Final Target

Chapter Twenty

"Good news. We've identified the man who was found dead in the basement of the museum, sir" Danley said. "He was Pierre Cardeau. Born in Marseilles, a petty thief, but he's been known to take jobs in a variety of more violent areas. Excellent with guns." He paused. "And he was in Nice at the time of the attempt on your daughter at Vasaro."

"So he could have been in on it," Andreas said. "But on which team? Travis or the bastard who tried to kidnap her?"

"Are you still so sure that they weren't in it together?"

Andreas wasn't sure of anything. "All I know is that I want Travis caught."

"We're doing everything we can. This is a real break. Cardeau had a brother, and we picked him up this morning. They worked together occasionally. If he knows anything, I promise you we'll know it too."

"How long?"

Danley smiled. "Oh, very soon, Mr. President. I guarantee it."

Andreas wasn't going to question either Danley's certainty or his methods. It was the first break they'd had since Cassie had been taken, and he'd take anything he could get, any way he could get it. " Let me know as soon as you hear."

"Good morning." Galen looked up from the stove when Melissa walked into the kitchen the next morning. "Sit down. I'll have breakfast ready in just a minute."

"I didn't hear you come in." She sat down at the table. "Where's Travis? Isn't he up yet?"

"He rushed off the minute I got here. Cannes, I believe." He set a glass of orange juice down before her. "The Karlstadt business. He said he'll be back as soon as he can make it, but it could be a couple of days."

"Did you find Danielle Claron?"

"Not yet. But her father promised to have her call me if she surfaces."

"He doesn't know where she is?"

"He says he doesn't. Of course, he may cons ider everyone a threat to his daughter." He smiled. "Though who could be less intimidating than me?"

"Attila the Hun."

"Careful, I'll leave the seasoning out of your scrambled eggs. And what's life without the spices?" He set a plate of eggs and bacon in front of her. "How's the little girl?"

"No more nightmares."

"Travis said you'd pulled the plug on them. Congratulations."

"I got lucky. It could have gone either way." She began to eat. "So you're here on guard duty in Travis's place?"

"I just needed a little vacation by the sea. After all, I'm the one who's been doing all the work. How are the eggs?"

"Fine." She sat back, her gaze narrowed on his face. "Will you tell me if Monsieur Dumair or Danielle Claron calls you?"

He stared at her thoughtfully. "What would you do if I said no?"

"Become very frustrated and start thinking of ways to find out for myself."

"I thought so." He nodded. "I'll tell you. Though Travis will not be pleased with me. Now, what do you want for lunch? My abundant talents are at your disposal. Ask me for anything."

She smiled. "You've already given me what I want."

Cannes

2:50 P.M.

The roof of the hotel.

Possibly the open window above the bakery.

Or the souvenir shop on the corner.

Any of the three or maybe none of them.

Travis stepped farther back in the shadows. He had already checked out the street earlier in the day, but he would have to check again before the meeting with Karlstadt that evening. To be unprepared was often fatal.

Was that movement in the alley beside the bakery?

6:05 P.M.

Galen and Melissa were sitting down to supper when his phone rang.

Melissa stiffened.

Galen smiled. "It could be anyone. An important person like me has to remain in touch."

"Answer it."

He nodded as he flipped open his phone. "Galen." He listened, his smile fading. "Right. I'll tell Travis. Of course I'm interested. I said, I'll tell Travis. Could I have a number to call you back?" He pressed the end button. "She hung up."

Her heart jumped. "She?"

"Danielle Claron."

"Are you sure? How did she sound?"

"Scared. Very scared. And no, I can't be sure about anything. But she had my number and she knew I'd talked to her parents."

"What did she say?"

"That she needed money, a lot of money. And a safe place to hide. She wouldn't promise anything until we came to terms. She wants to meet with Travis tonight."

"Where?"

"At the old church at the north edge of the village. She said they'd built a new one in the center of town and this one is deserted now. She'll be there after midnight."

"Then we have to go and meet her."

He shook his head. "Travis will go. It's with him she wants to bargain."

"But Travis isn't here, dammit."

"I'll phone him later." He glanced at his watch. "He's supposed to be meeting with Karlstadt in a couple of hours and the situation may be very delicate at the moment."

Even after his "delicate" situation was resolved, Travis would never let her go with him to the church, Melissa thought with frustration. And there was always Cassie to think about. "You stay with Cassie. I'll meet with Danielle Claron. There's a chance she'll feel less threatened with another woman, isn't there?"

He shook his head. "She specified Travis. Besides, she has to be targeted by Deschamps. It will be dangerous to be anywhere near her."

Her hands clenched into fists. "I'm not stupid. I won't barge right up and call for-"

"I know you're not stupid." His lips tightened. " But you don't know this game. I don't agree with Travis that you should be kept in the dark, but I'm not helping you act recklessly."

She could tell by his expression that she wasn't going to be able to move him. She got up from the table and strode toward the door.

Galen jumped to his feet. "Where are you going?"

"For a walk. I'm mad as hell and I need to burn off a little steam." She gave him a grim glance over her shoulder. "Did you think I was going to jump in the car and head for St. Ives?"

"The thought did occur to me."

"Like I said, I'm not stupid, Galen. I know you'd try to stop me and you're probably very good at stopping people." She slammed the door behind her and ran down the steps. She moved quickly, forcefully, her heels digging into the soft sand. She'd had to get out of the house before she exploded.

She wanted to hit someone, dammit.

No, she wanted to hit Travis. He was blocking her at every turn and seeing that Galen would be no real help to her either. This was the first break, a chance to find Deschamps, and she was supposed to sit here and wait for someone else to find Jessica's murderer.

Jessica.

Don't tear up. She had cried too much already, and she couldn't think straight when she let emotion rule her. She stopped at the edge of the surf and looked out at the sea. She felt very small and alone.

Stop thinking like that. Negative thoughts were bull. She was alone, but that didn't mean she couldn't do anything that had to be done.

She just had to work on it.

8:35 P.M.

"So I'm here "Karlstadt said grimly as he sat down at the table at the sidewalk cafe. "It had better be good, Travis."

"Your situation couldn't be worse, could it?"

"Yes, it could. You could still be alive at the end of this meeting. I don't appreciate being double-crossed, you bastard."

"You weren't double-crossed. Not intentionally." He pushed the pouch across the table. "All the diamonds I have at the moment. Unfortunately, the rest are in the hands of the CIA."

Karlstadt didn't touch the pouch. "That's not good enough."

"I'll return the deposit you made to the Swiss account. That means you won't have to pay for the missing diamonds."

"You know that's not the issue. Those diamonds have to be taken out of circulation."

"I have a few ideas how that might be done. In the meantime, you have to admit that having them tucked away by the CIA is the next best thing."

"I don't have to admit anything." Karlstadt's expression was rock hard. "You've put me in a very bad light with my employers. They don't appreciate failure."

"You haven't failed. You've gotten the time to deal with the Russians. They don't know you don't have all the diamonds."

"I don't have the process either. Give me the disk, Travis."

"You'll get it."

"Now."

"I'm not stupid, Karlstadt. It's in a safe place and will go straight to The New York Times if I don't call for it in a reasonable length of time. I'll send it to you." His gaze wandered to the rooftop of the hotel across the street. "Otherwise you might decide to signal that gentleman to take me out."

"You expect me to trust you? I trusted you once."

"You didn't trust me. You did what was necessary to please your employers. Just as you'll do what's necessary to please them this time. I'll keep my word to you because it's the intelligent thing to do. I have enough problems without having you after me."

"So I've heard." He was silent a moment. "You could have made a copy of the disk."

"Same answer. I want out, not more trouble."

"When do I get it?"

"I'll call you to let you know where to pick it up." He stood. "Long distance."

Karlstadt's smile was without mirth. "That's wise. I'd be very tempted to recoup my losses in a very violent fashion if you don't stay out of my way."

"I'll keep that in mind." He glanced at the rooftop again. "I'm leaving now. Please tell our friend not to attempt to follow me. It would be a deal breaker."

"I'll give you two days to get that disk to me. Then I'll come after it." He smiled maliciously. "I can't afford to wait much longer. You're in plenty of hot water. I don't want someone else to kill you before I get my chance."

"That would be unfair. I'll try not to disappoint you." Travis strode down the street and around the corner. His pace quickened as he wound a zigzag path around the town for the next thirty minutes until he was certain he wasn't followed. Then he set out for his car.

So far, so good. It had been close. Very close.

His only advantage had been the fact that Karlstadt was a businessman and knew when to cut his losses. That didn't mean he wouldn't come after Travis if he took too much flak for losing the rest of the diamonds. The sensible thing would be for Travis to get out of Europe and lie low for a while.

Screw the sensible thing.

Not while Deschamps was still alive.

His phone rang as he was starting the Peugeot.

"We have a problem," Galen said. "Have you left Cannes?"

"Not yet. I should be back at the cottage in a few hours."

"Don't come here. Go directly to St. Ives. I got a call from Danielle Claron. She wants to negotiate with you. She'll be at the old church at the north edge of the village after midnight."

"When did she call?"

"After six. I thought I'd give you time to finish with Karlstadt. It's only a few hours' drive from Cannes to St. Ives." He paused. "But you'd better hurry. Melissa may get there before you do."

"What? You told her?"

"Guilty. But I watched her all the time she was on the beach. And she came in from her walk and went straight to bed."

"For God's sake, you weren't suspicious?"

"Of course I was suspicious. I opened the door and looked in on her four times in the past couple of hours. The last time she threw a book at me. Five minutes later I heard the van start. She must have crawled out the window the moment I closed the door. I ran out, but she was already gunning it down the beach."

"I'm going to murder you."

"I may commit suicide. It was most humiliating. Now I'm relegated from being a mighty warrior to being a lowly nursemaid for Cassie."

"You should never have told her. We don't know what the hell is happening with Danielle Claron."

"I wouldn't have appreciated being kept in the dark." He paused again. "And she's not totally without protection. You did give her the gun."

"That's the only weapon she has. She's out of her depth. She doesn't know-"

"That's what I tried to tell her. She wasn't listening. In her place, I don't know if I would have listened either. Call me when you get to St. Ives." He hung up.

Travis glanced at his watch. At least three hours to get to St. Ives from here.

His foot stomped on the accelerator and the car leapt forward.