Emerald Death by Bill Craig Read Free Book Online

Russian's always smiling countenance.  She knew that the two men were friends, but they all owed their present troubles to Shotsky's dealings with the notorious expediter Degiorno.  She hoped that Hannigan wasn’t misplacing his faith.  She liked the Russian, but she didn’t really trust him, and she totally despised Degiorno.  The fat Italian she would never trust!
                She took a long coil of rope from the cargo box and handed it to the Russian.  Then, as Shotsky started trussing Hannigan up like a Christmas goose, she set about getting the Italian into the floatplane.
     
                Bridget positioned him in the observer's pit, but found herself secretly wishing that the men really had drawn lots to see who would ride outside, and that Degiorno had been picked for that dubious honor.  She had seen the way the fat Italian eyed her; it left her feeling dirty.  She knew that if she ever mentioned it to her adopted father that the Italian would die, mysteriously and probably very painfully.  That wasn't something she wanted on her conscience, not just for a look that had made her uncomfortable. 
                But if the Italian ever laid a finger on her, that would be an entirely different matter.
     
                                        *****
     
    “This what you had in mind when you told me about Degiorno?” Hannigan asked Gregor.
    “Not really.  When I last knew him, Francisco was into running guns and such.  This treasure stuff with the Nazis was a new one on me.”
    Hannigan ran his fingers through his reddish brown hair. “Those Nazi guys that were after us in the bar were pretty bold.” 
    “The same thought occurred to me,” Shotsky replied, suppressing his usual grin. “To operate openly in a foreign country, without fear of reprisal?  I think the Nazis may prove to be a threat unlike anything the world has ever seen.”
    “I’m starting to feel that way myself, Gregor.”  Hannigan tested the rope loop around his waist.  “Get these ropes good and tight, I don’t want to get beat to death during the flight,”
    “Trust me, my friend,” Gregor said.
“You know I do, Gregor.”  He grunted as the Russian cinched the line down.  “What do you think of her?”
    Gregor threw a glance toward Bridget O’Malley who was pre-flighting the Grumman Duck.  “She's a beautiful young girl.  But a girl is all she is.  Be careful, Mike.  Women can often lead otherwise clear-headed men to do foolish things.”
    “Can’t live with ‘em, can’t live without ‘em,” Hannigan chuckled as Shotsky pulled the ropes tight.
     
    The Russian was true to his word, and Hannigan found it a little hard to breathe, but he knew the ropes would loosen some when they were in the air. His arms were not secured, and his right hand gripped his pistol as though it were permanently attached.  The .45 had a full magazine plus a round in the chamber, and he had reloaded the magazines he had emptied earlier and stowed them in the deep pockets of his vest along with several more.   He didn’t really anticipate an attack by the Nazis while they were in the air, but he planned to be prepared just in case.
     
    Hannigan was strangely eager to get in the air, to get this ordeal over with.  He was using all the bravado he could muster to hide the fear he was feeling.  There was a better than even chance that the air pressure alone would beat him to a bloody pulp along the floatplane’s fuselage, or that he would end up with broken bones, frostbite or a concussion.
    “Seemed like a good idea at the time,” he muttered to no one.
    Yet, such audacity was the only way they were going to succeed in reaching The Emerald of Eternity ahead of the Nazis.
     
                                        *****
     
    Captain Morgan mopped the sweat from his brow and resettled his Captain’s hat on his rumpled gray hair.