Fear Tonight (eBook)

An Obed de Swardt Thriller, Book 1

Gerrie Radlof, Pieter Haasbroek (Autoren)

Pieter Haasbroek (Herausgeber)

eBook Download: EPUB

2025 | 1. Auflage
118 Seiten
Pieter Haasbroek (Verlag)
978-0-00-102146-4 (ISBN)

Infos

She overheard a secret she was never meant to hear.

Now, the music has stopped.

And the silence is deadly.

Johannesburg. In the shadowy corners of the glamorous Paradise Club, a young singer's fear is a tangible thing. Myra Heyns saw something, a dark secret belonging to the club's ruthless owner, Hymie Turok. Now, she's been summoned to his office, and she knows she won't be walking out alive.

From across the crowded room, one man sees the terror in her eyes: Obed de Swardt, the Wanderer-Detective. A wealthy man who could live a life of ease, he instead chooses to hunt the city's most dangerous predators for justice. When Myra vanishes into the night, Obed is plunged into a web of conspiracy, blackmail, and murder that runs deeper than the city's gold mines.

Turok's organization is powerful, his thugs are ruthless, and they have a new target with the name of Obed de Swardt. To uncover the truth behind Myra's fate, he must survive a brutal game of cat and mouse where every shadow hides a killer. The stakes are absolute. If he fails, more innocent lives will be silenced forever.

This classic, hardboiled detective thriller is packed with non-stop action and riveting mystery. Perfect for fans of Raymond Chandler and vintage pulp fiction.

For fans of pulp, action, and mystery, the wait is over. Dive into Fear Tonight, the thrilling start to the Wanderer Detective Series, and get hooked from the very first page. Your next adventure awaits!

Textauszug

1. FEAR TONIGHT

Chapter 1

“THE BOSS WANTS TO SEE YOU”

“I’m scared, Bettie.”

Bettie de Lange regarded her friend with astonishment. Her head was tilted slightly and there was a teasing expression on her face. It vanished however when she became aware of the deadly seriousness in Myra Heyns’s eyes.

“You’re being absurd, Myra!” she exclaimed in a hushed voice. “You’re giving me the chills. What is the matter with you?”

“I have already told you what is the matter with me, Bettie.”

“But I told you that you’re imagining things! With this ridiculousness you will simply get yourself fired. You lost your melody twice up on stage.”

“I know! I know!” Myra Heyns glanced again, quickly and anxiously, over the heads of the multitude of groups and couples at the tables in the dimly lit Paradise Club. “I couldn’t think clearly. I kept seeing his furious eyes before me.”

“That old sack of lard’s?” Bettie de Lange laughed mockingly. “How could that Hymie Turok’s eyes ever be furious? They bulge so much they’d fall out if he got too upset.”

Myra Heyns did not laugh. She now looked straight at her friend and once again Bettie could sense the other’s fear.

They were sitting alone at a table in one of the many half-hidden nooks of the main room. Although they were both employees of the Paradise Club, anyone would have mistaken them for ladies from the finest suburb of Johannesburg. After they had performed their routines on stage and each sung a tune along with a few other girls, it was their further duty to come and sit here in case any unaccompanied men arrived at the club who might feel like a bit of dancing. They were however thoroughly protected against any unpleasantness.

They were virtually secluded from the rest of the room. The table nearest to them was still empty, for it was barely twelve o’clock. At the next table sat two couples, but they were so absorbed in their own fun and jokes that they seemed completely unaware of the two girls in the corner. Nevertheless, Bettie leaned closer to Myra when she realized she had to talk this matter through with her, to try and calm her down.

“Look Myra,” she said seriously, “you’ve been to Hennie’s dressing room many times before.”

“Of course! We all go and chat with him sometimes. It’s common knowledge that no girl’s reputation can be harmed by a visit to Hennie’s dressing room.” Her eyes flashed quickly towards the stage where a tall, slender young man was swaying his body rhythmically with the soft music of the orchestra. He was hoarsely humming a song and now and then it seemed as if he would climb right into the microphone. Hennie’s long, jaggedly-cut hair hung low on his neck. “He wasn’t there in any case.”

“And what of it?” Bettie exclaimed. “Are you implying that you had no right to be there?”

“But Hymie and his lot naturally thought the room was empty, otherwise they wouldn’t have been talking in front of the door!”

“Listen, Myra,” Bettie said patiently. “I really can’t see why he’s so angry...”

“They were apparently discussing something I wasn’t supposed to hear.”

“And did you hear any of it?”

“No! But he doesn’t believe me!” Again she looked around her. Her eyes rested for a moment on the foursome at the table a short distance away. In that moment she became aware of the gaze of one of the two young men. For just an instant his features flashed through her mind. She saw the black brush of hair and the brown eyes, but when they immediately looked away, as if the young man were polite enough to realize that she might think he was staring at her, she forgot him and continued speaking to Bettie. “When Hymie looked in the door and saw me there, he looked as if he was about to have a stroke. He stormed towards me and started accusing me of spying on him. Suddenly however it was as if he stopped himself. He asked me if I had heard what they were discussing, and when I shook my head, he snapped at me that I was lying. He explicitly requested that I not go home until he had spoken to me again. I’m telling you, Bettie,” Myra’s face was close to her friend’s and her eyes were now almost wild with fear, as if the scene she had just recalled had reawakened the anxiety within her. “There is something going on that is going to get him into trouble and now he thinks I know about it and that I might blurt it out to someone.”

“Oh Myra,” Bettie began sincerely, “I don’t think that you...” She stopped talking as a white waiter came walking between the tables in their direction. She saw how Myra’s entire posture stiffened, and to her too it was suddenly as if the approaching man constituted some kind of threat. He came right up to their table and looked at Myra Heyns.

“Hymie wants to see you,” he said softly.

Like a frog trapped in a corner, panting as it stares into the venomous eyes of a reptile, Myra Heyns sat back in her chair. Bettie de Lange watched the two of them in turn. It was as if she also realized that there was more to the waiter’s words than merely a request for an employee to go and see an employer.

“Yes,” it was a mere breath on Myra’s lips. “Yes. Tell him I’m coming. I’m coming right away.”

For another moment the waiter looked at her in silence. Then he turned slowly and walked slowly between the tables, his white napkin over his left arm and a tray pressed against his right side.

Myra looked at her friend. She wanted to speak, but no sound came out.

“Don’t be absurd, Myra!” Bettie suddenly exclaimed again in a hushed voice. She deliberately tried to pull herself together as if to shake off this suddenly oppressive feeling. “Nothing can happen to you. There are hundreds of people in the club. I know you’re going to him. He wouldn’t dare do anything to you.”

Still Myra did not answer. It was as if the fear had affected her ability to think.

“I’m not going,” she said, almost inaudibly. “I’m not going there, Bettie. That man is dangerous.” She stood up as she spoke. From the empty chair beside her she picked up her coat and handbag. “I’m going home.”

“I’m coming with you, Myra.”

“No. If you get up too, they’ll know I’m trying to escape. Don’t...”

“Escape?” Bettie cried out. “What are you talking about, Myra?”

“I can feel it, Bettie,” the girl retorted. “Stay seated. It’s the only way you can help me.”

Her words forced Bettie de Lange into silence. She shrugged her shoulders and made no move to get up.

Myra Heyns moved away from the table. She looked in the direction the waiter who had brought the message had walked. She saw him standing by the door that led to the kitchen. He was looking at her. Confused, she looked away and walked quickly towards the main exit. In her agitation she bumped against the chair of one of the girls from the group that had been just next to her. The girl had wavy black hair with ash-coloured streaks in the front locks. She looked up at Myra with laughing eyes.

“Excuse me!” Myra exclaimed, flustered. “Pardon me!”

On the other side of the table one of the men stood up. She became aware of his concerned gaze on her. She even noticed the friendliness in the brown eyes.

“Might I be of assistance, miss?” the man asked politely.

“No... no,” she answered hastily. “No... I’m on my way home. Thank you!”

Blindly, she continued between the tables. Behind her she heard the man say.

“It seemed to me the lady was not feeling well, Maans.”

“I don’t know, Obed,” the other answered. “Perhaps she was just lost in thought and wasn’t looking where she was going.”

Then Myra was out of earshot. The surroundings took shape in her mind again. She saw the few steps to her left that led up to the foyer. To the right of it was the counter where hats and coats were kept. One of the waiters was standing there and she was suddenly sharply aware of his penetrating gaze.

Nevertheless, she walked on. As she placed her foot on the bottom step, her body jerked as the waiter moved away from the counter and it seemed as if he intended to block her path. His posture appeared so threatening that she froze. Suddenly she swung to the right and walked quickly towards the ladies’ cloakrooms. Again she froze.

Here, to her utmost dismay, another of the waiters had taken up position. It was as if, among the laughing, chatting nightclub-goers, she was suddenly completely alone, as if she were in a forest surrounded by wild, creeping, approaching beasts. Slowly she turned around. Everywhere there were waiters staring at her. In only one place did there seem to be an opening. It was by the stairs that led up against the opposite wall to the second floor. At the top of those stairs, on the right, was the door to Hymie Turok’s office.

Circumstances were forcing her there. She realized that there was no other way out for her. This conclusion made her relax, as if she now also became aware that her fear might be unfounded. She glanced quickly at the guests around her. No one seemed aware of her. Everyone was preoccupied with their own enjoyment and conversation.

Outwardly at ease, she walked across the floor. To her left was the stage where Hennie had just poured out a tune. A faint, broken applause greeted the silence. She walked on.

At the foot of the stairs, she hesitated. Above, just beyond Hymie’s door, stood Hans Frylink, a tall, thin man with bony fingers. He was known as the club’s buyer, for he was responsible...

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 18.9.2025
• Übersetzer: Pieter Haasbroek, Ai
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Literatur ► Krimi / Thriller / Horror
• ISBN-10: 0-00-102146-X / 000102146X
• ISBN-13: 978-0-00-102146-4 / 9780001021464