Death of a Citizen (mh-1) by Donald Hamilton

Author:Donald Hamilton [Hamilton, Donald]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: det_espionage

CHAPTER 17

IN front of the restaurant, I put the truck into a slot next to a small, blue foreign sedan that I recognized, from the sticker on the back, the Texas plates, and other peculiarities, as the one I'd already passed on the road. It was a Morris. I'd read somewhere that they'd jacked up the horsepower from twenty-seven to a sizzling thirty-eight, but it still wasn't exactly what the sports-car boys like to call a bomb; you wouldn't have to worry about tearing up the pavement with the frantic acceleration when you let in the clutch. Glancing inside, I saw that the damn little heap, not much bigger than a perambulator, had a ducky little miniature airconditioning unit mounted under the dash. Well, that's Texas for you.

"It's a Morris," I said to Tina as I opened the truck door for her. "Remember the one we managed to promote in London, quite illegally, that I was always having to get out my Boy Scout knife on and dismantle that ridiculous electric fuel pump they must have got direct from the Tinker-Toy people."

"I remember," she said. "I was very impressed by your cleverness."

"You were supposed to be," I said. I gestured towards the public phone booth at the corner of the building. "Go ahead and do your stuff where everybody can see you. I'll wait for you inside. Got a dime?"

''Yes."

"Do you need more, or will Mac let you reverse the charges?" I grinned. "This peacetime operation must be the nuts. I can remember a few times in Germany when I'd have loved to pick up a phone and ask the boss what the hell to do next. Where do you get hold of him these days? Does he still have that hole in the wall just off 12th Street in Washington?"

I was just talking casually as we walked toward the building, to make us look bright and carefree. I didn't mean a thing by the questions, but Tina glanced at me sharply, and hesitated a long moment before she said in a half-embarrassed way: "I'm sorry, chйri. You know I can't give you information like that. I mean, you're not really… I mean, you've been outside a long time."

It was a little like being kicked in the teeth, although it shouldn't have been. After all, there would be quite a few of us alumni of Mac's unique institution of higher learning by this time. We couldn't all expect to be kept posted on developments back at the old alma mater.

"Yes," I said. "Sure, kid."

She put her hand on my arm and said quickly, "I'll ask him what… what your status is."

I shrugged. "Don't bother. You shoot 'em, I bury 'em. Unskilled labor, that's me."

She said, "Don't be silly, darling. Order me a hamburger and a Coca-Cola. By all means a Coca-Cola. One must drink the wine of the country, nicht wahr?"

"Jawohi," I said. "Si, si. Oui, oui. Roger."

"Eric."

"Yes."

Her eyes were apologetic. "I'm sorry. But you wouldn't tell me, if our situations were reversed.

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