Read Message From -Creasy 5 Online

Authors: A. J. Quinnell

Tags: #Thriller, #Crime

Message From -Creasy 5 (34 page)

BOOK: Message From -Creasy 5
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"We've got them," Susanna answered. "The woman, Tan Sotho, showed Creasy the
graves and the guys dug them up. It's up to Forensics to identify them, but one
is certainly Jake Bentsen. Did you get the paperwork fixed for the visas?"

"Yes. An Air Force transport will fly you, the girl and the kid, and the remains back
from Bangkok tomorrow. What about the guy, Arrellio?"

"He'll be OK. They got the bullet out this morning. He's a tough one!"

"You did a good job," Friedman said. "I'll be at Andrews Air Force Base to
meet you. You'd better be wearing a uniform, because there'll be a ceremony to greet the remains."

She hung up and turned to Creasy, who was sitting in a chair on the other side of the bed.

"What was all that about?" he asked.

"That was about Professor Jason Woodward." She tapped her stomach. "The
father of this embryo inside me. He's on his way here."

Creasy walked to the minibar and took out a beer. He said: "It seems to me that
the guy might love you."

"Yes, he might. He's not the kind of man to do impulsive things."

Creasy drank the beer from the bottle. He drank it all, then gave her a level look and
said: "If he loves you, and if he's any kind of man, he has changed his
mind about that baby."

"Maybe."

He put the bottle down, walked around the bed and took her hands in his.

"It's decision time, Susanna. And we don't need any drama. You talk to the guy, you
make up your mind. We kept pretending that we never made love. We both know the
reason for that. It was like a series of dreams. Dreams that will be remembered
but still, just dreams. People can be in love in a dream just as seriously as
they can be in love in real life."

The tap on the door was like the last chord of a symphony. Creasy went and opened it
and for a long moment looked at the man standing there. Then he turned and said
to Susanna: "He doesn't look all bad to me."

Epilogue

It was early evening when the doorbell rang. Marina Bentsen looked up from her
magazine at her husband.

It had
been two days since the phone call from Colonel Elliot Friedman, informing them
that their son's remains had been recovered and giving them the date and time
of the military funeral which would take place at Arlington. She had bought a
new dress for the occasion.

Her husband went to the door and returned with Creasy and a woman. Creasy
introduced her as Susanna Moore. He said: "I'm sorry about Jake's death.
But I do know that it was very sudden. He would have suffered no pain."

The old woman approached him, put her hands on his shoulders and kissed him on his
cheeks. She said: "We are at peace, Mr Creasy. And we thank you. At least
we know he is back here in America. He will lie at rest together with his
comrades. Will you come to the funeral?"

Creasy shook his head. "I'm not good at funerals, Mrs Bentsen. But like you, I'm
also at peace about Jake." He glanced at Susanna and then at the old man.
He said: "There is one last detail. Before he died, Jake fell in love with
a Vietnamese woman who, like him, was a prisoner of the Khmer Rouge. Three
years ago she had a son by Jake. He's called Kori."

The old woman looked at her husband and then asked Creasy: "Are they still in
Cambodia?"

Susanna answered for him. "No, I brought them back to America. The thing is, Mrs
Bentsen, my department can arrange accommodation for them. The mother is only
twenty-four years old. She will get a grant for education and so on, and be
well looked after."

The old woman was still looking at Creasy. She asked: "Where are they now?"

"Not a million miles away, Mrs Bentsen. In fact, they're outside sitting in our
rented car."

Marina Bentsen did not hesitate. She walked straight to the door.

The arrangements took no longer than five minutes. Mr Bentsen signed the papers
that Susanna gave him without reading them. Mrs Bentsen took the boy and Tan
Sotho upstairs to show them Jake's old bedroom. In those five minutes, the old
couple seemed to shed twenty years in age.

As Susanna drove Creasy back to the airport, he pulled a small ebony box from his
jacket pocket and put it on her lap, saying: "You wouldn't accept your
share of the gemstones The Owl located back in Tuk Luy. But you'll accept that.
Consider it a wedding present."

With her left hand, she reached down and slid open the wooden box. Inside was an
intricate silver bracelet studded with sapphires. She closed the box and said:
"Will you come to the wedding? It's in two weeks, in Washington." He
shook his head.

"I don't like funerals and I don't like weddings. Especially when they involve
past dreams."

She had pulled up in front of the terminal building. He got out and retrieved his bag
from the back seat and then made a gesture resembling a salute...A gesture of
farewell. Before he could turn away, she asked him a last question.

"Creasy, do you think that boy Kori is really Jake Bentsen's son?"

He shrugged and answered: "There's a one in three chance, and that's good
enough for me!"

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