Ransom

CHAPTER 1
He said to be there at 4 p.m. I was. On the dot. Because you didn’t keep Jack Kreeger waiting. The black electric gates closed behind me. The tyres of my Beema crunched on the driveway gravel. The sun slipped behind some clouds, things turned grey. I hoped it wasn’t an omen. Someone opened the driver’s door.
“Eddie, right?” I nodded. “It’s Eddie, isn’t it? I remember you from the jewellery shop business. The governor’s waiting.”
I followed him into the large red brick mansion. Terry hadn’t changed much. A pound or two heavier perhaps. But still stocky with that ponytail. An earring, that was new. A small diamond stud in the left lobe, probably nicked. I followed him down a long wide highly polished parquet hall. The monotony of lime-green walls broken every so often by still life paintings, an orchard with red apples hanging from the trees, a windmill on top of a hill. He opened double doors at the end and ushered me ahead of him.