was only a guess.
But you knew?"
"I don't think he wanted you to be involved."
"Here are the towels, sir!" said the marine, running from a bedroom door, then turning quickly to help his colleagues with the two ncos, one dead. or unconscious, the other hostile, necessitating several blows to his chest.
"We'll be in touch, Captain-you are the captain, aren't you, sir?"
"Rank doesn't count for much here, Corporal. See you later."
"We've got to get the hell out of here, you understand that.
Sorry about the ice-"
"Then get-out!" ordered Dietz as the marine unit fled down the hall to the fire stairs with the two prisoners. The telephone rang.
"I'm lowering you to the floor," said the commando as he secured towels around her shoulder and gently placed her on the carpet.
"I've got to answer the phone."
"If it's Drew, tell him I'm furious!"
It was not Latham; it was the hotel's front desk.
"You must leave!" shouted the concierge in French.
"We will cooperate with the Deuxi&me only so far! The switchboard is crowded with calls about loud crashes or gunshots!"
"La passion du coeur!" replied Dietz firmly.
"Seal off the room and we'll cover you. Give me five minutes and call the police, but I need five minutes."
"We'll do our best."
"Come on," said the captain, hanging up the telephone and returning to Karin.
"I'll carry you out of here-"
"I can walk, actually," interrupted De Vries.
"Glad to hear it. We'll go down the stairs, it's only one flight."
"What about our clothes, our luggage? Surely you don't want them here for the police to find."
"Shit! .. . Excuse me, ma'am, but you've got a hell of a point."
The captain raced back to the phone, immediately dialing the concierge.
"If you want us out of here, send the quickest bellman up to pack the suitcases and bring them to the departure area.
Also, tell him if he doesn't steal too much, he's got five hundred francs!"
"Naturellement.
"D'accord. "
"Let's go!" said the commando, slamming down the phone and running back to Karin, suddenly stopping and grabbing a man's raincoat off a chair.
"Here, put this on, I'll help you. Get up slowly, your arm around my shoulder.. .. That's good, can you walk?"
"Yes, of course. It's just the arm that hurts."
"It will until we get you to the doctor. He'll take care of that.
Steady, now."
"But what about Drew and Gerry? What's happening?- "I don't know, Mrs. D.V." but I'll tell you this much. That Cons-Op friend of yours, who I didn't think too much of, frankly, is first rate. He looks beyond the fogs, you know what I mean?"
"Not really, Captain," said Karin, being held by the commando as they walked down the hallway toward the stairs.
"What are the fogs?"
"The smoke that covers the truth. He shoots through it because he has that gut instinct that tells him it's there."
"He's very thorough, isn't he?"
"It's more than thorough, Mrs. D.V." it's a talent. I'd go undercover for him anytime. He's my kind of control."
"Mine too, Captain, although I'd prefer another title.".
Drew approached the unmarked door of the [email protected] Bureau's newly appointed director. Without knocking he opened it swiftly, stepped inside, and closed it firmly. Jacques Bergeron was standing by a window, looking outside; he spun around, astonished at the sight of Latham.
"Drew!" he cried in a stunned voice.
"No one told me you were here!"
"I didn't want you to know."
"But why?"
"Because you might have found some reason not to see me, like when I called you a couple of hours ago to tell you where we were.
I was put through to Franqois."
"For God's sake, man, I've got a thousand problems to attend to!
Also, I've made Franqois my temporary chief aide; he'll be moving into the executive offices tomorrow."
"That'll be cozy." I
"I beg your pardon.. .. Ecoutez, I apologize I offended you, but I really think you should try to understand. I've been forced to put my calls on hold, except for the President and a few members of the Chamber, for I simply cannot respond to everyone. There are so many questions I cannot answer until I put our investigative teams to work. I must have time to think!"
"That's very good, Jacques, but I have an idea you've been thinking a lot, for a long, long time. For years, in fact. Incidentally, Franqois confirmed it for me. You probably set up that hairdresser Romeo with his wife-just one more expendable human being."
The soft, vulnerable face of the Deuxieme chief suddenly became mottled granite, the pleasant eyes two glass orbs of loathing.
"What have you done?" he asked quietly, so quietly he