Read Online Danny Dempsey and the Unlikely Alliance by Denis Byrne - Free Book Online Page A

kid had opened his knapsack, said a few words in Latin or something, and a hooded cobra slid out to block his path. The kid muttered some more gibberish, the cobra hissed threateningly, then herded Steve into the waiting arms of the security guard, who promptly cuffed him before giving the kid the thumbs-up. Danny then muttered more nonsensical words to the cobra, and Charlie crawled back into the haversack, coiled himself up comfortably before settling down to having a well earned nap.
    â€˜Just tell us one thing, copper,’ Steve asked the Superintend as they were being bundled into the back of a squad car. ‘How did you find us? Not a snitch in the country knew where we were.’
    â€˜A little bird told us,’ the Superintendent advised him, making Danny grin and wonder what Madam Noseybeak would have to say about being referred to as a little bird.
    He knew that as far as she was concerned, she considered herself to be a very big important member of the feathered species. ‘Little bird, indeed!’ he could imagine her saying had she heard the Superintendent. ‘Why, the very idea!’

C HAPTER S EVEN
    A s Superintendent Clifford had feared, what he’d recently briefed Danny about was all over the papers a few days later. Matthew Dawson, Governor of the Central Bank, and his seven-year-old granddaughter, Lily, had been kidnapped in a joint operation which had been carried out with military precision.
    They’d been spirited away without fuss or commotion, Lily by a woman who visited her school, the Governor from the bank’s underground car park as he was opening the back door of his Mercedes to be driven home after a difficult day overseeing important financial matters. When he uttered his usual greeting to his chauffeur, all he received in return was a guttural grunt. He thought this strange. Gerald was usually the essence of politeness. Maybe he was getting a cold. Before Matthew Dawson had time to ask him, he was shunted from behind into the back seat, and a gun was jammed into his ribcage.
    â€˜Not a word!’ Needles hissed. ‘Not a single, solitary word!’
    As soon as the door clicked shut behind them, another man rose up from the front passenger seat beside Gerald. ‘Now, here’s the deal,’ Dapper Desmond said, turning to look straight into Matthew’s face. ‘When we reach the security barrier, you smile like your life depended on it. Any awkward questions from the guard, we’re business clients. Got it?’ Matthew Dawson nodded his head in understanding. ‘Needles hears so much as a squawk of anything else from either of you, we whack you both, then the guard. Okay, Gerald, let’s get this show on the road.’
    Of course, all the security guard did was raise the automatic barrier from inside his hut on the approach of the Governor’s Mercedes. He knew it on sight, and it wasn’t unusual for the head of the bank to be bringing influential people off to dinner in some luxurious hotel to round off a successful transaction, so the guard thought nothing on seeing the other passengers. He did notice that Gerald seemed tense looking as the car pulled away up the ramp. In fact, he looked as though he’d eaten something which hadn’t agreed with him. The guard grinned to himself. Maybe Gerald had another bad day on the gee-gees.
    â€˜Nice jalopy, Gerald,’ Dapper said, when the car pulled into the main stream of traffic. ‘I think I might invest in one of these when this is all over. What you reckon, Needles? You fancy one, too?’
    â€˜Yeah, yeah, sure, sure, sure!’ Needles replied nervously. ‘Whatever, whatever, whatever!’
    â€˜Relax, Needles,’ Dapper told him. ‘Everything’s going like clockwork. That right, Pops?’
    Matthew Dawson didn’t bother to reply. He’d turned seventy only four days ago, and was looking forward to his retirement when he was