Djibouti by Elmore Leonard Page B

hot-looking chicks. I thought, Shot by cool guys who know what they’re doing. I reacted like everybody else.”
    She said, “Remember in Eyl I told you what I wanted to do? Get Idris to let us visit a ship he’s holding for ransom. Get back to work. Talk only to members of the crew, no pirates.”
    â€œI believe I asked why would he let you? You said ’cause CNN’s put him in a good mood and you know how to talk to him.”
    â€œI told Idris the afternoon we visited,” Dara said, “the world must wonder how you treat your hostages. I’ll ask the ship’s crew and they’ll say the Somali pirates are decent,” Dara said, “a couple of Saudis among fifteen Filipinos. And the first officer was Saudi. I mentioned it to Idris and Harry and Idris asked me how I knew about the crew. No, first he asked why I picked the Aphrodite with all the ships anchored out there. I said I was curious about it, an LNG tanker. I told him I looked at the crew list to get the names and nationalities and saw two Arabs among all the Filipinos.
    â€œHarry asked if I happened to know what the vessel was carrying. I said, ‘I just told you, liquefied natural gas.’ Harry said, ‘Isn’t that highly combustible?’”
    â€œPlayin dumb,” Xavier said.
    â€œThen Idris told him don’t worry, the ship will be gone in a day or two.”
    â€œI remember we went aboard,” Xavier said, “we’re told we could speak to the crew all we wanted, as long as we know Tagalog. Idris havin fun with us. Idris said it wasn’t his ship, but he’d come along and watch over us. Said he’d tell the pirates aboard to duck if they saw me aimin the camera at them. Meanwhile you shootin away with your tiny spy pen while Idris is watchin me with the Sony.”
    Dara brought the video spy camera out of her jacket and clipped it in the breast pocket, the top inch of the pen, its pinhole lens showing. “A pen if you didn’t know better.”
    Xavier said, “I thought it was a pen.”
    â€œIt is. Anyone who stares at it,” Dara said, “I slip it out of the pocket, stop shooting and start taking notes.”
    â€œWhyn’t you use it at Idris’s house?”
    â€œToo dark in there. This one does need a lot of light. Push the button on top and I’m the camera. I did manage to get the two Saudis while they’re ducking away from you.” She said, “If there’s some kind of plot…You know what I mean, to use a highly combustible ship? I don’t think Idris would be in on it.”
    â€œBut you act like you suspect somethin’s goin on. Way you start lookin over your shoulder.”
    â€œIt was later,” Dara said. “After I found out Billy’s watching the gas ship and knows more about it than we do.”

CHAPTER ELEVEN
    B ILLY WAS DRIVING H ELENE nuts. He’d say, “You don’t mind living on the boat?” Helene would tell him she loved Pegaso, loved sailing.
    Billy said, “I’m glad you go for champagne.”
    â€œLove it.” Stay half in the bag it was easier to take the boring mind games he played.
    â€œChampagne or coffee,” Billy said, “why stock beverages we don’t need.”
    He was starting to sound weird. He said to her while they were moored off Eyl, seeing only a few lights ashore but hearing the generator from up on the slope, “You don’t feel cooped up?”
    She wanted to hit him with something. The fire extinguisher.
    â€œAll I said was why don’t we go ashore and take a walk?”
    â€œNo, you said why don’t we go ashore and stretch our legs. Like they’re cramped from being stuck aboard a couple of weeks.”
    Helene took a moment before saying, “Whether I said let’sgo for a walk or let’s stretch our legs, I swear they both mean the same thing to me. I’m happy to be here, but I’d