Aurore by Graham Hurley

Author:Graham Hurley
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
ISBN: 9781784977849
Publisher: Head of Zeus
Published: 2017-05-31T23:00:00+00:00

23

Billy was back in Exeter late afternoon the following day. He’d booked a double room at the hotel in the name of Mr and Mrs Angell. His wife, he explained, would be arriving late from London. He paid for the room and made a reservation in the hotel’s restaurant before giving Don a ring.

‘Half past six,’ he confirmed. ‘We start with something special.’

The Zodiac Bar at the Royal Clarence was famous for its cocktails. It served fifty-one concoctions, many of them invented by the hotel’s resident genius. According to the woman on the reception desk, who’d taken a shine to Billy, Mr Ginger Wood was the toast of every officer who’d ever made the Royal Clarence his last port of call before returning to front-line service. She especially recommended a Gloom Chaser, the cocktail that had made Ginger’s name, and Billy gave it a trial run to get himself in the mood. Don arrived ten minutes later, by which time Billy knew he was already in trouble.

The cocktails took them through to dinner. Even the third plate of canapes made little difference. Two more Glooms had landed on the emptiness of Billy’s stomach and by the time they sat themselves down at the table by the window everything tasted of Grand Marnier and curaçao.

Don fingered the menu. He’d borrowed a suit from his boss at the Palmview who kept a wide selection for every possible funeral, but he must have been a much smaller man than Don because the suit was short in both the arms and the legs. Billy, who was wearing his service uniform, told him it didn’t matter. They were here to toast Billy’s return to the front line. Who cared if they caught a glimpse of Don’s skinny white ankles?

They were still waiting to order when a big party arrived to fill a long crescent of reserved tables that occupied most of the restaurant. Even drunk, Billy recognised that this was a celebration. Maybe a wedding anniversary. Maybe a favourite son home from some distant campaign. The guests straddled three generations. The host, a man in his late forties, was wearing the uniform of an RAF Group Captain while a much older man carried the gold rings of a Vice Admiral on the cuffs of his jacket.

The Group Captain spotted Billy in his uniform by the window. There followed a chilly nod of acknowledgement and Billy knew at once the question he’d be putting to his lovely wife. How come a bloody flight sergeant can afford a place like this? Billy didn’t care. When his wife sneaked a look towards the window, Billy lifted his glass in salute. He might have been sworn to silence by his new friends at MI5 but it was comforting to know that he’d never again be under the command of a man like this.

The waiter arrived to take their order. Don wanted fish. Billy went for a rack of lamb. From the enormous wine list he chose a bottle of

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.