As the Grace Abounding moved out of harbour and turned into the gulf, Manning glanced back over his shoulder and watched the lights of Spanish Cay fade into the darkness. For the moment, there was nothing to be done. The big black leaned in the corner of the wheelhouse, the barrel of his submachine gun resting across his forearm, and a third man squatted in the stern holding a rifle.
After a while, the door opened and Viner came in. 'You can wait outside, Charlie. I don't think Mr Manning will do anything foolish.'
'I wouldn't be too sure about that,' Manning said as he moved out.
'Oh, but I am. Hans has orders to open fire at the first sign of trouble on deck. I'm sure you realize the damage even a single burst from his submachine gun would inflict in the confined space of the cabin.'
'So you win for the moment,' Manning said. 'Where do we go from here?'
Viner leaned over the chart table. 'Jackson Cay, about ten miles off the southern tip of Cat Island. Do you know it?'
'I've been near it a time or two, that's all. I heard it was owned by some American millionaire.'
'So it was a year or two back. Cigarette?'
There seemed no point in refusing and Manning leaned forward for the proffered light. The northwest trades blowing across the gulf carried some of the warmth of day through the open window. There was no moon and yet the sky seemed to be alive, aglow with the incandescence of millions of stars.
Viner breathed deeply, inhaling the freshness, and followed with his eyes a school of flying fish as they curved out of the sea in a shower of phosphorescent water.
'You know, Harry, on a night like this it's good to be alive.' He sounded as if he genuinely meant it.
Manning shook his head. 'There are times when I'm almost convinced you're human.'
'My dear fellow, there's nothing personal in any of this. I hope you realize that. You were foolish enough to get mixed up in something that wasn't really any of your business and you've lost rather badly, that's all.'
'Aren't you forgetting Maria and Jimmy Walker?'
Viner sighed and shrugged helplessly. 'A regrettable necessity and certainly not of my choosing.'
'I'll bet it wasn't. How did you get on to me so quickly?'
Viner's teeth gleamed in the darkness. 'I've had Morrison's room wired for sound from the moment he arrived. I sat in my office and listened to every word you said to him. If you're hoping for help from Nassau you can forget it. I'm afraid he never even got out of the hotel after leaving you.'
'And Orlov?'
'Quite simple. A phone call from the reception clerk to say that you wanted him to meet you at the boat as soon as possible.'
He was right. It had been simple. Too damned simple and Manning swallowed the black anger that erupted inside him and forced himself to consult the chart.
'You seem to have it all neatly worked out.'
'I think so. Is there anything I've overlooked?'
'What happens at the other end?'
Viner smiled. 'I'm afraid you'll have to wait for the answer to that one.' He opened the door and said to Charlie, 'Tell Paco I want him.'
The native waved to the man in the stern who came forward at once. 'What's the idea?' Manning said.
'It's a clear run to Jackson Cay now. Paco can take the wheel for a while. You can go back to your friends. I'll call you when I need you. Go with him, Charlie.'
Manning walked along the deck and went below. Seth and Anna were making coffee and Hans sat against the wall beside the entrance to the gallery, his finger crooked in the trigger guard of his submachine gun.
Manning ignored him and crouched beside Papa Melos. 'How's it going, Papa?'
The old man looked better than he had since San Juan. 'I'll make out, boy. Don't worry about me.'
Manning clapped Seth on the shoulder and moved across to Orlov and Morrison. 'Anyone got a cigarette?'
Morrison produced a pack and held it out. 'Rather battered, but still smokable.'
He was very pale and Manning noticed a livid bruise on the side of his neck. 'Looks like you got careless.'
The American nodded. 'For once.'
Manning turned to Orlov. 'What about you? Viner said anything?'
'The usual things. If I'm a good boy and do as I'm told, they'll make things easy for me.'
'A fair offer under the circumstances.'
'I know it is.' Orlov sighed heavily. 'The trouble is it's always been a policy of mine never to go back to anything.'
Seth brought the coffee in from the galley and Anna followed with a plate of sandwiches. As she leaned across to put them in the centre of the table, Hans ran his hand up her leg. She turned and struck him blindly and he grabbed her wrist and twisted it, forcing her to one knee.
Before Manning could move, Orlov was on his feet. 'Take your hand off her, you pig!'
He moved forward and Hans pushed the girl away and raised the submachine gun. 'Another step and I fill your belly.'
'Go ahead!' Orlov laughed harshly and extended his arms. 'Viner will like that. I'll be so useful when I'm dead.'
The German's forehead was beaded with sweat and his tongue flickered over dry lips. 'Sit down and shut up.'
'Better do as he says, mister,' Charlie called from the companionway. 'I could always lay the barrel of this thing across the side of your head.'
Orlov ignored him, extending his hand to Anna and sat her at the table. He smiled down. 'No repetition, I promise you.'
Manning was conscious of a sudden irrational jealousy as she smiled warmly at the Russian. And yet he had no right. No right at all. He went to the table for coffee and returned to his seat.
For a little while Orlov sat beside her and they talked in low voices and then he yawned, moved across to the other bench seat beside Seth and her father, and leaned back, eyes closed.
Manning folded his arms and let his head tilt forward. It was quiet in the cabin except for the rush of the water against the hull and he sat there feeling strangely fatalistic about everything. He was on a course already charted and there could be no going back. The ultimate end of things was something none of them could avoid.
Anna bowed her head on her arms. For quite some time he thought she was sleeping and then she turned her head sideways and opened her eyes. She stared at him unwinkingly, one arm still flat on the table shielding her from Hans. Very gently, she opened the map drawer with her free hand.
In that same moment Manning remembered the Smith & Wesson. He caught a brief glimpse of the revolver as she took it out and placed it on her lap. She unfastened the front of her dress, slipped the revolver inside and buttoned it again.
She stared at him steadily the whole time and fear moved inside him like a cold knife. He shook his head gently. For the time being, the gun was useless. If either Hans or Charlie had cause to open up with their submachine guns, the cabin would be reduced to a bloody shambles within seconds.
A voice called down the companionway and Charlie got to his feet and nodded to Manning. 'Mr Viner wants you.'
The deck was wet with spray and Viner stood at the rail looking across to the dim bulk of Cat Island. He turned as Manning approached.
'Not too long now, Harry. I'd like you to take over again. Paco has his limitations. I'll direct you when the time comes.'
Manning went into the wheelhouse and the Cuban moved out. In spite of the fact that there was no moon, visibility was surprisingly good and he could clearly pick out each cay and island his finger moved to as he checked the chart.
They sailed between two small islands and beyond lay the larger bulk of Jackson Cay. Viner moved in from the deck. 'You'll see an intermittent green light. Follow it in, but slowly. It's a narrow channel.'
Manning reduced speed and coasted in towards the cay. There was a house high up on the clifftop and then he saw the green light winking through the darkness beneath it.
'We're getting pretty close to that cliff,' he said.
'The channel runs into a large cave,' Viner told him. 'There's nothing to worry about. Just follow the light.'
Rocks loomed high on either side, there was a sudden turbulence and then they passed in through a dark archway. The green light was fixed to the end of a stone jetty and was obviously operated by a timing device. There was only one other boat in sight, a forty-foot diesel launch painted cream with a red stripe running along the waterline. As Manning ran the Grace Abounding alongside, Paco jumped for the jetty with a line.
Manning cut the engines, moved out on deck and was immediately conscious of the terrible coldness of the damp air.
'After you?' Viner said and gestured over the rail.
As Manning stepped onto the jetty, the others came up from the cabin and joined him. A flight of stone steps lifted out of the gloom to a landing above their heads and he wearily mounted them at Viner's heels.
At the top, the German opened a door which led into a stone-flagged passage. He led the way to the far end, opened another door and climbed a short flight of steps which entered directly into a large hall.
It was tastefully furnished with carpets on the floor and dark oak-panelled walls. Viner opened another door and entered. There were two men in the room, both obviously Cuban. One sat at a shortwave transmitting set, earphones clamped to his head, the other was behind a desk writing. He got to his feet and smiled.
'So, you have managed to gather them all in?' he said in Spanish. 'Any problems?'
Viner replied in the same language. 'It was really quite simple, my dear Vargas. We got the American before he was able to communicate with British Intelligence in Nassau. Does the colonel wish to see them?'
Vargas shook his head. 'Only Senor Manning. For the time being, the others can go below. See to it, will you?'
As Viner turned and gave Hans and Charlie the necessary orders, Vargas moved across the room and opened another door, went inside and closed it. A few moments later, he returned.
'This way, Senor Manning.'
As Manning moved forward, Viner made to follow him and Vargas shook his head. 'Not necessary, Viner. The colonel wishes to see Senor Manning alone.'
Viner shrugged and turned away and Manning went inside. As the door closed behind him, he had a brief impression of a large, comfortable room, the walls lined with books and a fire that crackled cheerfully on a wide stone hearth.
In that same moment, the walls started to undulate and he breathed deeply, fighting the darkness that moved in on him, threatening to drive every last shred of sanity out of his mind. But when the mist cleared, he found that his eyes hadn't deceived him.
It was Maria Salas who sat behind the desk on the far side of the room.