Free Assignment - Lowlands by Edward S. Aarons

find my brother Marius here, safe, unharmed. And ten million dollars in credits. At six o’clock.”
    “I’ll be here,” Durell said.
    He stood still until Julian Wilde had left the room.

    He counted a slow ten, then he too stepped out into the corridor. A young man and a girl came down the hall hand in hand, swinging tennis rackets. They smiled at Durell in passing. There was no sign of Julian Wilde.
    For a moment he wondered if Wilde might be checked into an adjacent room. It might have been the smart thing to do. Then the young man, in passing, said in accented English, “Are you looking for your friend, sir? He went down the steps there, in a tremendous hurry.”
    “Thank you.”
    He followed quickly, going down the wide wooden stairs to the lobby. Perhaps what he was doing was not practical, but there was a faint chance that he might be able to tail Julian Wilde to some place of importance. That he might infuriate the already fury-ridden man was a chance he had to take.
    Wilde was striding out through the front doorway of the Gunderhof when Durell reached the bottom of the stairs. The sea sparkled blindingly beyond the brief boardwalk and the beach. Sails bent to the wind beyond the low-lying islands offshore. Wilde turned left, stalking with feline grace among the deckchairs and tangled bicycles on the paving, and he did not look back. The path on the dike led in a long curve toward the red roofs and docks of Amschellig, a quarter-mile away. The walk was spotted with strollers and cyclists; and Durell, after allowing a greater distance to come between them, followed Wilde at an even pace.
    It seemed to him that his brief interview had netted enough information to keep Inspector Flaas and O’Keefe quite busy. No one except Piet had mentioned Marius Wilde until now. And Julian Wilde was in a rage because his brother was missing. Durell had no idea what meaning this might have, except that Julian had remorselessly applied more pressure because of it. Something would have to be done about it quickly.
    He wished he could have held the man a little longer. Too many questions were still unanswered. Were Julian and his brother the only men involved in the Cassandra plot? Or were there others? Perhaps the Wildes were only messengers and agents; but on this, Durell could not make up his mind. Julian Wilde seemed to be his own master, and only time would tell if there were others still in the shadows.
    Julian Wilde seemed unconcerned about being followed. He walked swiftly in the North Sea sunshine, never looking backward. Durell checked behind him to see if Wilde’s self-assurance stemmed from having a cover for his escape; but he could see no one suspicious among the holiday crowds strolling on the dike.
    Amschellig had a long, wide main street that paralleled the waterfront, where the buildings were mostly commercial houses devoted to both the fishing industry and tourists. Across from the main quay for the blunt-bowed fishing boats, an amusement pier of modest size had been built. The harbor, behind its stone mole, was crowded with yachts, and the narrow, brick-paved streets were completely taken over by the tourists.
    It immediately became more difficult to keep Wilde in sight, and only the man’s size and leonine blond head made it possible. Beyond the amusement pier, Wilde turned abruptly Into a narrow side street lined with warehouses, and Durell increased his speed to turn the same corner.
    He never quite reached it.
    From the quayside, where a number of sailing sloops were tied up, stepped a giant young Hollander, in the typical narrow-visored cap and baggy trousers. He put a huge hand on Durell’s chest, and smiled, showing several gold teeth in his mouth.
    “Mynheer, a moment, if you please.”
    “Get out of my way.”
    “It is important, mynheer. I am authorized—”
    “Get lost,” Durell snapped.
    “Lost?” The big young man frowned, his pale brows wrinkling under the cap. His callused seaman’s