Страница 26 из 79
CHAPTER 32
THE TWO WOMEN SAT opposite each other at a café on Victoria Street. It was a cold, dank afternoon of intermittent rain; the kind of day that Londoners knew all too well.
Katie James swirled her spoon in her coffee while A
“You told me what happened in Edinburgh with Shaw, but you never really explained how you found me,” A
“Several years ago you delivered a paper at The Hague about the balance of preserving civil liberties with the fight against terrorism. I covered it for my newspaper. I was doing a stint in the Middle East at the time and the subject matter was certainly relevant to that part of the world. Then I found a sales receipt that Shaw had. He’d purchased a copy of your book. I recalled that you discussed it at your lecture. It was a brilliant discussion.”
“Yes, well, too bad no one was listening.”
“I’m sure many people were, Ms. Fischer.”
A
“And you had no idea?”
“Of course I had some idea. And I had my suspicions.”
“But you never pushed him on it?”
“I did. After he asked me to marry him,” she added, her voice choking. When she started to snuffle, several other patrons looked around to stare at her.
“Would you like to go to someplace more private?” Katie suggested in a low voice.
A
A few minutes later the women sat in A
“So what is it that you do here?” she asked, obviously trying to break the ice a bit.
“Here, we think,” A
“Is it really that bad?”
“Yes.” A
“He didn’t seem to even care. Bullet didn’t go in, he said, or something close to that. But they were shooting at him. His own people, the good guys.”
“Or so he told you they were the good guys,” A
Katie was taken aback for a moment. “Well, I guess I only had his word for it. It wasn’t like I had the opportunity to ask everyone for official IDs.”
A
“He saved my life, A
As though she’d just used up all her energy, A
Katie rose and put a comforting hand on her shoulder. “Is there something else?”
A
“To see if he’d do it?” A
“My father happily gave his consent.”
“So what’s the problem?”
“After Shaw left another man came. He told them things about Shaw. Very disturbing things. Then the night you called me, a man came to see me. He was with an international agency I’ve never heard of. He said Shaw worked for them.”
“So he is a good guy!” Katie exclaimed.
But A
“Forced to? How?”
“To avoid going to prison for serious crimes. This man told me Shaw shot him in the head. Almost killed him.”
“If he did that why wouldn’t they just put him in prison? Why cut him a deal like that?”
“I asked that same question. And this man – he said his name was Frank Wells – he said that Shaw was very good at doing what they needed done. He was brave with strong nerves. That he could walk into dangerous situations and come out alive like no one else.”
“From what I saw I can believe that. So he is working for the good guys.”
“Wells said that Shaw kills people.”
“When they’re trying to kill him.”
“Why are you defending him so?” A
“That’s true, but it was a helluva one time. You learn a lot about someone in a situation like that. There’s no opportunity to put on a false front. He saved my life and he let me go, A
“I thought I knew Shaw.” She paused. “My father has revoked his consent.”
“You’re a big girl, you don’t need your father’s permission to marry.”
“Would you marry a man under such conditions?”
“I’d talk to him about it before I made any decisions.”
“I’m… I’m afraid,” she admitted.
“A
“I’m not afraid of him hurting me physically. But what if he did commit these crimes the man spoke of? What if he tells me so? I ca
“But then he doesn’t get to tell you his side of things. That’s not fair to him.”
“And he told me he had a desk job. According to you that’s not true. So he lied to me. And he said he was retiring. According to this Frank Wells that is not an option. If he quits he goes to prison.”
“A
A
“You’re welcome,” Katie said a bit resentfully. “But you’re not going to talk to him, are you?”
“Please, that is not your concern.”
The door opened and a man came in. “A
She turned to Katie. “I’ll be back.”
“There’s not much else left to say, is there?”
A
“The Red Menace,” she read from the top of a printout. A
Then her eye caught on something else. She picked up the photo from the desk. Shaw and A
“Well, if you can’t fall in love in Paris, you’re not meant to be together,” she said quietly to herself.
She glanced up as A
“So you’re ‘analyzing’ the Red Menace?” Katie said, pointing to her desk.
“Just curious, like everyone else.”
The next moment A
As Katie passed A