you will not get out of here alive, so your talent has been wasted, nest-ce pas? A paranoid American, a man with a record of violence, comes in to assassinate the director of the Deuxiemewho is the Sonnenkind? After all, my predecessor, Moreau, never trusted you. He told me you lied to him consistently; it's in his notes which I alone dutifully transcribed into his computer."
"Youtranscribed?"
"They're there, that's all that matters. I am the only one who has the access key to his classified material. Whatever is there is his alone."
"Why did you kill him? Why did you have Claude killed?"
"Because, like you, he had begun to peel away the layers and was centering in on the truth. It started with the killing of Monique, his secretary, and that ludicrous night at the cafe when a zealous idiot shot the driver of the American vehicle. It was a gargantuan error, unforgivable, for Moreau came to realize that I was the only other one who knew where you were.. .. Monique could have and would have-given false information."
"Funny," said Latham, "that's when it began for me too. That and the fact that when my brother flew in from London, he was supposedly under the Deuxieme's surveillance."
"Easily rearranged, as it was," said Bergeron, his pencil-thin smile broader.
"Question," interrupted Drew angrily.
"When Moreau -and you learned that I was impersonating Harry, why didn't you alert Berlinor Bonn?"- "Now you're foolish," replied Bergeron.
"The circle was extraordinarily tight, especially here at the [email protected] Only Claude and I knew, and there was no way to tell how restricted it was elsewhere. A leak traced to the Deuxieme would compromise me."
"That's pretty weak, Jacques," said Drew, staring at the Sonnenkind.
"Again your talent shines through, monsieur. Better that others make mistakes, and one crashes through the mists of errors with the reality, proclaiming himself the true Valkyrie.. .. Quite simply, I was waiting for the proper time. Your American politicians know all about that."
"Very good, Jacky-baby. And suppose I told you that everything said in here has been recorded, the frequency tuned to Lieutenant Anthony's machine in the lobby. High tech is wonderful, isn't it?"
ac ques Bergeron, Sonnenkind, screamed hysterically while lurching to his desk and picking up a heavy paperweight; he threw it into his window, shattering the glass. Then, with strength that belied his medium-size compact physique, he raised his chair and hurled it at Latham, who pulled Franqois's gun out of his belt.
"Don't do it!" shouted Drew.
"I don't want to kill you! We need your records! For Christ's sake, listen to me!"
It was too late. Jacques Bergeron whipped out a small weapon from his chest holster and fired indiscriminately, everywhere, anywhere. Latham dove to the floor as Bergeron ran to the door, yanked it open, and raced outside.
"Stop him!" roared Drew, lunging toward the hallway.
"No, wait!
Don't stop him! He's got a gun! Get out of his way!"
The corridor was in chaos. Two more gunshots exploded as the crowds streamed out of cubicles. A man and a woman fell wounded or killed. Latham got to his feet and ran after the Nazi, crisscrossing the intersecting hallways, shouting, "Gerry, he'll have to get out through there! Shoot him in the legs, keep him alive!"
That order was also too late. Bergeron crashed through the reception room's door as an ear-shattering bell echoed off the walls and Lieutenant Anthony emerged from the second elevator. The Nazi fired; it was the last shell in his magazine as the following clicks announced, but the bullet pierced the commando's right arm.
Anthony grabbed his elbow, released it, and awkwardly, in pain, fumbled for his weapon while the woman behind the desk hysterically dropped to the floor.
"YoWre not going anywhere," yelled the lieutenant,
trying to reach his gun with his right hand, his arm in agony, "because neither are those elevators! I alarmed both of them."
"You are quite wrong!" screamed the neo, racing into the nearest elevator; in barely seconds the panels began to close and the deafening bell was abruptly silent.
"It is you who are not going anywhere, monsieur!" were the Nazi's last words.
Drew burst through the anteroom's door.
"Where is he?" asked Latham furiously.
"In that elevator," replied the commando, wincing.
"I thought I shorted both of them out, but I guess I didn't."
"Christ, you've been hit!"
"I can handle it, check the lady."
"Are you all right?" said Drew, rushing to the receptionist, who was slowly getting to her feet.
"I'll be better when I deliver my resignation, monsieur," she answered, trembling and breathless as Latham helped her up.
"Can