The Stealers (13 page)

They both remained silent for a moment and Girard, looking forlorn, could see the empathy in Crane's face. Suddenly Girard stood up, drained his glass and stabbing his chest with his thumb announced with renewed vigour, ‘I, Henri Girard, will give you all the help I can.'

*

Penny followed behind Bradley in the Mustang. They had been on the road for an hour and Penny had plenty of time to think. With the passing of each kilometre an ominous feeling began to engulf her, causing her to feel more and more uneasy. Her mind drifted back to the conversation she had with Crane. The feeling worsened when Bradley turned into a remote single track lane with a hand-painted sign pointing to a chateau,
“
Chateau du Lac”. Its name plaque seemed to slap her in the face.

Immediately steering with one hand on the wheel, her free hand groped inside the handbag which lay on the front passenger seat until, eventually her fingers clasped around her mobile phone. Balancing the mobile on her lap, she began texting Crane her whereabouts in the hope that somehow he will eventually receive it. A sombre grey stone structure loomed up, which only added to Penny's fears and she shivered.

She stared at the large three-storey house, remote and surrounded by wild and unkempt scrubland. To one side, there was a small dried up lake. The place seemed to reek of past despair. A dark green Bentley Mulsanne with darkened windows was parked outside on the wide gravel driveway. Bradley drew the Mustang alongside the Bentley and leapt out. Penny brought the Mini up behind the Mustang, turned the engine off and sat clutching the steering wheel. She was wondering whether to drive off or stay put until her sister came out of the house, but she could not convince herself that this was going to happen.

A movement at the front of the house caught her attention. A portly, rotund woman came out to greet Bradley. As they spoke, Penny noticed the woman glancing in her direction. Bradley turned and motioned her to join them. A bolt of fear shot through Penny's veins and she suddenly felt nauseous. Before reaching for the door handle, she checked her phone in the remote chance that she had missed a call from Crane, but then she remembered that he was in trouble before she left the farm and she tried to comfort herself with the thought;
‘If he manages to get away my text would be his only guide to where I have been taken.'

Penny managed to summon up enough courage to walk slowly towards the huge front porch. Bradley introduced the rotund woman as Louise. She had a stern face and seemed to be trying hard to smile, although her English accent sounded pleasant enough. ‘Do come in, my dear, you must be tired. I have some freshly-made sandwiches inside for you and the boy.'

Although feeling weary, Penny could have sworn that she spotted a knowing wink aimed at Bradley and it only added to her feeling of angst. She looked back over her shoulder towards her Mini; Andrew was craning his neck wondering what was happening. She knew him to be hungry, but the only words she could utter were, ‘Where's my sister, Jean?'

The portly Louise flicked a glance at Bradley, who answered with a smile, ‘In the house; she's inside getting ready.' And as if to reinforce things he added, ‘You can wait out here if you like, but it was her idea for you to have something to eat; it's up to you.'

Bradley sounded so plausible that it was hard to believe that he was not telling the truth. It was what Penny wanted to hear and believe, so she went to fetch Andrew from the Mini and they followed Louise inside. As they stepped across the wide entrance hall Penny's heart sank as she heard a loud audible snap of a key being turned in the lock. She was trapped.

Crane regarded Girard for a moment. He seemed sincere enough in wanting to help and he still retained that youthful exuberance that was hard to dislike, so Crane said, ‘I don't suppose you have any idea where Bradley is going?'

The Frenchman shrugged his huge shoulders, ‘No, I am sorry; it's the first time I've met him; and I don't much care for him. How about the guys in the cellar? Maybe one of them knows.'

Crane straightened up and said, ‘Let's give it a try.'

Girard became enthused and he bounded towards the cellar door, slid the bolt back and throwing the door open called out, ‘You guys want something to eat?'

‘We wanna get outta here you great French idiot!' Ryan shouted back as he moved towards the bottom of the stairs.

‘First I want to know where Bradley has taken the child.'

‘None of your bloody business, Frenchie. We're coming up.'

The sound of Ryan's heavy feet clumping on the first two treads prompted Girard to call back, ‘Okay, if you say so. I have a grenade in my hand, you know? – The one you gave to me. The pin has just fallen out and I don't really want it any more, so I'm going to throw it down right now.'

There was a scurrying of feet scrambling away from the stairs and a frantic cries of, ‘Wait, wait for fuck's sake. None of us knows where he takes the kids, he's never told us; he just drives off for a few hours and then comes back without them – it's the truth.'

Cries of, ‘Yeah. Yeah, that's right,' were audible amongst the others.

Crane, standing behind Girard, said in a hushed tone, ‘They could be telling the truth.'

Girard was enjoying himself as he answered quietly, ‘Let's make sure, eh?'

Crane looked askance as Girard shouted through the open door, ‘I don't believe you; I think you are all lying. You are all boring me. You had better brace yourselves, here it comes.'

Panicky screeches of, ‘We don't know! We don't know,' reverberated around the confines of the cellar; echoing noisily up the staircase.

With his last remark, Girard, grinning like a Cheshire cat, glanced at Crane and removed a chromed orb from his haversack; it was a heavy-chromed steel boule, about the size of a tennis ball. With some deliberation, he carefully lobbed it through the open cellar door so that it bounced and thumped, with a menacing sound, slowly down the stairs. Slamming the cellar door shut and still grinning, he shrugged and said to Crane, ‘You are right; I guess they don't know.'

There were no clues about the house as to where Bradley might have taken Penny and the children and after a short while Crane said, ‘It's a long-shot, but I'm going to drive to the next town, just in case they are nearby. I suggest you let those villains go one at a time and make sure that they leave the farm, but not Ryan. He may be of some use later.'

*

They exchanged mobile numbers and Girard offered the Glock handgun to Crane, ‘You may need this, it may be of help.'

Crane palmed the weapon and handed back the small Jennings semi-automatic, ‘This is yours. Oh, and by the way, one bullet's missing; I left it in Ryan's foot.'

The Frenchman grinned, showing a row of healthy-looking teeth, ‘If he gives me any trouble… ' His voice faded away as Crane dashed out into the yard.

Crane climbed into the old Rover 620 and, as he drove along the farm track, pulled the mobile out of his pocket. The battery was flat. He cursed to himself when he realised, that he left the charger in the Mustang's glove box. He turned into the 940 coast road and headed towards Boulogne in the vain hope that he might catch sight of the Mustang or Penny's Mini but, at the very least, he would be able to buy an in-car charger for his mobile in the town.

*

Penny looked at the mouth-watering table that was laid out with food. Both she and Andrew were hungry and, seeing Bradley help himself, they too could not resist the fresh crusty French bread, or the mouth-watering cheeses and cold meats. Beverages were on hand and Louise offered a choice of soft drinks, wine or beer. ‘I prefer tea, if possible,' Penny remarked.

Louise bustled off and within minutes returned with a jug of hot water and some tea bags, leaving Penny to help herself.

Bradley finished swigging from a beer bottle and said jovially, ‘No doubt you'll be wanting to leave soon, I'll go and see if Jean is ready.'

Penny was beginning to believe she had overreacted and been mistaken about things. She threw a contented glance in Andrew's direction. He was no longer hungry, after having stuffed himself with an assortment of cakes, followed by a generous helping of cola and he was now lost in the folds of a large armchair. He looked tired and began to yawn. It was contagious. Penny sat down in an armchair beside him, her eyes felt sore and heavy; after all, she told herself, it had been a long day with so much tension and worry. The temptation to close jaded eyelids – just for a moment – was too great to resist. As she did so she whispered softly to Andrew, ‘Mummy will be here soon.'

*

Crane plugged his newly acquired charger into the dashboard and waited patiently for the mobile to show signs of life. As soon as it powered up, a bleep warned him that there was a message waiting to be opened: it was Penny's desperate text – two hours old. Crane fed the information into his satnav. The location was twenty-five kilometres south-west of Boulogne.

He paced the Rover through narrow country lanes; at times, narrowly missing vehicles approaching in the opposite direction, until he entered the lane with an arrow pointing towards
‘Chateau du Lac.'
Crane eased his foot off the accelerator and, after two kilometres, he braked and managed to tuck the car off of the road as soon as the grey, looming stone building came into view. Before climbing out of the Rover, he forwarded Penny's text to Girard's mobile.

Keeping to the hedgerows, Crane kept up a steady pace as he hurried towards the ominous-looking house, sometimes pausing to use his binoculars. He felt apprehensive when he spotted Penny's Mini parked outside. It was the only vehicle to be seen so he quickly backtracked and jumped into the Rover. He drove up to the front door, leapt out and rang the bell. The door swung back almost immediately. Louise stood, one hand firmly clamped to the door and the other placed on her hip. She looked Crane up and down, ‘
Que voulez-vous?
' she rasped. ‘What do you want?'

Crane smiled pleasantly and nodded in the direction of Penny's car, ‘Penny, the woman who owns that car.'

Louise looked flummoxed, ‘She's not here. Why do you want her?'

‘She's a friend of mine and I know she would be glad to see me,' Crane answered with a smile.

‘Well, she's out,' came the curt reply.

‘When will she be back?'

‘I don't know.'

‘I'll wait if you don't mind.'

Louise was getting irritated, ‘This is private property.'

Crane still smiling pleasantly said, ‘That's okay, I'm a private person.'

Louise's jaw hardened as she said, ‘The master won't like it.'

‘Oh, and who is he?' Crane enquired.

‘None of your business,' she snapped assertively.

Crane had had enough. He half turned, as though he was about to leave, at the same time his right hand snatched at the waistband of his trousers, pulled out the Glock semi-automatic and spun back round, pointing the gun towards her chest.

‘You are beginning to annoy me,' he snarled.

Despite her portly size, Louise stepped back quite nimbly and tried to slam the heavy oak-panelled door, but Crane, anticipating this, was also quick and he barged against the door, knocking her off balance, so that she went sprawling and screeching across the polished marble floor of the spacious entrance hall. She lay there for a moment panting. Furious wide eyes stared at the business end of the Glock pointing downwards. As Crane stepped inside he kicked the door shut with the back of his foot.

‘Let's start all over again, where is Penny, the owner of that car?'

Louise remained tight-lipped until Crane pulled back the slide on the gun and said with nonchalant chilling menace, ‘Well then, you are not much use to me – you can die right where you lay.'

It was too much for Louise, her expression changed. ‘
Monsieur
, wait, wait,' she wailed.

Crane eased the gun to one side, ‘Well?' he growled.

‘The lady went away with Bradley and the master.'

‘Where to?'

‘I don't know.'

Crane raised the weapon again.

‘Monsieur, I am never told such things.'

Crane held the gun steady, his jaw set hard, there was real menace in his face. ‘Tell me what you do know, so that you may live.'

The eyes, of the portly-looking woman, widened with fear as she spouted slowly, ‘The English lady, she came with a little boy. They ate, they drank… ' her voice tailed off as she looked down.

‘What did they drink, sleeping draught?'

‘
Oui
, yes. When they were sound asleep, we carried them out into the master's car.'

‘What kind of car?'

‘English car, called Bentley'

‘And you don't know where they were going?'

‘
No, monsieur. S'il vous plait
… please, they do not tell me. I keep house and do as I am told.'

Crane lowered the gun again, ‘Was there anybody else here – a little English girl?'

‘
Oui
, yes, very pretty, they all went an hour ago.'

‘What is the master's name?'

‘Claude Mullah.'

Crane pondered for a moment, ‘That does not sound entirely French.'

‘No, he was born in Algiers, has family there.'

The picture was now coming into focus; it would seem that the kidnap victims were being shipped off to North Africa.

‘Is that where he takes the children?'

Louise was quiet; her eyes set on the floor. She looked up as Crane prompted, ‘Well?'

‘Yes,' she answered quietly.

‘How many?'

Louise shrugged, ‘I am not sure.'

‘What do you know about Penny's sister, Jean?'

Still looking down she replied, ‘They go to the same place as the children.'

‘And that's into slavery for the rest of their lives!' Crane said scathingly, ‘And you helped them get there.'

A noise from behind interrupted the proceedings. Crane quickly glance around and saw a man standing motionless at the foot of an oak-panelled staircase; he was holding a baseball bat. This was an opportunity that Louise was not going to let pass and from her position on the floor, she pounced towards Crane like a wild animal, clamping her arms around his legs, bringing him crashing down onto the floor beside her. The gun fell from Crane's hand and slithered across the polished surface. She scrambled over him – like a wrestler – using her weight to try and keep him pinned down. The baseball bat wielder wasted no time and rushed towards the writhing couple. With the bat held high the assailant aimed for Crane's head. Crane saw this move coming, but at the last second, using all his strength, he managed to manoeuvre Louise around and she took the full force of the blow. It knocked her out cold. The man repositioned himself to attack again, however Crane swiftly rolled away from Louise's comatose form. The man came in fast and as he stood between Crane's legs, raised the club again. Lying prone on the floor, Crane quickly turned his left foot inwards and brought it up behind the man's right calf. In the same instant he pushed hard with his right foot against the front of his attacker's leg, sending him crashing down. In a split second Crane was on his feet retrieving the Glock handgun.

The man had fallen heavily with the breath knocked out of him. He lay on the floor for a moment then recovering slightly, he propped himself up on his elbows to face Crane who was waving the gun and warning, ‘You'd better stay there.'

The man's nervous eyes looked up from his position on the floor, following Crane's every move as he paced around the large hall. Gesticulating with the gun Crane said, ‘Do you speak English?'

The man shrugged, ‘Of course. I am English,' he grunted.

Crane said, ‘What's your name?'

‘Does it matter?'

‘You'll need some kind of marker on your grave. Tell me, when is this Claude Mullah due back.'

‘I dunno.'

Without saying anything else, Crane walked behind the prone figure and pulled the slide back on the Glock. The metallic sound of the gun and Crane's silence made the man flinch and turn his head.

‘Who are you? Whadda gonna do?' he said uneasily.

‘You're no use to me,' Crane said matter-of-factly pointing the gun at his head. ‘If I'm going to hang around for a few days waiting for this Claude Mullah to return, I'd sooner have you out of the way.'

‘Alright, alright. My name's Mackie. Claude is due back this evening, about nine.'

‘Will there be anyone with him?'

‘Maybe, Haj – a friend of his that helps out.'

‘Where do you figure in this filthy business?'

‘I used to do a bit of snatching for Bradley, until things got a bit too hot for me. So I ended up working here.'

‘And,' pointing to the comatose figure of Louise said, ‘where does she fit in?'

‘Put's 'em to sleep and does whatever she's told.'

‘Is there anyone else around?'

‘No, not today; just me and her.'

‘If I find out you're lying. I'll kill you.' Crane said coldly. ‘Now there must be a wine cellar somewhere in the house – where is it?'

Mackie pointed, ‘The door at the far end.'

‘Does it have a key?'

‘Hanging up by the door.'

‘Okay, that's where you are both going. Get her up; drag her there if you have to, and no tricks.'