Читать книгу Creatures of the Chase - Mikail - L. M. Ollie - Страница 10

Jack remembered being both fascinated and appalled when Carl told him about the death of Merhot Capritzo, Yusuf Sarquazi’s twin brother. It all happened in February, 1981; just six weeks after Richard Develin’s death.

But the story really began with Colin Raintree, a stable groom who had been fired by Richard Develin personally months before for drunkenness and gross incompetence.

‘It was all Develin’s hulking great black Friesian stallion’s fault; stupid animal. Mephistopheles, now what the hell kind of name is that for a horse?’

When Raintree found out that it was another name for the Devil he thought it suited just right ‘cause he was one evil pile of horseflesh and that was the truth. Develin now, he could handle that horse with ease. Do anything with him. More than once Colin thought that the two of them suited each other right down to the ground: Black horse, Black heart.

The horse had turned colic on him just after Ian McIver left for Dublin. ‘You set me up McIver; you bastard!’ Raintree tried, he tried real hard to get the animal up and walking but it refused. Screaming with pain and thrashing about anyone would need a drink or two with something like that going on. ‘So fucking what if I broke the rules? Who gives a shit?’

‘Mr. Emery, escort Mr. Raintree from the estate.’

‘And fuck you Develin. I hope you burn in hell you bastard!’

Bitter, vengeful and flat broke Raintree had willingly agreed to assist Justine Benghazi and her brother in an attempt to rescue their sister who was still being held captive even after Develin’s death. And Raintree believed them because it was rumoured that Develin collected women like some men collect butterflies or beer cans or stamps. Bloody hell!

Knowing that the Arab mare was due to foal any day, Raintree kept a close watch on the local vet’s surgery and when the call finally came in, they were ready. Staying just behind Doctor St Clair’s beat up old Land Rover, the black Mercedes carrying Raintree and his new-found friends slipped under the security radar right into the very heart of the Develin estate, coming to a stop just a few feet from the stable door.

Informed by Ian McIver that Doctor St Clair had arrived and that Pandora was in heavy labour, Sarah raced down to the stables alone forgetting yet again Carl Emery’s directive that she was never, ever to go anywhere without at least one member of the security staff with her. As she entered the stables she was taken from behind then rendered unconscious with a hypodermic injection of sodium pentothal. She was spared the sight of both Doctor St Clair and Ian McIver lying side by side on a bed of straw. Both had suffered a similar fate although in the case of St Clair, the dose was almost fatal.

Colin Raintree phoned the house pretending to be McIver. Security watched with no particular interest as the radar picked up the image of the Rover as it headed back the way it had come but it wasn’t the Rover they were actually seeing; it was the Mercedes and in it was Mrs. Richard Develin. When Raintree realized who they really had, he offered to help with the ransom demand. This thoroughly impressed Justin Benghazi who had a particular dislike for those individuals who would betray their own.

The car made just one stop en route to Capritzo’s mansion north west of Dublin. Easing to a stop on a deserted side road, the passenger door opened and the body of Colin Raintree was unceremoniously pushed out. It would be months before the partially decomposed corpse was found stripped of all identification.

Richard Develin never succeeded in terrifying Sarah although he certainly angered her on more than one occasion, but when she saw Capritzo, she was truly frightened. He looked evil and he was. He assumed that Sarah was nothing more than a plaything so he too was prepared to enjoy her for a few days before handing her over to his bodyguard Maharsh who would also enjoy her, before killing her that is. But it wasn’t long before he changed his mind. She was too beautiful, too sexually responsive to waste.

‘I shall enjoy you a little while longer my beauty then I will smuggle you out of Ireland and into the hands of the highest bidder.’

When he discovered that she had provided Develin with a son, he realized that his plans to lay claim to the Develin estate were likely to be thwarted. Then, during a conversation with his lawyer, he was surprised to learn that this beautiful young girl was not Sarah Churchill but Sarah Develin.

Aware of the dangerous position she was in and her unborn child, Sarah manipulated Capritzo into believing that she actually hated Develin and everyone else at Cavendish Hall. She hinted at rape and that the only reason why Develin had married her was to legitimize the child. Capritzo believed her too because he knew the truth about her abduction; the when, the where and the how of it because he had organized the whole thing.

And he also knew that Develin was taking massive doses of an experimental drug called Tyche-JH: Tyche after the Greek goddess of Fortune. The JH, that stood for Jekyll and Hyde possibly because the drug also contained a powerful aphrodisiac which produced some nasty side effects.

When Capritzo was told who his father was, he began to fantasize about what it would have been like to grow up a Develin; to have a brother, a father, a home and, the more he thought about it, the more determined he became. One day he would walk into Cavendish Hall as the new lord and master.

‘Merhot,’ Sarah whispered, ‘I can make it happen - now.’

Two days later Merhot Capritzo’s dream came true as he walked through the front door of Cavendish Hall with Sarah Develin on his arm. She played her part beautifully and so did Carl in the role of Mr. Igor. As far as Capritzo was concerned, Carl Emery had been fired and told to leave immediately but the truth was that Capritzo recognized Emery although he would save that surprise for later.

It wasn’t difficult for Sarah to talk Capritzo into marriage. It would be advantageous for him to do so and besides he thought, he had murdered so many people in his life but never once a wife so it would be a unique experience. She had betrayed him and so she must pay the ultimate price. He would wring her pretty little neck with his bare hands so that he could watch as the life was squeezed from her, slowly, deliberately. He took his fantasy further as he imagined her naked beneath him, writhing in her death throes as if in ecstasy. La petite mort – the Little Death followed by the Grand Extinction of both her and Develin’s unborn child.

As soon as the marriage ceremony ended and the celebrant and his assistant were escorted to their car, Capritzo’s men arrived. Carl Emery, Liam McPherson, William O’Keefe and Fraser Duncan soon found themselves chained to the wall in the cellar of Cavendish Hall while Capritzo methodically and cruelly went about the task of consummating his marriage. Sarah knew then that she was not only running out of time but there was no one to save her.

That was when she opened the vault.

Ian McIver had been told by Carl to abandon the stables but Ian knew that Mrs. Develin was in danger so, after capturing one of Capritzo’s men with the help of Richard Develin’s stallion Mephistopheles, he crawled through a tunnel which ran under the walls of Cavendish Hall and up into an oubliette. Standing on top of a concrete block he had dragged through behind him, he eased the lid of the oubliette up then sideways. He could hear voices coming from the room next door. One peek around the corner and he knew what needed to be done.

Ian knocked the first of Capritzo’s men unconscious with the butt end of his revolver then quickly released Carl Emery then the others. In the kitchen, the second man woke to find himself locked in the cold store after being hit on the head with a frying pan. Now there was just Maharsh and his boss to find. When Carl learned that Connie Duncan, Fraser’s kid sister was missing, he had a pretty good idea where one of them would be found. All he had to do was follow the sound of a terrified girl screaming.

Maharsh was so intent on his game of cat and mouse that he didn’t hear Carl arrive until it was too late. ‘Drop the knife you bastard or I’ll spray what brains you might have all over the fucking wall.’

Maharsh paused at the top of the staircase leading down to the central hall then turned to face Carl. It was too good an opportunity to miss. Carl pushed him backwards hard sending him to his death on the lethal granite and marble stairs below.

‘He tripped Fraser.’

‘Yes sir, I can see that.’

Sarah was found alone in the master bedroom. She was laying full length in the middle of the bed dressed in a magnificent lace and white silk bridal gown. Her eyes were closed. Beside her was a pistol; his pistol. Carl thought for sure that she was dead but when he touched her, she opened her eyes.

‘Sarah, we’ve got them all except Capritzo. Where is he Sarah?’

‘He must die there, Carl. Promise me … promise me that you will make sure he dies there; that he … that he knows why. That he … that he sees death coming as Richard did. Make him die alone Carl, make him …’ She trembled, suddenly fearful as she gripped his arm.

Carl recoiled in horror. ‘Sarah, is he in the vault in the library?’

‘Yes.’

The last part of the story was difficult for Carl to tell because he saw it all. One of the security cameras in the library was focused directly on the vault and the sofa in front of it. Before destroying the tape he had watched it from the moment Sarah and Capritzo arrived until … ‘God help me, I could have saved him even then.’

In one of the filing cabinets was a jeweled casket. Inside was the wealth of Europe appropriated by the Nazis and given as payment to Charles Develin for services rendered. Carl would forever remember the image of Sarah sitting on the back of the sofa, her bare feet sticking out from under the hem of her gown. She was laughing as she positioned a diamond tiara, then a string of pearls then finally a solid gold bracelet shot with silver. ‘There, how do I look?’

‘Like a queen,’ Capritzo pronounced, smiling broadly. She smiled back.

Then Capritzo turned away and walked into the vault.

Carl was shocked to realize that it was the one and only time he had seen Capritzo smile or show any emotion whatsoever and, as the image solidified in his mind, the resemblance to his brother Yusuf Sarquazi was unmistakable. Tears welled up.

‘She had to do it Jack. Capritzo would have killed her and the child and …’

‘Enough Carl, I’ve heard enough,’ Jack said as he sprang from the sofa to comfort his friend.

Jack backed away from the grave.

‘Out maneuvered then murdered by a woman and a pregnant one at that. It must have pissed you off something awful Capritzo because I have to tell you that Abran finally managed to contact your brother and Yusuf was on his way here to kill you himself. It’s too bad for Sarah’s sake that it didn’t turn out that way.’