Read Online The First Novels: Pay Off, the Fireman by Stephen Leather - Free Book Online Page B

‘And David?’
            ‘He’s well. He’s staying at a private nursing home for a few months just until I get myself straight. They look after him really well but he can’t wait to get back with me.’
            ‘And when will that be?’
            ‘Soon. Soon, I hope.’
            ‘I hear Shona is handling most of the business herself at the moment. And handling it well by all accounts. She’s a capable girl, you should watch her. I should have paid more attention to her myself – I could have saved myself several thousand pounds.’
            ‘Now, now Tony, down boy. And what big ears you have.’
            ‘Word gets round, sport. You know how the grapevine works. Been down here long?’
            ‘Just arrived off the Shuttle, the noo,’ I said, lapsing into a music hall Scottish accent that made him smile.
            ‘Flying visit, or business, or social?’ he asked, and it felt suddenly as if I were being interviewed by a high-powered headhunter, feeling my way through traps set for the unwary. Tony raised his thick eyebrows and looked me straight in the eyes through long, dark lashes, but unlike Iwanek’s penetrating gaze Tony’s was warm and friendly and caring.
            ‘Business, Tony, but it’s got more in common with your line of business than mine. I’m in the middle of setting up an export deal with a West African country, dictatorship to be more accurate, and I’m due to entertain one of their Trade Ministers in London next week.’
            ‘Entertain?’
            ‘Exactly. And I’m afraid it’s not the sort of business I’m au fait with.’
            ‘What’s his predilection? Boys, girls, camels? Drugs?’
            ‘Girls, or at least a particular type. He likes them classy, very classy, the ultimate Sloanes. He likes them pretty, well-groomed and intelligent. This guy was educated at Sandhurst, he’s not out of the jungle. She’ll have to be talkative, witty, charming  . . .’
            ‘And screw like a rabbit?’
            ‘Exactly.’
            ‘Not quite your line of country, sport,’ he said, sipping his drink and grimacing.
            ‘We’re branching out.’
            ‘Are you sure you’re being one hundred per cent honest with me?’
            No, Tony, I’m lying through my teeth but if I told you the real reason I want the girl you’d try to stop me. ‘Hell, Tony, if I could go into details I would, but I can’t. Now will you help?’
            ‘Of course I will. You knew that or you wouldn’t have come to me. I just want to make sure that you aren’t getting in above your head. Is there anything I can do to help? Some of these tin-pot states can be murderous.’
            ‘Just give me a name, Tony. I know what I’m doing.’
            He took one of his gold embossed business cards from his wallet and scribbled a number on the back. ‘Her name is Carol Hammond-Chambers. You’ll have to mention my name or you won’t even get past her answering machine. Carol is very selective and very, very pricey. But by Christ she’s worth it.’
            ‘You haven’t?’
            ‘Of course I have. You wouldn’t buy a car without test driving it first, would you? There you are, then. I’ve introduced some very important clients to her and it was vital that I knew what they were getting into – if you get my drift.’
            ‘And how is she?’
            ‘The best, the absolute best. Worth every pound. Sexy, but very bright with it. You can’t go wrong with Carol. She lives with another girl, Sammy. She works for me from time to time as well. A nice pair.’ Freudian slip? Probably not, knowing Tony.
            ‘Why do they do it?’ I asked.
            He sipped his wine before answering. ‘Different reasons,’ he said. ‘Carol has an expensive habit to fund and working for me means she gets well paid and moves in the sort of