Show V OVE 1 1 F iwo T THE I 1 1 E ST STORY 0 RY THUS FAR FAH borle corey who hates herself tor for being so meek Is railroaded into taking a job she does not want helping admiral duncan write his memoirs she Is in love with paul duncan the admirals grandson while aboard the steamship samoa en route to hawaii she is tossed overboard but is rescued on recovering fiam chock shock she learns that steve pauls handsome brother with whom she is infatuated was taken violently ill at the time she was thrown off the boat pearl harbor Is bombed while they are steaming towards hawaii two destroyers escort them to oahu bahu after landing paul releases borle of 0 her pledge to marry him CHAPTER XIII mr lannings throaty voice said 1 I have already anticipated this othis problem my suggestion is that you and pierre go to the listening post and secure JY once you have it pierre will tell you where and to wham it is to be delivered not that I 1 dont trust you steve but the present situation is too critical for taking chances 1 I understand steve said 1 I hope this person you have in mind is prepared to get it off the island instantly that will be no small job in itself under a navy ruling all small boats have been ordered to remain in port the logical simple way would be for a rowboat to take it out and turn it over to the commander of a jap submarine if the japs are to be allowed in this A rowboat could slip out without being noticed and it could make contact with a jap submarine previously notified by a short wave station the problem of getting JY off this island mr lanning said with a touch of irritation has already been worked out when do you and pierre plan to leave here for the lookout As soon as possible after the guests leave you said eleven shall we agree on that yes very well said mr lanning leaving here at eleven taking into consideration the inevitable contingencies gen cies you should be able to deliver it anywhere on this island within five hours to be safe say six hours therefore plan to deliver the cabinet to the place that pierre will designate at or before five the money steve asked the man to whom you will deliver JY will have the money for you in thousand dollar bills im not doing this entirely for the money steve said 1 I want germany to have JY kwant ta to do all I 1 can to help are you quite sure this man to whom we will deliver it will be able to get it oil off this island and out of hawaii you need have no tear bear on that score lanning assured assure cl him what time have you now exactly ten three set your watch pierre lanning landing said at precisely eleven you will meet steve at the garage Is that correct steve yes zorie had been trying to hold her breath then she tried breathing without making any noise she felt desperately ill paul was tugging at her wrist he pulled her away when he was well beyond their hearing he said our hero my wonderful big brother do you realize what that meant zorie tried to answer but she was so stunned so weak she could not produce her voice hes not only a nazi sympathizer hes selling out his own country his own navy JY I 1 think ive heard of it some kind of radio gadget that can detect the approach of enemy planes something like the device the British ve been using for night fighting but good for fifteen hundred miles she hardly heard him her brain was numb her knees were so weak she could hardly stand it was horrible the scandal this will mean to the family paul wai was say saying ing the blow it will be to the admirall admiral oh yes zorie said weakly weve got to head it off paul said he was so excited he was panting you realize of course we must be extremely careful those men are dangerous do you think with a deal on like this hesitate to kill you or me to zorie it seem important it now occurred to her that any means they took to prevent these men from stealing JY would jeopardize steves life A corner of her brain jeered that death was a fate he deserved then it occurred to her that paul was not qualified to deal with a situation so r realistic ea listic so dangerous as this dont do anything she said until weve thought it over yes paul agreed we must be careful this is dynamite she was suddenly alarmed frightened at what paul with this dangerous knowledge in his possession might do she was afraid that his hatred of steve might urge him into something vindictive she trust him paul I 1 want you to promise met me 1 I understand paul said and he laughed softly you want to save him you love the man hes your hero you adore him but dont forget that I 1 have a sentimental stake in this too steve is my brother my only brother the big brother whom ive always envied and worshipped wor shipped and feared and hes a traitor to me and my family and my country ive got to think of all those things id like to save steve family and country too pierre savoyard and winthrop lanning returned to the lanai but steve did not zorie glanced at her watch it now said ten twenty eight she had 7 7 I 1 V t 8 Lar lannings amazed voice said miss bliss corey why did you do this decided that the safest plan the on only ly safe plan was to warn steve that she knew what his dangerous game was to warn him that if he did not abandon it paul would notify t the authorities she started to cross the lanai to tell paul that she was going to find steve but paul was speaking he was already executing a plan of his awn own he said admiral arent you getting a little fed up with this latest joke of steves this terrific interest hes pretending in nazism zorie catching her breath quickly glanced about the lanai only mr lanning and pierre savoyard and pauls grandfather were there the three men were staring fixedly at paul the admirals bushy white brows were bristling ferociously the flesh about his eyes was crinkled into diamond shaped holes out of which his china blue eyes glared paul she began 1 I saw the order paul went heedlessly on commanding steve to report for duty at his post in pearl harbor laboratory as soon as hes finished up here everybody knows that court martial of his was just a 9 gag ag that hes been away all this time on a furlough pauls voice went on but she hardly heard it pierre savoyard darted a brief venomous glance at her and walked swiftly out of the lanai without a word winthrop lanning followed ile he did not even glance at zorie grim face faced d he walked to tc the cu curtained stained door as if at any instant he might break into a r run un once h he e was but outside side zorie was sure she heard him running for a moment she stood lis listening to paul watching the play of eagerness in his lean pale face she knew as well as he did that nothing of what he had said was true r ue that he had chosen to say just that because it would instantly destroy st roy winthrop lannings and pierre Savo yards trust in steve it was pauls V way vay of handling a situation that he himself described as dynamite he had done it deliberately era tely and she realized that he would claim no matter what the cc consequences were that his motives had been purely patriotic zorie slipped out of the curtained door and found herself running be fore ore she was aware that she had commanded her legs to carry her as fast ast as they could steve had said he ie would meet pierre at the garage at exactly eleven there was time to snare sare but she must reach him and tell him what had happened what ho he chose to do about it did not concern her paul had deliberately jeopardized steves life by what he had said and zorie zone felt that it was her simple duty to warn him if savoyard and lanning really believed that he had all this time been double crossing them they would c certainly er I 1 a i ny kill him without hes hesitation i tation certainly C er t aly i they had given a sufficient demonstration of their ruthlessness she recalled the look pierre had given her before he ran from the lanai and she ran faster holding up her sun pleated star sapphire dress so that she would not trip on it she ran past the tiny far spaced blue lights that marked the path to the garage the garage when she reached it was dark and empty steve she called steve he did not answer her she looked at her watch ratch again it said ten forty five steve might not be here loi for birteen fifteen minutes he might be in his room at the house she started breathlessly along the path toward the house and as she started she heard off to her right in the jungle like garden a familiar terrifying whisper all ah nah it said ah nah there were sounds in that direction as if someone were struggling or floundering about in the dense growth then she heard a soft thump a sound that might have been made by a body falling she flattened herself against a tree the man passed within four feet of her walking rapidly toward the garage the man was pierre when he be reached a turn in the path zorie left the tree and walked to the dark opening out of which he had come had he already found and killed steve zorie pushed her way through soft damp growing things it was so dark she could see nothing but her feet had found another path it was the path on which she had been standing this morning when whee steve and the admiral had passed on their way to the garage when steve had said 1 I dont give a damn who comes as long as you get basil stromberg she paused and called softly steve steve there was no answer she took a step toward the house her toe touched something soft yielding she became aware of the sudden spicy sweetness of ginger flowers it seemed to be all about her she bent down her groping fingers found first a pasteboard pack of matches lying on the ground then she touched flowers and a womans comans soft abundant hair hidir the flowers were stiff still moist as if they had been freshly plucked her exploring fingers next found a face a chin then the texture of silk and soft warm flesh under it she straightened up she wanted to scream but she could only whimper it was amber amber with fresh ginger flowers in her hair zorie knelt down in the path beside her she placed her ear against ambers breast there was no sound of z a heart beating in ambers body there was nothing but stillness pierre had killed her rising from her knees trying to collect herself borit zorie realized that amber might have been killed because of those weilu white 9 inger ginger flowers in her hair zorie could not recall that amber ever wore flowers in her hair she had come here tonight and picked these flowers and put them in her hair why because she admired their effect in zories zones hair because she was envious what she did know what she could arrive at by the simplest and most logical of deductions was that pierre had killed amber by mistake he had intended to kill zone she recalled his glance just before he left the lanai he must have come upon amber just as she had picked the white fragrant flowers and put them in her hair he must have run to the garage to find steve and in backtracking back tracking had seen amber striking matches to pick the flowers he seen her clearly enough it now occurred to the terrified girl that pierre was still hunting for steve she must find him first she did not hear footfalls in the path she heard nothing until the beam of a flashlight its lens covered with blue cellophane flashed in her face then was lowered to the dead girl lying in the path and winthrop lannings amazed voice said miss careyl why did you do this TO ito BE CONTINUED |