Tell Tale: Short Stories Read online

  “Be ready to leave the moment I get back,” Alexander said, grabbing Polyakov by the ankles. He dragged him out of the room, not stopping until he reached the lavatory. He opened the door of the end cubicle; it took all his strength to lift him up onto the toilet, and tie him to the pipe. He locked the door from the inside, and clambering up onto the major’s legs, pulled himself over the top and lowered himself down onto the floor. He ran back to the kitchen to find his mother on her knees sobbing.

  He knelt down beside her. “No time for tears, Mama,” he said gently. “We have to get going before the bastard has the chance to come after us.” He helped her slowly to her feet, and while she put on her coat and collected her small suitcase from the larder, he gathered up Polyakov’s uniform, belt, and gun and dumped them in the nearest waste bin. He took his mother firmly by the hand and led her out of the kitchen toward the back door. He opened it tentatively, stepped outside, and checked in every direction before standing aside to allow her to join him.

  “Where did you agree to meet Niko?” he asked, responsibility once again changing hands.

  “Head toward those two cranes,” Elena said, pointing to the far end of the dock. “Whatever you do, Alexander, don’t mention what just happened to your uncle. As long as everyone else thinks he was at the match, there will be no way of connecting him with us.”

  As Alexander led his mother toward dock 3, her legs felt so weak she could hardly place one foot in front of the other. Even if she had considered changing her mind at the last moment, she now realized they had no choice but to go on. She kept her eyes on the two idle cranes that Niko had said would be her signpost, and as they drew nearer, they saw a lone figure standing by the entrance of a deserted warehouse. Niko stepped forward from between two large wooden crates, his eyes darting in every direction like a cornered animal.

  “What kept you?” he said even before Elena had reached him.

  “We came as quickly as we could,” said Elena, without explanation.

  Alexander stared down into the two crates to see half a dozen cases of vodka neatly stacked in each one. The agreed tariff for a one-way trip to …

  “All you have to do now,” said Niko, “is decide whether you want to go to America or England.”

  “Why don’t we let fate decide?” said Alexander as he took a small coin out of his pocket. He balanced it on the end of his thumb, “Heads America, tails England.” He said as he flipped it high into the air. He watched as the coin bounced on the dockside, before coming to rest at his feet. Alexander bent down and looked at the image for a moment, before he picked up his mother’s suitcase and his lunch box and put them in the bottom of the chosen crate. He then climbed inside and waited for his mother to join him.

  They crouched down and clung to each other as Niko placed the lid firmly on top of the crate. Although it took only a few moments for him to hammer a dozen nails into the top, Elena was already listening for another sound. The sound of boots running toward them, the lid of the crate being dragged off, and the two of them being pulled out to face a triumphant Major Polyakov.

  Niko tapped the side of the crate with the palm of his hand, and suddenly they were yanked off the ground. The crate swung gently from side to side as they were lifted higher and higher into the air. Just as suddenly, they began the slow descent toward the hold of one of the ships, and then, without warning, they landed with a thud.

  Elena could only wonder if they would spend the rest of their lives regretting not climbing into the other crate.

  ALSO BY JEFFREY ARCHER

  THE CLIFTON CHRONICLES

  Only Time Will Tell

  The Sins of the Father

  Best Kept Secret

  Be Careful What You Wish For

  Mightier Than the Sword

  Cometh the Hour

  This Was a Man

  NOVELS

  Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less

  Shall We Tell the President?

  Kane & Abel

  The Prodigal Daughter

  First Among Equals

  A Matter of Honor

  As the Crow Flies

  Honor Among Thieves

  The Fourth Estate

  The Eleventh Commandment

  Sons of Fortune

  False Impression

  The Gospel According to Judas

  (with the assistance of Professor Francis J. Moloney)

  A Prisoner of Birth

  Paths of Glory

  SHORT STORIES

  A Quiver Full of Arrows

  A Twist in the Tale

  Twelve Red Herrings

  The Collected Short Stories

  To Cut a Long Story Short

  Cat O’ Nine Tales

  And Thereby Hangs a Tale

  PLAYS

  Beyond Reasonable Doubt

  Exclusive

  The Accused

  PRISON DIARIES

  Volume One—Belmarsh: Hell

  Volume Two—Wayland: Purgatory

  Volume Three—North Sea Camp: Heaven

  SCREENPLAYS

  Mallory: Walking Off the Map

  False Impression

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Jeffery Archer was educated at Oxford University. He has served five years in Britain’s House of Commons and twenty-two years in the House of Lords. All of his novels and short story collections—including This Was a Man, Cometh the Hour, Mightier Than the Sword, Be Careful What You Wish For, Best Kept Secret, The Sins of the Father, and Only Time Will Tell—have been international bestselling books. Archer is married with two sons and lives in London and Cambridge.

  Website: www.JeffreyArcher.com, or sign up for email updates here.

  Facebook: Facebook.com/JeffreyArcherAuthor

  Twitter: @Jeffrey_Archer

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  CONTENTS

  Title Page

  Copyright Notice

  Dedication

  Acknowledgments

  Foreword

  Unique

  Who Killed the Mayor?*

  View of Auvers-sur-Oise*

  A Gentleman and a Scholar*

  All’s Fair in Love and War

  The Car Park Attendant*

  A Wasted Hour*

  The Road to Damascus*

  The Cuckold

  The Holiday of a Lifetime*

  Double or Quits

  The Senior Vice President

  A Good Toss to Lose*

  The Perfect Murder

  Foreword to Heads You Win

  Also by Jeffrey Archer

  About the Author

  Copyright

  *Inspired by real events

  This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

  TELL TALE. Copyright © 2017 by Jeffrey Archer. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.

  www.stmartins.com

  Cover design by Michael Storrings

  Cover photograph of Italy © Eric Van Den Brulle / Getty Images

  The Library of Congress has cataloged the print edition as follows:

  Names: Archer, Jeffrey, 1940– author.

  Title: Tell tale: stories / Jeffrey Archer.

  Description: First U.S. edition. | New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2017.

  Identifiers: LCCN 2017036186 | ISBN 9781250066923 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781466874794 (ebook)

  Classification: LCC PR6051.R285 A6 2017 | DDC 823/.914—dc23

  LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017036186

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