The blood was pounding in Avedissian's ears by the time
they had passed the extent of the concrete partition and
could once more get a firm grip on the top of the gallery
wall. He permitted himself a look at the ground below but
immediately wished that he hadn't when his senses began
to reel. He closed his eyes for a moment and once more
pressed his face to the wall until he had recovered.
'Come on!' urged Jarvis, pulling himself up and over the
gallery wall. He turned to offer Avedissian a hand but it was
not necessary and both men dropped down into the gallery
of section 'F.
'What the . . .?' exclaimed a voice from the shadows of
the stairway and a policeman moved forward into the light.
He started to draw his pistol but Jarvis was on him before he
could get it clear of the holster. He floored the man with two
quick blows and caught him before he touched the ground,
dragging him back into shadow, where he propped him up
in a corner against the wall.
'We've done it now,’ exclaimed Avedissian.
'Let's go.’
They ran to the top of the stairs then Jarvis laid a restraining hand on Avedissian's arm. 'No more running,’ he
cautioned. 'From here on we melt into the crowd.’
Moving as casually as they could in the circumstances
they approached the area where they had seen the woman
and the boy. Jarvis stopped at a hot dog stand that had no
queue beside it and bought two. He handed one to
Avedissian and said, 'We are just returning to our seats.’
They approached the head of the aisle leading to row 'B'
and looked down, Jarvis casually taking a bite of his hot dog
and pretending to be having trouble with the contents
escaping from the side into the napkin. Avedissian looked at
the seats and saw that he need not have bothered. The seats
were empty. They were as lifeless as tombstones. The boy
had gone. They were too late.
Jarvis put the glasses slowly to his eyes and looked over to
where Innes had been sitting. Innes was looking directly
back at him. For a few seconds the two men looked at each other across the floodlit diamond. 'Another couple of min
utes, damn you,’ Jarvis muttered under his breath.
Avedissian grew aware of some commotion behind them
and knew that the policeman must have come round. He
said so to Jarvis. 'Use the empty seats!' whispered Jarvis.
Avedissian moved down the aisle and into the row where
they had seen the woman and the boy. 'Sit apart,’ said
Jarvis behind him, already in the act of removing his jacket
to alter his appearance as much as possible.
Avedissian relied on munching his hot dog to create an
aura of innocence but his pulse rate was topping one
hundred and thirty as two policemen slowly passed the end
of the row and looked along it. One was rubbing his jaw.
A home run down on the diamond helped break the spell
and Avedissian leapt to his feet with those around him,
uttering what he hoped was
a
convincing, 'All right, all
right!' The policemen moved on to look at the occupants of the next row and Jarvis shot a quick glance in Avedissian's
direction. Avedissian raised his eyes to the heavens in reply.
The game ended and thirty thousand people became intent on leaving the stadium, but at that moment Avedissian
loved them all for they were his guarantee of anonymity. As
he moved along the row to the aisle Jarvis said that they
should split up, Avedissian should return to the gate where
Kathleen would come out. He would make his own way
out. As they parted at the top of the aisle Jarvis said, I’ll meet you in the park by the hotel. Tomorrow at ten in the
morning.’
Kathleen had already emerged from the stadium and was
waiting outside when Avedissian finally managed to get
round the perimeter through the throngs of people. 'We
were too late,’ he said.
'Are you all right?' she asked anxiously.
Avedissian held her close, suddenly feeling the
after-effects of the intense strain that he had been under. He
assured her that he was. 'God, I need a drink,’ he muttered.
'Let's go back to the hotel,’ said Kathleen. 'Unless we're supposed to do something else?'
Avedissian shook his head in reply.
Avedissian lay flat on his back on the bed and let out a great
sigh of appreciation for the air-conditioned quiet of the
room. It was an island in the sea, an oasis in the desert.
Kathleen brought him his drink and sat down on the edge of
the bed to ask, 'What happened at the stadium?'
Avedissian told her and Kathleen exclaimed, ‘That was a
crazy thing to do,’ when he told her about climbing out on
the ledge.
'It seemed a good idea at the time,’ said Avedissian, but
now he cringed at the thought of how the venture might
have ended. 'God, I was so scared,’ he confessed.
Kathleen smoothed the hair back from his forehead in a
gesture of affection and Avedissian looked up at her. 'You
have gentle hands, my lady,’ he said softly. Kathleen bent down and kissed him lightly on the lips.
'When I looked down and . . .’
'Sssh . . .' whispered Kathleen and kissed him again.
This time Avedissian was aware of how warm her lips
were. He responded by pulling her to him and searching her
mouth with his tongue and was aroused by the fact that she
did not pull away. He ran his fingers through her hair to cup
her face between his hands and look at her questioningly.
She just smiled.
Avedissian whispered, 'I want you.'
'I know,’ replied Kathleen softly. She got up from the bed
but did not move away. Instead she started to undress,
looking at Avedissian all the time as she did so. When she
had finished she stood there and asked in a whisper, 'Do you
still want me?'
Avedissian held out his arms in reply and crushed her to him.
'I want you so much,’ he murmured.
As they lay in the silent aftermath, Kathleen opened her eyes and looked at Avedissian. He responded by leaning over and
kissing her lightly on the shoulder.
'Post coitus omne animal triste,’
whispered Kathleen.
'After love
...
all animals are . . . sad?' was Avedissian's
unsure translation.
Kathleen smiled and nodded.
'I didn't know you were a Latin scholar?'
There's a lot you don't know about me,’ said Kathleen.
'I want to know everything.'
Kathleen gave a shake of the head and whispered, 'There won't be time.'
'But we'll make time. When this is over we can . . .'
Kathleen put her finger on Avedissian's lips. 'Don't talk of the future,’ she said.
'But if I object to your preoccupation with the past and you
object to mine with the future all we have left is the present,’
said Avedissian.
That's all we ever had,’ replied Kathleen distantly. 'Kiss me.'
Avedissian kissed her.
There was a fountain in the park. Avedissian and Kathleen
chose to sit beside it where they could see people approaching
from all directions and settled down to wait for Jarvis. They had
got there at ten minutes to ten so that by a quarter past, when
Jarvis had still not appeared, they were beginning to get
anxious. Avedissian got to his feet for the second time and
strolled round the fountain to check his watch once more when
he returned.
'Do you think something has gone wrong?' asked Kathleen.
Avedissian shrugged his shoulders and sat down again.
They were joined on the bench by an old man who unwrapped a plastic bag and began feeding bread-crumbs
to the birds, apparently oblivious of everything else
around him. As the pigeons started to gather round their
feet Avedissian indicated to Kathleen that they should get
up and start walking. They walked slowly round the
fountain, courting the outer edge of a fine spray mist and
using it as an antidote to the morning sun that was
already very hot.
‘
There he is,' said Kathleen.
Avedissian looked and saw Jarvis walking towards them
on the broad path that led up from the gate. 'About time
too,’ he muttered.
'I'm sorry I'm late,’ said Jarvis. 'I had to make new arrangements.'
'About what?'
'About everything. The kidnappers contacted Innes early
this morning and told him that the boy will not be handed
over here in Chicago.’
‘
Then where?'
'Kansas City.'
'Why the change?' asked Kathleen.
'Maybe something spooked them at the stadium or maybe it's just a last minute change of venue to stop
anyone planning a sophisticated double-cross. Now there
won't be time. The exchange will be made tonight.’
'So we go to Kansas City?'
'It's no big deal,’ said Jarvis. 'I've booked your flight and
hotel. Here are your tickets.’
'How long will it take?' asked Kathleen.
'About an hour.’
'Do we all travel together?' asked Avedissian.
'I'm going first, you two travel later this afternoon. I'll
contact you when you arrive.’
'Do you know where Innes is staying in Kansas City?'
asked Kathleen.
The kidnappers told him to check in at the Plaza Hotel.
Our team plan to get there first. The room should be bugged
by the time I get there. Why do you ask?'
'No reason,’ replied Kathleen. 'Good luck.’
'The same to you. See you later.’
They watched Jarvis leave the park and hail a cab then
Kathleen turned to Avedissian and said, 'Do you realise that
by this time tomorrow it could all be over?'
'A nice thought,’ replied Avedissian. On impulse he
stopped at a flower seller and bought a single red rose to give
to Kathleen. She smiled and said, 'Another nice thought.’
EIGHT
Avedissian looked down at t
he great flat expanse of the
mid-western United States and said to Kathleen, 'America's
heartland.’
'Dorothy lived down there,’ said Kathleen.
'Pardon?'
'The Wizard of Oz.
Dorothy lived in Kansas.’
'Of course, how stupid of me,’ replied Avedissian with
mild sarcasm that made Kathleen smile. 'It was my
favourite story when I was a child,’ she said. 'An aunt gave
the book to me one Christmas and it made a lasting
impression.’
'With me it was "The Billy Goats Gruff",’ said
Avedissian.
'What an admission,’ said Kathleen.
The sun was shining brightly when their plane swept into
Kansas City International Airport but the weather did not
feel as nice as it looked when they got down on the tarmac
and felt the high humidity. Kathleen saw Avedissian run
his finger round the inside of his collar and agreed. 'It's
sticky,’ she said.