The Burgos Contract [antikvár]

The Burgos ContractThey made me tread carefully, guiding my feet on a flight of stone steps. A cellar, then. Ob-viously, and it turned out to be a pretty big one, and of the very best kind. Filled with great casks and with endless racks holding thousands of bottles of wine. A naked bulb up close to the ceilingshed dim yellow light on the scene when one of them pulled the blindfold off.'Tie his hands,' Henry Cooper said.'Hey, listen!' Isaid.' What the heli's going on ?''Shut your bumbling mouth!' Garlic said. It seemed to be all he could say.The thirdman, the driver, got behindmy back and tied my wrists together with coarse, strong binder-twine. The others justpointed theirpistols at me, although when my hands were secured, they feit safe enough to put them away.'Now then,' Henry Cooper said, *you will teil us why you were watching Delgado.''Delgado? Who's he?' I said.Henry nodded, and just for a second, I thought he was nodding at me. But his nod was for the man at my back. I heard him set his feet, then feit a tremendous pain in my side. The kidney seemed to burst, and the massive shock almost put me down. Istaggeredsideways underitsimpact. My shoulcher hit the front of a cask, and the side of my face hit its iron rim with a crack which brought tears to my eyes. The skin split open and something hot spread over the side ofmy cheek and ran down my neck and on to my collar.'I will ask you again,' Henry said.'I don'tknow whatyou're talking about.'