Message From -Creasy 5 by A. J. Quinnell Read Free Book Online

face, curiously. His eyes were far away. She asked:
"Did you know him?"
    "I
knew him."
    "Is
he still alive?"
    "I
don't know."
    She was
slowly stroking his chest in a way that was almost maternal. She asked:
"What kind of a man is he?"
    He
lifted a hand and put it over hers to stop her movements, and answered:
"He is death."

Chapter 11
    She
hated Vietnam; the more so, because it fascinated her. It was a land of both
sadness and poignancy. It was like an axe that cut a cleft between her heart
and her mind; and it constantly drew her like a moth to a flame.
    The Thai
Airways plane from Bangkok dipped its nose and banked for its final descent
into Ton San Nut airport. She closed the lid of her IBM Notebook and reached
for her briefcase under the seat. Her mind was on the report she had just read
on the small screen. She had read it several times since it had been loaded
into her computer two days ago.
    It was
the FBI report on the Danish detective Jens Jensen. It had linked him with a
mercenary called Creasy. That in itself did not ring any alarm bells for either
herself or her boss Elliot Friedman. What did ring a shrill alarm was a suffix
at the end of the report. It stated that any inquiries made to the FBI which
involved a mercenary called Creasy would be automatically referred to Senator
James Grainger, the senior Senator from Nevada and the chairman of the House
Ways and Means Committee, a very powerful individual. She happened to be in
Friedman's office the next morning when the expected call came through.
Friedman had glanced at her and then flicked the phone onto the conference
speaker.
    The
conversation was fairly typical of that between a very powerful politician and
a moderately senior army officer. The politician was at first polite in the
extreme. He complimented the colonel on the fine work he was doing under such
difficult circumstances. For two or three minutes they chatted about the
missing-in-action problem; and then Senator Grainger said: "It's come to
my attention that yesterday you requested a report on a Dane called Jens
Jensen."
    "Yes,
sir."
    "I
assume you have received it."
    "Yes.
It's on my desk at this moment."
    "Why
your request, Colonel?"
    "It's
routine, sir. He came to see me the day before yesterday together with his
associate. He's a private eye who specializes in missing persons. A very
pleasant guy, I guess we have something in common in our work."
    "What
did he want, Colonel?"
    "He
had the dogtag of a MIA. It had been delivered to the MIA's parents' house in
San Diego. We extracted the relevant file and I have to say, Senator, I broke
the rules a mite and let him read it."
    Susanna
heard the Senator's chuckle through the speaker. "I guess some rules are
just there to be broken, Colonel. Were you able to help Jensen?"
    "No,
sir. Not beyond showing him the file. I asked him to keep me informed and to
come back to me if he needed any further assistance."
    There
was a silence. Even the phone's speaker seemed to be thinking; then the
Senator's voice came through it. "What was the code on the FBI's
report?"
    Colonel
Friedman pulled the papers towards him and read out loud:
"CN/D/404082A."
    Another
silence. Susanna thought she could actually hear the shuffle of papers through
the phone. Then the senator said: "That report refers to a man called
Creasy."
    "Yes, sir."
    "Apart from what you have read in that report, do you know anything about that man
Creasy?"
    "No, sir. Just that he's a mercenary."
    The tone of Senator Grainger's voice changed. He became almost musing. He said:
"Colonel Friedman, can we talk off the record and in confidence?"
    Friedman
glanced at Susanna as if for advice. She simply shrugged and started to walk
towards the door. Friedman stabbed the hold button and told her: "Stay
where you are, Susanna. When a senator wants to talk to an officer in
confidence, it's better to have a witness."
    Very
intrigued, she returned to her seat. Friedman reopened the line and said:
"Of course,