The Burma Legacy Read Online Free

the coffee Midge offered him, ‘where do we go from here, Inspector?’
    ‘Whatever happens, we stick with him.’
    ‘And if he doesn’t tell us where he’s going?’
    ‘Then I’ll have to make it clear I just can’t bear to be parted from him.’ She set her jaw, her eyes steely with determination.
    After they’d breakfasted and tidied the saloon, she handed him the wrench he’d used on the engine.
    ‘I found this on the floor. Don’t want to nag, but it probably has a home.’
    ‘Leave it by the cooker and I’ll put it away in a while.’
    They washed, put on shorts and fresh tee-shirts, then went on deck to top up the water tank from a hose on the pontoon.
    It was well after nine before Squires made an appearance, leaning over the rail of the Estelle ’s sundeck. When he spoke, there was a coolness to his voice that made them both uneasy.
    ‘Off shortly, are you?’
    ‘We were just talking about that,’ Sam hedged. ‘What about you?’
    ‘The girls have gone shopping. Nige and I plan to relax until they get back. He’s still in his pit, lazy bugger. Then we’ll see. Might go north to Phang Nga, maybe over to Phi-Phi. Jan’s got a friend visiting today.’
    Sam’s antennae twitched. There’d been no mention of a visitor last night.
    ‘We still going to be able to toast the Millennium with you guys tonight?’ Midge checked, stepping onto the foredeck and spreading out a towel to lie on.
    ‘Maybe.’ As Squires watched her apply cream to her legs, he smiled like a man who’d spotted a trap but who reckoned falling into it might be rather pleasurable. He turned his attention to Sam again. ‘By the way, Steve, I was interested in what you were saying last night.’
    There was something distinctly disingenuous about the way Squires said it.
    ‘Anything in particular?’
    ‘How you preserve confidentiality when you’re hiding clients’ money …’
    It was as if Squires was testing him on his cover story, but he played along. No alternative. He talked about nominee holdings and anonymous accounts.Squires listened hard, putting in questions every few minutes.
    ‘Interested for yourself?’ Sam queried.
    The drug trader half-smiled and shook his head. ‘For a friend.’
    It always was. ‘I’ll get you one of my cards. You can pass it on to him.’
    A charade, but it couldn’t be him that ended it. As he turned to enter the saloon Squires called after him.
    ‘While you’re at it, give me one of Beth’s too.’
    Sam rummaged in his bag for the visiting cards they’d printed the previous day. Then he felt the boat rock slightly. He looked through the window. Jimmy Squires had come aboard. Midge had sat up and was making room for him on the deck.
    Sam re-emerged with the cards in his hand. Midge shot him a glare that said to leave her to get on with her seduction, so he climbed up to the bridge and pretended to busy himself with charts and the pilot book. Over on the Estelle Nige had surfaced. He was facing away from them, his eyes on the shore. Sam followed his gaze and saw the women returning. Squires had spotted them too and was hunching forward in anticipation.
    Jan’s ‘friend’ turned out to be male. An oriental, dressed in a white polo shirt and dark trousers. He strode purposefully towards them, scowling at their foredeck as if there was something seriously amiss there which needed dealing with immediately.
    Sam sensed things were about to go horribly wrong. He saw the alarm on Midge’s face and watched her pull her knees to her chest in aninstinctive move to protect herself. He guessed she’d recognised the man.
    By the time he’d clattered down to the deck, Squires was on his feet. Midge too, clutching the towel to her chest.
    ‘Scuse me a minute …’ she whispered, trying to slip away.
    Squires hooked an arm round her and pinned her to his side.
    ‘Don’t disappear, darlin’. This bloke spends a lot of time in Singapore. You’ll have things to talk about.’
    The man