midnight. I stood on the kerb with my back to the roadway,
watching the eastern sky above the terminal roof. Dawn was
breaking fast. It was going to be another sunny day. It was the
tenth of January, and the weather was the best I had seen in
the new decade so far.
We got in the bus and sat in three seats together that faced
sideways opposite the luggage rack. Summer sat in the middle
seat. Joe sat forward of her and I sat to the rear. They were
small, uncomfortable seats. Hard plastic. No leg room. Joe’s
knees were up around his ears and his head was swaying from
side to side with the motion. He looked pale. I guessed putting
him on a bus was not much of a welcome, after an overnight
flight across the Atlantic. I felt a little bad about it. But then, I
was the same size. I had the same accommodation problem.
And I hadn’t gotten a whole lot of sleep either. And I was broke.
And I guessed being on the move was better for him than
standing in the taxi line for an hour.
He brightened up some after we crossed the Priphrique
and entered Haussmann’s urban splendour. The sun was well
up by then and the city was bathed in gold and honey. The cafes
were already busy and the sidewalks were already crowded
with people moving at a measured pace and carrying baguettes
and newspapers. Legislation limited Parisians to a 35-hour work
week, and they spent a lot of the remaining 133 taking great
pleasure in not doing very much of anything. It was relaxing
just to watch them.
We got out at the familiar spot in the Place de l’Opra.
Walked south the same way we had walked the week before,
crossing the river at the Pont de la Concorde, turning west on
the Quai d’Orsay, turning south into the Avenue Rapp. We got
as far as the Rue de l’Universit where the Eiffel Tower was
visible, and then Summer stopped.
‘I’ll go look at the tower,’ she said. ‘You guys go on ahead and
see your morn.’
306
Joe looked at me. Does she know? I nodded. She knows.
‘Thanks, lieutenant,’ he said. ‘We’ll go see how she is. If she’s
up for it, maybe you could join us at lunch.’
‘Call me at the hotel,’ she said.
‘You know where it is?’ I said.
She turned and pointed north along the avenue. ‘Across
the bridge right there and up the hill, on the left side. Straight
line.’
I smiled. She had a decent sense of geography. Joe looked a
little puzzled. He had seen the direction she had pointed, and
he knew what was up there.
‘The George V?’ he said.
‘Why not?’ I said.
‘Is that on the army’s dime?’
‘More or less,’ I said.
‘Outstanding.’
Summer stretched up tall and kissed me on the cheek and
shook Joe’s hand. We stayed there with the weak sun on our
shoulders and watched her walk away towards the base of the
tower. There was already a thin stream of tourists heading
the same way. We could see-the souvenir sellers unpacking. We
stood and watched them in the distance. Watched Summer get
smaller and smaller as she got further away.
‘She’s very nice,’ Joe said. ‘Where did you find her?’
‘She was at Fort Bird.’
‘You figured out what’s going on there yet?’
‘I’m a little closer.’
‘I would hope you are. You’ve been there nearly two weeks.’
‘Remember that guy I asked you about? Willard? He would
have spent time with Armored, right?’
Joe nodded. ‘I’m sure he reported to them direct. Fed his
stuff straight into their intelligence operation.’
‘Do you remember any names?’
‘In Armored Branch? Not really. I never paid much attention
to Willard. His thing wasn’t very mainstream. It was a side
issue.’
‘Ever heard of a guy called Marshall?’
‘Don’t remember him,’ Joe said.
I said nothing. Joe turned and looked south down the avenue.
3O7
Wrapped his coat tighter around him and turned his face up to
the sun.
‘Let’s go,’ he said.
‘When did you call her last?’
‘The day before yesterday. It was your turn next.’