by Mel Comley
‘Anyone else want to be a pathetic hero?’
Julio stepped forward with fear dancing in his eyes. ‘Boss, there’ll be no more problems. I’ll make sure of that.’
‘For once, Julio, you talk a lot of sense. Now, get these no good shits back to work, any more damage and … well you know what’ll happen.’ Baldwin waved the gun around before he left the group and marched back into the chateau.
* * *
‘Fuck, he’s just as callous as ever. That’s three he’s killed without even blinking. He’s still a crazy bastard.’
‘Why?’
Tony shrugged, still watching the proceedings through the binoculars. ‘Because they challenged him.’
‘What’s happening now?’
Tony shook his head. ‘Unbelievably, the men have picked up from where they left off. They dragged the three bodies onto the lawn and left them there as if they were sacks of rubbish.’
‘And Baldwin?’
‘He went back into the house … chateau, whatever you want to call it.’
‘Look, Tony, I’m soaked to the skin here, how long before we leave?’
‘Lightweight. Let’s just give it half an hour and then I’ll consider leaving.’
Feeling miserable and fed up, she slumped back against the bank, but jumped forward again when a bramble dug her in the behind. ‘Ouch, fucking things stick to me like glue, how come they don’t cut you up?’
‘They probably know it wouldn’t be wise to mess with me. Hey, hold on …’
‘What?’
‘One of the lorries is starting up, the one that was being loaded. Come on, we’ll follow it.’
Tony didn’t wait for her to answer he took off through the sodden field and headed for the car, with a drowned rat who vaguely resembled a former Detective Inspector, close behind him. When they reached the car, they let the lorry pass and disappear round the first bend before Tony eased the car out of the lane and followed it, careful not to get too close.
‘Where do you think it’s heading? There’s a port at Caen, isn’t there?’
Tony vigorously shook his head. ‘No way is that lorry going anywhere near a ferry port. It would be far too risky, there’s stolen art on board, remember.’
‘I know what cargo it’s carrying, Tony, there’s no need to treat me like an idiot.’
‘Sorry. My guess is it’ll be going all the way to its final destination by road.’
‘We can’t follow it, not all the way.’
‘Give me a chance, Lorne.’ Reaching in the glove compartment he took out his mobile, punched in a number and gave the details of the lorry, everything from its size, registration plate and location, then asked for it to be tailed by satellite. Once the person at the other end gave him the all clear Tony dropped his speed and pulled into the nearest lay-by.
‘Ah, the joys of being a spy.’ Lorne said sarcastically, feeling kind of foolish.
‘It’s a case of not what you know, but who you know, huh?’ He smiled at her, winked, and tapped the side of his nose. ‘Let’s head back to the hotel and wait for HQ to get back to us.’ After completing a three-point turn in the quiet road he headed back towards the chateau. ‘Get down!’ Tony shouted, he placed a hand behind her neck and thrust her head into her lap.
Her nose thumped against her knee and made her eyes water. ‘Ouch, what the …?’
‘Keep your head down, pass me the see-through bag in the glove compartment, and then get down in the footwell.’
She pulled out a bag with some kind of disguise in it and handed the items to him one by one. First he pulled on the flat cap before balancing the glasses on the edge of his nose then he ripped off the backing of a fake moustache and stuck it to his top lip.
Despite the tension inside the car Lorne found it hard not to laugh at the transformation. ‘Very fetching, all you need now is a string of onions and a bicycle. Do you mind telling me what’s going on?’
‘Ha bloody ha. Stay down there for the time being, as we came round the corner I spotted two cars coming out of the chateau’s drive. I’m going to tail them. I can’t stay close without some form of disguise, can I?’
Because of the dampness of her clothes it didn’t take long for her joints to cramp up. It worried her that she might not be able to sustain her position for long, she knew they were at least twenty minutes from the nearest major town. She tried to keep the blood pumping through her legs by constantly clenching and unclenching her muscles.
‘Can you make out who’s in the cars?’
‘Can’t tell how many are in the front car, but the rear has four blokes in it, big fuckers too.’
‘Wonder what that’s all about?’
‘That’s what we’re about to find out.’
Chapter Thirty-One
‘Shit!’ Tony swore as they approached the outskirts of Caen town centre.
‘What?’ Lorne bit down on her lip as the pain in her legs intensified.
‘They’ve split up. I’m gonna stick with the front car.’ He dropped down a gear and an impatient driver beeped his horn, but Tony just waved the driver past. ‘There are two people in the car, one burly bloke, and one slightly smaller, I’m taking a gamble that the passenger is Baldwin. How you doing down there?’
‘My legs feel like they belong to someone else, to be honest I don’t think I can stay like this for much longer.’ She hated whining, but it happened to be the truth.
‘Okay, you can sit back in your seat, provided you keep your head down, there’s another car between us, so I doubt they’ll be able to make out I have a passenger onboard.’
Settling back in the seat with her head tucked into her lap, she mumbled, ‘Why thank you, master.’
Tony started to mumble under his breath ignoring her understandable grievance as he concentrated on keeping up with what he thought was Baldwin’s car. The heavy traffic and frequent traffic lights made it a difficult task. ‘I recognize this area, we’re near Caen cathedral and this road … Hmmm … Interesting.’
‘What is?’ Lorne inched her head up, but lowered it again quickly when Tony swiped it. ‘Ouch, you know, Tony, I wouldn’t even treat my dog the way you’re treating me right now.’
‘That’s because you spoil your dog rotten. The car’s stopped outside the hotel where we stayed with the Capitaine and the Lieutenant, Baldwin got out and the driver sped off.’
‘Wow! That is interesting. What are we going to do now?’
‘Sit and wait, girl, sit and wait.’
‘Any chance we can "sit and wait" in the café opposite the hotel?’ She asked, remembering where they’d had a drink the week before, when she’d had a hissy fit.
‘I don’t see why not, in fact that’s a great idea, well done, Ms. Simpkins.’
‘Patronising, shit.’
They ordered a baguette and a café au lait at the counter of the bustling café and sat at a table a couple of rows back from the window, an ideal position for surveillance purposes.
Then they waited. And waited. Dozens of people strolled in and out of the revolving door to the hotel, but not one piqued their interest. At nearly three o’clock the customers in the café had dwindled. Only four of the thirty or so tables remained occupied.
A car pulled up outside the hotel and a man hopped in the front. In a hushed voice, Tony said, ‘It’s him.’ He left a ten-euro note and a handful of centimes in the saucer with the bill. On the way out, he grabbed Lorne’s hand and they ran back to the car.
Tony tried to follow the car but it was too late. By the time they pulled onto the main road the traffic had built up, making it impossible to keep up with them. He slammed the heel of his hand into the steering wheel and cursed under his breath.
Lorne laid a reassuring hand on his forearm and said, ‘There’ll be other times, don’t worry.’
‘Yeah, I guess. If I dip into the hotel, will you drive around the block and pick me up in a few minutes?’
Lorne shot him a look and pointed at
her chest. ‘Me, drive, around here, on the wrong side of the road, you mean?’
‘It makes sense, Lorne. I’m the one wearing a disguise.’ He pulled the car over and jumped out, giving her little choice in the matter.
The more the cars beeped their horns at her, the more she broke out in sweat. Damn you to hell, Tony. If only she’d opened her mouth and told him she had a mini-phobia about driving strange cars and her anxiety seemed worse than usual because their hire car had the controls on the opposite side to her own.
Her phobia had started at the age of nineteen, after passing her driving exam her cockiness had made her take her father’s Cortina for a spin. Without his consent. An accident had occurred, though not caused by her, and the car had been a write off. The guilt and terror of the incident usually reared its head when she found herself in similar situations.
Her trembling hands gripped the steering wheel and when she switched on the indicator, the wipers scraped on the windscreen instead. Damn it! Her nerves became even more on edge. Sucking in a few sharp breaths she tried again, but as she pulled out into the traffic she forgot to put the car into gear and stalled it. Jesus, Tony couldn’t you have ordered an automatic?
Hastily, she turned the key in the ignition, dipped the clutch and selected first gear, all to a barrage of blasting horns. Impatient frogs, give me a bloody break, will you? With the sweat pouring from her forehead, and her hands still shaking, she eased into the traffic breathing a huge sigh of relief when she turned into the side road on the left. Still in first gear, she crawled along the back of the hotel, and when she spotted the build-up ahead of her, panic rose again. Seeing a free parking space she pulled in, and sat there with the engine still running. After taking a few seconds to calm her nerves, she drove off and attempted to filter into the stream of traffic at the end of the road. Five minutes later, someone finally signalled for her to pull out in front of him.
As she approached the hotel, she indicated, yanked on the handbrake and darted into the passenger seat. Glancing up at Tony, she could tell by the thunderous look on his face he wasn’t happy with how long it had taken her to return.
‘What the …?’ Tony said, opening the passenger door, but one look at her terrified face told him not to argue. He ran past the front of the car and jumped into the driver’s seat. Angry blasts surrounded them he waved an apology at a few and gave the finger to some of the more aggressive drivers passing by. ‘You all right, Lorne? What the hell happened?’
‘Don’t ever do that to me again.’ Her voice trembled, matching her hands, which were stuffed into her lap.
‘Do what?’
‘Please, can we just get out of here, Tony?’
Out of the corner of her eye she saw him shrug and heard him let out a frustrated sigh. As he pulled into the traffic and headed back to their hotel, with him at the wheel, Lorne’s panic soon subsided.
‘So?’ Tony said, throwing the car keys on the bedside table between the two beds.
Her eyes screwed up and met his, shrugging, she replied, ‘So?’
Sighing, Tony flopped onto his bed. ‘You first. What happened back there?’
She shook her head, not wanting to share with him why she had panicked. She felt foolish. ‘Nothing happened back there. I can’t stand traffic that’s all.’ She looked at the floor to avoid his eyes and tried to change the subject. ‘What did you find out at the hotel?’
‘Nothing. For a start they didn’t understand what I was getting at, or so they said, and for another I don’t think they would have told me anything anyway, the girl seemed like a bit of a job’s worth, and snooty with it.’
‘Did you see anyone hanging around?’
‘Nope …’ Just then, Tony’s phone rang. Placing a finger to his lips, he walked over to the dressing table where his notepad was. He flipped it open to a blank page and took notes, making the odd grunting noise as he listened to the caller. All of a sudden he turned to face her, and his eyes widened as he motioned for her to go over to him.
Alarmed, she shot off the bed and looked down at the pad, but his writing proved to be an unreadable scrawl.
She shrugged and mouthed, ‘I can’t read it.’
He tutted and wrote in capital letters, GET YOUR BAGS PACKED WE’RE ON THE MOVE.
Lorne ran into the bathroom and quickly threw all her toiletries in her bag and stepped back into the bedroom just as Tony hung up.
‘What’s going on?’
‘HQ told me it looks like they’re on the move up at the chateau. They’re loading up a number of cars.’
Within minutes they’d both packed their bags. Tony settled the guest-house bill, and they were on their way back to the chateau.
Chapter Thirty-Two
They raced back to the chateau and hid in their usual spot, but they needn’t have bothered. The chateau and its surroundings lay silent, free from movement of any description. During the half-hour ride, it looked like everyone had cleared out.
Tony contacted Headquarters when it was clear what had happened. ‘What’s going on? Any idea when they left?’ after a brief pause, a worried expression crossed his face and quickly disappeared. ‘We’ll make our way back to the car. Send the route to me via my phone, will you? Okay, be in touch soon.’
Lorne ran after him, and they were in the car before either of them spoke again, ‘Well?’
‘They’ve all shipped out by the looks of it.’
‘How do your guys know that? I thought they were tracking the truck.’
Tony laughed. ‘We’re not dealing with bobbies here, Lorne. Yes, HQ was keeping an eye on the truck, but we have more than one satellite, you know. MI6 don’t need to be told what to do every step of the way, they knew we wouldn’t be able to observe the chateau 24/7, so they’ve been observing it for us, well, after I made the call that is.’
Crossing her arms across her chest, Lorne stared at the road ahead, feeling as if he’d spoken to her like a child. ‘I was just fucking asking. No need to treat me like a bloody idiot,’ she snapped.
Picking up how annoyed she was, he patted her thigh. ‘Sorry, Lorne, forgot how sensitive you are at the moment.’
His patronising incensed her even more and had it not been for his phone indicating a message, she would have verbally lashed out. Saved by the bell, Jerk!
‘According to HQ, the last vehicle left about twenty minutes ago.’
Forgetting about their little spat, Lorne sat up and turned to face him. ‘How many vehicles, and are they all travelling in the same direction?’
He smirked and nodded. ‘There are five vehicles, two lorries and three cars, at the moment they’re all going in the same direction. Will you get the map out of the glove compartment?’
Lorne pulled out the map they’d bought a few days before and opened it. Tony handed her his phone, which showed a map of where the vehicles were last located. She transferred the information to the map on her knees.
‘Come on then, Mrs ex-DI, where do you think they’re heading?’
It took her precisely two minutes to work it out. Tapping the map with her index finger she pointed to the N158. ‘Knowing Baldwin as we do, I’d hazard a guess he’s taking the road that leads down south.’ Following the road, she tapped her finger again at the town she thought would be their next probable stop. ‘My powers of deduction say Le Mans, it conjures up images of the rich and famous, it does to me anyway.’
She glanced sideways and saw Tony nodding, looking impressed. ‘Well, there’s only one way to find out.’ He pressed his foot to the floor and the car shot forward. ‘You keep hold of my phone, they’ll send another message if Baldwin and his motley crew change direction.’
Lorne hunted through her handbag, pulled out a black notebook and pen and made notes while Tony concentrated on tracking down the escaping pack.
Before long the light had faded and as darkness surrounded them they saw a signpost telling them Le Mans was 60kilometres ahead. With the smooth, constant rhythm of the ca
r travelling on the virtually clear road, Lorne almost dropped off to sleep several times, and with her head dipping backwards and forwards her neck started to throb.
‘If we’re going to stop in Le Mans, it’ll take us approximately forty minutes to get there. Why don’t you take a quick nap?’
‘What if a message comes through?’ she asked, stifling a yawn.
‘I’ll deal with it.’
She placed the phone in his outstretched hand, folded up the map, and slid down in her seat.
Almost forty-five minutes later, Lorne woke with a start when she realised the car had come to a halt. ‘Are we here?’ She stretched and put her hand over her mouth as she yawned.
‘Yes, sleepyhead.’
‘Are they around?’
Tony nodded toward the Anjou Hotel opposite. ‘We can’t stay there though, and I can’t see another hotel or guest house around here.’
‘What do you suggest then that we sleep in the car?’
‘Would you have a problem with that?’
Thinking she could hardly say yes after just waking up from a quick doze, she shook her head.
Tony laughed. ‘As if I’d let you sleep in a car, I’m not that heartless, Lorne. I’ve contacted HQ and they’ve managed to book us into a small hotel around the corner, they’re going to keep an eye on the vehicles overnight and ring us if they move on.’
Within ten minutes, they had located the hotel and were settled in their room. Glancing at the only bed, albeit a double, Lorne couldn’t help feeling a little uncomfortable. If there had been a sofa where one of them could have spent the night she might have felt better, but there wasn’t. She didn’t have the courage to tell Tony how awkward she felt, so she trotted off to the bathroom to get changed.
‘Everything all right?’ He smiled as she shot under the covers, embarrassed to be seen in her pink pyjamas.
Lorne poked her head out from under the quilt, nodded and turned to face the other way. A couple of minutes later the bed dipped and Tony got in behind her. Clinging to the edge of the bed she feared what might happen if she relaxed. The bed shifted again when he reached over to switch off the bedside light.
