content to let Avedissian make all the
running in their talks and he had come to accept that as the norm. Now he felt the need to become evasive and did not
enjoy the feeling.

'Did you always want to be a doctor?'

Avedissian considered taking the easy way out and saying
yes but did not. For some unaccountable reason he felt that
he did not want to lie to Kathleen. 'No,’ he replied, hoping
that the inquiry would stop there. 'That came later.'

'Later than what?'

Avedissian took a deep breath and said, 'I was in the
army.'

Kathleen looked at him with surprise on her face. 'But
not here?'

'Yes, here. I was an officer in the Paras.'

Kathleen looked away and they continued their walk.
They had come to the rose bushes and she stopped to
examine a giant yellow bloom before she asked, 'How did
you like that?'

'I didn't,' replied Avedissian.

'So you became a doctor?'

'Yes.'

'Good for you.'

Avedissian was left with the feeling that he had learned
nothing about Kathleen from the exchange. They returned to the house, unaware that Bryant had been watching them from a first floor window for some time.

Seeing Avedissian and the O'Neill woman walking together
in the shrubbery had given Bryant an idea. Kathleen O'Neill had been his biggest stroke of luck since taking on the Irish
problem and she could not have happened at a better time. Perhaps she could still be of use.

The triumph over the
INLA
at the very inception of a new
IRA-INLA
pact had made Bryant look good and it had
vindicated his view that the fight should be taken to the
enemy, not the other way round. Waiting to be hit first
before retaliating was a schoolboy concept, a stupid
public
schoolboy concept. That was the trouble with the Service,
he reckoned, it was full of old fools like Montrose who had
never really left their bloody public schools. Still. . .
Montrose was no longer a problem. If he could pull this
operation off successfully he could circumvent the lot of them and rise to the very top, then they would have to do things his way. He asked to see Kathleen O'Neill.

'You wanted me,' said Kathleen O'Neill putting her head
round Bryant's door.

'Come in. Sit down,' said Bryant in what Kathleen
thought were much warmer tones than usual. 'It's about
your new identity . . .'

‘
There's a problem?'

'Not exactly,’ said Bryant, obviously stalling.

Then what?'

'I wondered how you would feel about helping us
further?'

'I've told you all I can.'

Bryant raised his hand and said, 'Yes, I know, it's just that
I've had an idea.'

'Go on.'

'You know just how important it is that we get the child
back safely and without anyone knowing? Important for
Ireland as much as anything?'

Kathleen nodded.

'Our people will need all the help they can get in bringing
this off.'

'Where do I come in?'

'You know a lot of faces in the
IRA.
If you were on the spot it could be a tremendous help.'

'You mean I should go with the doctor and Captain Jarvis
wherever it is they are going?'

'In a word, yes. The fact that you're a woman is also to our advantage.'

'How so?'

'A child travelling with a man and
a
woman is much more
inconspicuous than a child travelling with two men,’ said
Bryant.

Kathleen swithered and said, 'I'd like to know what the
others think.'

'We can ask them.' Bryant picked up the phone and asked
that Avedissian and Jarvis join them.

Avedissian thought that it was a good idea. Jarvis said
merely that it made sense.

'Well?' asked Bryant.

'I agree,' said Kathleen.

'When is something going to happen?' asked Jarvis when
the hubbub had died down.

'Almost immediately,' replied Bryant. 'We know roughly
where the boy is. You, Jarvis, will be leaving tonight, the
other two tomorrow afternoon.'

Jarvis asked where he would be going.

'The United States,’ said Bryant.

'How do I make contact with the team?' asked Jarvis.

'I will brief you when we are alone,’ replied Bryant. He
turned to the others and said, The operation will be con
ducted on a need-to-know basis. No member will be told
anything that he or she does not absolutely need to know.
It's safer that way. You can't be betrayed by someone who
doesn't even know who you are or what you're doing,’

'But. . . .’ began Avedissian.

'When the time comes you will be contacted,’ said
Bryant, discouraging any more questions about procedure.

'And if something goes wrong?' insisted Kathleen.

'You will be given a telephone number to call. Now you
really must excuse me.’

Avedissian and Kathleen said goodbye to Paul Jarvis just after nine and came indoors to eat on their own. By mutual
agreement they moved the table closer to the window
where they could see the garden in the twilight of what had
been a long summer's day. Avedissian found himself taking
continual sidelong glances at Kathleen and was caught
doing so on one occasion. 'Is anything wrong?' she asked.

'I was just thinking how well you had recovered from
your injuries,’ replied Avedissian settling for the half-truth.

'Thanks to you,’ said Kathleen. 'I'm grateful.’

'I did very little,’ said Avedissian.

Kathleen walked across the room and Avedissian noticed
that the stiffness had left her limbs. She exuded the kind of
exciting sensuality that seemed to him to be peculiar to
certain women in their early thirties when experience, per
sonality and an understanding of men combine to endow
them with an attractiveness that captivates men of their
own age and can prove almost irresistible to boys on the
verge of manhood. The Indian summer of Kathleen O'Neill,
thought Avedissian.

'What are you thinking about?' asked Kathleen, re
turning to the table with wine glasses.

'I was wondering when you were last truly happy,’ re
plied Avedissian.

Kathleen looked surprised but did not fend off the
question. 'I suppose it must be ten, maybe twelve years. I've
had the occasional day, of course, but for a period of
sustained happiness or contentment, which I assume you
meant?'

Avedissian nodded.

'It is certainly all of that. Why do you ask?'

'I wanted to know.'

'Trying to find out if I have a conscience?'

'Maybe, I don't know. I just wanted to ask you.’

'I suppose, being a doctor, you sleep the sleep of the just
every night with a conscience whiter than arctic snow?'

'I am a struck-off doctor. They say I murdered a child. My
wife committed suicide in the aftermath.’

'My God,’ said Kathleen. 'I had no idea. How awful.’

'Perhaps I shouldn't have said that all at once. Your jibe
about my conscience got through.'