Only the distant rumble of traffic on the Highway disturbed the silence. Nothing moved. No one jumped out on me with a gun. It seemed a long way to the shed, and the brilliant headlamps made me a nice target for anyone with a trigger itch. I was glad when I got there. My right hand slid inside my coat and rested on the gun butt as I peered through the half-open door.
Only a broken chair, a lot of dirt and scraps of paper on the floor greeted me. The headlights of the car went through the doorway and made two pools of light on the spider-infested wall.
I was reluctant to leave all that money on the roof of the shed. I had a feeling Serena would never see it again; nor would she buy Dedrick back with it. But I had been hired to put the money there, so I put it there. I placed the packages along the rusty, corrugated roof in a row, spacing them carefully a foot apart as she had been instructed. There was nothing more to do. I would have liked very much to have hidden near-by and watched, but if I was spotted and Dedrick died, I would have his death on my conscience. She was right. Her one hope was to trust them to carry out their end of the bargain.
I walked towards the car, my flesh creeping a little, still a target for anyone who wanted to shed a little blood. I wondered if they were watching. There were many number of places to hide in this ruined mine.
I reached the Cadillac, jerked open the door and slid under the wheel.
She was crying again.
‘If you’re sure you don’t want me to watch, I’ll take you back,’ I said, not looking at her.
‘Take me back,’ she said in a muffled voice and turned away from me.
As I drove through the gates I caught sight of a shadowy figure that ducked behind a pile of old railway sleepers. I thought it was Kerman, but couldn’t be sure. If it was Kerman, he would probably hang around and see something. I looked quickly at Serena, but she was busy with her handkerchief and hadn’t noticed anything.
In a more optimistic mood I headed for Ocean End.