The Living Death

I

Buckingham Palace and "birds," miniskirts and majesty, tradition and Twiggy, Carnaby Street and King s Row. That's what I was seeing, that strange admixture that is London today. I'd been walking the streets of the "Colossus astride the Thames" and there was one thing I'd definitely concluded. It was no accident, no vague, straying wind of fashion that the miniskirt originated in London. The English girls have the legs for it and the hips for it and, most of all, the walk for it. I know; I'd been watching them all day, ever since I had arrived at the airport that morning and found Denny wasn't home. It wasn't time for killing yet, so I was killing time.

There's a walk the English girls have, a way they have of striking out. They talk with their legs. They say; "These legs are lovely and they're mine and they could be yours, if I want them to be." In a way, I couldn't help thinking, those legs and hips were a twentieth-century physical reaffirmation of the Magna Carta. "I'm English, I'm a free soul and I'm my own master," they seemed to say. "I've a right to wear my skirt short, to go where I please, to sleep with whoever takes my fancy, King, Crown and commoner be damned." I exchanged glances with one free-swinging, long-legged lovely, her mini just covering the bottom of her swinging little rear.

It would be nice, I told myself, if just once I could get a week in London without being on assignment for AXE. Just little old me, Nick Carter, and not agent N3, working. And this trip was bound to make me look longingly at all the open, direct young things. On this trip I was feeling like a duck in a shooting gallery. That's why I'd wangled the extra day to see Denny, only to find her not home. Of course, according to Hawk, I ought not to be feeling this way and, in all honesty, you couldn't ignore the old fox's sixth sense. I have pretty damn good antennae of my own, but compared to Hawk, they're strictly a crystal set. Behind those steely blue eyes, behind that calm, unruffled exterior, there's a collection of antennae, sounding boards and sensitized reactors that would make an interstellar listening post envious. Let's face it, that's what makes Hawk the top exec for AXE. He's shrewd, smart, resourceful and uncanny. As I strolled about Trafalgar Square I saw the scene once again in Hawk's office at AXE headquarters in Washington. It had been only a day ago but I wasn't likely to forget it.

Hawk had fixed me with his bland, casual expression, his soft-sell approach. We'd worked together for so many years that it was hard for him to find a tactic I couldn't recognize.

"The message is ambiguous, I'll admit, Nick," he said. "The woman called our source and said she had something extremely important and would speak only to a top AXE agent. She set up the complicated meeting procedure I outlined to you."

"Obviously she feels she may be under surveillance," I went along. "But you haven't any idea what it could be. It might even be a hoax."

Hawk smiled indulgently, his smile telling me I was being childish to think he hadn't considered that one. I smiled back. I wasn't being childish and he knew it.

"She could be an advance agent for someone who wants to defect, perhaps her husband, a man of prominence," he went on. "Or perhaps her own self. Maybe she is someone with valuable information to sell. She might even be someone who wants to work for us, someone in a sensitive position. Or, frankly, it could concern any number of things."

That's when I threw mine in, with some stuffiness, I'll admit.

"What if it's a clever setup to kill top AXE agents, me in particular?" I asked. Hawk remained silent for a long moment. Finally, he unpursed his lips and commented. Give him credit for his uncompromising New England honesty, even when it hurt.

"It's a possibility. I have to admit that," he said. "But I don't think it's a probability. Our source has always been a most reliable one. We must proceed on the assumption that a woman has something very valuable to give us and has requested a meeting."

I was waiting for him to toss the ball back to me. He did.

"But, if what you brought up should be true, Nick," he said, "then it's even more important you put a stop to that kind of foolishness at once."

He smiled, so damned pleased with himself that I had to break into a grin along with him. So here I was in jolly London town on what might be a hoax, a very important meeting for America, or a deadly trap. I still leaned to the last one and looked forward to being wrong in this instance. Luck hadn't been running my way, though. Denny being away all day after I'd managed to get here a whole day early was more than disappointing. Denny Robertson was more than a memory. She was a very special page from the past. We'd met some years ago, when she was a lot younger than I'd realized. It was immediately apparent that she was not someone to meet and turn into a memory. I'm hardly the kind that women easily get to. It has always been my firm belief that girls, the true-love, waiting-by-the-picket-fence kind of girls, had no place in the life of an international agent. Girls, other than in that way, had a helluva big place. They were the best damned way to wipe away all the ugliness, the taste of death, the glimpses into hell that made up this business. But Denny Robertson had been different from all the others. Not that she could make me change my opinions on the place of girls in my life, or that she'd tried, but she'd reached me in a way no other girl ever had. As I said, she was a lot younger than I'd realized. I found that out the night we made love. I also found out how naturally talented she was. I'd been called away a day later and the whole brief interlude had left us both like two music lovers who had heard only half a symphony. They both desperately want to hear the second half.

The list of girls I'd enjoyed and left, for one reason or another, was a mile long. Brief interludes were a built-in part of my life. And some, of course, stayed longer in the memory than others, each for their own reasons. But only with Denny Robertson had I felt the unfinished symphony syndrome, the feeling of having to go back. Not that we'd had an idyllic relationship. She'd called me every name under the sun on a couple of occasions and her temper and her jealousy matched. In the letters she'd written to me two or three times a year since then, she'd never been maudlin, never been anything but gay. But she had put into words an echo of the things I had felt. She had never been able to forget that one night, or me. Everything since, for her, had been second best, she'd written in one letter. I could see her fine, delicate handwriting in my mind.

I had tried, a few times, and we'd always missed connections. Denny wasn't one to sit around and stare into space. She was very British and had grown up with plenty of money and all it could buy. Finishing schools, ballet schools, riding academies and the very best of British gentlemen as escorts. But she also had the things money can't buy — breeding, honesty, intelligence. Denny was equally at home in a miniskirt, jodhpurs or an evening gown, a feat few girls can equal. The frank, open British girls who unabashedly showed their interest in me as I passed diem couldn't know that their chances had been made even slimmer by a memory. I saw a phone booth and called Denny again. I had till two o'clock in the morning to wait for a phone call, the first step in the contact procedure. It would be much pleasanter if I were waiting with Denny. This time the phone was answered by a voice that opened the floodgates of memory.

"I don't believe it!" she gasped over the phone.

"Believe it," I said. "I'm at the Gore Hotel, really only passing through. I thought we might squeeze in a few hours."

"Damn it all!" she swore. Denny could swear like a Grenadier Guard and make it sound terribly proper. "I've a dinner dance I must attend — the school where I teach."

"You're a schoolteacher now?"

"It's a riding school," she said quickly, "But I'll sneak away early — as close to ten as I can."

"Wonderful," I said. "I'll be waiting in my room."

"Nick!" she said, adding hurriedly, "How are you? Still the same?"

"I've changed," I laughed. "I'm older, more mature. I'm that thoroughly likable chap you wrote about. Isn't that what you want?"

"I'm not sure," she said, thoughtfulness creeping into her voice. "Besides, I don't believe you. Oh, Nick, it'll be so wonderful seeing you again. Tonight — ten-ish."

I walked from the phone booth seeing only a tall, regal girl with deep red hair, auburn, she always called it, framing a peaches-and-cream complexion. I went directly to dinner at a fine restaurant, and though I don't especially enjoy eating alone, I thoroughly enjoyed the meal. Perhaps because I wasn't alone. Denny and memories of her were an almost physical presence. It was a damn good dinner, too, Cock-a-leekie and roast ribs of beef with Yorkshire pudding, topped by a good brandy. I returned to my room, stretched out on the bed and briefly reviewed the contact procedures to be followed later in the night.

The woman was to phone me at two a.m. and use the identification code she had set up herself. Once that was cleared, she would give me further instructions about where to meet her. The brandy was still with me and I closed my eyes. I guess I'd walked more than I'd realized during the day, for I fell asleep almost instantly. The ringing of the phone woke me. Instantly glancing at my watch, I saw that it was just ten o'clock. I answered, expecting Denny's voice. It was a girl but it sure wasn't Denny. In fact, to one expecting Denny's precise, impeccable English, the voice was a rude shock to the ear — flat, somewhat nasal, the distinctive dialect I recognized as a Liverpool accent. It has often been said that an Englishman's accent reveals far more than the part of the country he hails from; it is a fairly accurate guide to his educational, social and economic background. In a half-dozen words, my caller had revealed herself as what the English call a working-class girl, or perhaps something a little less.

"Mr. Carter?" the voice said hesitantly. "Can you come to the lobby? There's been a change in plans."

"In what plans?" I asked, my naturally suspicious nature leaping to the fore.

"In the plans for your meeting," she said. "I'm down here in the lobby. Can you come down? Time is important."

"Who are you?" I questioned.

"Nobody important," she said. "My name is Vicky. I've been sent to drive you to a new meeting place. Please come down."

I agreed to go down and found her still standing beside the house phones, a round-busted little thing, a manufactured blonde, with a sexy shape beneath a too-tight, red dress. She had a round, youthful face and I guessed her age at not more than twenty-one. Her round breasts were made even higher and rounder by a platform bra that pulled the dress almost to the breaking point. Beneath the makeup and paint there was an air of underlying scrounginess that refused to be hidden. Her hands nervously fingered a small, shiny leather purse. I didn't see her as a trollop. She merely looked like one, a not uncommon condition with many girls. I saw her eyes, light blue, look me over expertly and automatically, involuntary approval in her glance.

"What's this all about, Vicky?" I smiled down at her.

"I don't know anything," she said. "I only know I'm to drive you someplace and I was told to tell you there'd been a change in plans. They told me you'd understand."

I turned it over in my mind and had to come up with one conclusion. This whole bit had been a weird one from the beginning, shrouded in mystery and uncertainty. No one knew what, why or who. The change in plans fitted right into the picture. Just to check her again, I tossed her another one.

"A woman sent you?" I asked sharply.

"A man," she answered with hesitation. I pierced her with a speculative gaze which she returned evenly.

"That's all I know, luv," she said, a touch of defiance in her tone. I believed her. She was a messenger. Whoever was behind this wouldn't tell her anything beyond her immediate instructions.

"Okay, doll," I said, taking her by the arm. "I'll go with you. I just want to stop at the desk for a second."

I'd intended to leave a note for Denny but before we got to the front desk I saw Denny enter, radiantly lovely in a white satin evening gown and rich, red velvet cape. She saw me at the same instant I saw her and I saw her brown eyes take in Vicky at my side. Her lips, finely edged, grew tight and her eyes narrowed. I could see her temper skyrocketing. It had always been an instantaneous thing and I had to admit it looked as though I was on my way out on a date with Vicky.

"I can explain," I said, attempting to head off the explosion. "I'll call you tomorrow and explain the whole thing to you."

She had stopped directly in front of us and her eyes flashed as she looked at me. I could see that beneath the anger there was hurt.

"I'm sure you'll come up with something absolutely brilliant by then," she said, her words wrapped in ice. She always looked so gorgeous when she was angry. "But don't bother calling because I won't be listening. You haven't changed a bit, I see. You're still a tomcat on two legs."

"Denny, wait!" I called after her but she was already stalking out the door after throwing me one of those I-might-have-known looks. I glanced at Vicky and cursed inwardly. There was no question what I wanted to do and no question what I had to do. I hustled the little blonde through the door, noting the fleeting expression of sly, bitchy pleasure that had crossed her face. Even though she hadn't really a damn thing to do with it, she enjoyed the role of superiority over another female. It was a reflex action, a built-in part of the female organism.

"She your bird?" she commented with studied blandness. "Bit of a problem explaining this to her, I fancy."

"She's not my bird" I said gruffly. "She's an old friend. Where's your car?"

She pointed to a little Sunbeam Imp standing at the curb and I slid in beside her, feeling as though I might split the sides on it.

"Lord," Vicky exclaimed, glancing at me. "You fill up a seat, you do." There was a hint of interest in her glance again, a glance which said that under other conditions, another time, another place, she'd be more than friendly. I sat quietly, watching London go by. She was following Victoria embankment, through the inner City, past Billingsgate Market and the old Tower, still grim and forbidding. She paid no attention to her dress, which was riding up high on her lap. Her legs, a little too short of calf and thick of thigh, would be stubby and dumpy in another five or more years. Right now, they had enough youth and firmness to exude a raw sexuality. As we drove on, I tossed a few more questions at her, just to see what they might elicit.

"Am I going to meet the woman now?" I asked casually.

"Lord, you're a persistent one," she exclaimed with some heat. "I told you I don't know nothing at all and that's the bloody truth of it."

"Little jumpy yourself, aren't you, Vicky?" I grinned.

"What if I am?" she retorted. "I'm just doin' a job, that's all. Throwing a bloody lot of questions at me isn't helping any."

She turned the Sunbeam when we reached a large sign reading: "Royal Albert Docks." She swung the little car into the narrow streets of the first of the dock sections, streets that led past warehouses, rows of crates and bales and vessels ablaze with lights illuminating the night unloading. The London docks, unlike any others in the world, did not jut out from the Thames but consisted of five huge, man-made areas set back from the river and reached by narrow passageways. In these vast complexes, London could accommodate over a hundred oceangoing liners and cargo vessels at one time. Vicky threaded the Sunbeam through the sections alive with lights and activities, turning into an area that was dark, deserted and silent. The vessels moored there were equally silent and dark, obviously out of service. I felt a warning chill sweep over me, the hairs on the back of my neck starting to rise. It was a reliable sign of trouble and danger. There was no explaining it. Call it extra-sensory perception, sixth sense, experience, give it any name you like, but it was a built-in part of me that defied rational explanation. I was damned glad for it, don't get me wrong, but every now and then even I wondered what made it operate so unfailingly. Right now, for example, there was no reason for it to start ticking. It was only logical that the kind of meeting that was planned would be held in some dark, out-of-the-way spot. The whole business, by its very nature, would be a dark and secret thing. It was to be expected, and yet I felt that sense of impending danger, a premonition that it was twelve o'clock and all was not so well. I felt for Wilhelmina, my Luger, safely in my shoulder holster. It was reassuring. Along my right forearm, in its leather sheath, Hugo, the thin stiletto, added a further touch of reassurance.

Vicky stopped the car, peered out the window, and in the darkness I could see her chewing her lips nervously.

"This is the place," she said. "Pier 77." The dark hull of a freighter loomed up on one side, its cargo booms giant claws reaching up into the night. A low, flat warehouse lined the opposite side of the dock. A half-dozen crates and boxes stood at one edge, alongside the hull of the ship.

"You first," I said. "I'll get out on your side."

"Me?" she said, her voice both fearful and defiant. "Not me, luv. I've done me job. I'm not getting out, not in this creepy place."

"You're getting out," I said, putting one hand behind her back. She looked at me and I could see her eyes were round and wide with fright. What she saw in mine frightened her more. She pulled the door open and swung out of the car. I was right behind her and I'd just straightened up beside her when the shots came, two, maybe three of them. They whizzed past my ear and plunked into the car with a dull thud. Vicky screamed and I threw her to the ground with me. Despite her terror, I saw her squeezing herself under the car. I lay quietly, face down. It had happened too fast for me to see where the shots had come from, except to note that they came from different directions. Only the fact that I had gotten out of the car on Vicky's side and blended in with the dark shape of the car had prevented them from being directly on target. They'd been fractions away from it, as it was. If I tried to get up and run for it they'd ventilate me in seconds. I continued to lie still, still as a dead man.

In a minute, I heard footsteps approaching, one pair of footsteps. They were cautious and competent. I'd been mentally reconstructing what little I'd been able to take in of the spot. The dark hull of the merchantman was closest to me, just beyond the row of packing crates. The footsteps stopped and a hand reached down to turn me over. Certain the other hand would have a gun in it, I let him turn me half over, limply, and then, pressing into the cobblestones of the dock with my heels, I flung myself into a roll, catching him at the ankles with the full weight of my body. His feet were swept out from under him and he toppled forward across me. I heard the gun explode and the high-pitched whine of the bullet as it richocheted off the pavement at close range. Before he could get to his knees I'd reached the row of packing crates and dived behind them. I heard the thud of two more bullets hit the crates, and now I saw that there were two more men, positioned at opposite ends of the dock, three of them in all. I ducked low behind the crates and raced along the dock until I was alongside the gangway ladder running down the side of the merchantman.

I leaped onto it and raced up, a dark blur against the black bulk of the hull. It took them half a minute to zero in on me and then I was a lousy target. Their shots were wild and I vaulted onto the deck. They'd be coming after me, I knew that, too. I was aboard the darkened vessel. I could go down into the hold and hide from them. They might not find me there, but it could also be a certain death trap. I elected to stay out in the open where I could maneuver. I raced up to the bridge and lay flat on my stomach. I hadn't long to wait before the three dark forms came up the gangway ladder and onto the deck. They separated at once, ending my thoughts of gunning them down with a quick burst. I watched one head aft, another to the bow. The third one started to climb up the companionway toward the bridge. I let Hugo drop into my palm and lay flat. The minute his head appeared over the top step he saw me and started to raise his gun hand. But I'd been expecting him and Hugo flew with deadly speed. I heard him gag as the stiletto struck deeply into the side of his neck. He started to topple backwards but I was on my feet, catching him and pulling him onto the bridge. I retrieved Hugo and went down the steps to the main deck. Moving in a crouch, I went forward. The second one was searching behind every boom, every deck winch and ventilator. I managed to move close enough to him so that when he saw me, there was not more than six feet between us. I dived, catching him in a flying tackle, but my objective of silence failed. He got off one shot which, though it missed, exploded deafeningly on the silent vessel. The tackle sent him backwards against a deck cleat, and I heard the grunt of pain. He was bigger than the other one, heavier. I grappled for the gun with him, and as he slid from the cleat it fell away from both of us.

He pushed up against me, his hand pressing into my face. I twisted away and brought a short right around that only grazed his jaw. He tried to roll away but I stayed with him. I could hear the sound of running footsteps approaching. I grabbed an arm and twisted to find he was strong as an ox. He managed to pull away from me and I felt his hands on my throat. I brought a knee into his groin and he let go with a gasp. The other one had come up but, as I'd hoped, couldn't get off a shot at the two dark figures grappling on the deck. I felt his hands grabbing my jacket to pull me away from his friend. I let him and as he lifted me, I caught the other one with a kick that landed right at the point of his jaw. I could feel the jaw give way and he lay still. Twisting backwards and reaching to one side, I gave the newcomer a hip flip that sent him sprawling. He came up with gun in hand but I had Wilhelmina out and ready. She barked once, and he fell sideways over a chock.

I didn't bother to search them. I knew they'd have nothing revealing on them. They had been professionals. Their silent, efficient manner tipped that off. It was over, and that was all I knew. Who sent them, who they were, whether they were involved in the original message to AXE, were unanswered questions. There'd been enough shots fired to bring the London Bobbies or the Thames Division of Scotland Yard, who patrol the waterfront and dock areas. I was starting down the gangway ladder when I saw the small figure emerging from under the Sunbeam. I'd forgotten about little Vicky in the tumult of events. She had the engine coming to life when I reached her, had the car in gear when I got a hand in and snapped off the ignition. I felt her teeth sink into my wrist. It hurt, but instead of tearing away I pressed up against her mouth, snapping her head back. She let go with a cry of pain and I grabbed her dyed blonde hair and shoved her across the seat. I had one hand on her throat and her eyes were beginning to bulge from more than fear.

"Don't kill me," she pleaded. "Oh, Lord, please! I didn't know about thisl I didn't!"

"Who were they?"

"Blimey, I don't know," she gasped. "It's the truth."

I increased the pressure. She would have screamed if she had the breath. All she could do was half whisper the words.

"I only did what they paid me to do," she said. "I'm telling you the truth, Yank." I remembered her scream of terror and surprise as the first shots nearly killed me. I let up so she could talk and the words spilled out of her.

"They never said anything like this was up. God, I swear it to you, luv. They just gave me the money and told me what to tell you and where to bring you. It was a lot, more than I could make in a year. Here, look, I'll show it to you."

She reached for her purse but froze as my hand clamped down on hers.

"I'll get it," I growled. I was taking no more chances. The little purse revealed no gun but a roll of bills was there. I handed the purse to her. She was half sobbing.

"I couldn't turn it down," she said. "I couldn't. But I would have if I'd known they were up to somethin' like this."

I wasn't so sure about that last bit but it was unimportant. She was genuinely terrified and not just of me. The whole affair had her shaking. I'd seen plenty of good actresses, but you can tell the real thing. She was essentially what I'd concluded earlier, a dupe, a pawn, a scroungy little bird out to make a fast pound without asking too many questions. But she had been contacted somehow and that she hadn't revealed to me, yet. I put a big hand at the back of her neck again and her eyes immediately widened in fear.

"How did you meet these men?" I growled. "No fancy talk, doll. You're on very thin ice."

"My boyfriend introduced me," she said quickly. "I'm a B-girl at the Jolly Good Pub and he hangs out there a lot. He told me I could earn a real big wad by doing a favor for some men he knew."

"What's his name? Your boyfriend."

"Teddy. Teddy Renwell."

"Then we're going to visit your boyfriend Teddy," I said, glancing at my watch. It was just one o'clock. I had time to make it back to the hotel. "But I've something else to do first. I'll drive."

I wanted to be in my room and waiting when two o'clock came. If the phone call didn't materialize, it could mean I'd been right all along about the whole thing being a trap. Or, it could mean that whoever they were, they'd gotten to the woman who originally called. But if it came, it was damned important I be there to get it.