by Lucy Wadham
���Madame Aron. In the room overlooking the pool.��� Paul turned and pointed to the glass pyramid. ���There.���
Stuart looked but could not see her.
���You���re out of control, Stuart,��� Coco said. ���These people know it and you���re scaring them.���
���I���m scaring you, Santini,��� Stuart said. ���What���s Madame Aron doing here?���
���You brought a pneumatic drill to look for Madame Aron?���
���No. I brought the pneumatic drill to look for an arms cache.���
Coco���s amusement vanished and returned in an instant. Stuart looked at Evelyn, who fixed her eyes on him. Too late. He had seen them flick towards the pool. He turned and looked at the pool. It was what they called an ���eternity pool���, with an overflow system. He could see that it was not quite full. Coco had built the cache underneath, then filled it up. There would be an access from the outside. Stuart looked hard at Coco and Coco stared back, his watery green eyes entirely free of expression. Emotion showed in his mouth, which was why he wore a beard, Stuart thought.
���Come with me, Coco. I have an idea.���
Evelyne stepped forward.
���Wait here,��� Coco told her.
The two men walked side by side towards the house.
���We���re going to find Madame Aron,��� Stuart said. ���She���s your only hope.���
���What are you talking about?���
���You���ll see.���
They stepped through the front door into the hall. Stuart could see the sweat beginning to soak through Santini���s silk shirt.
���You���ve got an arms cache under your pool, Coco,��� Stuart said.
���You���ve always had shit informers.���
���You���ve got a cache under the pool. There���s nothing between you and twenty years inside but a pneumatic drill.���
Stuart looked at Coco. His eyes still carried no expression, but there were tiny pearls of sweat all around them. Stuart knew from this silence that he was right about the pool. His heart sang.
���Which way is Madame Aron?��� Stuart asked. ���Let���s go and see her. Maybe she can help you find a way out.��� Stuart walked towards the arch. ���Up here?���
Coco overtook him and led the way up a flight of marble stairs to a landing. Straight ahead was a narrow arch through which Stuart could see part of the enclosed courtyard: steel, glass and foliage. There was a sound of water trickling.
���A fountain,��� Stuart said. ���Nice.���
Coco turned left and opened a door in another arch. Stuart followed him up more stairs that were covered in a thick, green carpet that matched Coco���s shirt. At the top they stepped into a sparsely furnished room with white walls and a white ceramic floor. They were in one of the glass pyramids overlooking the sea. Alice was standing on the other side of the room before a plate-glass window. She walked round a smoked-glass table with two empty coffee cups on it. Beneath, Stuart could see a red holdall. Inside was Santini���s money. Alice shook his hand and he noted how cold hers was; then she turned to Santini.
���What���s going on?���
���Ask him,��� Coco told her, walking away from them both. He stood with his back to them, looking through the greenish glass at the pool, his hands in his trouser pockets.
Stuart looked for something in her face for him, but she carried on.
���What���s going on?��� she asked again.
���Mr Santini is in trouble. Who does the gear belong to, Coco?���
Coco did not move. The back of his shirt was drenched with sweat. Stuart could see that he and Alice were reflected in the plate glass, that Coco was watching them. Stuart spoke to Coco���s back. ���Is it for the new group. For the FAR?���
Coco turned round.
���Don���t be ridiculous.���
���Just the FNL, then?���
���What do you want, Stuart? Either drill the fucking hole or get to the point.���
���I want you to tell this woman who has her child,��� he said.
���I���ve got no idea who has her child.���
���You said you did,��� Alice said quietly. ���You said you could easily find out.���
���I said I could find out.���
���Well, find out, Santini,��� Stuart said. ���Very quickly or I���ll drill.���
���Come on, Stuart. You know I wouldn���t go anywhere near something like this.���
���You���ve got five minutes to decide.��� He looked at his watch. ���I���m not leaving them out there. It���s going to rain.��� He felt weightless but not, for once, with anger. He could feel how close he was to Coco, how carefully he had to tread. ���Five minutes,��� Stuart said, ���and I give them the signal to start drilling.���
Coco grew more unsettled as the silence gathered. He began rubbing the back of his neck with a repeated movement. All the time he kept his eyes on Alice. Suddenly he dropped his arm and walked over to Stuart. He stood so close, Stuart could feel his breath on his face.
���You know I don���t know who has her child.���
���You���re going to find out,��� Stuart said.
Santini stared into Stuart���s eyes and Stuart stared back. He saw tiny brown spots floating in the pale green; like shit in the sea, he thought, and he wanted to laugh suddenly at this moment, at the solemnity of two enemies locked together like this and at the smell of Coco���s aftershave, overwhelmed by the odour of his sweat.
���Okay,��� Stuart said, pulling away. ���That���s five minutes.���
���I don���t trust you, Stuart.���
���Course you don���t. But you have no choice.���
���First call the magistrate,��� Coco said as Stuart moved away. ���Call Lasserre now, in front of me, and tell her you didn���t find anything.��� Stuart shook his head. ���Then I���ll look for the kid.���
���No!��� Stuart shouted. His voice reverberated in the bare room. ���I���ll call Lasserre when you���ve told me who has the child and where.���
���What about the others?��� Coco said. He walked towards the window and looked out, rubbing his neck again. ���Call the magistrate and cancel the search, then we���ll go. All of us.���
���Go where? Out of here so you can lead me on a wild-goose chase while Evelyne empties the cache?���
���He knows where he is.��� Alice���s voice broke in. She was now looking at Santini, her black eyes full of anger.
Santini glanced at her, then addressed Stuart again.
���We leave together,��� he told Stuart. ���Everyone. You cancel the search in front of me, then we leave.���
���Leave and go where, Santini?��� Stuart asked. ���To pick up the child? Are you telling me you���re able to do that? Is that what you���re saying?���
���No. That���s not what I���m saying.���
���Where are they?��� Stuart asked.
���I���ve no idea.���
���They���re in the maquis,��� Stuart said. ���Aren���t they?���
���Probably.���
���How many of them are there? More than three?���
���I���ve told you,��� Coco said. ���We all leave and I���ll find out what I can when
we���re up there.���
���Forget it. You���re not in a position to make conditions.���
���You can forget it, Stuart. You can forget it!���
Stuart had never seen him so angry.
���We all go,��� Stuart said calmly. He nodded towards the window to indicate the group by the pool. ���I���ll call Lasserre when you tell me where we���re heading, otherwise we drill.���
There was a pause.
���Drill then,��� Coco said.
There was a flash of lightning.
���No!��� Alice said.
Stuart glanced at her. He shouted against the thunder: ���We���re drilling.���
���Stuart!��� Alice cried, but he walked out of the room.
As he walked quickly down the stairs he could hear her running behind him.
���Please, Stuart!���
He stopped in the hall and looked at her. Coco was right behind her.
���I���m starting the search,��� he told her.
���Karim���s with them,��� Coco said suddenly. He was looking at Alice again, delivering the news to her.
���Karim,��� Stuart said. ���You sent Karim in.���
���That���s what he���ll tell you. But it was his own crazy initiative. Like Mickey. I don���t know what���s going on in the minds of these kids.��� He flipped his hand over beside his head. ���There���s no ������
���Who else?���
���No idea.���
Stuart turned to Alice.
���I need to talk to him alone.���
���No.��� She shook her head. ���No, Stuart. You���re not making any deals without me.���
Stuart watched her, waiting for her distress to subside.
���Alice. Please.���
���I have to come.���
���It���s all right.��� He wanted to touch her. ���I promise.���
Santini was picking up every nuance of this little exchange.
���Please. Ask the others to come in. Trust me.���
She hesitated, then she looked once at Santini and left them. When she had gone Stuart took a chair and sat down at the glass table. He kicked the soft bag with the toe of his shoe.
���I can send you down for this,��� he said.
���Not for long,��� Coco said, walking to the window.
���Ten years,��� Stuart said.
Coco clicked his tongue twice. He had his back to Stuart, who now lit a cigarette.
���Who told you?��� Coco asked suddenly, turning round. Stuart ignored him, drawing on his cigarette. Coco hesitated between standing or sitting down. He took the chair.
���Just tell me this: was it Evelyne?��� he asked.
Stuart waited. When the silence started to hum, he leaned across the table, close enough to see the grain of Coco���s skin.
���You got a call last night at two-twenty a.m. From Karim,��� he said softly. Coco settled back into his chair and crossed his legs. ���You���re going to call Karim back like he asked you to,��� Stuart went on. ���You���re going to get them to take this money.��� He kicked the bag at his feet again. ���Tell them it���s not in their interests not to. And you���re going to set up a meeting to hand it over.��� He paused. ���Now who are the others?���
But Coco was looking past him towards the door. Evelyne was leading Alice and the men into the room.
Coco uncrossed his legs.
���I want to talk to you,��� Coco told Evelyne. ���Go to the study.���
���We���ll all go to the study,��� Stuart said. ���There���s nowhere to sit here.��� He put out his cigarette in one of the empty coffee cups and stood up. ���Perhaps you could make some coffee, Evelyne.���
Evelyne had moved into the new situation like an amphibian crawling on to the shore. She glanced at Coco sitting in the chair. As if he were a thing of the past, she counted the people in the room with a long red fingernail.
���Six coffees then,��� she said and left the room.
Alice was standing between G��rard and Paul.
���We���re postponing the search,��� he said. He paused while Paul shifted, folding his arms and placing his yawning tennis shoes further apart from each other. ���Dominique, you can go home, but I���d like you to be ready in case I need you.���
Dominique nodded solemnly. When Stuart did not continue he said, ���So I go then?���
���I���ll call you if I need you.���
���No problem,��� Dominique said. ���Any time you need help putting him away, I���m your man.��� He looked down at the person he took for his brother���s killer, but when Santini met his eye, Stuart saw how afraid he was.
���Show him out, Evelyne,��� Coco said. ���Then wait for me in the study.��� He was sitting in the large cane chair, stroking his beard. At the sight of him Stuart felt a rush of doubt. Evelyne raised her eyes to heaven and led Dominique out of the room. Coco was watching Stuart, and as he held Santini���s stare the room seemed to tighten around him. Pressure was building up in his head and his ears were burning. Santini dropped his eyes for only a moment, then raised them again.
Go on, Stuart thought. Go and talk to her. You won���t get another chance.
Santini stood up. He looked at each of Stuart���s men. He had no control and yet he could command. He stepped out of the room and Stuart closed the door.
���We���ve got a lead for the child,��� he told them. ���A good one. I haven���t got any choice. I have to pursue it now.��� He glanced at Fabrice but Fabrice said nothing. He just stood there, his eyes blocked out by the reflection of the window in his glasses. ���We���ll take the three cars we���ve got; that includes Madame Aron���s ������
His voice came clearly and reliably again and he created an illusion of certainty with what little he had. He unfolded a plan to them, all the transgressions of procedure and the unspoken dangers dissembled behind the fluency. At every moment as he spoke, he was aware of Alice watching and judging him. When he had finished no one spoke. The questions were too many. He looked at Fabrice, standing there with his hands in the pockets of his anorak.
���We���ll need someone to go with the tracking equipment. Fabrice?���
���There���s a technician for that. Presumably you���re going to ask Central Office.���
���Everything is going to be regularised. Lasserre is behind me. We just don���t have time ������ He stopped himself. ���This only works if we move quickly. Otherwise we���ll lose him.���
Stuart looked at Fabrice and decided to let him go; he would have to do what his conscience told him to do.
���Paul? Can you do it?���
Paul shrugged. He was not familiar with the equipment.
���Sure.���
���Any questions?��� Stuart asked.
���The technician can come with me in the van,��� Fabrice said.
Stuart nodded at him, careful not to embarrass him with his gratitude. He turned to Alice.
���Madame Aron?���
The others turned and looked at her. She was standing by the door, cordoned off as always by her sex and her class and her grief.
���Can you drive your car?���
She looked at Stuart and nodded and for a moment Stuart believed it would be possible for him to love her.
Chapter Thirty-Three<
br />
Lopez stood at the bar staring grimly at his reflection between the shelves of liquor. No one came to this bar because the owner���s wife had a germ phobia and the place stank of bleach. He liked the smell because it reminded him of the prison hospital that had been a sanctuary for him. There, hope had trickled back like the smell of bleach in the throat: it was a nice line ��� he would try and use it some time.
He took a sip of his Kir. He liked the syrupy sweetness of this bourgeois, woman���s drink. He had been introduced to Kir by a sausage heiress in Barcelona. Her name was Maria Teresa and he had loved the self-love with which she purred her own name. He looked at his watch. Stuart had not called as he had promised and it was already ten-fifteen. He took his mobile from his pocket to make sure it was on and laid it carefully on the bar. He would give him another fifteen minutes, then he would ring the Islander and start his series. He took another sip of his drink, then swallowed it all. No, he would not wait. Stuart had not treated him well.
He called the paper. Thierry, the news trainee, picked up. The editor was in a meeting.
���Tell him it���s me, Thierry. Tell him it���s about the kidnapping.���
���What kidnapping?���
���Just get him.���
���Sure. Lopez?���
���Yes.���
���You told me to monitor the police radio.���
���Yes.���
���I wrote it all down. I���ve put it on your desk.���
���You don���t have to write it down; just tell me if there���s anything interesting.���
There was a pause.
���Like what?���
���Oh, come on, Thierry. Like names even you���ve heard of.���
���There was a call for a squad car to Coco Santini���s.���
���When?���
���Wait a minute. Just one minute. I���ve got it here. It came at eight-thirty-three.���
���Santini���s place where? In Santarosa or in town?���
���In town. His villa on the bay. I���ve got the address. Just a minute.���
