“How many lads has Shapiro got, Nero?” “Half-a-dozen, Mr Sorbay. But nothing to worry about, he treats them like dirt. I heard them talking about the old bastard in the Rose and Crown.”
“Better and better. We’ll create a diversion in the empty building next door to give his lads an excuse to leg it. We’ll tie him up, strip the place and load up our lorries, then drop a match."Slumping into one of the leather chairs in Coach’s tiny office, Sowerbutt exclaimed: “I’m looking forward to this cuppa, old friend. That is some tough lady, I’m exhausted. What on earth gave you the idea of ballet lessons?”
“Something you mentioned, Jimmy. Remember you talked about employing Madame Komarovski to change One-Line’s walk? I got to thinking she might help the way our lads move about in the boxing ring. Give them a bit of an edge.”"Jimmy had a great sense of humour," the retired writer for the East London Pioneer, who still has the notebook from his early 1960s interview with Sowerbutt, said. "When I interviewed him about the war, he kept whistling the Potato Pete tune. It was one of the jingles they pushed on the wireless to get us to eat our vegetables. Used to drive us potty."
"Here's the man who ploughs the fields"We had a good laugh when I interviewed Jimmy," the retired writer for the East London Pioneer, who still has the notebook from his early 1960s interview with Jimmy Sowerbutt, said. "He remembered the Dig for Victory song that they played on the wireless. Back in 1940, Polly had had the garden behind their place in East India Dock Road dug up for vegetables. Any spare bit of land was used.
"Dig! Dig! Dig! And your muscles will grow big"Another jingle we remembered from the war was the Potato Song," the retired writer for the East London Pioneer, who still has the notebook from his early 1960s interview with Jimmy Sowerbutt, said. "They were played on the wireless over and over again.
"Potatoes new. Potatoes old"One of the biggest laughs we had in the dark days after the war was the Battle of the Signs." The retired writer for the East London Pioneer, who still has the notebook from his early 1960s interview with Sowerbutt, said: "They took down all the street signs in 1940 so that Jerry would get lost if he invaded. In Poplar, they started putting them back up in '46. Some streets had disappeared in the Blitz, so that got them puzzled. Other signs were put on the wrong streets and had to be re-done. Come nightfall, the street boys got out and changed the signs over. Went on for months. People loved it."
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Colour-Lemon-Surrender-1940-ebook/dp/B008USR7FA"Jimmy did some big deals after the war." The retired writer for the East London Pioneer, who still has the notebook from his early 1960s interview with Sowerbutt, said: "Petrol was scarce with the currency restrictions and ordinary civilians didn't get their allocations back until '48. He had big cash reserves from the war and invested thousands of pounds in petrol, bought from the GIs. He stored it in tanks on the disused airfields and sold it gradually for a fortune. Made his money back many times over."
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Colour-Lemon-Surrender-1940-ebook/dp/B008USR7FA"Rationing continued for years after the war, but Jimmy worked out a good ruse." The retired writer for the East London Pioneer, who still has the notebook from his early 1960s interview with Sowerbutt, said: "He had a deal going with the undertakers across the East End. As soon as they got a client, they tipped him off for a consideration. He'd pop round to the grieving family and buy the deceased's ration book. Ready supply of ration coupons - no-one ever checked up."
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Colour-Lemon-Surrender-1940-ebook/dp/B008USR7FA"Last time we met Sorbay, I mentioned the Official Secrets Act of 1911. That still applies, particularly as the gentleman you are escorting is a Jerry who is kindly helping us out with a few matters," Brendan Bracken said. “You may not repeat what I have just said to a soul, not even to your lady. I cannot save you from a long term of imprisonment if word gets out. And no chance of cooking the beak, as you and your friends say."
https://www.amazon.com.au/Colour-Red-Deal-Sowerbutt-Novels-ebook/dp/B00RL9FGKM
“Talk pleasantries with the Jerry you are escorting, reassure him about his journey, but discuss nothing else," Brendan Bracken said. "One more judgement call for you. Kill him instantly if he tries any nonsense, I’ll take care of the body." The red trolleybus slowed next to the bus stop at Poplar Rec. Sowerbutt smiled. “Time to get off, Mr Bracken. I have some urgent arrangements to make.”
https://www.amazon.com.au/Colour-Red-Deal-Sowerbutt-Novels-ebook/dp/B00RL9FGKM
"Sorbay made good money in the '47 Docks Strike." The retired writer for the East London Pioneer, who still has the notebook from his early 1960s interview with Jimmy Sowerbutt, said: "Food was starting to go off in the unloaded ships, so Jimmy took a load of his lads in and fought a pitched battle with the union boys and the Reds. Guess who won? He was trucking out food, which sold at a top price, for several days before the Army moved in and broke the strike."
https://www.amazon.com.au/Colour-Red-Deal-Sowerbutt-Novels-ebook/dp/B00RL9FGKM
"Television was starting to take off in the years before Jimmy disappeared." The retired writer for the East London Pioneer, who still has the notebook from his early 1960s interview with Jimmy Sowerbutt, said: "There was a waiting list for TV sets and money was still tight. Jimmy said he had a cast-iron alibi for the night. But the HMV factory up in Hayes was broken into and TV sets appeared in the East End, particularly in pubs, at a good price. No doubt, others were sold to the nobs in the West End at a much higher price."
https://www.amazon.com.au/Colour-Red-Deal-Sowerbutt-Novels-ebook/dp/B00RL9FGKM
Sowerbutt chuckled. “What about the headlines? ‘The Great Plane Robbery’, ‘Thousands Vanish In Mystery Snatch'. Thousands? We’ve tucked away more than a quarter of a million. More than enough for all of us and we’ll make sure the local families are sorted out when the bombing stops."
https://www.amazon.com.au/Colour-Red-Deal-Sowerbutt-Novels-ebook/dp/B00RL9FGKM
Sowerbutt picked up his glass of Old Bushmills. “The weakest point, gentlemen, is when the mail bags are in the aerodrome warehouse. That’s where we hit. The caretaker is in his office and the Post Office lads are away in the terminal, filling their faces. We’ll take some girls with us. An older lady, dressed as a cleaner, to distract the caretaker and two girls, dressed as passengers, for the Post Office lads in the terminal. Nero, find out if the caretaker is still up for a bit. Once his pants are down, he won’t notice what’s happening in the warehouse."
https://www.amazon.com.au/Colour-Red-Deal-Sowerbutt-Novels-ebook/dp/B00RL9FGKM
Spaghetti whispered: “Never seen such security - barbed wire, trip wires, electrified wire, broken glass, traps, strips of nails, armed guards. I even spotted a couple of sound detectors, don’t see many of those about. Wonder which of the 20 bedrooms His Gloriousness the Ambassador Maisky kips in?”
Sowerbutt watched as Tipper, ghost-like, slipped through the shadows on the lawns of the Italianate mansion in South Kensington which housed the Soviet Embassy. He froze, waiting for a couple of armed guards to pass, then picked his way towards the marble entrance steps.The three men had brought sacking to cover the broken glass as they climbed over the high brick wall surrounding the Soviet Embassy in South Kensington. All three were experienced burglars.
Safely in the grounds, Sowerbutt kept watch on the front of the ornate building, Spaghetti stared at the shadows among the trees and bushes in case the armed patrol returned unexpectedly. All three men carried shooters. Sowerbutt told his two lieutenants: “We don’t want a shoot-out at the OK Corral, but just in case we have to wave goodbye to one of the guards in a hurry.”Tipper, a balaclava pulled over his blond crew-cut, sidled up to the edge of the steps to the Soviet Embassy and emptied the contents of a cloth bag. Two plain gold rings, two wallets with papers but minus several pound notes which were safe in Tipper’s pocket, a miniature Orthodox icon and two bloody thumbs that he had bought from the elderly undertaker at the end of High Bob for two pounds. He froze at the sound of a car door banging outside in Kensington Palace Gardens. “Society set back from a night on the tiles,” Sowerbutt whispered to Spaghetti. “We’ll pay a visit round here soon, plenty of open windows. The owners begging for help with storing their valuables.”
https://www.amazon.com.au/Colour-Red-Deal-Sowerbutt-Novels-ebook/dp/B00RL9FGKM
The three men flitted out of the Soviet Embassy grounds as silently as they had entered, dodging a couple of guards enjoying a smoke of evil-smelling cigarettes near the high wall. Before they split up to make their separate ways back to Poplar, Sowerbutt said: “There might be a line in embassies with the war on, information, papers and so on. Mr Bracken would be interested in what Joe Kennedy is up to over in Grosvenor Square. He’d have a few compromising letters from high-up wives.”
https://www.amazon.com.au/Colour-Red-Deal-Sowerbutt-Novels-ebook/dp/B00RL9FGKM
It had taken seconds for Spaghetti and Tipper to fell the Russians with cosh blows; Sowerbutt and One-Line catching the beefy men as they fell and dragging them through the open door into the empty shop. Hands on their shoulder holsters, Cocker and Missionary had kept close watch on the alleyway where the ambush was sprung. Passers-by in the nearby street went about their business without a second glance.
https://www.amazon.com.au/Colour-Red-Deal-Sowerbutt-Novels-ebook/dp/B00RL9FGKM
Her voice muffled by her scarf, Madame Komarovski asked the men in Russian their names. A string of short words answered her. She mouthed, “Expletives” to Sowerbutt who winked at One-Line. The giant man knelt over one of the Russians, clamping his left hand over the man’s mouth. Pushing the strong fingers of his right hand into a point, One-Line began systematically jabbing the Russian’s ribcage, armpits, neck and groin. Sweating profusely, the Russian rolled on the floor in agony, muted screams and grunts could be heard behind One-Line’s hand.
https://www.amazon.com.au/Colour-Red-Deal-Sowerbutt-Novels-ebook/dp/B00RL9FGKM
“That’s another thing, James,” Polly said, jabbing her man in the ribs with her fingers, a trick she had learnt from her mother when she ran the brothel. “I haven’t seen your wonderful house. Has it been painted or is there furniture there? Do they have bathrooms in Luton, I am not using a lean-to. Nor am I living in a slum. You go off buying these places without talking to your partner - is that what I’m called or not these days?”
https://www.amazon.com.au/Colour-Red-Deal-Sowerbutt-Novels-ebook/dp/B00RL9FGKM
“The Zionists are threatening to deliver Herr General to the Soviets and expose our double-dealing," Brendan Bracken said."Not that we owe anything to the Russians but the propaganda onslaught would not be helpful. The Commons would be unimpressed and it would give the Isolationists across the Atlantic a field day. What the lunatics want is for the British authorities to open the Palestinian borders to the Jewish refugees from Europe. That’s not going to happen, we need the Arab oil for the war effort. Any ideas, Sorbay?”
https://www.amazon.com.au/Colour-Red-Deal-Sowerbutt-Novels-ebook/dp/B00RL9FGKM
"Sorbay made good money in the '47 Docks Strike." The retired writer for the East London Pioneer, who still has the notebook from his early 1960s interview with Jimmy Sowerbutt, said: "Food was starting to go off in the unloaded ships, so Jimmy took a load of his lads in and fought a pitched battle with the union boys and the Reds. Guess who won? He was trucking out food, which sold at a top price, for several days before the Army moved in and broke the strike."
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Colour-Lemon-Surrender-1940-ebook/dp/B008USR7FA"Television was starting to take off in the years before disappeared." The retired writer for the East London Pioneer, who still has the notebook from his early 1960s interview with Jimmy Sowerbutt, said: "There was a waiting list for TV sets and money was still tight. Jimmy said he had a cast-iron alibi for the night. But the HMV factory up in Hayes was broken into and TV sets appeared in the East End, particularly in pubs, at a good price. No doubt, others were sold to the nobs in the West End at a much higher price."
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Colour-Lemon-Surrender-1940-ebook/dp/B008USR7FASowerbutt chuckled. “What about the headlines? ‘The Great Plane Robbery’, ‘Thousands Vanish In Mystery Snatch”. Thousands? We got away with more than a quarter of a million. More than enough for all of us and we’ll make sure the local families are sorted out when the bombing stops."
https://www.amazon.com.au/Colour-Red-Deal-Sowerbutt-Novels-ebook/dp/B00RL9FGKM
Sowerbutt picked up his glass of Old Bushmills. “The weakest point, gentlemen, is when the mail bags are in the warehouse. That’s when we hit. The caretaker is in his office and the Post Office lads are away in the terminal, filling their faces. We’ll take some girls with us. An older lady, dressed as a cleaner, to distract the caretaker and two girls, dressed as passengers, for the Post Office lads in the terminal. Nero, find out if the caretaker is still up for a bit. Once his pants are down, he won’t notice what’s happening in the warehouse."
https://www.amazon.com.au/Colour-Red-Deal-Sowerbutt-Novels-ebook/dp/B00RL9FGKM
The two men had slipped through an unlocked rear door in the Savoy Hotel and located the Spanish businessman’s suite. Seconds later, Sowerbutt was concealed behind the velvet curtains and Tipper was sitting at the back of a settee; the two men hardly pausing for breath after the lock on the door had succumbed. Through the open door to the bedroom, they could hear regular light snoring.
A loud banging on the door, the snoring stopped, a light went on in the bedroom and a ghostly figure in a white robe swept across the room.Spaghetti whispered: “Never seen such security - barbed wire, trip wires, electrified wire, broken glass, traps, strips of nails, armed guards. I even spotted a couple of sound detectors, don’t see many of those about. Wonder which of the 20 bedrooms His Gloriousness Ambassador Maisky kips in?”
Sowerbutt watched as Tipper, ghost-like, slipped through the shadows on the lawns of the Italianate mansion in South Kensington which housed the Soviet Embassy. He froze, waiting for a couple of armed guards to pass, then picked his way towards the marble steps leading to the imposing entrance.The three men had brought sacking to cover the broken glass as they climbed over the high brick wall surrounding the Soviet Embassy in South Kensington. All three were experienced burglars.
Safely in the extensive grounds, Sowerbutt kept watch on the front of the ornate building, Spaghetti stared at the shadows among the trees and bushes in case the armed patrol returned unexpectedly. All three men carried shooters. Sowerbutt told his two lieutenants: “We don’t want a Shoot-out at the OK Corral, but in case we have to wave goodbye to one of the guards in a hurry.”Tipper, a balaclava pulled over his crew-cut, sidled up to the edge of the steps to the Soviet Embassy. Pulling a cloth bag from his jacket, he emptied the contents. Two plain gold rings, two wallets with papers but minus several pound notes which were safe in Tipper’s pocket, a miniature Orthodox icon and two bloody thumbs that he had bought from the elderly undertaker at the end of High Bob for two pounds. He froze at the sound of a car door banging outside in Kensington Palace Gardens. “Society set back from a night out on the tiles,” Sowerbutt whispered to Spaghetti. “We’ll pay a visit round here soon, plenty of open windows no doubt. The owners begging for help with storing their valuables.”
https://www.amazon.com.au/Colour-Red-Deal-Sowerbutt-Novels-ebook/dp/B00RL9FGKM
The three men flitted out of the Soviet Embassy grounds as silently as they had entered, dodging a couple of guards enjoying a smoke of evil-smelling cigarettes near the high wall. Before they split up to make their separate ways back to Poplar, Sowerbutt said: “There might be a line in embassies with the war on, information, papers and so on. I bet Mr Bracken would be interested in what Joe Kennedy is up to over in Grosvenor Square. He’d have a few compromising letters from high-up wives, I bet.”
https://www.amazon.com.au/Colour-Red-Deal-Sowerbutt-Novels-ebook/dp/B00RL9FGKM
It took seconds for Spaghetti and Tipper to fell the Russians with well-aimed cosh blows; Sowerbutt and One-Line catching the beefy men as they fell and dragging them through the open door into the empty shop. Hands on their shoulder holsters, Cocker and Missionary had kept close watch on the alleyway where the ambush was sprung. Passers-by in the nearby street went about their business without a second glance.
https://www.amazon.com.au/Colour-Red-Deal-Sowerbutt-Novels-ebook/dp/B00RL9FGKM
Her voice muffled by a scarf, Madame Komarovski asked the men in Russian their names. A string of short words answered her. She mouthed, “Expletives” to Sowerbutt who winked at One-Line. The giant man knelt over one of the Russians, clamping his left hand over the man’s mouth. Pushing the strong fingers of his right hand into a point, One-Line began systematically jabbing the Russian’s ribcage, armpits, neck and groin. Sweating profusely, the Russian rolled on the floor in agony, muted screams and grunts could be heard behind One-Line’s huge hand.
https://www.amazon.com.au/Colour-Red-Deal-Sowerbutt-Novels-ebook/dp/B00RL9FGKM
Sowerbutt nodded discreetly at Maggie, the manageress of the tea rooms, who helped out in Polly’s business occasionally to make ends meet for her family.
Her soldier boyfriend had been captured by Belgian collaborators and handed over to the advancing Wehrmacht during the BEF’s chaotic retreat from Belgium. Some German divisions paid the equivalent of five pounds a head for every captured Allied soldier. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Colour-Lemon-Surrender-1940-ebook/dp/B008USR7FA“Don’t tell me that I never take you out, Polly,” Sowerbutt smiled as the attractive red-head poured cups of tea for them both in the Refreshment Rooms in High Bob, a stone’s throw from St Matthias Church, the suburb’s oldest surviving church.
Polly poked her tongue out as she passed him a plate with thick slices of home-made honey cake. “No more of your favourite iced cakes. They’re about to stop making them for the war effort." http://www.amazon.co.uk/Colour-Lemon-Surrender-1940-ebook/dp/B008USR7FA“What sort of holiday is this, you miserable bastard?” shouted Polly as Sowerbutt ducked the telephone directory thrown in his direction as he opened the door to their hotel room. “Out for an hour’s stroll, you said, to get some fresh air and exercise and see the sights of Swansea and it’s now midday. Of course, you forgot to look at the watch I stupidly bought you? Or are we on some damned Welsh time and it’s only 10 o’clock? Is that what it is, James, we’ve gone back in time in this lost corner of the country?”
Before he had a chance to try an excuse, she snapped: “And you’ve been drinking, I can always tell.Nero said: “I had a half in the Adelphi and got talking to an old bloke who’s a caretaker at Weavers Flour Mills at the Docks.
“Fed him a few drinks once he started rabbiting on. It’s a big concrete place, six storeys, and the local Food Committee has just moved into the storage areas. The flour mill is working flat out as the supplies come in, he said. But the warehouse area has been designated an emergency supplies centre to stock enough food to feed the locals if Swansea is cut off in the invasion.“Blackouts are a burglar’s best friend, ” Sowerbutt whispered. Tipper nodded. The two men, burglars of long experience, had slipped through the first-floor window at the back of the terrace in the centre of Swansea. Nero remained in the street, straddling a nearby low wall and acting drunk for the benefit of any passers-by. They had arranged for him to sing a drunken chorus of There's an old mill by the stream, Nellie Dean as a danger signal.
“I’ll do my best, Mr Sorbay, I promise. But I’m not much of a singer,” Nero announced, hopping from foot to foot. Sowerbutt grinned: “As long as we don’t get a cats’ chorus with the local strays joining in.”The large suite was expensively furnished, reminding Sowerbutt of some of the upmarket West London hotels he had dropped into over the years as an uninvited guest or burglar as the Metropolitan Police incident sheets recorded his nocturnal visits.
He noticed several elegant rooms opening off from the lounge as well as some interesting pieces of artwork. One was a genuine French Impressionist, he was sure, recalling an art collector in Mayfair with whom he had enjoyed some profitable business dealings over the years. He felt his fingers twitching, it was a temptation. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Colour-Lemon-Surrender-1940-ebook/dp/B008USR7FA"Can’t be too careful these days with all these government snoopers sniffing around the marketplace. Can you believe it? This bastard, dressed in his factory finery, dropped into one of the shops I supply the other week and was begging for under-the-counter cigarettes. Some cock-and-bull story about being short of money before pay day and wanting some cigarettes on the cheap. Of course, my lass told him to shove it. She shouted at him, accusing him of being an economic saboteur and said she’d call the stoppers.
"Left it a few days, then we gave him and his mate a good beating outside the pub where they drink. Don’t think he’ll be annoying anyone else in a hurry. We also lifted his wallet and tipped off the stoppers that he was dodging the call-up. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Colour-Lemon-Surrender-1940-ebook/dp/B008USR7FANodding at the Home Guard's museum pieces, Sowerbutt smiled: “You’re waiting for some new equipment to arrive, Dai?”
“If only, Mr Sorbay,” the lance-corporal smiled. “The army boys are equipped with whatever’s available. We get the left-overs. I haven’t fired the musket and I’d be scared to if the truth be known. Barrel would probably blow up. There are no musket balls, anyway, it’s just for show. As for poor Ivor walking around the place with that spear thing, they all laugh at him. We won't hold the Jerry tanks for long when they come.”“Up the stairs,” Sowerbutt said to Polly as they climbed on board the red Mumbles tramcar at the Rutland Street terminus in Swansea. “The views across Swansea Bay are something special.”
Polly looked at her man quizzically. “You’ve been here before, Jimmy? The views and you know about the fish and chips in Mumbles. You never tell me anything.”The five-mile trip to Mumbles slipped by quickly. Hand in hand, Sowerbutt and Polly headed to the wooden café, the nearby Victorian pier looking sad with large sections missing. “In case some evil Jerries row all the way up the Bristol Channel and are looking for somewhere to land and have their wicked way with us,” Sowerbutt said.
“You are a crazy man,” laughed Polly, pulling a face.The longest nights he had spent in Casa de Campo Park and the streets of Carabanchel waiting to slip unseen through the badly-guarded Republican lines. Plenty of Socialist and union dignitaries to eliminate in the Republican-held city. The never-ending night he had spent frozen against the wall of a deserted building in Carabanchel while three young idiots from the Anarchist Brigade sat on the dusty road alongside and drank themselves silly with a liberated case of Russian vodka. When the final chorus was sung and they passed out, he had been sorely tempted to make their sleep eternal with his trusty clasp-knife. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Colour-Lemon-Surrender-1940-ebook/dp/B008USR7FA
"Who are you, senor?” asked the raven-haired woman, her green eyes flashing. “James, ma’am. I was called in to help out some mates with a spot of shifting, carrying and protection. Funny place Wales, now we’re finally here after twisting and turning along the goat tracks. Never been out of the Smoke before, apart from a few day-trips to the seaside,” Sowerbutt grinned.
“Never been out of the Smoke, senor?” She stepped close to Sowerbutt and studied his lean, handsome face, staring into his piercing eyes. “I have a good eye and a good memory for the faces. On Generalissimo Franco’s desk in the grand palace at Salamanca was a photograph framed in gold. One of his favourites. General Moscardo, the hero of Alcazar, as well as his beautiful daughter who was with him in the bloody siege, and her husband, who was an English. A handsome man, he looked like you. You are a tall handsome man, no?" http://www.amazon.co.uk/Colour-Lemon-Surrender-1940-ebook/dp/B008USR7FARosetta laughed. “I like you, senor, you have a good sense of humour. We will work well together when we trust each other? I notice the men, they defer to you.”
The attractive woman pushed the flat of her hand into his muscled stomach. “A hard man? I know my men, senor. I look into their souls. You are tough, confident and capable.”"I’m just an odd-job man from the Smoke with nothing to hide.” Sowerbutt opened his leather jacket wide to show his snowy-white shirt, a little the worse for wear. A smile lit up Rosetta’s face, her green eyes flashing. “You have expensive tastes and a good sense of humour, senor.”
Squeals of brakes and hisses of steam heralded the arrival of the London train, on time to the minute. Sowerbutt watched in admiration as the line of chocolate and cream coaches and the large green steam engine backed their way along the platform, amid a flurry of guards and the waving of red and green flags. The first-class carriage came to a halt exactly opposite the painted marks on the platform. At least, the engine-driver and his mates knew what they were doing. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Colour-Lemon-Surrender-1940-ebook/dp/B008USR7FABending down, Sowerbutt slammed his fist into Garcia’s face, the force of the blow breaking the Spaniard’s panic-stricken hold on the railway coach door frame. The semi-conscious man disappeared from sight through the opening, the body slamming twice against the outside of the carriage as it fell. A loud scream faded away as the train sped closer to the town of Newport. “Nothing personal,” Sowerbutt said. Stretching out to heave the banging carriage door closed, he could see Garcia’s body was just a smudge on the side of the track, already many yards distant. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Colour-Lemon-Surrender-1940-ebook/dp/B008USR7FA
Polly’s gray eyes flashed, a hard edge toi her voice: “Did we agree that we are partners, or did I misunderstand your promise? I didn’t get on very well at my school in Poplar, but I don’t remember having had a problem with the English language before I met you.”
Sowerbutt shivered at her icy tone. He had faced down hardened killers in Spain and the worst thugs in the East End, but he was no match for his red-haired lady.