"Woods, Stuart - Dead In The Water" - читать интересную книгу автора (Woods Stuart)

the little police shack fifty yards away. Odd.

A moment later, the customs officer emerged from the shack in the
company of two police officers, one of them of rank, judging from his
uniform. The three men marched rapidly back toward the blue yacht and
went aboard, disappearing below. Stone watched with interest to see
what would happen next. Ten minutes passed before the young woman
skipper appeared on deck wearing a cotton dress. Accompanied by the
three uniformed officers, one of them carrying a small nylon duffel,
she walked toward the police shack and disappeared inside.

What the hell was going on? Stone wondered.

He kept an eye on the police shack all afternoon. Finally, sometime
after five o'clock, the woman left the shack in the company of two
uniformed policemen, got into a waiting car, and was driven away. Stone
didn't know what sort of trouble she was in, but he felt for her, alone
in a foreign place, at the mercy of the police. He had seen many
people in custody, and he had never envied any of them.

CHAPTER

one showered, shaved, and got into some of his new tropical clothing--a
short-sleeved silk shirt, Italian cotton trousers, and woven leather
loafers, no socks. He found it an unexpected pleasure to dress so
lightly in January; there was much to be 'said for winter in the
tropics.

As the sun set he wandered across a wide green lawn toward a wide
thatched roof covering a bar and restaurant open to the breezes. It
was early, and there were few customers. A black bartender stood
behind an expanse of varnished mahogany, idly polishing a glass. A
television set over the bar was tuned to CNN, the sound muted.

"Evening to you, boss," he said amiably, with what sounded to Stone
like a Bahamian accent.

"Evening," Stone said.

"And what might be your pleasure this fine evening."?"

"Oh, something tropical, I guess, to celebrate my first evening in warm
weather."

"A pifia co lada mebbe?"

"Sounds good." Stone looked up at the television and saw a woman in a
heavy coat standing on what looked like a New York City street corner.
A blizzard was raging about her. "Could you turn the sound up on the
TV for a minute?" he asked the bartender.