Midnight Runner by Jack Higgins Read Free Book Online Page A

handed it back. "Sorry about what happened back there. I feel as if I let you down."
    "It happens to all of us, sir. Don't worry about it."
    "The thing is, I have a daughter. Helen. That young woman was just about her age."
    "Then I'd say you could do with an extra swallow." And Varley passed the bottle back to him.
    Quinn took another drink and thought about his daughter.
    W ho at that moment in time was seated in an Oxford pub called The Lion, which was popular with students and just down the street from an old school hall where Act of Class Warfare had its Oxford headquarters. She was sitting in one corner with a young, longhaired student named Alan Grant, drinking dry white wine and laughing a lot. Grant was doing a trick for her. His brother was a security specialist and had sent Grant a new toy--a pen that doubled as a tape recorder. Grant had been amusing himself by recording snatches of conversation and playing them back with appropriately caustic comments. Helen thought it was a riot.
    In a booth on the other side of the bar, Rupert Dauncey sat with a minor Oxford professor named Henry Percy, a woolly minded individual fond of just about any kind of cause.
    "Thank you for the check, Mr. Dauncey. We at Act of Class Warfare are incredibly grateful for the continuing support of the Rashid Educational Trust."
    Rupert Dauncey had already decided the man was a hypocritical creep and wondered how much of the cash had actually stuck to his fingers, but he decided to play the game.
    "We're glad to be of help. Now what's all this on Saturday? Some kind of demonstration in London? I hear you're going."
    "Indeed we are. Liberty in Europe Day! The United Anarchist Front has organized it."
    "Really? I thought there already was liberty in Europe. Well, never mind. So your rosy-cheeked students are going to take part."
    "Of course."
    "You know the police don't like demonstrations in Whitehall. They can so easily turn into riots."
    "The police can't stop us. The voice of the People will be heard!"
    "Yes, of course," Rupert agreed dryly. "Are you leading this thing or just one of the marchers?"
    Percy stirred uneasily. "Actually, I, uh, I won't be able to be there on Saturday...I have a prior commitment."
    I just bet you have, Rupert Dauncey thought but smiled. "Do me a favor. That nice girl over there, I heard her speaking as I passed. I believe she's American. Is she one of your members?"
    "Yes on both counts. Helen Quinn. Rhodes Scholar. Charming girl. Her father was actually a Senator."
    Rupert, who knew very well who she was, and even knew the boy's name, said, "Introduce me on the way out, won't you? I love meeting fellow Americans abroad."
    "Of course." Percy got up and led the way. "Hello, you two. Helen, I'd like you to meet Rupert Dauncey, a countryman of yours."
    She smiled. "Hi there, where are you from?"
    "Boston."
    "Me too! That's great. This is Alan Grant."
    Grant obviously saw the whole thing as an intrusion and had turned sullen. He pointedly ignored Dauncey. Rupert carried on. "You're a student here?" he asked her.
    "St. Hugh's."
    "Ah, an excellent college, I'm told. Professor Percy tells me you're going to this rally on Saturday."
    "Absolutely." She was full of enthusiasm.
    "Well, take care, won't you? I'd hate to see anything happen to you there. Good-bye. I hope to see you again."
    He walked out with Percy, and Grant said in a Cockney accent, "Posh git, who does he think he is?"
    "I thought he was nice."
    "Well, that's women for you." He touched a button in his pocket, and Rupert's voice rang out: "I'd hate to see anything happen to you there."
    "I know what he'd like to see happen to you," he grumbled. "Felt like punching him in the nose."
    "Oh, Alan, stop it!" Honestly, sometimes Alan just went too far, Helen thought.
    F or Hannah Bernstein and Dillon, the flight to Moidart crossed the English Lake District, the Solway Firth, the Grampian Mountains, and soon the islands of Eigg and Rum came into view, the Isle of