to process. This man we've got;
he goes on at his desk at four o'clock this afternoon. We'll break him if we have to put his testicles in a vise."
"You can't work with Moreau."
"What are you talking about? Why not?"
"He's on Harry's list.1'
tunned, Drew walked out of his office, down the circular staircase to the embassy's lobby, and out the S bronze entrance onto the avenue Gabriel. He turned right and headed for the brasserie where he and Karin de Vries had agreed to have lunch. He was not only stunned, he was furious! Courtland had refused even to discuss the astonishing revelation that Claude Moreau, head of the [email protected] Bureau, was on "Harry's list." He just left the extraordinary statement hanging in mid-breath, overriding Latham's protestations with the words "There's nothing more to say. Play along with Moreau but don't give him a damn thing. Call me tomorrow and tell me what happened." With those precise instructions, the ambassador had hung up the phone.
Moreau a neo? It was about as credible as saying De Gaulle had been a German sympathizer in World War II! Drew was not a fool;
he fully understood and accepted the reality of moles and double agents, but to consign a man with Moreau's record to either category without examination was sheer sophistry. For a field officer to rise in the ranks through years of clandestine operations to head up a branch so specialized as the Deuxieme, he would have to pass under the scrutiny of a thousand pairs of eyes, both admiring and envious, the latter determined to derail him with all the damaging input at their command. Yet Moreau had survived that gauntlet, not only survived it but emerged with the epithet of "world class," a phrase Latham doubted another world-class practitioner, one Wesley Sorenson, would use casually.
"Monsieur!" shouted the voice from a car in the street;
the Deuxi&me vehicle was obviously keeping pace with him.
"Entrez-vous, s'il vous plait!"
"I'm only walking a couple of blocks," shouted Drew, dodging the pedestrians as he made his way to the curb.
"Like yesterday, remember?" he added in his simplified French.
"I did not like yesterday and I do not like today. Please come inside!" The [email protected] car stopped as Latham reluctantly opened the door and lurched into the front seat.
"You're overreacting, Rene-or are you Marc? I get confused."
"I am Franqois, monsieur, and I don't care for confusion. I have my job."
Suddenly, with ear- hAttering explosions, bullets pelted the thick outer safety glass of the side windows and then the windshield as a black sedan raced ahead, weaving through the traffic.
"Christ!"
roared Drew, hugging the front seat, his head below the dashboard.
"You saw that coming, didn't you?"
"Only the possibility, monsieur," replied the driver, breathing heavily, his body arched back in the seat. He had stopped the car, the windshield so pockmarked that vision was nil.
"An automobile drove away from the curb when you emerged from the embassy.
One doesn't give up a parking space on the Gabriel without a good reason, and the men in that car were very angry when I cut them off and yelled for you."
"I owe you, Franqois," said Latham rapidly, awkwardly rising, turning, and planting his feet on the floor as people in the street cautiously approached the Deuxieme vehicle.
"What now?"
"The police will come any moment, someone will call -them-"
"I can't talk to the police."
"I understand. Where were you going?"
"To a brasserie in the next block, on the other side of the street."
"I know it. Go there now. Walk with the crowds and be one of them. Look very excited, as everyone else does, when you get outside, then make your way to the brasserie as inconspicuously as you can. Stay there until we come for you or reach you on the phone."
"What name?"
"You're American-Jones will do. Tell the maitre d' that you expect a call. Do you have a weapon?"
"Of course."
"Be careful. It's unlikely, but be prepared for the unlikely."
"You don't have to spell it out. What about you?"
"We know what to do. Hurry!"
Drew opened the door, closing it quickly and instantly lowering his body, then rising, feigning the panic of those surrounding him.
In moments he was indeed one with the crowd. Altering his height frequently, he scurried to the other side of the avenue Gabriel and while glancing around, his eyes darting in every. direction he once again headed for the brasserie and Karin de Vries.
He was far too early. He realized that when he saw the half empty restaurant, but he had to stay away from