THE AMBASSADOR'S WIFE (An Inspector Samuel Tay Novel) by Jake Needham

Author:Jake Needham [Needham, Jake]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Half Penny Ltd (Hong Kong)
Published: 2011-11-23T15:00:00+00:00

TWENTY-FOUR

CALLY reached the table first and the man put his arms around her and kissed her on both cheeks. Tay tried not to evaluate the technical aspects of the hug too closely, but he couldn’t help it, nor could he help the conclusion to which he came when he did. It was not at all the way former colleagues hugged, at least not former colleagues whose relationship had been purely professional.

Then, before Cally could say anything, the man broke off the hug, stepped around her, and offered Tay his hand.

“Welcome to Pattaya,” he said.

Tay noticed as they shook that the spot where they stood was quieter than the rest of the bar for some reason and he could hear the man quite clearly. His voice was warm and resonant.

“Thank you. I’m Samuel Tay.”

“I know. Inspector Samuel Tay. Singapore CID-SIS.”

“That’s right.”

“I’m John August.”

“Is that your real—” Tay, embarrassed, abruptly stopped talking when he realized what he was about to ask.

John August didn’t seem embarrassed at all.

“Yes, Sam, it’s my real name.” He tilted his head toward Cally.

“Ask the kid here.”

Tay didn’t look directly at Cally although he wanted to. It would have been far too clumsy a thing to do. Still, out of the corner of his eye, he saw her nod.

They sat down and Cally ordered a beer. Tay asked for a whiskey. He figured he was probably going to need it.

Cally and August made small talk for a while about people they had apparently known when they were both at the embassy in Bangkok. Tay didn’t even try to follow them. He did notice August seemed to be paying more attention to him than he was to what Cally was saying. He was being sized up. Tay had no doubt of that. August was looking him over as if he was appraising him for auction and thought his provenance somewhat dubious.

While they were talking some of the girls from the stage came upstairs and mounted the tabletops and they were now dancing very near them. One particularly arresting girl was wearing absolutely nothing but a pair of black leather boots with a card bearing the number 81 pinned to the top of one of them. After a minute or two she jumped up on the table where they were sitting and spun around once to make certain they all got a good look at her. Then she bent backwards with surprising grace, grasped the chrome rail that edged the balcony, and writhed between it and the table in rhythm with the music. The overall effect, Tay thought, was quite remarkable, although perhaps less erotic than gynecological.

After the girl finished her dance, if that was the appropriate expression for the bodily movements which she had been displaying, she straightened up, bent down and gave August’s cheek a little tweak, then jumped to another table and started in again. Tay shot a quick glance at Cally and saw her face was devoid of all expression.

August was trying to goad Cally by bringing them here.

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