Arrow's Rest by Joel Scott (best books to read all time .TXT) 📗

“I’ll go first,” he said. “Can we assume that Albright is dead?” They’d put the big searchlight on the area where he went over and swept back and forth for half an hour after he hit the water and seen no sign of him.

“Yes. He took a twenty-foot fall, the water is cold with strong currents, and it’s over half a mile to land,” Danny said, shrugging. “Plus, he was badly injured. Sinbad tore a good chunk out of his leg and Joseph got him with the knife. He’s done.”

Joseph reached over and tapped him. Danny listened, nodding his head in agreement.

“What does Joseph think?” Ivery asked. He’d gone from an unbeliever to a disciple when Danny explained how they had found the Harp. “Followed the teak,” Ivery had murmured, his eyes wide.

“My grandfather just wanted to apologize. He went for the neck, should have had him, but Albright’s arm went up when Sinbad hit him and the knife just took a slice off his forehead.”

Silence.

“Yes, well,” Ivery finally said, “I don’t think the statement to the police needs to be quite that specific. So we all agree that Albright is dead?”

Nods all around. Joseph shrugged and stared off into space.

Cat turned to Clarke. “What will happen with the rest of them?”

“I think the crew will probably get off, depending. If Sullivan makes it, he might be able to testify about the extent of individual involvement. Who among the crew knew that he was kidnapped and what was going on with him. That sort of thing. But it’s hazy with Albright out of the picture. There’s a lot of wiggle room. My guess is they get away intact save maybe for their reputations if the story gets out.”

“If the story gets out? How the hell can they hush up something like this?” Cat was incredulous.

“Politics, lack of solid evidence, it’s how these things sometimes go. And if we’re being honest, whose interest is it really in for the full story to come out?” Clarke pointed to Ivery. “Not yours. Certainly not mine. And do you really want this story out there?” he asked Cat.

She shook her head in disbelief, but remained silent.

Danny said, “So what about the brothers? Clint and Travis. Surely they don’t get to just walk away from all of this?”

“The two of them will probably do some hard time, although I wouldn’t bet on it. With Albright gone, they can claim they didn’t know what was really going on. They were innocent dupes, just victims like the rest of the crew. My guess is the party gets them a firm of top-notch lawyers and makes some kind of a deal with the prosecution in return for their silence about Albright.”

“And what about the women?” Cat said. “My sister and all the others. Where’s the justice for them? Albright is dead, but those two bastards collected them for that predator. They are accomplices in his crimes and are equally as guilty. It’s not right that they just get to walk.”

Clarke remained silent. He could have gone on at length about similar cases involving people in high places going unpunished, the Mueller thing south of the border being a prime example, but what was the point? Sometimes the boundaries shifted.

Joseph leaned across and spoke to Danny who interpreted for the rest of the gathering. “Joseph says he’ll cut their throats and throw them over the side after Albright.”

Ivery cleared his throat. “I think perhaps that might be a little drastic,” he said.

“Overkill you think?” Jared said. The pill was working and he felt better than fine.

Thomas had been sitting on the couch sponging the lawyer down and now he got up and approached the table and loomed over them.

“I understand the brothers were planning on going a round or two with Jared,” he said. “It seems a shame to deprive them of their fun. Seeing as he’s under the weather at the moment, perhaps I might fill in for him.”

Danny leaped to his feet. “I’ll go and get them right this second,” he said.

Five minutes later the brothers were standing together in the ring, looking nervously at Sinbad who was crouched tight up against the ropes and growling softly. Clint licked his lips and slowly reached for the bottle of water by the stool and then changed his mind as the animal’s neck stretched out towards him and the growl rose a couple of notes. He was still frozen in position when Thomas appeared, barefoot and wearing only his trousers with the legs rolled up. He was that kind of man who looked bigger with his clothes off. He walked across the room, ducked through the ropes, and faced the two men huddled together in the opposite corner of the ring.

“You might not want to see this,” Jared told Cat. “It won’t be pretty.”

“I wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Cat said. She finished her drink, poured herself another even larger one, and settled in.

Thomas reached behind him and struck the bell, signalling the first round. Which, it turned out, was also the last.

Chapter 55

Albright staggered along the edge of the inlet, his vision blurred from blood, his damaged leg switching between fire and ice, his mind a broken shambles. When he’d dragged himself out of the water, he was so numb and stiff from the cold that for the first while he felt nothing. Only relief that he’d survived. If he hadn’t come across the cluster of floats tied to the crab pots, he would never have made it to shore. He’d floundered the last hundred yards, trying to keep his head from dropping, swallowing water and then coughing and puking it out. But he’d made it. Most men wouldn’t have, but he was Übermensch, a chosen of the gods.

Now, six hours later, his body was like ice, and he knew he needed warm clothing soon to survive. He’d torn off his jacket in those first frantic minutes in the water and was left