back on the ice, but your right foot was always angled, just slightly, to the left.
Nobody who didn't know you would notice, but I did. I knew it was you!"
"Okay, okay, Benny, it's me, but you can't say anything to anybody. I'm working for the government now and you've got to keep your mouth shut."
"Hey, I understand, pal. You know, I played for the Rangers for two seasons-"
"I know, Benny, you were terrific."
"The hell I was, I got cut on the third."
"It happens."
"Not if I were you, pal. You had it over all of us."
"That's history. How did you find me, Ben?"
"The concierge's desk. I asked where the bag was going."
"They told you?"
"Sure, because I said it was mine!"
"Christ, you do bring back memories. We'd go to an expensive restaurant in Montreal, the check would come, and if it was too large, you'd say it belonged to another table, or another one after that, until it was small enough for you to accept it. What are you doing in Paris?"
"I'm in the fast-food business, representing all of the majors;
they recruit jocks like you and me 'cause we got big muscle and they hype our reputations. Would you believe my resumE says I was a star on the Rangers? What do they know over here? I was a second-rater, but I fill out a jacket."
"I never filled out one like you did."
"No, you didn't. You were like a Toronto paper said, 4all raw sinew and speed." I wished the hell they'd said that about me."
"Again, that's history, Ben, but I have to tell you once more.
You've got to forget you saw me! It's terribly important that you remember that."
"Sure, old pal." The man named Lewis burped, then hiccupped twice.
"Benny," said Latham firmly, "you're not on the sauce again, are you?"
"No," answered the fast-food international salesman,
combining another burp and a hiccup.
"But what the hell, pal, this is Paris."
"Talk to you later, pal," said Latham, hanging up the phone. No sooner had he done so than it rang again.
"Yes?"
"It's me," said Karin de Vries.
"Did everything go all right?"
"No, goddammit, someone I knew years ago recognized me."
"Who?"
"An old hockey player from Canada."
"Is he a problem?"
"I don't think so, but he's a drunk."
"Then he's a problem. What's his name?"
"Ben-Benjamin Lewis. He's in room three-thirty."
"We'll get on .. .. How are you, my darling?"
"Wanting you with me, that's how I am."
4 "I've decided."
"Good God, what have you decided? Do I want to hear it or not?"
"I hope so. I do love you, Drew, and as you said, quite rightly, the bed was but a small part of it."
"I love you so much, I can't find the words to tell you.. .. I can't believe I just said that! I never believed it could happen-"
"Nor did I. I hope we're not wrong."
"What we feel couldn't be wrong. In a few days we've been through more than most people have in a lifetime. We've been tested, lady, and neither of us blew apart. Instead, we found each other."
"TheEuropeaninmemight call that inconclusive, but I know what you feel, for I feel it too. I do, and I ache for you."
'-"Then come to the hotel, blond wig and all."
"Not tonight, my darling. The colonel would courtmartial us both. Perhaps tomorrow."
Within the hour, as it was barely noon in New York, the president of the International Food Services Trade Association on Sixth Avenue received a call from Washington.
Thirty minutes later, one of their representatives, a former star of the New York Rangers, currently in Paris, was ordered to Oslo, Norway, to pave the way for new business opportunities. There was only one minor difficulty. The salesman in question was dead drunk on his bed, and it took two of the concierge's assistants to rouse him for the call, help him pack, and put him in a taxi for Orly Airport.
Unfortunately, everything being rather hectic, Benjamin Lewis got in the wrong line, missed the plane, and bought a ticket to Helsinki, as he could not remember Oslo, but knew his employer had named a Scandinavian city, and he had never been to Helsinki.
Such is the fate of those interfering with far-flung intelligence operations.
Halfway through the flight, Benny suddenly recalled Oslo, and asked the stewardess if he could step out and flag down another plane. The flight attendant, a gorgeous Finnish blonde, was sympathetic but explained that it would not be a good idea. So Benny asked her for a late dinner in Helsinki. She politely refused.
Wesley Sorenson left Cons-Op headquarters and was