Buzz: A Thriller by Anders de La Motte Read Free Book Online

decision . . .”
    “What the hell’s that supposed to mean?”
    The anger she had managed to keep under control up to now suddenly boiled over.
    “Nothing, calm down!”
    “I am calm!” she snapped. “I just want to know what you mean when you say it’s my decision ? You don’t share my conclusion that we should evacuate? Don’t you think there was an assailant either?”
    “I was thinking about the cars, Normén, okay?”
    She looked at him intently for a few seconds while she calmed down.
    “Okay . . .”
    It wasn’t until he had left the room that she realized that Malmén hadn’t answered her question.
    ♦  ♦  ♦
    The sound of the phone ringing made him drop his spliff.
    He had dozed off and spent a few confused seconds fumblingon the floor to stop the cigarette from burning a hole in the carpet.
    “Hello . . . ?”
    “Allo, Thomas, this is Vincent speaking, how are you, my friend?”
    It took a few moments before his doped-up brain made the right connections.
    Thomas was his latest alias—Thomas Andersen, from Trondheim in Norway. He’d been in prison with a small-time dealer from Bergen, and could gurgle enough of his incomprehensible Norwegian dialect to pass, even if they were celebrating their national day.
    “Bonjour, Vincent, how’s it going?”
    “Good, very good. Sorry we haven’t been in touch before, but we got a bit delayed in Goa. Had some trouble with the authorities, if you get my meaning . . .”
    “Mmm . . .”
    HP blew on the spliff to try to get it to burn better.
    “Listen, Tommy, we’re thinking of heading out into the desert tomorrow evening. Do a bit of rally driving, have a barbecue, smoke a hookah with the Bedouins. D’you want to come?”
    He took a deep drag.
    “Yeah!”
    “Great, we’ll pick you up around five. We’ve got plenty of room in the cars, so you’re welcome to bring someone if you want to. À tout à l’heure! ”
    HP hung up and grinned up at the ceiling.
    A mysterious woman, nocturnal adventures in the desert.
    Secrets waiting to be uncovered . . .
    For the first time in ages he almost felt alive again.
    Game on!

4
BAD LUCK CHARM
    Pillars of Society forum
    Posted: 7 November, 15:09
    By: MayBey
    Sometimes you just have to make the best of things . . .
    This post has 26 comments
    THE BIG VEHICLE lurched over the crown of the sand dune, hanging in the air for a moment before it began to slide sideways down the slope. Powdery sand flew up over the windows and for a moment the inside of the car was almost completely dark. Then the 4x4 swung in the other direction, the sand was shaken off, and the view cleared. The maneuver made all the passengers except HP burst out in roller-coaster whoops.
    Twenty minutes of dune rallying and he already felt like throwing up.
    Hash and beer really weren’t a very good warm-up combo for a desert safari. Hell, he felt rough!
    To make everything even worse, Vincent had squeezed him into the little seat right at the back, next to the bags,where both visibility and the lurching were at their worst. The Frenchman had put himself next to Anna A, who naturally spoke perfect French. The pair of them, plus the other Frenchman in the car, had chattered like polecats on acid almost the whole way out here, leaving HP feeling seriously excluded.
    But he had at least managed to pick up a bit of it.
    Evidently Miss Argos wasn’t a Miss at all, but a Mrs., seeing as Vincent and the other guy started calling her Madame.
    He guessed divorced rather than widowed, especially considering her bitchy attitude.
    And Madame certainly seemed to have plenty of money, to judge from her overblown suite in the hotel with its view of the gulf, and her presumably absurdly expensive clothes. The hot little safari outfit she showed up in on the dot of five o’clock had been fairly remarkable.
    Vincent had immediately switched on the charm, full force. He kissed her hand and whipped out his flashy gold lighter the moment