Free The Betrayers by Donald Hamilton Page A

day. Give it to me quick. What haveyou got so far? What’s the Monk up to?”
    “I… I don’t know yet.”
    I said sourly, “That’s a big help. What
do
you know, yet?”
    “Don’t talk to me like that!” she snapped. “What right have you got to criticize? You haven’t lived with this for weeks, like I have, expecting every minute to be found out and…” She shivered. “You don’t know what Monk is like, what he can do.”
    It was no time to start an argument about who knew more about the Monk than whom. I said, “I left my crying-towel on the beach, honey, or I’d be more than happy to lend it to you. But suppose you just get real brave and wipe your nose on your finger and let me know just what you
have
got for me. If anything.”
    “Why, you overbearing, insufferable…!” She stopped. I grinned at her. After a moment, she laughed reluctantly, which was a relief. I’d been starting to wonder whether I’d misjudged her completely when I’d decided she possessed enough nerve and intelligence to be worth cultivating. Tackling the Monk and the organization he’d built out here with nothing but a gutless ingenue for support wasn’t really an enticing prospect. But she did laugh; there was hope for her yet. “All right,” she breathed. “All right, I get the message, Matt. But you can’t blame me for being scared. It’s the first time I’ve done anything like this.”
    I said, “Don’t get your hopes up. You’ll be just as scared the second time, and the twenty-second. After awhile you’ll simply discover that people don’t really die of fright.”
    She made a face at me. “That’s very encouraging! Thanks a lot! What do you want to know?”
    “Start with the political bit. Where does that fit in?”
    “What do you mean?”
    “What’s the connection between the political opinions you seem to hold and your signing up with us—that is, with Monk. And how did you get from there to letting Washington know all about it? I mean, are you seriously opposed to what’s going on in Asia, as you suggested a few minutes ago?”
    “Of course I’m seriously opposed, aren’t you?” she said sharply. “That’s exactly why I joined. Monk promised us there’d be a chance to help. To put a stop to all the terrible things we’re doing to those poor people over in—”
    I sighed. “Stay off the soapbox, honey, please. Don’t try to tug at my old heartstrings. Who’s us?”
    “Why, all the latest recruits. Matt—”
    “How many?”
    “I don’t know. Half a dozen, I suppose, but you know how it is, we’re kept from knowing each other as much as possible. I’ve only met a few of the others, the ones I recommended myself. Monk asked me to suggest a few names. Matt—”
    “They’re all young people like you? With the same mushy ideas?”
    “Yes, of course. I mean—” She glared at me. “Matt,are you trying to tell me that you don’t really believe what you’re supposed to’ve said in Washington?”
    I said, “What I said was based on strategy, not sentiment, honey. If you want to know the truth, atrocities bore hell out of me.”
    “Then… then I feel sorry for you! You’ve been in this horrible business so long you’re no longer human!”
    “That,” I said dryly, “is a distinct possibility, but I fail to see how it’s relevant to the subject at hand, any more than my political beliefs. I’m not here to do research for a polemic article. I’m here to do a job, and you’re supposed to feed me the information I need to do it. So far I feel damn undernourished, information-wise.” I scowled at her. “Let’s get it straight now. Do I gather that Monk is also opposed to our military posture in Asia, to use the jargon? And that he recruited you and some other idealistic kids by promising you a crack at leading the world back to peace and happiness?”
    “Yes,” she said sulkily. “Yes, he was… very persuasive.”
    “He can be,” I agreed. “When his ascetic face