The Doll’s House by Evelyn Anthony Read Free Book Online

privately. The hotel have provided a screen and a video. It all looks very businesslike. Have a drink, Jan, old fellow. Scotch? I’ll get something special sent up. How about a bloody good twelve-year-old malt, eh?’
    â€˜Fine by me,’ the Pole said. Oakham was moving round the room, ordering the drinks, smiling at him. He was always restless when he was keyed up. Jan had seen him like it before an operation. Like a big cat scenting an unsuspecting kill.
    â€˜Water … No, plain water and no ice,’ Harry was saying into the phone. He turned and grinned at Jan.
    â€˜Don’t want to spoil the flavour, do we – nothing like a good malt. Now, tell me about Rilke! How the hell did you persuade him to come with you?’
    â€˜I told him you wanted to talk to him first, before the others. I laid it on, Harry. How important he was, how senior. You know what a vain swine he is. He couldn’t resist it. He expected to meet you tonight. He didn’t like it when I said it was tomorrow, early morning. He’s booked into the Alexandre. I said I’d take him out to dinner and we’d go to some club afterwards.’
    â€˜He’ll want boys,’ Harry remarked. ‘Don’t let him get too shagged out. He’s got to have a clear head tomorrow.’
    Jan grimaced. ‘Don’t worry, I’ll look after the little swine.’
    Oakham said easily, ‘Some of our gays were bloody good. Forget the prejudice. Give him a good time and don’t stint on the money. I want him sweet and greedy when we meet up.’
    When the Scotch arrived he filled their glasses and they raised them in a toast.
    â€˜Here’s to the future.’
    Georg Werner kissed his twin sons good night. He was a loving and dutiful father and a good husband. His wife, Erna, watched from the doorway. They were good boys, she thought, and they loved their papa coming to read to them and settle them down for the night.
    He closed the door and they went downstairs together.
    â€˜How long will you be gone?’ she asked.
    â€˜I’m not sure,’ he answered. ‘Two days, maybe less. Depends on how the meeting goes. I’ll telephone you.’
    She smiled at him.
    â€˜They haven’t sent you anywhere for some time now. The break will do you good. You get so bored being stuck in the Ministry.’
    He put his arm round her as they went into their sitting room. It was a large, light room, well decorated with modern pictures and Italian furniture. His wife had taste. He was proud of how she looked and how she managed his home and the children. She was right. More so than she would ever know. He hadn’t been sent abroad for a long time. He’d been given nothing important to do beyond his minimum brief. No chance to shine, no hint of promotion, and he was still in his forties. Everything had changed. He had wasted the best years of his life for nothing.
    â€˜I’ll get us a drink.’ His wife went to the bottles ranged on an angular, black-glass table. ‘Why don’t I come to the airport with you? Surely the car can drop me back?’
    â€˜I’m not taking an official car,’ Werner explained. He took a vodka on the rocks and sipped it. ‘It’s a confidential meeting, I told you. I’ve ordered a taxi. Come and sit down and tell me what you’ve been doing.’
    The twins had come out of school to go to the dentist. Albrecht had been brave, little Georg had cried. She’d had lunch with two women friends … He wasn’t listening. He was glad of the vodka and finished it quickly. It helped settle his nerves. He could still pull back. It wasn’t too late.
    He hadn’t been contacted for such a long time it shocked him when he got the message. Something had come up which he should consider for his own sake. The airline ticket, the address of the hotel, and the code word.
    It wasn’t Freedom, in his case.
    Harry had gone