She laughed. “My prayers were answered, Jake. Twice.”
They kissed gently and he ran his hand against her cheek. “I’m glad you came with me.”
“I’m glad you held out.”
“No, I meant on this trip.”
“Oh, well you actually came with me. I drove.”
She had a point.
“What are you trying to tell me, Jake?”
He pulled away from her and closed the screen on his laptop. “We need to split up,” he said abruptly.
“I don’t think so.” She put on some comfortable brown slacks and tightened a thin belt around her small waist.
“I can’t do this with you, Alexandra.”
“Why?” She looked disturbed now. With a hurried motion, she slung a black sweater over her head and flung it down to her hips.
“I have to go some places and do some things that only I can do,” he said.
Her eyes intensified. “You mean like what happened with the Serb? Or maybe the Iranian?”
They’d never discussed in great detail what actually happened to the Serb. Jake had given him a chance. More than the man had given Jake at the Austrian gasthaus.
“The Serb shouldn’t have tried to kill me. I told you it was self defense.” Well, he could have left the man to bleed out in the cold mountain air. But would that have been more humane?
She sat onto the bed, dejected.
He sat onto the bed next to her, his hand on hers. “What’s really the matter, Alexandra?”
Shrugging, she said, “I like hanging out with you. There’s never a dull moment.”
“Sure. Stay with me and get shot at daily. Maybe I should sell tickets to thrill seekers.”
“That’s not fair,” she yelled softly.
“I didn’t mean it that way. I’m sorry. I just don’t want you getting hurt.”
“That’s my job, Jake.” She had quickly fluctuated from subdued to pissed off to calm.
“But, like I said, I might have to do some things counter to your Service’s mandate.”
She put her hand onto his now and squeezed down. “You don’t think I’ve had to skirt a few issues of legality over the years? That’s what happens when you go undercover. You know that. Sometimes you have to look away for fear of what you might see.”
God, he knew that too well. But he couldn’t bring her along with him. Not now. “You have to give me two days. Three tops. Then we’ll meet and compare notes.”
She was confused. “What do I do in the meantime? Go bake some cookies?” Her German accent really sprouted with those words.
He got up and went to his backpack, retrieving a cell phone and handing it to her. “I picked this up at my bank in Luxembourg. It’s a secure cell. I have its brother. It’s non-traceable. We’ll stay in contact with these. You go back to your apartment.”
“You forget one thing. There’s a Blue Notice out on me.”
“Andre can lift that and expunge it from the system.”
“Where will you go?”
“It’s best if you don’t know.”
She accepted the phone.
“Remember this number.” He gave her the number for his secure cell phone. “Once you’ve called me make sure you delete the call record. Just in case someone gets their hands on the phone. But even if they did, they wouldn’t be able to track me down.”
“Where do we meet?”
He explained his plan for additional contacts in person, and how he might need her access to her BND database. “But don’t compromise your position there.”
Jake thanked his host for his hospitality and he and Alexandra left the French countryside, heading back into Lyon. As Jake kept track of signs to his destination, he thought about leaving Alexandra. He definitely had mixed feelings about splitting up, even though he knew it was the right thing to do. She shouldn’t know where he was going.
When Alexandra reached the downtown area in the center of the city, Jake had her pull over to the curb when he saw a line of taxis in front of a row of hotels.
“This is good,” he said, gathering his things.
“Are you sure, Jake?” she asked. “Let me drive you to wherever you need to go. I want to help.”
They’d already been over this a dozen times that morning and on the drive into Lyon.
He shook his head. “I need you to reconcile with your Service. The BND could be helpful down the road. I need you, Alexandra. Still need your help. But behind the scene.” He grabbed his backpack from the back seat, closed the door, and then leaned back into the front seat.
Alexandra had an expression of longing lingering on her face. Jake pulled in to her and she met him halfway, kissing him on the lips and grasping his arm. “Be careful, Jake.”
A heavy sigh, Jake said, “I’ll try.”
He pulled away and her hand reluctantly let go. The door closed, Jake walked off to the front taxi, not looking back. As he settled into the taxi, he watched Alexandra drive by them, her hand wiping away a tear from her cheek. Damn it. He didn’t want to get too close to her. Not now. Not so soon after…
“Where to, sir?” the driver asked in French.
“Station de train centrale,” Jake answered with a German accent.
The taxi driver looked at Jake in the rearview mirror. In German the man said, “That’s five blocks from here.”
Jake also switched to German. “I have a bad knee. Please drive. I have a train to catch.”
“Yes, sir.”
The driver pulled away and Jake kept his eyes open to anyone following them. He wasn’t entirely certain that Andre wouldn’t have someone following him. Regardless of the man’s level of help and his friendship over the years, Jake still knew that Andre was dedicated to Interpol.
Jake got out at the central train station, paid the taxi driver with cash, slung his backpack over his shoulders, and limped off through the front doors. The driver would remember the limp and not much else.
Inside, Jake stopped for a moment to view the huge board that showed all the trains coming and going through France. Lyon was a major station. From there he could go south to Marseille or Provence and on to Italy, to the southwest to Spain, to the north to Paris and continue on to England across the Chunnel, or the east to Switzerland. He could also head north and then east into Germany.
He walked to a stand that held route pamphlets and turned to view one, his gaze also scanning the terminal for anyone interested in him. But everyone seemed to be going about their own business. His training would take hold of him now. Instincts and logic. Rational yet randomly driven. Nothing that would make his movements understandable or predictable. His eyes glanced up to the large clock above the destination board. Ten minutes to ten. This morning he would be a German. But not a German. A German speaker. For in his pocket he held his Austrian passport, a diplomatic passport that would allow him to travel with his guns. A persona he’d created four years ago after receiving the Great Golden Decoration with Star of Austria, the highest honor bestowed upon any civilian in that country. The Federal President of Austria had awarded him personally in a private ceremony, after Jake helped bring down a terrorist cell in that country. It was one of Jake’s major accomplishments in Europe during his tenure with the Agency. However, the Federal President didn’t even know the name on Jake’s diplomatic passport. The passport would stand the scrutiny of local police, border agents and customs officials. It was a real Austrian diplomatic passport. But it had never been entered into any database in that country or others — Jake’s reason for using it in the first place.
He cautiously moved onto his train waiting at the platform and settled into the first-class section.
20
Toni and Franz slept in until seven, grabbed some pastries and coffee, and checked out of the base quarters. She didn’t like the way Franz looked. He wasn’t only more tired, he was coughing up spots of blood now. If he wasn’t actively dying, he was on the edge of the cliff looking over. Before leaving the base, Toni went alone to the service station and filled the gas tank, where she called Kurt Jenkins on her secure cell. They had a direction to go now, but she was questioning her decision to bring Franz along for the ride. Yet, what choice did she have? The man was dying — she could see it and smell it on him. After all he’d gone through in his life, he deserved to see something good come out of it in the end. He needed to find out who’d killed his Godchild, Anna. Deserved to help his old friend, Jake Adams. No, Toni had no choice.