Dennis Wheatley - The White Witch of the South Seas

After he had had his swim he looked about for a place to lie and sun himself. In the garden there were half a dozen basket work lounge chairs of a type he had seen nowhere else. They were shaped like a big, hollowed out fish mould and on his previous visit he had found them particularly comfortable. Only one, some distance away, was vacant and it was next to another occupied by a woman lying on her face. As he walked over to it, he gave a sudden smile. That dark head of hair and beautifully proportioned bronze body could belong to no one other than Manon.

While still a dozen yards from her, he halted, took his cigarettes from the pocket of his robe, lit one and stood contemplating her. When on the previous day he had been on her island, Joe Joe had given him to believe that she was staying with friends; so he had not expected to find her at the Grand Pacific, and on his arrival that morning he had been too tired to enquire at the office if her whereabouts were known. That she should be there after all, and unaccompanied by a man, he took to be a piece of rare good fortune. But, as he again delighted in the sight of her seductive body, he wondered cynically what explanation she would give to account for having lent her house to Lacost and his murderous gang of Colons.

16 ?The Fire Walkers of Beqa

Throwing away his cigarette, Gregory tiptoed over to Manon, stooped, and kissed her on the back of the neck.

Starting up, she turned over as swiftly as an eel. For a second her big dark eyes glared with offended dignity. Then they grew wide with astonishment and joy.

`Gregory l' she cried. Her arms reached out, closed round his neck and, drawing him down, she gave him a long, luscious kiss on the mouth.

As she released him, he smiled at her and said, `Quite a surprise for you, eh? Anyhow, it's good to know that I still have a place in your affections.'

`Oh, darling!' She was a little breathless. `Of course I still love you. But where have you been all this time? Why didn't you write me? I've been desolate, positively aching for you for months.'

`It's a long story,' he replied, sitting down on the other fish shaped basket lounge. `For most of the time I was in prison and it was impossible to write.'

`In prison?' she repeated. `Whatever for?'

He then gave her a version of the tribulations which had befallen James and him, following James' assault on de Carvalho; but suppressing the facts that on Yuloga they had been prisoners of the Russians, the part that General Ribaud had played, his own knowledge that Lacost and de Carvalho had gone into partnership and that the latter was now dead.

When he had done he added casually, `By the by, hoping to find you there, I went to your island yesterday.'

She could not suppress a start, and her eyes widened. For a moment she was silent, then she said, `I've been away from home for some time. As you know, it is a delightful spot, but if I am there alone for long I do get bored. So I spent a week with friends at the lovely new Fijian Hotel halfway down the south coast, then came on here for a few days to do some shopping before going back.'

Gregory's expression remained quite friendly, but his eyes bored into hers as he said, '.Meanwhile you had either let or lent your island to Lacost.'

Ready for him now, she raised her tapering eyebrows and repeated, 'Lacost?' as though she had never heard the name.

`Yes. The man who tried to kill me when we were in Guatemala.'

`Oh! Yes, of course. For the moment his name didn't ring a bell with me. But how can you possibly suppose that I'd let my island to a man who tried to murder you? I haven't even set eyes on him since we saw him at Mexico City airport.'

`The fact remains that up till two days ago, for a week or more, he and his Colons made your island their headquarters while they went round the Yasawas engaging divers. And Joe Joe told me they were there with your permission.'

`Oh, Colons!' Manon exclaimed, her face suddenly brightening. `Now I understand. One evening while I was at the Fijian I ran into an old acquaintance of mine. His name is Andre Gougon and I knew him both in Algeria and Tahiti. He told me he had come ashore from a boat in which he and a few other men were about to make a trip round the Yasawas. They were all nearly broke and, fed up with Tahiti, where living has become appallingly expensive; so they were going to look for an island where they could settle and perhaps go into the copra trade. I said that if they liked to make my house their headquarters for a week or two while they looked round they were welcome; and I wrote him a note to take to Joe Joe.'

Gregory shook his head. `As it turns out that your Monsieur Gougon is now one of Lacost's gang, I fear having fallen on evil times must have driven him to crime although he probably didn't need much driving. While I was in Tujoa I learned that Lacost had only recently been let out of prison.

Apparently, on his return to Tahiti, the police got him for smuggling. Maybe your friend Gougon was in that racket with him. Anyway, it set their plans back for a couple of months, which was a bit of luck for us.'

With a light laugh, he added, `Still, you weren't to know that Gougon was one of Lacost's pals, so that explains everything. What a joy it is to see you again. You look positively ravishing.'

`Do I?' She preened herself and fluttered her long eyelashes at him.

'Indeed you do. How I wish that we were on a deserted beach instead of in this garden. I'd have that bikini off you quicker than you could take one sip at a dry martini. As it is, I'll have to make do with a good nibble of your lovely neck.'

As he spoke he took her by the shoulders and brought his face down close to hers.

`Non, je t'en prie!' she cried, squirming away. `Not here! Not here!' Then, as he released her, she gave a happy laugh. 'Mon Dieu, what a man you are! Such ardour. And at your age: You should be ashamed of yourself.'

He grinned at her. `I'm not, my dear, because I can't help myself. It's the old candle flame and moth trouble. Lying about like this with next to no clothes on, you are a public danger.'

`Then let us go in, get dressed, then meet in the lounge for a drink,' she suggested. `Anyhow, it is getting a little chilly.'

`Fine,' he agreed. `And what about dinner afterwards? Or have you an attendant beau who has to drag himself from your side to do some errand for you?'

She shook her head. `No. I am staying here alone, and can think of nothing nicer than to dine with you.'

`I can,' he responded with the suggestion of a quick grin, `but maybe later.'

`About that we'll see,' she said, with mock primness, as they walked towards the hotel entrance. `I have not yet forgiven you for deserting me for so long. Although I suppose I'll have to, as you spent most of the time in prison.' They then agreed to meet in an hour.

Up in her room Manon collapsed upon her bed and lay for a while staring at the ceiling. Her heart beat a little faster as she thought of the narrow escape she had had. It was quite a long time now since she had reluctantly come to the conclusion that, having had his fun with her, Gregory had found some other woman who appealed to him, so she had lost him for good. Her hopes of getting him to marry her having come to an end, no reason remained why she should endeavour to put a check on Pierre Lacost's activities. More than ever in need of money, she had become desperately anxious that he should secure the Maria Amalia's gold, and to help him she had even connived at murder.

He had told her about the partnership that he had entered into with de Carvalho, then that he meant to get rid of him and how. She had agreed to lend her island for the deed, and only over lunch that day Pierre had told her that it had been satisfactorily carried out. Earlier he had wanted her to play hostess to de Carvalho, but, just in case some question about the way in which he had met his end should later be raised, she had refused, and had left her island before the Colons arrived so that, whatever happened, she could never be associated with de Carvalho's death. Now, she had good reason to, thank the gods for that cautious streak in her nature; for, had she remained while the Colons were there, Joe Joe would have told Gregory of it. Then she could not possibly have concealed from him her association with Pierre.