East of Desolation by Jack Higgins

Author:Jack Higgins [Higgins, Jack]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Fiction, Mystery, Library
Publisher: Penguin Group US
Published: 1968-12-31T05:00:00+00:00

When I went into the bar Arnie was sitting on a stool beside Olaf Simonsen. He got to his feet as I approached. “I was just leaving. Where’s Ilana?”

“In her room, but I’d take it easy if I were you. She’s in a mood to crack heads.”

“Live dangerously, that’s my motto,” he said and went out.

I asked for a tomato juice and took the stool next to Simonsen. “When do you put the cuffs on me, officer?”

He took it half-seriously. “I don’t think there’ll be any need for that. How is Mr. Desforge?”

“Sleeping it off. I’ll be surprised if he remembers much in the morning. What about the Portuguese?”

“They kept one of them in hospital for the night with a broken arm. Da Gama and the others are back on board their schooner with orders to stay there until it sails again which unfortunately isn’t till the day after tomorrow. Still, he’s finished on this coast from now on, I’ll see to that.” He drank some of his lager and added dryly, “On the other hand, I’m glad I arrived when I did. A killing is a killing, whoever the victim might be.”

“I know,” I said, “and I’m grateful.”

He patted me on the shoulder and stood up. “What you need is a good night’s sleep. I’ll see you at the slipway in the morning.”

After he’d gone I sat there thinking about a lot of things, but Ilana kept breaking through to the surface and after a while I got up and went back upstairs. It was quiet in the corridor outside my room and I paused at the door, wondering rather bitterly how Arnie was doing. And then I heard her voice raised, sharp and clear and very angry.

I went down the corridor fast and flung open the door of her room. She was half across the bed, Arnie sprawled on top of her, laughing as he pinned her arms. I took him by the collar and yanked him away so hard that he staggered across the room against the wall, almost losing his balance. Ilana sat up, smoothing her skirt and I smiled gently.

“Anything more I can do?”

“Yes, you can bloody well get out of here and take junior with you.”

There were tears in her eyes, humiliation at the thought that it had to be me of all people as much as anything else, I suspected, but as far as I was concerned she’d had enough and I turned to Arnie.

“Let’s go, Arnie.”

He glared from Ilana to me furiously. “So that’s the way, is it? I move on and good old Joe here takes over.”

The way he put it made me sound like some sort of faithful hound and I burst out laughing. “Don’t be a clod. Come on, let’s get out of here.”

I’d never seen him so angry. “You’ve just made the biggest mistake of your life,” he snarled at Ilana. “Here, I’ll leave you something to remember me by. Stick that in your stocking-top and remember Arnie Fassberg.

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