Scent of the Beast by Ron Chinchen

Author:Ron Chinchen [Chinchen, Ron]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781543406115
Publisher: Xlibris AU
Published: 2018-03-28T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 41

IT WAS ALMOST ten minutes later that a door suddenly appeared this time on the opposite side of the room, and four people entered. Jake immediately recognised Sen Sharon Aldicott and her assistant Reba Mallory and experienced a mixed mood. This was not going to be an easy session, but he hoped Mallory would keep Aldicott in check. He had done as requested and sent Mallory material he had on the rats, so she was also well versed. The other two were introduced as Colonel Makito, a second-generation Australian-Japanese man and the army representative sitting in for the general. The chair of the meeting was Harold Prescott, a senior national government public servant in Darwin. They each amicably shook hands, though Aldicott held Jake’s a little longer than was comfortable, implying a match between adversaries was about to take place.

‘Seems we cross swords again, Superintendent McLynn. May the better woman win,’ she said, obviously trying to be funny.

Jake smiled amicably, but his eyes said otherwise.

‘Please understand my adversarial manner in these meetings, Jake. My role is to question and protect the public purse,’ she explained quietly.

Jake stared into her eyes and could see she believed that mantra. He nodded.

His response from Ms Mallory was, however, much more amicable though still formal. She smiled almost affectionately, and as with Ms Zreika, he was somewhat mesmerised by the eyes, which were also dark. Yes, he thought, this would be a challenging but fascinating affair.

Jake widened his range of vision to get a sense of those present and noticed Mallory was seriously distracted by what initially seemed to be the professor, but he quickly realised it was Angela who was the focus of her distraction, and it wasn’t adversarial in nature. In fact, he noted Angela staring back at Aldicott’s assistant with a strange, confused look, almost suggesting recognition mixed with surprise. When the two shook hands, Mallory held Angela’s hand a little longer than was deemed appropriate as each looked carefully into the other’s eyes. Was it attraction? thought Jake, but the smile on Mallory’s face seemed strangely innocent and excited yet also confused when not somehow reciprocated in the manner she expected. Angela’s response was one of alertness and confusion. Maybe a long-lost buddy, he thought.

‘Does she know Mallory, Professor?’ Jake whispered to James.

She looked at him with an odd expression and then back at the two young women. ‘As far as I know, they’ve never met. I’ll have to ask Angela later what that was about later. I was always pretty sure she is hetero, but those looks are making me wonder,’ James whispered back with a slightly upturned eyebrow.

The strange mood broke with another portal opening from which, to Jake’s surprise, Colonel Bintang appeared, escorted by two soldiers into the room. Having led Bintang to his seat, the two soldiers received a non-verbal signal from Lee and withdrew, the door sliding closed behind them.

‘I must object, Harold,’ Aldicott protested strongly. ‘Colonel Bintang is a representative of the Indonesian establishment.

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