“I’ll tell you something, Stan,” Cat said, “this is the most fun I’ve ever had on a tennis court.” Prince had struggled to one knee, and Cat hit him in the face as hard as he could. Prince went down like a sack of potatoes and lay, groaning, on the court.
“Easy, Cat,” Meg called from the jeep. “We’re going to need him.”
Cat grabbed Prince by the ponytail and dragged him to the shelter of the pavilion. He got Prince to his feet and shoved him into a chair, struggling to control himself. All the anger and hatred of the man that he had suppressed was boiling up now, and he had to keep himself from killing him until he no longer needed him.
“Let’s go, Cat!” Meg shouted.
Cat looked at his watch. The new man would be coming on duty in the radio room. Meg had taken a long time with Jinx. He threw a towel at the man. “Clean yourself up, Stan,” he said, and reached for his clothes.
Prince dabbed at his ruined mouth with the towel. “I’m going to watch you die for this,” he said. His anger was beginning to overwhelm his pain.
Cat slipped into the shoulder holster, got his jacket on, and drew the silenced pistol. “No, Stan,” he said, “you’re not going to get that chance. And before the day is over, you’re going to wish you were back in the car-wash business.” He drew the pistol and held it at his side.
“How do you know about that?” Prince demanded. “Who the hell are you?”
“My name is Catledge,” Cat said. “Does that ring a bell?”
Prince looked bewildered for a moment. “But who...” he started to say, then stopped. The penny had dropped.
“That’s right,” Cat said, pointing at the jeep. “I’m her father.”
Prince made to run, but Cat fired a shot into the court ahead of him, and he stopped. The pistol had made only a pffft noise.
“There are fourteen more in the clip,” Cat said. “I’d be happy to put them all into your head if you try that again. Do you believe me?”
Prince nodded.
“All right, let’s get into the jeep,” Cat said. “I’m right behind you.”
Prince, still dabbing the towel at his face, walked to the jeep.
“Into the front passenger seat,” Cat said. “Meg, you drive; Jinx, in the back with me.”
Cat got into the back seat of the jeep, and Jinx climbed in beside him. She looked tired and out of sorts.
“Is it really you?” she asked, suspiciously.
“It’s really me, kitten,” Cat acknowledged. “Are you all right?” His voice was a little shaky.
Jinx drew back and slapped him hard across the face. “You sonofabitch!” she said. “Where the hell have you been?”
38
The windshield was down on the hood of the jeep, and the breeze felt good to Cat. “Just drive at a normal clip,” he said to Meg. He had a tight grip on Prince’s collar and he let it go. “If you move or say anything to anybody except what I tell you, I’ll shoot you right through the back of the seat, do you understand?”
“Yes,” Prince said, “but where the hell do you think you’re going? There’s nowhere to go but jungle.”
“We’re going out of here in your helicopter,” Cat said. “Now shut up.”
They drove up the path from the tennis courts toward the main house.
“Jinx, are you okay?” Cat asked again, uncertain, and not wanting to get slapped again.
“Oh, shut up,” she said.
“Don’t you know me?” he asked, bewildered.
“Of course I know you!” she said. “Where have you been all this time? Don’t you know what’s been going on?” She was clearly furious.
“Well, look, we had to find you first, you know—”
“Vargas!” Meg suddenly said.
Cat looked up, and as they approached the main house, he saw Vargas running out the door, waving them down. “Okay, Meg, stop, but be prepared to leave in a hurry.” He yanked Prince’s ponytail. “Handle him, or you’ll die here and now.” He lowered the gun between his legs.
They drew up next to Vargas, who was waving excitedly. “Anaconda,” he said, breathlessly, “something is wrong. The duty operator has disappeared, and someone has been tampering with the radios.”
“Not right now,” Prince said to him. “We’ll talk about it later.”
Then Vargas noticed Prince’s smashed mouth. “What has happened? What...” He was looking from Prince to Cat, then he was looking down between Cat’s legs.
Cat raised the pistol and, keeping it low, pointed it at him. “Get in the jeep,” he said to Vargas, sliding over and pulling Jinx with him to make room in the back seat.
Vargas stood frozen to the spot. He looked at Prince.
“Do as he says,” Prince said. Vargas climbed into the back seat, and Meg drove on toward the clearing.
“What is happening?” Vargas wanted to know.
“Just shut up and sit still, Vargas,” Cat said, looking around. There was no one else in sight. Meg drove the jeep down the jungle track toward the clearing. In the distance, Cat could see the helicopter. He began to feel something like hope.
As they made the clearing, Dell stumbled out of the bush, pushing a man ahead of him. “Our pilot came to work real early,” he said, grinning and holding his pistol to the man’s head.
“I’m glad to hear it,” Cat said. “Prince, this is my son, Dell.”
“Pleased to meet you,” Dell grinned. He held up a canvas sack. “I hope you don’t mind, but I’ve helped myself to five million bucks of yours. Actually, two million of it is mine and my dad’s.”
“Let’s get out of here,” Cat said.
Meg had stopped the jeep a dozen yards from the helicopter. As Cat started to get out, Vargas pushed him. Off balance, he fell sideways, landing on a shoulder and dropping the gun. He scrambled for the weapon, found it, then found Dell on the ground with him. As they both got to their feet, Cat saw the pilot running toward the helicopter, and Vargas with a hold on Jinx’s wrist, dragging her away from the jeep, a gun in his other hand. The pilot reached the helicopter and grabbed something from inside. Cat had just recognized it as a gun when Dell fired three quick shots at the pilot.
One caught the pilot and spun him around, throwing him against the helicopter; another struck the door behind him, and another struck the fuel tank. The helicopter vanished in an orange bubble of flame, and the explosion knocked both Cat and Dell down again and sent all sorts of wreckage flying around them.
When Cat found his feet again, Prince had Vargas’s gun and Jinx. “Get back to the house!” he shouted at Vargas. “Get some help down here!” Vargas began to run toward the house.
Cat shot him, catching him squarely between the shoulder blades. Vargas pitched forward onto the ground and did not move again.
“Hold it, goddamnit!” Prince screamed. “I’ll blow her fucking head off unless you do as I say!”
Cat crouched behind the jeep trying to get a grip on things. Meg crawled out from under the jeep, and he pushed her down, motioning her to stay there. Jinx started to struggle like a wildcat, clawing at Prince’s arm, which was clamped around her neck, as he used her as a shield.
“No,” Dell shouted, standing up and letting his pistol hang on his index finger. “Don’t hurt her.”
Jinx continued to struggle.
“Take me, instead,” Dell said, stepping from behind the jeep and holding up the canvas bag. “I’ve got the money. I’ll do what you say, just let her go.”
Prince looked greedily at the bag. “Get over here!” he shouted at Dell. “Throw the gun away. Put the money on the jeep.”
“No, don’t do it, Dell!” Cat shouted. He stood with the gun held out before him, ready to shoot, if he got the chance. Jinx was still struggling to get free, and he thought Prince wanted to be rid of her. “He won’t shoot Jinx; he knows I’ll kill him.”