Comes the Dark Stranger - Jack Higgins [33]
He dressed quickly, and then went into the kitchen and snatched a hasty breakfast of coffee and toast. Twenty minutes later he left the flat and walked briskly into the centre of the town until he came to a taxi rank.
The fog had lifted a little, but it was still raining steadily when he left the cab outside her house and walked towards the front door. Somehow the place looked more neglected and run down than ever, and he followed the path around to the back of the house and walked down towards her studio.
He mounted the steps, and as he paused outside the door the Dobermann growled. He opened the door and stepped inside.
She was working at the easel, a look of concentration on her face, and as he entered she blushed like a young girl, as if remembering how they had parted the previous night.
‘Hallo, Martin,’ she said. ‘I’m glad you could come.’
She was wearing the tartan trews and the Spanish shirt knotted at her waist, and it came to him, almost with a sense of wonder, that she was beautiful.
When he spoke his voice sounded calm and easy. ‘I almost didn’t make it. I overslept.’
She raised her eyebrows slightly. ‘Didn’t you go to bed when I left you?’
He lit a cigarette and said calmly, ‘As a matter of fact I had rather an unsettling night. When I got back to my room I found I’d had a visitor.’
Her eyes were suddenly wary, but she kept her gaze studiously on the painting. ‘And who was that?’
He moved across the room until he was standing looking over her shoulder. ‘Whoever it was, took my Luger. I sat down and thought about it real hard, and I remembered that only two people knew I had it. You and Reggie Steele. It couldn’t possibly have been you, so I decided I’d better have a word with Reggie.’
Her voice was still calm, but her hand shook slightly when she dipped her brush into the paint. ‘And what did he have to say?’
Shane shook his head and said softly, ‘I didn’t get a chance to talk to him. He was deeply engaged in conversation with someone else when I got there.’
There was a moment of silence, and she still kept on painting. Sudden anger lifted inside Shane, and he grabbed her by the shoulder and spun her round. ‘You told me you’d never met Reggie Steele,’ he said, his fingers biting into her flesh. ‘You lied to me. I want to know why.’
There was a sudden, frenzied growling as the Dobermann hurled itself across the room. As Shane released her, Laura Faulkner grabbed for the dog’s collar, pulling it back. She leaned down and spoke softly into its ear, her hands gently fondling its ears, and after a while it retreated to the divan and lay down again, its black eyes fixed unwinkingly on Shane.
When she turned, her cheeks were flushed and there was anger in her eyes. She took out a cigarette and lit it with shaking fingers, and when she spoke there was a slight tremble in her voice. ‘If you try to lay a hand on me again I’ll let the dog tear your throat out, and believe me - he can do it.’
Shane moved back until he was leaning against the wall. When he spoke, his voice was level and calm. ‘All right, let’s cut the dramatics and get down to some hard fact. When I first spoke to you, you told me you’d never met any of the men who’d known your brother in Korea. Last night I saw you coming out of the Garland Club with Reggie Steele, and from what I’ve been told you’ve been visiting him there regularly for years.’
She took a few nervous paces away from him, and when she turned there was real anger in her eyes. ‘All right. You’ve asked for some hard facts - I’ll give you some.’
She untied the knot at her waist, pulled the blouse from her body with one fluid motion, and stood facing him. ‘Now don’t start getting any silly ideas just because I’m treating you like an adult.’
She was wearing no brassiere and her breasts were superb, full and ripe, with delicate nipples. A sudden dryness clutched Shane by the throat, and then he saw the scar and sucked in his breath. It started beneath her left breast and ran up into her shoulder, a jagged line of white showing clearly against