Judas Country by Gavin Lyall

Author:Gavin Lyall [Lyall, Gavin]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Published: 2012-02-15T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter 15

The ride down the hill, in a big metallic-grey Mercedes, was a lot smoother than the journey up. And no problems, either. I’d wondered if Aziz might call the police and have us picked up for carrying illegal firearms, stealing a car, kidnapping a chauffeur and everything short of barratry and mopery. Then I’d decided he didn’t want us in jail any more than we wanted to be there, and for once I was right.

Nobody said much until we were standing on the steps of the St George watching the car flow away in the cold lamplight. It wasn’t even very late; not yet midnight.

Ken stretched and said: ‘Well, one final jar before the dew falls?’ He looked around us and Eleanor and I nodded.

Mitzi said: ‘I think I will go to bed, please.’

‘Your choice,’ Ken said, and we walked up into the hotel – which was still as wide awake as high noon. ‘But just as a matter of professional interest: where is that paper?’

Mitzi turned to Eleanor. ‘You still have it?’

‘The document about the sword? Sure.’ And she dug in her big handbag and passed it over.

‘Je-sus,’ Ken said softly. ‘If the bastard had only known …’

‘Was that what it was all about?’ Eleanor asked.

‘An animal searched me,’ Mitzi said bitterly, stowing away the paper and then heading for the desk to pick up her key.

Ken looked at Eleanor. ‘Didn’t anybody try to take off your clothes?’

‘Didn’t they hell.’ She looked a little warm. ‘Enough of them implied the idea, though I don’t think they were looking for bits of paper. You know there was another room, smaller and darker, where they had a little brazier thing burning?’

I felt a smile crawling on to my face and tried to frown it down.

‘Did they?’ said Ken innocently.

‘They suggested I should stand over it, kind of; it was supposed to be…well, aromatic.’

Ken grinned wickedly. ‘And which one of us’ll you have first?’

She blushed, really blushed.

‘And modern science,’ I said, ‘proves there’s no such thing as an aphrodisiac’

She stared firmly at the lift doors while her blush faded. Mitzi came back with her key to say goodnight.

Ken said: ‘For God’s sake be careful with that piece of paper. Why not the hotel safe now?’

I said: ‘No,’ without quite knowing why except that it was an obvious place and I didn’t think Aziz needed any help in thinking of obvious places.

‘I will keep it okay,’ Mitzi promised. Then she smiled, rather demurely. ‘Thank you for being so brave, like knights.’ She turned away into the lift.

Ken looked at me and raised his eyebrows. ‘Gadzooks and forsooth.’

‘Just show me the nearest dragon and stand aside.’

‘Oh come on,’ said Eleanor impatiently. ‘She was just trying to say you smell like horses. Who’s buying me a drink after dragging me away from all those lovely sexy men?’

As we headed towards the bar at the end of the lobby, Ken murmured: ‘I can tell you of one quote maiden unquote who’d better not get immured in any foul dungeons if she wants to get rescued by Christmas.

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