Cryptozoica Read Online Free PDF

put the cigar back in his mouth and tore off a match. “Well, as interesting as it is, I’m not here to find out about you two conspiring to cover up yet another capital crime.”
    “No?”
    “No. I just got a satphone call. Howie Flitcroft is on his way here. I was told we should expect him early tomorrow morning.”
    Kavanaugh felt his stomach slip sideways, but not in reaction to the liquor. “Howie hasn’t been here since…” His words trailed off.
    “Since those investors of his were eaten?” Mouzi supplied helpfully.
    Kavanaugh scowled at her, and then shifted his gaze toward the two men who pushed open the door. They were both wiry Moros, wearing a kind of uniform consisting of white turbans, dark slacks, shirts, and black sneakers. Each man had a small automatic pistol holstered at his belt. The letters EAC were hand-stitched in gold thread on their breast pockets. Kavanaugh didn’t need the reminder that the East Asiatic Company owned Mindanao’s Folly.
    At first, the pair of men seemed startled by the diverse collection of people in the big barroom, then they tried to slip on stolid masks of officialdom.
    “We’ve been sent by Captain Lars Hellstrom,” said the tallest of the pair in passably good English. “We are looking for Seaman Dai Chinnah. Does anyone here know him?”

CHAPTER TWO
     
    “You’re not jackos,” Mouzi said, back-stepping away from Sanu. She moved with smooth grace, her high-cut white shorts snug on her hips. Casually, she put her hands behind her back and kept them there, hooking her thumbs into her pockets. Sanu slid off the stool and moved to the far corner of the bar.
    The eyes of the two men flicked to and fro cautiously. The taller man said, “No, we are not policemen. We are EAC security officers, assigned to Mindanao's Folly. May I have your names?”
    “You go first,” suggested Kavanaugh.
    The man’s face registered irritation, but he said smoothly, “I am Lieutenant Azahan. This is officer Ruipender.”
    Crowe tried to strike a match but due to the humidity, the sulfur only fizzled, sending up a pungent stench. “Neither of you have any authority here, you know.”
    Azahan stiffened. “There is no authority here at all, not even a provost marshal. That is why the Captain sent us, Mr. Crowe.”
    “If you knew our names, why’d you ask us for them?”
    “ Mindanao’s Folly has put into port here before. The crew knows all about you here on Little Tamtung.”
    A contemptuous smile touched Azahan’s lips. “Especially about you and Tombstone Jack Kavanaugh.”
    Kavanaugh raised the glass to his lips, feigning disinterest. “Is that a fact.”
    Ruipender spoke for the first time. “It is a fact that all of you here are liars and thieves. Tricksters. You defrauded many powerful, wealthy people and some of those people died. You stay here because you are afraid of their retribution if you go back to your own country. They will have you killed or imprisoned.”
    Angrily, Mouzi said, “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
    “We know enough,” snapped Azahan. “We know you fear coming under the hand of United Bamboo.”
    “Bai Suzhen, Madame White Snake herself, owns this place,” Mouzi declared defiantly, pointing to the garish portrait of the Siamese dancer behind the bar. “She won’t be happy when she find out you came here to harass her friends.”
    “The United Bamboo Society controls a hell of a lot of ports in this part of the world,” Crowe said casually, still trying to strike a match. “You piss her off, you piss them off. I’m pretty sure that’s how it works.”
    Azahan’s eyes narrowed for an instant, but he drew himself up haughtily. “We are looking for a member of Captain Hellstrom’s crew, that is all. We were informed about a disturbance here that might have involved him.”
    He gestured to the dark pink stain on the floor, then to Sanu and finally to the specks of blood on Mouzi’s shirt. “Do you deny there was