to stay in the business. I don’t want to be tied to whatever you’re doing. I have a wife. A child. Please.”
I’d pushed him too far and he wanted out; I couldn’t blame him. He’d given me a lot.
“Okay, Gregor. Thank you for helping me.”
Piet had repaired to a café across the street.
I sat down across from him and he said, “You do not issue the orders. The next time you do that in front of someone, I will take the wakizashi and I’ll lop off a finger. Do you understand me? You’re nobody here. Nobody.”
“I’m a nobody who’s saving your ass and don’t you forget it. The next time you decide to strangle someone who’s helping us, I will take your wakizashi and drive it into your back. You understand me?”
He glared at me. “Fuck you.”
“Listen to me. Edward and his people are just about done with you. That’s clear to me if not to you. They’ve had their fill of your screwups. So either we get the shipment or they’re going to kill us both.”
Piet said nothing as his beer was put on the table. I shook my head at the waiter. “I will find out where the Lings have a shipment heading for Amsterdam, one we can intercept.”
“How will you—?”
“I will. Trust me. But give me tonight to do it.” I stood. Piet stared down at his beer. “Give me a number where you can be reached.” He spouted one off and I memorized it. I didn’t want to leave him but I had to. He could duck and run now. But I couldn’t show him how I intended to find the Lings without tipping my hand on my past.
Because I’d heard of the Lings. One of the suits, the young one, had mentioned the name in the briefing, a minute before Lucy called me and the bomb went off. The Company was watching the Lings.
60
THE RODE PRINS WAS EMPTY INSIDE; its few customers were all outside basking in the sun. Henrik wiped down the bar and nodded politely as I approached.
“You saved me,” I said. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome, Sam. I don’t like that man. Not a bit.”
“I don’t like him either. Where is Mila?”
“She is upstairs.”
I caught her coming down. “We need to talk,” I said.
She turned around without a word and we went into the apartment. I started to speak and she delivered a slap right across my face. It stung.
“What the hell—”
“We did not bring you inside,” she hissed, “just so you can find your wife, who is probably a traitor. We brought you in so you could do good. Actual, real good.”
“Didn’t I?”
“You left those women there.” Agony layered her voice. “It is beyond indecent, Sam.”
“The Company was there. My friend August was there—”
“And they abandoned the women. They left them behind.”
That couldn’t be. I tried to think of a reason why Howell would have done such a thing. “Mila… they had wounded and they were operating on Dutch soil without clearance. They had their covers to protect… they would have called the police, I’m sure.”
“You are sure. So they, and you, leave women chained like dogs in darkness?” Her voice broke.
“Mila, where are the women now?”
“They are with friends of mine. I will make sure they are returned home.”
“Mila, I did my best to protect them.” I took a step closer to her, her slap still stinging my cheek. “I kept Piet from hurting them again or taking them with us. I’m sorry if I let you down.”
She bit her lip, clutching her elbows. “You will have to fend on your own. I need to help the women.”
“You’re abandoning me?”
“You abandoned them.”
“You know that’s not true. I set it up so they could be freed. Mila, why are you being this way?”
She looked at the ground. “Because I have to be this way, Sam. Listen carefully. If you have to leave Amsterdam, my employers own a bar in just about every major city in the world. Do a search for ‘Roger Cadet’ on your phone and you’ll find the address for the closest one. Go there and tell the manager that Roger Cadet asked you to stop by and you will be helped, whatever you need.”
“Who’s Roger Cadet?”
“The supposed owner. But he doesn’t exist. It’s just a password. But every bar’s location is encoded with it so it’ll show up on a GPS map.”
“These bars are a chain?”
“No. Each bar is unique. But each can serve as a safe house for you.”
I