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4
They spent the night sitting on the bench. She slept with her head on his shoulder. He kept an arm around her, not sleeping as much as dozing, his troubled thoughts often waking him. Below, the lights on the various yachts gradually went out. The traffic sounds from the city lessened. In a while, he was able to pretend that he and Sie
5
In misty morning sunlight, the thin-faced waiter narrowed his disapproving eyes as Malone and Sie
Thank God, Sie
“Monsieur.” The waiter raised his hands to keep Malone at a distance. Although his French was too quick for Malone to understand it, the gist was clear. The café had standards. It would be better if Malone went somewhere else.
Sie
Sie
“Pierre Benét.”
The boss’s name made the waiter pay closer attention. Then Sie
The effect was immediate. The waiter jerked his head back. A torrent of words from him left Sie
“What is it?” Malone asked. “What’s he saying?”
“They know who you are, but they weren’t expecting us.”
“What?”
“The operation was canceled.”
“Jesus, not another screwup.”
“Worse than that. They think you’re dead.”
6
“Chase, this is terrible! I can’t tell you how rotten I feel about this!” Jeb said. It was twelve hours later. They were in an apartment above the café, where Jeb, out of breath from having charged up the stairs, looked heavier than the last time Malone had seen him, his blocky face redder than usual. “I was in Washington when I heard. I got here as soon as possible. I don’t want you to think I left you hanging.”
“It occurred to me.”
“Christ.” Jeb slammed his hands against his legs. “Buddy, we’ve been through a lot together. You saved my life. I swear to you – I’d never knowingly fail to back you up. Have they been taking care of you?”
Malone pointed toward a stack of used cups, glasses, and plates on a counter. “Whatever you said to them on the phone, they’ve been coming up every hour, it seems, with food and coffee.”
“My God, your face. What happened to it?”
“You should have seen how bad it looked before I got cleaned up.” Malone explained how he’d received the injuries.
“The bastard.”
“I can think of stronger ways to say that.”
“And what about…” Jeb turned toward Sie
“No.” Sie
“I don’t blame you for thinking I don’t know my job. Please, listen to me for a minute.” Jeb ran a flustered hand through his short blond hair. “Chase, after you picked that fight with Bellasar at Sotheby’s, you disappeared from the face of the earth. The last time anybody saw you was when Bellasar jabbed you with his ring and his men dragged you out of Sotheby’s.”
Sie
“We know you were driven away in Bellasar’s limo. And after that – poof. Two days later, a body too mangled to identify – I’m talking no fingers and no teeth – was found floating in the East River. The face had been burned with a blowtorch.”
Sie
“It was dressed like you. It had your height and weight. It had a Parker Meridian room key in its bomber jacket pocket, the same hotel where you were staying. You can understand why we made assumptions.”
“Except Bellasar’s men had already picked up my luggage and checked me out,” Malone said. “When you learned I wasn’t registered there any longer, it should have been obvious the body wasn’t mine.”
“The problem is, nobody checked you out of your room.”
“What?”
“You were still listed as a guest. Your clothes and things were still in your room when we went there.”
“Somebody’s, but not mine. My bag was on Bellasar’s jet. Did you bother to compare the hair samples on those clothes with ones at my home on Cozumel? Did you try to match DNA samples from the body -”
“With what? Chase, your home doesn’t exist anymore! After you left, the bulldozers leveled it. Trucks hauled the pieces away.”
For a moment, Malone was speechless. “But Bellasar told me the bulldozers had stopped. He told me he was going to restore…” His voice became hoarse. “Just like he told me his men checked me out of my hotel room.”
“Even then, I didn’t give up,” Jeb said. “I tried to find out if anybody had seen you get on Bellasar’s jet. No luck. I checked with the airport authorities at Nice to see if they had any record that you’d entered the country. No luck there, either. I waited for a signal from you. Nothing. It’s been five weeks, Chase. For God’s sake, we had a wake for you. I never expected to see you again. I did my best to convince my supervisor not to do it, but he finally pulled the plug.”
Malone peered down at his hands.
“I can understand if you’re pissed at me,” Jeb said, “but what would you have done that I didn’t? I swear to you – it wasn’t anybody’s fault.”
Jeb’s suit was rumpled from the long flight. His eyes were swollen from lack of sleep. His burly frame looked puffy from sitting too long.
“It’s okay,” Malone said.
“Really, I want to put this behind us, Chase. I don’t want you thinking I let you down.”
“I’m not. Everything’s fine. We’re back on track.”
“You’re positive? No hard feelings?”
“None.”
“But in the meantime, my husband’s still looking for me.” Sie
For the first time, Jeb looked directly at her. “It’ll be my pleasure to show you I can do my job.”