Hemingway's Notebook

Hemingway's Notebook Read Free Page B

Book: Hemingway's Notebook Read Free
Author: Bill Granger
Tags: thriller, Fiction / Thrillers / Espionage
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pumpkin.
    “You counted on your own survival and now I’m betting that isn’t as important as
her
survival. That’s what I’m betting on.”
    “Nobody changes as much as you make out,” Devereaux said.
    “Your girl was in Paris and she was coming home on the TGV train to Geneva, changing to the local up to Lausanne. Instead, she got rerouted at Geneva. We waited there for her and I had my aide take her to Evian. I wanted to get you used to the idea before you saw her. Used to the idea that I had something to talk to you about.”
    “Who do you work for, Ready?”
    “Myself, you might say. Like you. Do you know why I knew it had to be the girl? I mean, when I went looking for you?” He smiled. “You left yourself open to me six years ago when you wanted to find out if her missionary brother was an agent. You never leave yourself open. It had to be the woman, I thought at the time. I put that away in my little file.” He tapped his head with his forefinger. “Your Achilles heel, you might say.”
    Six years ago, he had met Rita Macklin. She had been a journalist. They both wanted the secret of an old priest who had come out of Laos after twenty years. She had wanted to clear her dead brother’s name. She was closer to the secret than he, so Devereaux had used her, made love to her, conspired against her, all to get the secret from the old priest. But then he had fallen in love with Rita.
    And because of that love he had exposed himself to Ready. Had he left other clues on his trail for others who might want to find him alive?
    Devereaux frowned. The ferry was closing on the French shore and the sleepy buildings of Evian shining in the afternoon light. It was chilly on the deck. He shivered and felt the weight of the pistol at his belt. And he saw Ready shivered as well.
    “You must work in a warm place,” Devereaux said softly.
    “My khakis? Had regular clothes I picked up in New York, but I wore the khakis on the plane and the fucking airline lost the bag. Those two from Langley, or maybe DIA, were on my tail so I said to hell with it. Gave them the slip at Zurich. Probably a couple of stiffs from surveillance division. They’ve been following me around ever since I resigned from Langley six years ago. Went on my own. They think I’m a soldier of fortune.”
    “Are you?”
    “Maybe,” said Ready.
    “In a warm climate,” Devereaux said.
    “Hell is warm,” Ready said.
    “Is it hell, Ready?”
    “Yes. But that’s not to say it doesn’t have its attractions. Like this.”
    “What is it?”
    “A gift for you, for listening to me so patiently. A bankbook. Two hundred thousand Swiss francs on deposit now to you at Credit Suisse. Is that your bank?”
    “Don’t you know all about me?”
    “No. Not all. I told you I was in a hurry. I just remembered the girl and she wasn’t so hard to find. Take the account.”
    Devereaux slipped the book into the pocket of his coat and felt the slight bulge of the pistol.
    He could kill Ready now except how would he get off the boat? And what if Rita were not on the Evian side waiting for them?
    “I’ve got your attention? Nothing like the ring of shekels to improve a person’s hearing.”
    “I’ll always take the money.”
    “A good attitude. Never let conscience interfere with good judgment. We’re the same, you and I.”
    “Who else knows about me?”
    Ready paused. He smiled. He said, “A nigger named Celezon. My aide, you might say.”
    The ferry sounded its horn then and began a slow turn into the water, creating a white arc of wake as it slid toward the dock of Evian. The Swiss and French flags on the white ferry snapped in the unexpected breeze.
    “See her? She’s okay,” Ready said.
    Devereaux saw Rita staring at the ferry, unable to see him on the deck. Her red hair was loose on her shoulders. She hunched against the wind inside her navy-blue coat.
    Behind her was a black man in a dark raincoat.
    “Celezon knows,” Devereaux said in a leaden

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