1977 - I Hold the Four Aces by James Hadley Chase Page B

at the Geneva airport the day after tomorrow at 22.30.”
    “Mr. Grenville and I will be arriving a little later. Oh, Hinkle, I’m so happy!” She blew a kiss in the air.
    “Then I am happy for you, madame.”
    She hung up.
    Now for a car.
    She called the Rolls-Royce agent in Lugano.
    “I want a Rolls,” she said, after she had introduced herself.
    “You are fortunate, Madame Rolfe, we have just had delivery of the new Camargue. It is truly a magnificent car: two tone, silver and black.”
    “I want it! I shall be arriving at Geneva airport at 22.30 the day after tomorrow. Please contact Signor Transel, who is my agent in Lugano. He will arrange all that is necessary.”
    “The car will be waiting for you, madame, at the airport.”
    Herman Rolfe’s magic key!
    Chris! Dear Chris! How she longed for him to be with her now! Two more days, and they would be utterly together, safe from the press, just he, she and Hinkle!
     
    * * *
     
    “Relax, Chris,” Archer said soothingly. “Things are going our way.”
    They were sitting in a shabby bistro on the rue de Canada.
    “You can say that!” Grenville said explosively, “but I have to live with her! God! She is now so possessive! She is like a female spider who eats her male!”
    “Come! come!” Archer spoke sharply. “You and I will make a million each out of her. You must expect to work for it. So far you have done a wonderful job, but there is still more for you to do. Before she is completely hooked, she has to imagine you want to marry her.”
    Grenville stiffened.
    “Marry her?”
    “I will leave it to you to convey the impression you want to be her husband,” Archer said. “I know Helga. She is lonely: she has fallen for you, and once she believes you will marry her, we have a hook in her that will not come out.”
    Grenville had already told him that Helga was taking him to the villa at Castagnola for two weeks and Archer was delighted.
    “It couldn’t be more perfect. That’s why I am telling you things are going our way. How well do I know that villa!” He eyed Grenville. “So she has given you some money?”
    “She forced it on me. She told me to go out and buy clothes!”
    “Well, you will need clothes. Don’t sound so annoyed. After all, you did tell me you are a professional gigolo, didn’t you?” Archer smiled. “How much did she give you?”
    “A hundred thousand francs!”
    Archer nodded.
    “Helga is always generous to her lovers. It is a little exaggerated, but after all, she is worth millions.”
    He paused, his eyes sharp. “I need money, Chris, if I am to carry out my plan. Suppose you give me fifty thousand?”
    “Suppose you tell me about this plan you keep hinting about?” Grenville demanded.
    “Yes, of course.” Archer sat back in his chair. “It is really quite simple: all good plans should be simple. After three days in the Castagnola villa, and after you have convinced Helga you want to marry her, and after you have screwed her blind, if you will excuse the coarse expression, you will be kidnapped and held to ransom, and the ransom will be two million dollars.”
    Grenville gaped at him.
    “Have you gone out of your mind? Me? Kidnapped?”
    “This will be a faked kidnapping, but the ransom won’t be faked,” Archer said. “I know Helga. Once you have convinced her you want to marry her, we have her exactly where we want her. Consider the situation. Everything is wonderful: love, marriage, no longer lonely. She will be spinning like a top, then suddenly you are kidnapped. If she doesn’t pay two million dollars, she will never see you again. She has so much money, to get you back she won’t hesitate. We collect the two million: one for you and one for me. What do you think?”
    “Well, for God’s sake!” Grenville looked stunned. “Suppose she goes to the police?”
    “She won’t. I assure you, I shall so frighten her that she will not go to the police. I know Helga. She’ll pay.”
    “So, she pays,