by Lou Cameron
“In time of peace? Yes. Get to the point, dammit!”
“I’m trying to. Okay, so the insurance agents will be trying to serve papers on the directors of Linke-Stettin as well. Keller and his wife may get lucky and never find them, if they have unlisted Swiss bank accounts. I know I sure would if I set out to cheat Der Kaiser, His Most Catholic Majesty, and international insurance dicks who play even rougher in peacetime.”
Hakim snorted and asked, “Who’s supposed to tell him all this, me! Unfortunately, some people just don’t understand how honest I am, in my own little way. They’d never believe me if I made an obvious effort to discredit a business rival, you idiot!”
Captain Gringo reached into his shirt pocket for a claro as he grinned and said, “I know. That’s why I suckered German intelligence into doing it for you. Don’t you suppose Der Kaiser will believe his own naval architects when they report to him what they found sort of melting like ice cream in the sun, back at that island?”
Hakim looked perhaps a little less like a public executioner as he said, “I like the first part. What do you mean you suckered Jager?”
“Hell, had we simply run away and let him have it as a gift free and simple, the prick might have suspected us of something sneaky. Jager knew who I was. So he knew I was working for you, and you’re right, people just don’t understand you. They think you’re a treacherous backbiting little son of a bitch.”
Hakim smiled for the first time that morning and said, “I am. Let me light that cigar for you, son. Are you sure you wouldn’t prefer a Havana Perfecto?”
“No, thanks. Just give me the money. Got a lady waiting to spend la siesta with, see?”
Hakim reached under a silk cushion to produce a wad that would have choked a horse. But he held on to it as he said, “Let me see if I have it straight. Having outwitted the great Captain Gringo for Der Kaiser and no doubt expecting another medal for it, Jager will report he got to the wreck before you could examine or sabotage it. As soon as his engineers see what a shitty job Linke-Stettin did, they’ll report that, too, and if you think I have a temper you should see Kaiser Willy in a snit! I like it. It’s foolproof. Even if the directors of Linke-Stettin don’t wind up against a wall, they’re never going to be able to bid against me again, and I’ll now be free to build all the U-boats I want to, at a modest profit of course. I pride myself on good weaponry, but I’m not in the business for my health.”
“You’re all heart, Sir Basil. Naturally, as soon as the Brits find out Germany’s ordered a fleet of submarines they’ll be in the market for more of the same from your British shipyards?”
“Naturally. It’s my patriotic duty as a British subject. Let’s see, here’s your bonus, Gaston’s, and that silly girl may as well have hers for shutting up that German spy to confuse the issue further.”
“What about the shares Keller and his wife would have gotten if they hadn’t jumped ship and run like hell the minute we hit Limón?”
“Don’t I deserve anything, dear boy?”
“Shit, Hakim, you already have the money. Be a sport and I’ll tell you what. I won’t tell the Brits a fucking thing when Greystoke contacts us, okay?”
“Are you expecting the Brits to approach you?”
“Sure. They know you’d sent us on that mission, too, don’t they? Knowing Greystoke of old, he’ll probably try to bribe me with pussy as usual. British intelligence is hard to get money out of.”
Sir Basil Hakim chuckled, peeled off the extra money, and handed it over, asking, “Will this be enough to console you for saying no to a pretty British spy, dear boy?”
Captain Gringo said, as he put the money away, “I never say no to a pretty British spy. But I promise I won’t tell on you in bed.”
RENEGADE 25: HIGH SEAS SHOWDOWN
By Ramsay Thorne
First Published in 1984 by Warner Books
Copyright © 1984, 2017 by Lou Cameron
First Smashwords Edition: July 2017
Names, characters and incidents in this book are fictional, and any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons living or dead is purely coincidental.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information or storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the author, except where permitted by law.
This is a Piccadilly Publishing Book
Series Editor: Mike Stotter
Published by Arrangement with the Author’s Agent.
The Renegade Series by Lou Cameron, Writing As Ramsay Thorne
Renegade
Blood Runner
The Fear Merchant
Death Hunter
Macumba Killer
Panama Gunner
Death in High Places
Over the Andes to Hell
Hell Raider
The Great Game
Citadel of Death
The Badlands Brigade
The Mahogany Pirates
Harvest of Death
Terror Trail
Mexican Marauder
Slaughter in Sinaloa
Cavern of Doom
Hellfire in Honduras
Shots at Sunrise
River of Revenge
Payoff in Panama
Volcano of Violence
Guatemala Gunman
High Seas Showdown
… And more to come every month!
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