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The ferry docked according to schedule, at 8:30. Ten minutes passed before the truck moved an inch, and another ten before its wheels rolled onto solid ground. Again the rig stopped. This would be customs and immigration, Jonathan knew. He reminded himself that he was riding in a brand-new eighteen-wheeler with chrome pipes belonging to a worldwide freight company. It was the other guys that got searched: the independent contractors, the start-up freight companies, the drivers whose vehicles were in poor condition. Still, it wasn’t only his imagination that the line was moving at an agonizingly slow pace. Over and over the driver mumbled under his breath, “Come on. What the hell is the problem?”
Sixty minutes passed.
The truck advanced, only to stop yet again. But this time there was a bone-rattling shudder as the driver put on the air brake. The window was lowered and Jonathan overheard the exchange.
“Where are you coming from?” asked the customs inspector.
“Birmingham,” answered the driver, in respectable English.
“License and manifest, please.”
The driver handed both over. A few minutes passed as the paperwork was studied and returned.
“Pick up anybody on the way?”
“No. Against company rules.”
“See anyone trying to hitch a ride near the coast?”
“It was dark. I see no one.”
“You’re sure? Man about six feet tall, dark hair, maybe a little gray, an American?”
“I’m sure.”
“So you don’t have anyone back there in your cabin?”
“You want to look? Come on, then, I show you.”
The inspector did not respond to the offer. “And you never left the truck alone?”
“Never!”
The heartfelt lie boosted Jonathan’s hopes that he was with the right driver.
“Where you going to?” continued the inspector.
“Berlin, Prague, and Istanbul. It says so on the papers. Come on, mister. I’m in a hurry.”
A thwack on the door as the inspector patted the truck goodbye. “Off you go.”
Not daring to move, Jonathan listened from his blind bivouac as the truck gained speed and the ride smoothed out, and he was transported across the fertile plains of northern France toward Berlin and Istanbul.
33
Frank Co
On the opposite side of the ledger, Co
Co
Once inside the private room, it didn’t take Co
“Where is she?” he asked, tossing the flowers onto a side table and dumping the book on her patient’s tray.
“He doesn’t know,” Prudence Meadows said, her eyes fixed straight ahead.
“Bullshit,” said Co
“All I know is that he wants to get to her before the police do.”
“So he’s going to track her down? How?” Prudence didn’t answer, and Co
Prudence looked at Co
“Where was he headed? He must have given you some clue.”
“I have no idea.”
“You sure? You haven’t gone soft on me because of your husband, have you? You still know where your allegiance lies, right?”
Prudence turned her face toward Co
“You’re wrong there, sweetie,” Co
Prudence turned away and stared out the grimy window.
Co
“Successful, as far as I know.”
“Yeah, what’d they do?”
“Realigned some bones, repaired some nerves. I was too drugged up to get most of it.”
Co
“Don’t!” said Prudence.
“Hurt much?”
“Stop! You’ll tear the stitches.”
Co
Prudence clutched her hand to her chest, whimpering.
“Anytime you’re ready,” said Co
With a fearful glance, she took a drink of water, then related the events of the past evening as accurately as she could remember. She was an intelligent woman, and her account was close to verbatim.
“You’re forgetting one thing,” said Co
“You told me that he had to be taken alive. I was following your instructions.”
“You qualified with that pistol. You could have shot him in the leg or taken off his big toe. Hell, I don’t know. Either way, we’d have Ransom. Instead you broke down and called an ambulance.”
“I was in shock,” she retorted.
“You failed your training,” said Co
“My husband was dead. What did you want me to do?”
“I wanted you to follow orders. If you’d waited five more minutes, we could have cleaned everything up ourselves. I hope you have your story straight for the police.”
“I do.”
“You better.”
Co
“Get out,” said Prudence Meadows.
But Co
“Get out!” she screamed.
A nurse entered the room. Seeing the patient’s agitated state, she ordered Co