Stealth by Margaret Duffy Read Free Book Online Page A

telling me all this and try to stop me leaving in permanent fashion I got to my feet, saying, ‘As far as the book goes I don’t know you. I’ve never been here.’ Then, on deck, I gestured towards the newly-arrived motor yacht. ‘You have new neighbours.’
    â€˜Thank God,’ the man said fervently. ‘The stealth boat was all part of the threat. Just called in to breathe down my neck. Hamlyn said it’s part of that Richmond geezer’s empire.’
    â€˜Did you believe that?’
    â€˜At the time I did. But he was always a liar.’
    My fears might have been realized then as he immediately turned and hurried below. My cursed writer’s imagination presented me with a view of him getting a firearm of some kind from one of the wall cabinets with which to erase his indiscretions. I have never felt more defenceless than I did walking away from that boat.
    As I hurried by the doorway of a nearby shop that had closed for lunch, a voice said, ‘Learn anything?’
    â€˜Yes, and I’m freaking out right now that he might be about to shoot me in the back,’ I replied, appalled to hear the sob of pure fright in my voice.
    â€˜Just carry on and I’ll walk a short distance behind you, spoiling his aim,’ Patrick said calmly.

FOUR
    A fter being in receipt of a short but to the point husbandly lecture on the inadvisability of what I had done, I gave Patrick an account of what had been said on
Ma Concubine
, practically verbatim. As he himself had said, I have a good memory and intended to write it down for reference purposes.
    â€˜I’m staggered that he told you so much,’ was Patrick’s first comment.
    â€˜I don’t think it was his first drink of the day – and of course he loathes Hamlyn even more now.’
    â€˜Mike’ll give you a gong. But you took a hell of a risk.’
    â€˜Just stay right by my side for the rest of the time we’re here, please.’
    â€˜I will. Some of the things he said: running a garage, Hamlyn working for him valeting cars and looking him up in a casual way because he needed money have to be discounted. I rather admire the guy for thinking on his feet like that. But why did he start talking to you in the first place?’
    â€˜Loneliness? Full of grievance after having had to part with so much money, possibly a large chunk of available funds and unconsciously wanting to tell someone about it? Needing female company? There didn’t seem to be any evidence of another person on board. He admitted spending money on tarts.’
    â€˜I have to confess that I don’t know whether to get the police on to him or not.’
    â€˜Phone Greenway.’
    This he did. The commander responded by saying that he would relay the information to those SOCA personnel involved with Operation Captura and would mention to them that if Coates left Cannes he could well head for St Tropez. We were to forget about him, although, in view of what he had told me, exercise all due caution as he had a record for committing firearms offences. Greenway then went on to say that he would like us to attend the banquet that night in order to observe Clement Hamlyn, assuming that he would attend, and then return to the UK, as planned, early the following morning.
    Still not happy about being in a position to openly watch this man I urged caution, whereupon Patrick said he would think of something.
    We duly presented ourselves – slightly pretentiously it was black tie – at the appointed hour, seven thirty, my companion succeeding, I thought, in not looking like a minder. There appeared to be far more people in the large, quaintly old-fashioned but sumptuous dining room than had attended the conference during the past couple of days, but I then remembered that we had been promised the presence of various
glitterati
literati
for this final evening. I recognized no one and it made me feel out of touch and hopelessly