the Savage Day - Simon Vaughn 02 (v5) Read Online Free PDF Page A

the shadows for a moment. Dark, empty eyes, high cheek-bones, a wide, rather sensual mouth.
    As the match died she said, 'You seem surprised.'
    'I suppose I expected a man.'
    'Your sort would,' she said with a trace of bitterness.
    'Ah, the arrogant Englishman, you mean? The toe of his boot for a dog and a whip for a woman. Isn't that the saying? I would have thought it had possibilities.'
    She surprised me by laughing although I suspect it was in spite of herself. 'Give the man his whiskey, Binnie, and make sure it's a Jameson. The Major always drinks Jameson.'
    He moved to the bar. I said, 'Who's your friend?'
    'His name is Gallagher, Major Vaughan. Binnie Gallagher.'
    'Young for his trade.'
    'But old for his age.'
    He put the bottle and single glass on the table and leaned against the partition at one side, arms folded. I poured a drink and said, 'Well, now, Miss Murphy, you seem to know all about me.'
    'Simon Vaughan, born 1931, Delhi. Father a colonel in the Indian Army. Mother, Irish.'
    'More shame to her,' I put in.
    She ignored the remark and carried on. 'Winchester, Sandhurst. Military Cross with the Duke of Wellington's Regiment in Korea, 1953. They must have been proud of you at the Academy. Officer, gentleman, murderer.'
    The American accent was more noticeable now along with the anger in her voice. There was a rather obvious pause as they both waited for some sort of reaction. When I moved, it was only to reach for the whiskey bottle, but it was enough for Binnie whose hand was inside his coat on the instant.
    'Watch yourself,' he said.
    'I can handle this one,' she replied.
    I couldn't be certain that the whole thing wasn't some prearranged ploy intended simply to test me, but the fact that they'd spoken in Irish was interesting and it occurred to me that if the Murphy girl knew as much about me as she seemed to she would be well aware that I spoke the language rather well myself, thanks to my mother.
    I poured another drink and said to Binnie in Irish, 'How old are you, boy?'
    He answered in a kind of reflex, 'Nineteen.'
    'If you're faced with a search, you can always dump a gun fast, but a shoulder holster ...' I shook my head. 'Get rid of it or you won't see twenty.'
    There was something in his eyes again, but it was the girl who answered for him, in English this time. 'You should listen to the Major, Binnie. He's had a lot of practice at that kind of thing.'
    'You said something about my being a murderer?' I said.
    'Borneo, 1963. A place called Selengar. You had fourteen guerrillas executed whose only crime was fighting for the freedom of their country.'
    'A debatable point considering the fact that they were all Communist Chinese,' I said.
    She ignored me completely. 'Then there was a Mr Hui Li whom you had tortured and beaten for several hours. Shot while trying to escape. The newspapers called you the Beast of Selengar, but the War Office didn't want a stink so they put the lid on tight.'
    I actually managed a smile. 'Poor Simon Vaughan. Never did really recover from the eighteen months he spent in that Chinese prison camp in Korea.'
    'So they didn't actually cashier you. They eased you out.'
    'Only the mud stuck.'
    'And now you sell guns.'
    'To people like you.' I raised my glass and said gaily, 'Up the Republic.'
    'Exactly,' she said.
    'Then what are we complaining about?' I took the rest of my whiskey down carefully. 'Mr Meyer is waiting to see you not far from here. He simply wanted me to meet you first as a - a precautionary measure.'
    'We know exactly where Mr Meyer is staying. In a hotel in Lurgan Street. You have room fifty-three at the Grand Central.'
    'Only the best,' I said. 'It's that public school education, you see. Now poor old Meyer, on the other hand, can never forget getting out of Germany in what he stood up in back in '38 so he saves his money.'
    Behind us the outside door burst open and a group of young men entered the bar.
    There were four of them, all dressed exactly alike in leather