Read Online White Death: An Alex Hawke Novella by Ted Bell - Free Book Online Page A

drive it around the lake this morning, and I finally succumbed.”
    “He’s a James Bond fan? What on earth does that have to do with anything?”
    “This is the DB5 used in Goldfinger . Still the best one of them all, as far as I’m concerned.”
    “You’re joking. I love that film, one of my favorites. And this is the actual car from that film? Sean Connery’s car? This ‘Lord’ business you’re in must pay very well.”
    “Oh, I get by. But, right, this is the exact one in the movie.”
    “Seriously? So, I guess that means you can squirt oil on the road to lose the bad guys? Or eject me up into the clouds if I say or do something you find annoying?”
    “Depends on what you say, darling, but absolutely. That’s why I’m taking this route round the lake. If you do force me to eject you, at least you’ll come down into the water after I launch you into space.”
    She smiled at him. Her mood seemed to be improving with every mile they covered.
    “How long a drive, James?” she said, wrinkling her nose at the scent of air redolent with waxed leather and Castrol motor oil.
    “As long as it takes, Pussy.”

 
    C HAPTER F IFTEEN
    H awke was playing country music on the car’s 8-track audio system: Willie Nelson Live at the Opry! After a bit of small talk, Sigrid had settled deep into her bucket seat and turned her face to the scenery. She was, for many miles, content to watch the seamless parade of Swiss postcard pictures floating past her window.
    He watched her out of the corner of his eye. He felt just the way he’d felt that first night—he couldn’t take his eyes off her.
    He would remember later on that he began to fall in love with her that day. An hour later, they were cruising along the shores of Lac de Genève. Hawke found the scenery breathtaking; the white-capped Alps marching along the shoreline beneath a crystal-blue sky. It was another idyllic Swiss scene you couldn’t duplicate anywhere else in the world.
    “Getting close,” Hawke said for something to say.
    “I do love this old car, Alex. It’s very cozy. I don’t know anything at all about old sports cars, but this one is a dream. Will you be driving it back to England when all this is over, Lord Hawke?”
    “Want to come?”
    “Down, boy.”
    “I’m quite serious, you know.”
    “Precisely what I’m afraid of.”
    “I was afraid you’d say that.”
    “Tell me something, Alex, what’s your real interest in this murder mystery of ours? I can understand the motives of your two friends, but not yours. You don’t seem to fit the profile the way Ambrose and Blinky do. So tell me, why are you really here, your lordship?”
    “Good question. I might actually answer it some day.”
    “Wait. You’re really not going to tell me why you’re in Switzerland? After we all took that vow of secrecy together?”
    “No.”
    “Because?”
    “I don’t trust you.”
    “That’s odd. Wolfie does.”
    “Whatever Wolfie does or does not do is no concern of mine. Tell me something, Sigrid. Do you trust me?”
    “About as much as you trust me. Which is to say, not a lot.”
    “Are you sleeping with Wolfgang von Stuka?”
    She gestured classically and said, “What? How dare you! I’d no idea you were so ill mannered!”
    “Doesn’t matter. Just curious. Calm down or I’ll eject you.”
    “Why would you even say such a thing to me?”
    “Wolfie had quite a hard time concealing his heat at dinner that night.”
    “Don’t be absurd. And even if he did, so what?”
    “Did he give you that red sapphire ring?”
    “No. We just met, Alex, for God’s sake. Besides, although he’s a very attractive man, he’s married. Are you?”
    “No.”
    “Liar. I don’t trust you.”
    “Cheap shot, Sigrid. I said I’m not married and I’m not. I fell in love with a Russian woman in Moscow many, many years ago. We never married. We had a son. He’s six years old now. His name is Alexei. He’s my whole life now. His mother was arrested