Don't Ask by Donald E. Westlake Read Free Book Online

city owns the dock and the old ferry building there, and the Votskojeks rent it from the city for like nothing a year."
    "That sounds like New York," John agreed.
    "You got to remember," Tiny said, "both of these countries are poor.
    Their principal export is rock."
    J.C. had promised herself to remain silent, since this wasn't her meeting, it was theirs, but this news was too compelling. "Rock?" she blurted out; as a businesswoman, one whose mail-order businesses could be thought of as a kind of export, she wanted to know how you made money out of exporting rock.
    No one seemed to object to her horning in like this. The guys, in fact, seemed just as interested in the answer as she was and paid as close attention when Tiny said, "Gauntries with more regular land, like dirt-type land, they use Tsergovian and Votskojek rock when they're making new roads."
    "Tsergovian rock much better," Grijk announced. "Dests prove."
    "No argument," Tiny said. "Anyway," he told the others, "the point is, these countries are poor, so they don't go in for UN missions in fancy town houses in the East Sixties and all this stuff. You know, they had to float a loan just to hire you guys."
    "Which raises a question, Tiny," John said. "You did explain to Grijk about expenses, didn't you?"
    "Absolutely," Tiny said. "Subway fare, stuff like that, you take care of yourself. A real expense, like a bribe or a vehicle or a weapon, Tsergovia pays."
    "In front."
    "He knows that, Dortmunder," Tiny said.
    "No limousines," Grijk said, raising an admonitory finger.
    "They know that, Grijk," Tiny said.
    Andy said, "If they're so poor, how come they got a yacht?"
    "Did I say yacht?" Tiny asked. "I said boat, am I right?"
    "So the first thing we better do," John said, "is go look at this boat."
    "I'll take you over there and show you," Tiny offered, "whenever you say." 'What about now?"
    "Good," said Tiny.
    Andy said, "Grijk, you coming with us?"
    Grijk said, "Andy, you must led John teach you how pronounce Grijk. And I don'd go, because if dehr guards would see me, dey would shood me."
    Andy raised an eyebrow at John. "A fun crowd."
    And that was the end of the meeting. Everybody stood up and all the men shook hands with Grijk, and Grijk assured them their praises would be sung forever in the schoolrooms of Tsergovia, even if anonymously, and then J.C. said, "Nice to see you fellas again," and the fellas said it was great to see her again, and then they all trooped out and away down the hall toward the elevator, and at last J.C. was alone. She went to the kitchen and poured out her one-of-the-guys beer and filled a different glass with a nice Pinot Grigio and went back to the living room to kick off her satin shoes and sit in her morris chair, which seemed larger and lower than before, and to think about countries.
    A cacophony of countries, a mob, a milling throng, a legion of nations.
    Who would have guessed there were so many mother and father lands? You could hide in a crowd like that.
    And do what? 'Dortmunder looked at that Votskojek boat over there and was not impressed. On the way across and downtown, in a Honda Accord Stan had borrowed for the occasion, Tiny had told them the boat had originally been a tramp freighter on the Black Sea or the Bosporus or one of those places and had just barely made it across the Atlantic last winter, and Dortmunder could well believe that.
    Much smaller than a Caribbean cruise liner, and a lot dirtier, too, the ship was a tall black hulk held by heavy, thick, hairy ropes around metal stanchions on both sides of the old ferry slip. If it weren't for the few lights on inside the vessel, defining circles and rectangles of dim yellow light, it would look mostly like a barge piled with scrap iron.
    Their nearest vantage point to view the scene of the crime-to-he was the FDR Drive, the elevated highway running--crawling, really--up the eastern shore of Manhattan Island. This time of night, traffic on the Drive was moderate--if