Claire hopped out of the cab as the driver fumed. She tossed a wad of francs onto the seat, which still didn’t shut him up because that’s how Parisian hacks were born to behave, so she leaned into his window and silenced him with an insult that covered half his ancestry, and then she stepped away to the curb.
She looked up the street, but Helen’s taxi was out of sight. Hopeless.
“You must be Claire,” a male voice said from behind.
She turned abruptly.
Everyone else in the vicinity was still gathered around the fallen woman, except for this fellow, an American who had materialized at her shoulder. He was older but fit, even a little dashing, and wore an outdated wardrobe—trench coat and fedora, the standard spy uniform of the 1960s.
“Who are you?”
“I’m not with Robert, so you can set your mind at ease on that score. Where have they taken her?”
“Somewhere safer than where she was a few hours ago.”
“Nice to know.”
“Are you going to tell me your name?”
“Not here.”
He looked around. The older woman in the street was showing signs of a miraculous recovery, and was loudly declining offers of help as she tried to disengage from the crowd.
“That one should get an Oscar,” he said.
“Who are you working for?”
“As I said, not here. But we should compare notes. How ’bout a drink?”
His manner was oddly reassuring, even though she supposed that he, too, might represent some sort of threat. An Agency fixer, perhaps, summoned to round up all the miscreants and put a stop to this whole escapade. The end to her career, to their entire operation.
But that wasn’t his vibe. In any event, there was little to be gained by running now that Helen was safely on her way, so Claire nodded and said, “Lead the way.”
They found a café on the Rue des Envierges. Claire tried out some French on him as they walked through the door, just to show him he was out of his league, only to have him reply with an impeccable Parisian accent. As if to rub it in, he got out a pack of Gitanes, offered one, and then, without even consulting a menu, ordered something that made the waiter nod approvingly before disappearing into the cellar. A moment later she discovered that the man certainly knew his brandies.
“I’m guessing you’re from Berlin station.”
“Yes. But I’m not here in any official capacity, and I’m certainly not here to do either of you harm. If at all possible, I was hoping to lend a hand. Clark Baucom.”
He extended a hand in greeting, but Claire was too surprised to take it.
“I’ve heard of you.”
“Not from Helen, I hope?”
“No, no. From the station Old Boys, the ones who tell all the tales. I wasn’t even sure you were still active.”
Baucom smiled ruefully.
“Well, that’s quite the tribute. My chief of station often feels the same way.”
“My God, are you Helen’s…?” She let the words hang.
“Not anymore. On that front, at least, she’s come to her senses. Well earned by me, alas.”
Claire shook her head, less in wonder at Helen’s choice of men as in admiration of how she had instinctively chosen the one fellow who could be invaluable at a moment like this.
“You supplied her with the passport, didn’t you? The false identity?”
His sheepish smile told her all she needed to know.
“How in the hell did you find her?”
“By finding you.”
“I thought only Gilley’s people knew that connection.” Her suspicion was aroused anew. Had she been lulled into a premature surrender?
“I knew because I cheated. I stole one of your messages from the mailbox she’d set up. She made it too damn easy for me, and so did you. Did you really think a code name like CDG would baffle a mossy old frequent flier like me?”
“Clumsy, I agree, but that wasn’t my idea.”
“And it didn’t take much of a review of Paris station’s lineup to settle on the likeliest suspect. Female, field person, roughly the same age and training class as Helen. That narrowed it to one. Then when I saw you checking your own bolt-hole in that cemetery, well…”
“I can’t believe I didn’t shake you before then.”
“You lost that other crowd easily enough. How did they find the hotel?”
She told him about the tracking beacon. He frowned.
“Women and their goddamn handbags.”
Claire laughed in spite of herself.
“So you saw the whole fiasco outside the hotel, then.”
“Where I lost her again. I decided to put all my remaining money on the other horse still in the race.”
“Are you sure no one knows her whereabouts at any official level?”
“As of this morning that was certainly the case, and I can’t imagine it would have changed. They’re slow-playing it, and secretly hoping she’s gone off on some kind of drunken vacation. It also hasn’t hurt that everyone in Langley is preoccupied with Tehran.”
“That’s good news.”
“Yes. But it’s also good news for Robert. Gives him a clear field for hunting. And from the look of things outside that hotel, I’d say he’s well reinforced.”
“So what do we do now?”
“Depends on where you think she’s gone, and what that means.”
Claire told him about Marina, and what Helen hoped to accomplish.
Baucom nodded, seemingly impressed, but then he leaned across the table and lowered his voice.
“You won’t bring him down, you know, no matter how much ammunition you gather.”
“That’s smug of you. How can you be so sure?”
“His work. They’ll be too determined to protect it. Or to protect everyone he’s ever reported to.”
“Then why are you here? Why are you helping us?”
“To save our girl, Helen. That’s the one thing all your findings might be useful for, to keep those bastards from burning her at the stake.”
“That’s not enough. For me or for Helen.”
“I understand, but right now our biggest priority should be to get her safely home.”
“Agreed.”
“Did you make any contingencies for contact later?”
Claire mentioned the designated phone call, due at four o’clock tomorrow afternoon.
“That’s a lot of hours to be hanging fire.”
“Yes. I should have set it for sooner, but I was in a hurry.”
“Seeing as how you’ve both been flying by the seat of your pants, I’d say it’s all gone pretty admirably up to now.”
“The problem is that she may decide it’s too long to wait. I’m worried that if things work out for her this evening she might try to make a run back to Berlin.”
“Tonight?”
She nodded. He grimaced.
“That would be a mistake. Maybe a fatal one.”
“I agree. He knows he’s spooked her. He’ll have all the stations covered.”
“You have any other ideas?”
To her surprise, she realized that she did.
“Just one. But it might work. We’ve only just met, Helen and I, but if I’ve read her correctly…”
“Lead the way.”