Read Online The Shadowmen by David Hagberg - Free Book Online

armed.”
    â€œNo,” McGarvey said. The casino’s security systems at the entries were capable of detecting weapons.
    â€œWatch yourself, Mac,” Otto said.
    The waiter set the snifter down, and this time, he hesitated before leaving. McGarvey tossed the drink back.
    â€œWould monsieur care for another?”
    â€œNo. I want my wine now.”
    â€œYes, sir.”
    â€œSalopard,” Mac said under his breath as the waiter walked away. It was gutter French for bastard .
    The champagne came a couple of minutes later, and McGarvey feigned impatience as the sommelier opened it and poured a glass. As with the cognac, Mac drank the wine in one piece and held his glass out for more. The wine master obliged and then bucketed the bottle and walked off.
    Two couples at the nearest table noticed what was happening and glanced over at him. McGarvey glared at them, and they turned away. The maître d’ was on the phone at his station, but when Mac looked at him, he didn’t turn away.
    â€œCareful they don’t kick you out of there,” Otto said.
    â€œI’ll tone it down a notch, but I’ve made my impression.”
    â€œThat you have. The maître d’ has phoned a man he calls Monsieur Germain, probably the manager, about you causing a disturbance. You’re to be escorted out if you become intoxicated and loud.”
    McGarvey smiled and raised a glass to the maître d’, who finally turned away.
    â€œYou’ve made your point,” Louise said. “Behave yourself.”
    â€œFor now,” McGarvey said. A waiter came with his caviar. “Dinner is coming.”
    â€œThat was fast,” Otto said.
    â€œThey want to get rid of him ASAP,” Louise said.
    McGarvey took his time with his caviar and toasts, but the instant he was done, his plates and utensils were taken away, and his ceviche was served, followed, when he was finished, with his sea bass.
    â€œWas everything satisfactory, monsieur?” the head waiter asked at the end.
    Mac drank the last of the champagne. “I’ve had better,” he said. “No dessert. Bring me l’addition .”
    The waiter produced it immediately.
    McGarvey signed it, adding an outrageously large tip on top of the ordinary 15 percent already included. It was a final mark of his being a wealthy but boorish American.
    He staggered slightly as he crossed the dining room, where he stopped at the maître d’s station and laid a hundred-euro note on the stand. “For your trouble, monsieur,” he said in French, and he left the hotel.
    The night was soft, but the traffic was fairly heavy even though it was not ten yet. By midnight, the Place du Casino would be fully alive.
    â€œAre you okay?” Otto asked.
    â€œAfter the first glass, I poured my own wine, and most of it went into the bucket.”
    The casino was on the other side of the Place, not far away. The tree- and flower-lined walks were extremely pleasant, and there were the odd moments like these when he could forget for just an instant the danger he was walking into and thinking that Katy could be with him. She would have loved this place, and he was sorry that he’d never taken her here.
    The only disturbing note was that he was having trouble visualizing her face in any kind of sharp focus. He could hear her laugh, smell her perfume, feel the texture of her hair and her cheek, but he could only see her wide eyes. He’d been having the same trouble for the past couple of years.
    Sometimes glancing at one of the photographs of her, it took just a split instant before he recognized her. At that moment, he felt an almost overwhelming sense of guilt not only for the reasons she was been killed but for how fast he had let the details of her slip away.
    For now, he was relieved that Pete and gotten in and out of Russia apparently without trouble, and he found that he was looking forward to seeing her.
    He crossed to the