BooksBarbecue
Back Angels of Vengeance
Chapters (68)
  1. Blurb
  2. CONTENTS
  3. Dedication
  4. CHARACTER LIST
  5. 1
  6. 2
  7. 3
  8. 4
  9. 5
  10. 6
  11. 7
  12. 8
  13. 9
  14. 10
  15. 11
  16. 12
  17. 13
  18. 14
  19. 15
  20. 16
  21. 17
  22. 18
  23. 19
  24. 20
  25. 21
  26. 22
  27. 23
  28. 24
  29. 25
  30. 26
  31. 27
  32. 28
  33. 29
  34. 30
  35. 31
  36. 32
  37. 33
  38. 34
  39. 35
  40. 36
  41. 37
  42. 38
  43. 39
  44. 40
  45. 41
  46. 42
  47. 43
  48. 44
  49. 45
  50. 46
  51. 47
  52. 48
  53. 49
  54. 50
  55. 51
  56. 52
  57. 53
  58. 54
  59. TWO MONTHS LATER
  60. ONE YEAR LATER
  61. TWO YEARS LATER
  62. FOUR YEARS LATER
  63. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
  64. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
  65. Also by John Birmingham
  66. ALSO BY JOHN BIRMINGHAM
  67. Copyright
  68. Cover

Jules had to work hard to dredge up all the details. As she cast her mind back again to that frenetic week they’d all spent in the Mexican resort city, a warship hoved into view around East Point, a wedge-shaped promontory on the far side of the bay over which the Sirocco enjoyed such a fine outlook. She looked fast and sleek, and as she steamed west for the harbour, Jules could make out a French ensign at the stern. But the warship was still dwarfed by one of the largest yachts the Englishwoman had ever seen: painted in dark blue and white, with her own helicopter deck and runabouts, this super-yacht made the 240-foot Aussie Rules seem like a bloody canoe. Le Grande Blue and her Russian owner were the talk of the town.

She turned her attention back to the table. ‘I’m pretty sure Fifi and I hired the Rhino down at the marina, where we’d tied up the big sport fisher off the Aussie Rules. We had a hut down there that we were using as a base. You know, for gathering stores before we transferred them out to the yacht, and for taking on crew, but not passengers. As far as I recall, we took him on pretty much as soon as we saw him. He had that Coast Guard background. Made him an easy pick. So he would’ve gone straight out to the Rules and never even laid eyes on Cesky, surely. Miguel merely beat Cesky down. Rhino probably would’ve killed him.’

‘Too bad he didn’t.’

‘Yeah. Too bad.’

Pappas frowned. ‘So why send somebody all the way to Darwin to chop him?’

Jules shook her head before replying, as she watched the French frigate slicing through a gentle swell. ‘I guess he did his research. Cesky, I mean. When the police seized the Aussie Rules after we got to Sydney, the crew pretty much went their separate ways. Shah, Birendra and their lads headed for home. The bloody Aussies tossed poor Mr Lee in jail – called him an illegal immigrant and deported him for Indonesia about a week later. I haven’t heard from him since. The rest of the crew were fine, probably because they were all Europeans.’ She shook her head again, in disgust now. ‘And the Yanks, of course, the refugees, they were double-plus good because they were all rich and white, right? I think Canberra was taking in as many Americans as it could at that point, probably hoping to gather enough of them down here that they’d have first call on what was left of the US military if the shit hit the fan.’

A small lift of his massive shoulders signalled Pappas’s agreement. Old news.