Chapter 6
Su Ling sat at her dressing table contemplating her face. It was, she decided quite dispassionately, a beautiful face. However, Su Ling wasn't really vain. The reflection from her mirror was an indisputable fact, and she accepted it.
She had been making a great deal of thinking these last few days. And her thoughts were mainly concentrated on the Hong Kong affair. There was something very wrong somewhere, although she couldn't quite put the finger on the sore point. But she instinctively felt that, somewhere along the line, she hadn't been told the whole truth. When Alex had told her that Lieutenant Edwin Mc Cullough had disappeared without leaving any trace, she had accepted it at first as the normal behavior that could be expected from a double agent.
After all, she knew he was under observation before she left Saigon. But she could not erase from her mind the incredulity on Edwin's face when they had entered their hotel bedroom in Hong Kong, and Brian had been sitting there with a gun in his hand. No one could act a part as well as that on the spurt of the moment. She was certain of it. But if he really was innocent of being a Communist agent, why had he tried to escape from Brian, and then disappeared so completely?
But also, where was Brian taking Edwin that night? It was a question that she simply hadn't asked herself before. They had left Hon Kong so quickly, the events had become blurred in her memory. But she did remember Brian taking Edwin out of the hotel room at gunpoint. Where had he intended to take him? The question whirled in her brain. On an impulse, she turned to the telephone.
She dialed Alex's office number. He answered immediately.
"Alex, it's Su Ling. I know you'll think I'm worrying unduly about Lieutenant Mc Cullough, and I'm sure you have everything under control. But there is a question that has been puzzling me. On the night Brian accused him of being a double agent, he led Edwin out of the hotel at gunpoint. Where was he thinking of taking him? It's just something that puzzles me. I didn't think about it at the time, but now it's come back...."
There was a slight pause. "Su Ling, you are worrying unnecessarily, my dear. What's wrong, did you fall for our blonde-haired, blue eyed Lieutenant?"
His voice was jocular, but there was a steely edge to it that Su Ling had ever heard before.
"No, it's not that. It's just that he looked so surprised when he saw Brian had a gun pointed at him that somehow ... " Her voice trailed off. What she wanted to say was that in her opinion, she didn't think Edwin Mc Cullough was in fact a spy. The trouble was she didn't know why she thought this way. It could be feminine intuition. But she could hardly say that to someone with Alex's analytical mind. He wouldn't take her seriously.
Alex's voice broke in as she faltered. "Su Ling, my dear, do stop worrying about the Lieutenant. The charges against him are quite serious. I'm surprised that you, of all people, should be taken in by a candid pair of blue eyes. You ought to know better."
Again the steely edge to his voice. For some reason, the girl felt fear rising up inside her. She was probably meddling with things that were no concern of hers. Heaven knew she had enough experience to know that most things in the underworld of secret work were not as they seemed. Edwin Mc Cullough was probably just a very clever actor.
"I'm sorry I've bothered you, Alex," she said in a calmer voice. "I did it on the spur of the moment. Rather silly of me, really. I'll let you get on with your work see you tomorrow at the office although I won't be in until late. I'm having dinner tonight with Sven Larsen, that Scandinavian diplomat ... As you know, I've already been briefed, so I'll do my best. So long!"
"Good girl," Alex replied. Then the phone went dead, and Su Ling sat looking at it for a moment before she replaced the receiver. Was it her imagination playing tricks with her excited mind or hadn't Alex been as friendly as usual since her return from Hong Kong? She gave up worrying and started to get dressed. It was probably all her imagination.
At 8:00 o'clock sharp, she arrived at the very elegant but also discreet restaurant where Sven Larsen was waiting for her. Su Ling looked very attractive as she climbed out of the taxi, dressed in a yellow brocade Oriental dress that clung to her curvaceous body like a glove, showing the right exciting amount of thingh flesh as she walked in her sensual, feline way.
Sven Larsen ran a red tongue over thick, sensual lips. A handsome man of thirty nine, he had a wife and two children in Stockholm. However, when he first saw Su Ling at a cocktail party about two weeks ago, he decided that she was worth forgetting his family for a short time.
He held out his hand, his eyes admiringly approving as she approached. Su Ling slanting black eyes were mischievous. It was due to her sense of humor that she had never cracked down on the job and been at the level of any situation. She noticed again with sensual satisfaction the broad, strong hands, the flash of white teeth against suntanned skin, and thought that the mission might well prove agreeable....
The evening passed pleasantly. The food was excellent, the music the right volume and tempo, the service impeccable. Sven Larsen was out to amuse and please. He was also getting a little drunk, which was a good thing from Su Ling's point of view. She required certain information about his country's position with respect to matters dealing with American foreign policy, etc....
It was close to midnight. They had reached the brandy and coffee stage, and the handsome Scandinavian was leaning across the table holding Su Ling's hand. He was suggesting that they went back to his apartment for "a nightcap."
Su Ling looked across the table into Sven's clear gray eyes. She noted the cropped corn-colored hair, the sensual lips and white teeth. She agreed that a nightcap would be a good idea. She couldn't honestly say that she was only accepting the proposition in the course of duty. She had already acquired the information needed by her department. Su Ling was a skilled operator, and Larsen had parted with the information without realizing it.
No, it wasn't her duty that made her accept Sven's invitation. It was the sexual urge that she felt welling up inside her. She hadn't drunk much during the evening, preferring to keep a clear head. But she had obtained what she watched as far as her job was concerned. She could now relax. Finishing her brandy, she asked for another. Sven Larsen was delighted at the way things were working out with this Su Ling of whose sexual prowess all Saigon highly placed people knew. Such a sweet and exciting little cat, he thought to himself.
They drove in a taxi to his apartment in a very elegant section of Saigon. He lived in a large, impressive apartment building and the distinct smell of wealth pervaded the nostrils as soon as one entered the building. A porter smiled affably from behind his desk-he had already received a handsome tip from the diplomat....
The elevator purred up to the top floor, where Sven Larsen occupied a really splendid apartment. Thick carpets covered all the floors and the furniture was comfortable as well as expensive. Su Ling dropped her light coat on the floor and sat back on a sofa that must have been at least ten feet long. Sven produced two beautifully cut brandy glasses and a bottle of Courvoisier. Obviously Mr. Larsen is romantic, she thought, wondering how long it would take him before he made the first move.
She didn't have to wait long. They had only taken the first sip of their brandy, and had replaced the glasses on the low cocktail table, when he was in action.
His arm went under her slim waist, the sensual lips crushed down on hers, and his other arm was lying across her stomach. Su Ling opened her mouth wide, allowing the man's tongue to explore, enjoying the tickling sensation that it caused. Her legs involuntarily parted, and soon she felt his hand between her thighs. For once, she was wearing stockings, although she never really liked them, because of the business of having to wear a suspender belt. Sven, feeling the sheer silk of Su Lin's stockings, immediately started to get an erection. His thick tool swelled irresistibly, pressing painfully against the material of his confining underpants.
Gently he pushed his hand up into Su Ling's crotch feeling her body stiffen as he boldly went under the brief silk panties, and onto the soft hairs of her pussy. He pushed his tongue deep into her mouth, mixing her saliva with his own, thrilling to the soft pliability of her lips and body. He knew he hadn't made a mistake when he saw this pretty girl. She was as sexy as hell.
He took his mouth away from her lips, and pulled himself away from her. Su Ling watched through half closed eyes as the diplomat stood up and started to undress. He was remarkably hairy, which was unusual for a man of his coloring. He had a deep, muscular chest, covered with light curly brown hair. He was down to his underpants, and she could see the bulge of his sex sticking through the white cotton boxer shorts. She leaned forward, and pressed her face against the throbbing bulge of his prick. She kept it there for a moment, excitement rising inside her as she felt it swell and stiffen beneath the pressure of her face. When she also stood up to take off her dress, there were lipstick marks on the virgin white of Sven's shorts.
Naked, they stood facing each other. Sven ran his eyes over Su Ling's small but perfectly proportioned body, savoring the sight of her proud titties, and the bush of dark hair between her legs. He moved forward, pressing his rigid prick against Su Ling's belly, his hands reaching for the twin globes of her breasts.
Su Ling stumbled backwards as Sven's powerful body pressed against her. She could smell the animal maleness of the man, and then her naked back came into contact with the wall. She braced herself, standing with her legs wide apart. Again his lips were on hers, and reaching down between their bodies, she grasped hold of his thick, throbbing prick. Pushing him back a little, she placed the hungering knob of Sven's stiff organ between the waiting lips of her cunt. Gradually, she worked it into her quim, groaning as her hole was stretched wide to accommodate the pulsating cock.
Sven began to push hard, forcing the whole length of his penis into Su Ling's cunt hole. Soon he had snak his entire length into the delightfully tight passage of Su Ling's vagina. For a moment, they both paused, breathing heavily. Then Sven began the joy ride, fucking the spread-eagled girl with excited plunging movements up and down her warm moist fanny.
Su Ling felt the fire of carnal lust spreading through her limbs, as the juicy cock was rammed up and down her quim, while her tits were squeezed and pinched by Sven's capable hands Then he put his arms behind her wriggling butt, and she could feel his finger rubbing against her secret passage. He was fucking her solidly now, his prick riding easily inside her love-wet cunt. As her butt moved backwards in preparation to meet his next thrust his finger entered her anus. In a little while, he was frigging her backside as rapidly as he was fucking her pussy.
Su Ling's breath was coming in laboring gasps as she fought to control her rapidly rising climax. She didn't want to come before Sven; not if she could help it. Their bodies were slamming together with terrific force by now, and she groaned as the large organ inside her hole swelled to even larger proportions. With a grunt, Sven threw the whole weight of his muscular body against Su Ling. The movement jammed his hand against the wall behind Su Ling's bottom, and his finger was pushed deep into the warm cloister of her arsehole.
With a moan, he released the first jet of come into Su Ling's cunt, his whole body going rigid, his teeth biting cruelly into Su Ling's soft lips. At the same time, the girl began her own climax, helplessly crushed against the wall, her cunt speared by Sven's prick, and her arsehole stretched by his probing finger.
With another deep-throated groan, Sven pressed against her even harder, his cockslit widening to release another foaming jet of sperm deep into her vagina. Shaking, squirming, gasping, Su Ling came to an end of her orgasm but Sven wasn't finished yet. Again he went stiff, and again spunk spurted from his inflamed prick. But at last they were both spent, and completely satisfied. Su Ling had thoroughly enjoyed herself, and Sven was already wondering when they could arrange another such delightful meeting....
When Sven had extricated his still erect penis from her soppy wet cunt, Su Ling went into the bathroom and ran the water in the tub. She felt as though she needed a bath. She had decided not to stay the night, because she was due to make her report to Knight early the next morning, and she still had to prepare it. Two men, who had entered in the building surreptitiously were counting on Su Ling decision not to stay overnight at Sven Larsen's apartment. It would have spoiled their plans for the girl.
Su Ling bathed leisurely, while Sven sat on the edge of the tub watching her graceful limbs in the soapy water. He put his hand down between her legs, and his cock, which had gone limp, started to stiffen again. But she stopped him.
"Sven, haven't you had enough?" she said, gathering some loose strands of hair which had escaped the ribbon she had tied around her thick, glossy name.
"Must you really go?" the diplomat asked, again attempting to get his hand up into her crotch.
"Yes, I must," she answered. "And Sven, stop doing that. You're getting me excited again!"
He stood up laughing. "I sure hope so!" He went over to the door and took a wine colored dressing gown off the hook. He put it on then turned towards her. I'm going to have a drink. Join me when you're through. You do have time for a drink, yes?"
"Yes, I think so," Su Ling replied. "I would like another brandy, and a very hot, very black coffee, please."
"You're a girl with strong tastes," he commented as he left the bathroom. But he was smiling. He liked this Su Ling a great deal. He must see her again, even though his wife was returning from Paris next week. There were always of doing these things if one was discreet. But unknown to Sven Larse, his chances of seeing Su Ling again in the near future were limited. Not in this world anyway.
Su Ling got dressed again, drank her brandy and coffee with pleasure. It was now three in the morning and she reckoned she could easily catch a taxi and be home in half an hour. She would only get four hours of sleep before she would have to get up for her morning appointment with Alex, but she was used to it. And she was glad she had returned with this most charming Sven. The incident would be left out of her report, of course. But the main thing was that she had obtained the information she had been asked to get. She eventually rose from her chair picked up her coat where she had dropped it on the floor, and lifted her face to be kissed goodnight. Sven took a long time about it; he really was insatiable!
However, as she walked towards the lift, her mind was already on the report she would type as soon as she returned to her own apartment. Su Ling, at heart, was a conscientious girl, and it was a pity that events had moved against her. She would never make her report. In fact, she would never do anything again. Her number had been called. Not from above but from the world in which she lived so passionately. Her beauty and youth counted for nothing in the hearts of those who would stop at nothing.
The elevator was waiting where she and Sven had left it. She stepped inside and pressed the ground floor button. The doors closed automatically, and looking at herself in the mirror, she started to straighten her disarrayed hair, still damp from the bath she had taken.
Inside his apartment. Sven decided to have a last cigarette before retiring. He had just lit it, when he heard what sounded like a woman screaming. It started quite loudly, and then faded away. And then there was a dull crash. It sounded as though it was coming from inside the building. He wmt out into the hallway. It was deathly quiet, the other residents either asleep or away some place else on their various nocturnal activities. There seemed to be nothing wrong, and he was about to re-enter his apartment when he changed his mind. He hadn't imagined that scream after all. He suddenly thought of Su Ling. Surely nothing could have happened to her?
He went over to the elevator and pressed the button. Presumably it was on the ground floor where Su Ling would have got out. Nothing happened. There was no reaction from the electrically operated machinery. Irritably, he pressed the button again and again. But still nothing happened With a feeling of dread, that he refused for the moment to analyze, he started to descent by the stairs. That scream, that crash. Surely not! It could not happen to a modern elevator in a comparatively new building!
It was a long walk down the ten flights of stairs, but as he approached the ground floor he heard voices. As he came down the last flight, he saw a woman in a dressing gown sitting on the floor, and a man kneeling over her trying to help her to get up. She was hysterical and her voice sounded completely unnerved.
"Oh my God, oh God," she kept repeating in a strained voice. "What a horrible thing! Oh my God!"
Sven pushed his way through the gathering number of people, all in night attire, who were in the lobby. He could hear someone calling for the police on the porter's desk phone. And then he saw a sight that he would never forget for the rest of his life.
The elevator doors were open, the smashed remains of the machinery strewn out of the gates and over the foyer carpet. Su Ling's body lay in the middle of the wreckage, horribly distorted. Her head had snapped backwards, and her spinal column had been forced out of her body, which was pitted with bits of broken glass. For a moment, he could not take his eyes from the twisted wreck of the girl's body, from those arms and legs which he had seen so alive and beautiful now grotesquely twisted underneath her body. Then he managed to turn away his horrified gaze and staggered outside. For ten minutes, he leaned against the wall retching. Police officers who had arrived ignored him. They weren't aware, as yet, that he was connected to the "accident."
Of course, police reports indicated that Su Ling had been brutally murmured by a person or persons unknown, who had carefully severed the cable brakes, causing the lift to plummet downwards as soon as Su Ling had set it in motion.
Major Frank Carter was present at the girl's funerals. He had been contemplating approaching Su Ling to see if she could throw some light on the Hong Kong affair. After all, she had been there, and ought to know something. Now there was no question of pumping Su Ling for information. She had been murdered. And Mayor Frank Carter would dearly have liked to know who her murderers were. As he climbed into his car after the funeral service, he nodded briefly at Alexander Knight who was also making for his car. Alex smiled and waved. The Major didn't smile back.
Not that Alex felt like smiling. As his chauffeur drove him back to his office, his mind was busy with a hundred details. Su Ling had to be silenced before she started asking too many questions, and it hadn't been difficult to arrange. But he wished that his North Vietnamese friends hadn't arranged such a spectacular death for her. The publicity was much worse than it would have been if she had been merely knocked down by a car.
He started to think of the lovely Su Ling and some of the good times they had had together. Then he stopped thinking of her. He couldn't afford to get sentimental. There was too much at stake to allow the little Su Lings of this world to get in the way. Nothing must be allowed to threaten his unique position....