"Sieg_ up your ass," said Drew quietly, leveling his left hand in the rushing shadows beneath the weapon, his left foot inching across the Citron's floorboard.
"How about a big surprise, blitzkrieg style?" With those words Latham jammed his left foot against the brake pedal while simultaneously smashing his left hand up into the elbow of his would-be captor's right arm. The gun spun in the neo Nazi hand; Drew grabbed it and fired into the driver's right kneecap as they crashed into the corner of a building.
"You lose!" said Latham breathlessly, opening the door and grabbing the man by his tunic. Stepping outside, he yanked him across the seat, throwing him to the pavement. They were in one of the industrial sections of Paris, two- and three-story factories, deserted for the night. Beyond the dim street lamps' the only brightness came from the damaged Citron's headlights. It was enough.
"You're going to talk to me, buddy," he said to the false marine curled up on the sidewalk, moaning and clutching his wounded leg, "or the next bullet goes right through those two hands around your knee. Shattered hands never fully recover. It's a hell of a way to live."
"Nein! Nein! Do not shoot!"
"Why not? You were going to kill me, you told me so. I'd 'be gone," I distinctly remember. I'm much kinder. I won't kill you, I'll just make your staying alive a mess. After your hands, your feet will be next.. .. Who are you and how did you get that uniform, that car? Tell me!"
"We have uniforms .. . amerikanische, franzdsische, englische."
"The car, the embassy car. Where's the man whose place you took
"He was told not to come-"
"By whom?"
"I do not know! The car was brought to the front. The Schhisselthe key, I mean-was in it. I was ordered to drive you."
"Who ordered you?"
"My superiors."
"The people you were taking me to?"
"Who are they? Give me some names. Now."
"I do not know any names! We are reached by codes, by numbers and letters."
"What's your name?" Drew crouched by the impostor, the barrel of the gun jammed against the nearest hand around the bleeding kneecap.
"Erich Hauer, I swear it!"
"Your code name, Erich. Or forget about your hands and feet."
"C-Zwdif-twelve."
"You speak much better English when you're not scared shitless, Erich-buddy.. .. Where were you taking me?"
"Five, six avenues from here. I would know by the Scbeinwerfer-" "The what?"
"Headlights. From a narrow street on the left."
"Stay right where you are, Little Adolf," said Latham, rising and sidestepping to the car door, his weapon on the German.
Awkwardly, he backed down into the front seat, his left hand thrusting below the dashboard until he found the car phone with a direct line to the embassy. As the transmitting mechanism was in the trunk, the odds were favorable that it would be operational. It was. Glancing quickly, Drew pressed the zero button four times in rapid succession. The signal for emergency.
"American Embassy," came Durbane's-voice over the speaker.
"Your status is Zero Four. On tape, go ahead!"
"Bobby, it's Latham-"
"I know that, I've got you on the grids. Why the big Four 0?"
"We were sandbagged.- I was on my way to a fast execution, courtesy of our Nazi nightmare. The marine driver was a phony;
somebody in the transport pool set me up. Check that whole unit out!"
"Christ, are you all right?"
"Just a tad shaken; we had an accident and the skinhead didn't fare too well."
"Well, I've got you on the grids. I'll send a patrol out-"
"You know exactly where we are?"
"Of course."
"Send two patrols, Bobby, one armed for assault."
"Are you crazy? This is Paris; it's French!"
"I'll cover us. This is an order from Cons-Op.. .. Five or six blocks south, on the left, there's a car parked on a side street, its headlights on. We've got to take that car, take the people in it!"
"Who are they?"
"Among other things, my executioners.. .. There's no time, Bobby. Do it!" Latham slammed the telephone back into its receptacle and lurched out of the car to Erich Hauer, who could lead them to a hundred others in Paris and beyond, whether he knew it or not. The chemicals would open the doors of his mind; it was vital. Drew grabbed his legs as the man screamed in pain.
"Tlease .. . !"
"Shut up, pig head You're mine, you got that? Start talking, it'll be easier on you later."
"I do not know anything. I am only C-Zwdlf, what more can I say?"