The Godson Read Online Free Page A

with one of his girlfriends, Lady Shitbags or whoever, and zoomed up to Northern Ireland to see his cousin Lewis who’s a captain in the British Army stationed in Belfast. You see he and his cousin are almost identical — twins, so to speak. This is all supposed to a bit of a whizzobash and all that. You know, have a jolly good time, take some jolly good photos.’
    â€˜I can just imagine.’
    â€˜So, silly bloody Peregrine and this sheila are driving through Belfast, drinking champagne, and of all things to happen, he spots his cousin out of uniform, outside some pub talking to three blokes. He pulls up, jumps out of the car and makes a big deal of finding his cousin. But what the dill doesn’t know is that his cousin’s working undercover and the three blokes are heavies in the IRA: two Frayne brothers and a fellow called McGine.’
    â€˜The plot thickens,’ said Price.
    â€˜Does it what. Lewis pulls out a .45 and shoots the three IRA members before they get a chance to shoot him, then he legs it rather than have his smother blown. He throws the empty gun down next to the bodies and tells the Hooray Henry to get, but Peregrine, who’s half full of French shampoo, picks it up. These other Irish burst out of the pub and are about to tear Peregrine and his brush to pieces when a British Army patrol arrives and saves the idiot.’ O’Malley stared at Price for a moment. ‘Can you follow me so far? I’ve got Armitage’s letter here if you want to see it. He wrote before he rang me.’ ‘No, that’s all right.’ Price gave his drink a bit of a swirl. ‘I’ve got the picture.’
    â€˜Okay. Now there’s a third Frayne brother in the hotel. He comes out and sees Peregrine with the still hot-smoking gun, so to speak. He puts two and two together, and being Irish, it comes out five, so he thinks Peregrine has shot his brothers. So now he and his little cell of killers are determined to neck Peregrine. Revenge. And you can’t really blame them I don’t suppose.’
    â€˜How old’s this Peregrine wombat?’
    â€˜Twenty-two. But he looks eighteen and acts about twelve.’
    â€˜Fair enough,’ nodded Price.
    The Attorney General poured them both another drink. ‘So what it all boils down to, Price, is this. Peregrine’s old man wants to get his kid out of the country for a couple of weeks till Lewis can go back in and assassinate this third Frayne brother and his cell, then get something in the local paper and on TV about mistaken identity and that should clear poor silly Peregrine. The IRA have got more important things on their plate than some wooden-headed Hooray Henry. And with a bit of luck, young Peregrine should live happily ever after.’
    â€˜Happily, but not too intelligently.’
    â€˜Yeah, right.’ O’Malley nodded and gave a tired smile. ‘You see, Price, Peregrine’s an only child and he’s the one who’s going to inherit his father’s estate and all that. He’s also my godson — which is why I’m involved.’ O’Malley’s sad, droopy eyes seemed to suddenly get sadder and droopier as he pleaded up at his friend. ‘All I want you to do, Price, if you can, is hide this wombat godson of mine in Australia for a couple of weeks till all this Elliot blows over in England. Can you do that for me? You’re the only man I can ask. And trust.’
    Price gave a bit of a chuckle and shook his head. ‘Of course I can, Loz. I’ll just keep him at my place till he goes back.’
    The Attorney General shook his head adamantly. ‘No, that’s no good. You’ll have to get him right out of Sydney. He’d only be here five minutes and he’d be out on the town. And being an English Baronet, the papers would be on to him straight away. There’s plenty of Irish in Australia, Price. I should know. O’Malley’s not