Read Online Sensitive New Age Spy by Geoffrey McGeachin - Free Book Online Page B

made it too easy he would have been suspicious.’
    ‘He’s going to be very pissed off, Alby,’ Julie said. ‘And more so when he tries to access those hard drives. I’ve got them configured to reformat themselves after three failed attempts to bypass the security system.’
    ‘Can they get around that and retrieve the data?’
    ‘Of course, but it’s going to take them a lot of time and effort.’ She kicked a side panel on her desk, a concealed drawer slid open, and she took out two mobile phones, tossing me one.
    ‘A bit basic, but they’re prepaid so we should be secure for a while. I don’t fancy using a mobile after Pergo’s had his greasy mitts on it.’
    ‘Good thinking, Miss Danko,’ I said, dropping the phone in my pocket. ‘And now, what do you reckon, should we call it a day?’
    ‘Fine by me. But don’t forget to check your email when you get home.’
    ‘You think Clare’s that keen?’ I asked.
    ‘Settle down, Alby, she just left. But God yes, she’s gagging for it. Especially after that little display of testosterone with Pergo.’ She shook her head slowly. ‘ Is there anything you don’t eat? Jesus, I thought I was going to have to throw a bucket of water over the two of you.’
    ‘That obvious, eh?’
    ‘And then some. However, Mr Murdoch, I think you should remember what happened last time you got romantically involved with the American military.’
    She did have a point. Besides having my heart broken by a gorgeous US Army major named Grace Goodluck, it had been suggested at the secret commission of inquiry into my destruction of the US spy base that I owed the United States government almost half a billion dollars. Julie had worked out that even with overtime and bonuses I wouldn’t be able to retire until I was close to nine hundred years old. Luckily they decided it was in everybody’s best interest to forget the whole thing.
    ‘What’s so important about my inbox at home,’ I asked, ‘if it’s not a pash note from the lovely Lieutenant Kingston?’
    ‘When I saw those cars driving onto the pier I smelled trouble, so I emailed our files to your private mailbox. While Pergo was busy shooting his mouth off, all the pertinent data collected so far was winging its way through cyberspace for safekeeping.’
    ‘You mean, if I want to I can just log on in Bondi and this investigation is back in business?’
    ‘I know you like to keep your options open, Alby.’
    ‘Thanks but no thanks, Jules. You saw Pergo’s letter. Someone else can find their missing nukes. I’m going to salvage what I can of this long weekend by doing what I do best. Care to join me?’

TEN
    We fronted up for a very late lunch, or an extremely early dinner, at the Blue Eye Dragon in Pyrmont. Muriel, the owner, does Taiwanese dining and she does it very well. I ordered the pan-fried dumplings as we walked in the door. Her mum, Jade, makes them by hand and they’re bloody amazing with a dash of chilli sauce.
    While we waited for the pork belly slow-cooked in soy, aniseed, garlic and chilli, and prawns in Jade’s ‘bloody’ plum sauce, Julie called Sydney Ports and redirected the list of harbour pilots to the fax at my place. Just in case, she said when I reminded her once again that I was off the investigation, and staying off.
    Neither of us spoke while we ate, but I knew Julie was trying to figure out if I was really serious about dropping the investigation. I was trying to figure out if I could snaffle an extra dumpling without her noticing, but she had eyes like a hawk.
    Public transport was back up and running and the city was open again, so after lunch I dropped Julie at Circular Quay to catch a ferry to Manly, and headed back to Bondi. It was a warm evening on a public holiday in a beachside suburb, so parking was never going to be easy, especially since my building was right on Campbell Parade, the main drag.
    The name Luxor Mansions might conjure up visions of an Egyptian palace overlooking