“I be back in twenty minute, maybe less. I go to my room to take medicine first. I know where are auto keys. Be ready when I knock on door, oui?”
“Oui!”
CHAPTER 17
“You are very certain?”
“Absuloment I am certain! Why else do I tell you? She will leave alone and you know what will happen. I must have car key and you must let us go! 2:30 at le Eiffel. I trust you to make a net for us.” Madame Lalonde hung up her cell phone and crossed the bedroom to take her pain killers. Bed looked pretty inviting at this juncture.
However, old habits did die hard, and she had dealt with both pain and midnight ops before. She changed into black pants, turtleneck and cardigan. In a drawer of the bureau, she found a balaclava and stuck it inside her sling, beside the gun already resident there. It could come in handy, she presumed. On impulse, she reached into the drawer and pulled out another balaclava. Sonya’s blonde hair would glow like a beacon in the dark, which would put them all in danger.
“That’s exactly what the monitors recorded,” Maurice reported. “The only contact points that were compromised are those two bedroom doors. “We move?”
“Yes. Advise the others, we move in fifteen minutes or less,” BB ordered, already dressed in black, he stowed his handgun into its shoulder holster and covered it with a lightweight windbreaker.
“I sent Steven to back his car into the driveway. Those are the car keys that I gave to Lise. I don’t want her to go, but she overruled me. If Sonya insists on going, Lise insists that she will have protection and experience on her side. It is difficult to argue with Lise once her mind has been made up.”
Maurice shook his head. “She is quite the woman, Lise, non?”
“Quite the woman, indeed. But an injured one, nonetheless. I pity the men that caught her by surprise if she spies them. No doubt she inflicted some injuries of her own at the time that she was attacked, which is likely why she was injured. Even injured, she will deal them physical distress if she sees them again. It might be entertaining to watch. Just because she is retired does not mean that she is not effective,” BB smiled somewhat proudly.
“Oh, by the way, I cannot stop Mike from joining our little party tonight. He is insisting, so Steve is instructing him. He has sworn to follow orders and stay out of the way. We cannot leave him here alone, he will just try to follow and screw things up. It is best to keep him close at hand. I shall get him and Sonya out of the way soonest.”
“I had a call from our Slovenian friend a few minutes ago. Apparently, there is a shipment in the basement of the art department that we need to check out, rumoured to be Crusaders. By the way, do not be surprised if Igor shows up. We do owe him.”
Maurice’s eyebrows shot up as he holstered his gun. “Why is he interest enough to share information?”
“I suspect that Steve asked for his assistance. Igor owes him and John Toth from the Azores incident. Despite the fact that he really does not like many people, Igor has readily admitted that he does like the Toths. I am not certain if he knows anything about my relationship in the mix, but Igor’s information can usually be relied upon. Ready?” Maurice nodded. “Let us roll!”
A soft knock, barely heard, caused Sonya to start. She opened the door cautiously. Madame Lalonde was standing in the hallway, all in black and looking rather chic for an injured woman. Using her good arm, she beckoned Sonya to follow her.
Immediately, they quietly descended the stairs. Madame Lalonde led the way to a side door, sliding something plastic over a spot near the top of the door, ushered them through, closed the door and pulled the piece of plastic away. It was a credit card! Sonya’s brow furrowed, but Madame Lalonde placed her fingers to her lips and Sonya’s question went unasked.
Handing her car keys, Madame Lalonde pointed to Steve’s car, sitting innocently on the driveway. Sonya unlocked it, helped to ease Madame Lalonde into the passenger side and then took the driver’s seat. It was a sweet little stick shift, and Sonya felt right at home. The engine purred quietly when she started it, shifted into reverse and backed out of the driveway. She didn’t turn on the headlights until they were well clear of BB’s house.
“She handles a stick shift rather well,” Steve remarked to Mike, sitting behind him on the motorcycle. Both were clad in black and wearing windbreakers. When the women were far enough away, Steve booted up the bike and slid away from the house, not following Sonya and Lise, but taking a more direct path to the rendezvous. He had operatives to deploy, and Lise was going to use a lengthier route and perhaps get them lost a few times, just to delay their arrival until all was in place.
Seconds later, the garage door opened and the Mercedes emerged, taking yet another route to the Tower. The Crusaders were on the move.
CHAPTER 18
Madame Lalonde directed Sonya as they made their way into central Paris and instructed her to pull into an empty parking spot in the row of parked cars along the side of the road within view of the Tower.
“It is too early,” Madame Lalonde stated. “If we must play the game the way they direct, we control what we can control.”
Sonya’s jaw almost dropped open. “You aren’t new to this are you?” she asked, realizing that this was true. “Do you work for Steve?”
With a serene smile, Madame Lalonde patted Sonya’s hand, still on the stick shift. “I am retire. But, tonight, I work for Wizard, the superior to Steven. These men have take my son and invade my home!” Anger flashed in her bruised eyes. “There is no forgiveness for them! Jamais (Never)! You can trust all in the house,” she continued. “We will be surround and if there is danger, you will be pull away.”
Sonya began to protest, and Madame Lalonde raised her hand to stop her. “If you do not agree, we leave. You have pas de choix. Simplement!”
Oh wow, thought Sonya. Obviously Madame Lalonde wasn’t nearly as calm about the kidnapping as she had assumed. What had she gotten herself into? What the hell had Bryan gotten them into? Surrounded? Steve was involved? Who the hell was Wizard? Hadn’t Grégoire said that he was a wizard? She couldn’t imagine that BB, Steve and Maurice were aligned with Grégoire, by their reactions at dinner alone.
Madame Lalonde touched her arm and pointed, then put her finger to her lips. A motorcycle slid quietly by with two men aboard, Steve and Mike! Following them was a Mercedes, which turned the corner and disappeared.
Now that Sonya’s eyes had grown accustomed to the darkness, she began to see some detail. A dark figure walked quietly past the other parked cars directly to their car and climbed in. “I’m to stay here in this car,” Mike stated, “Word will be given when you can walk across towards the tower.”
“How will we know, it’s getting towards two o’clock,” Sonya exclaimed. “I can’t be late!”
Madame Lalonde pulled a cell out of her pocket. “The captors will wait for you,” she declared confidently.
Sonya watched as a dark clad figure approached their position and was joined by someone with a familiar look. Steve! The figure beside him was that of a woman, dressed in what looked to be a cat suit. Mimi! They spoke for a few seconds. Steve bent to kiss her, and with a smile and a wave, she pulled on a balaclava and disappeared into the darkness. Steve pulled on a balaclava and disappeared in the opposite direction.
Maurice materialized, as did BB, who opened the car door on Sonya’s side and handed something to her. “I take it that Lise explained our stipulations to you?” he asked. Sonya nodded mutely.
“This is an earpiece,” he explained, handing her a small electronic device. Then, he handed her another small electronic device. “Put this into your bra. It is a receiver. Should anything go wrong, we will know where you are. If you are ordered to run, follow orders and get the hell out immediately! Return here and hide. Understood? This is for your protection.”
Sonya gulped silently and nodded, taking the electronics. When she looked up again, both Maurice and BB were gone. Silently, she slid the receiver into her bra and
put the earpiece into place.
“You will slowly cross the street and stand just outside the circle of light from the street lamp directly across from your present location,” BB’s voice was quiet.
Taking in a deep breath, Sonya received a heads up sign from Madame Lalonde and with a nod to Mike, she quietly left the car and slowly made her way across the street, hesitatingly stopping just outside the bright circle of light thrown by the street lamp.
“Well done, Sonya! Fear not, young lady, you shall be kept safe,” BB’s reassuring voice was heard. “Do not look quickly, but you are being approached to your left. We have allowed the contact to come to you.”
As he spoke, Sonya noticed a slight movement to her left and turned to find Grégoire standing in front of her.
“The look on your face is just priceless, Darlin’! What are you doing out by yourself on such a dark night? Are you solicitin’?” With that, he laughed and rubbed himself suggestively. “I wonder what I will tell them that you charge.”
BB’s reassuring voice came across the ear piece. “Stay calm, Sonya. He is spouting rubbish! We want him to tell us what he wants in exchange for Bryan and Lucien and where they are being held, before we beat the shit out of him.”
“Why did you lie to get me here? Bryan didn’t send that text! Where is Bryan?” Sonya demanded, at a loss to think of anything else to say.
“Aw, Honey, you’re gonna give me a complex! Bryan, Bryan, Bryan! You’re gonna have to forget about Bryan. My friend in the Middle East has a real likin’ for pretty little blonde things and he’s willing to pay me big bucks to tickle his fancy. Welcome to your new home, Sugar!” he smiled and pulled out a gun.
“Turn around, and start walkin’!” The gun jabbed into her back and she reluctantly began to walk.
“We are right here,” BB's calm voice reassured. “As soon as you get to the lamp post, turn right and run as fast as you can back across the street to the car. We shall deal with that SOB ourselves at this juncture.”
"Four. Three. Two. One," Sonya mentally counted as they approached the lamp post. Taking in a deep breath, she suddenly veered right and without a backward glance, ran for her life.
CHAPTER 19
Fear lent speed to her feet, and Sonya moved faster than she had ever believed possible. As she approached the line up of parked cars, a large man in black clothing wearing a balaclava, literally lifted her off her feet from her dead run, and continuing to run, he carried her behind the cars and into a lane between two buildings.
She was placed on her feet and before she could regain her balance, a balaclava was pulled over her head. The shock wore off, and she turned to attack. Someone grabbed her arms and stopped her. It was Mike! Or she thought it was him, his balaclava made it difficult to be certain. Was this reality, or was this a really, really bad movie?
Another balaclava-clad person with a sling patted her hand and whispered into her ear. “Your hair is bright like sunlight. We must not be see.” Ah, that was why! Sonya understood now.
Then the woman pointed. Sonya looked back towards the lamp post that she had left what was merely seconds ago.
A really, really big man was standing over Grégoire, who was crumpled on the ground and appeared to be unconscious. He was arguing with someone dressed in black and balaclava clad.
“I can’t let you do that!” her earpiece almost exploded.
“You vant information? I can be do! You be have no alternate. You don’t vant be go to confession – no be vatch!”
BB’s quiet voice interrupted. “Galahad, might I suggest that you step aside and check on our Bride, if you would? This information is vital, and since our friend has been so very generous with his assistance, it would be unappreciative for us to deny him the information that he requires. However, I must insist that it be understood that we wish no physical harm to come to the traitor. That is not negotiable. Even we cannot dispense that justice.”
“Affirmative!”
There was a short exchange between the two men. The big man then picked up Grégoire as though he was a matchstick, and slung him over his shoulder. They disappeared into the dark as the other man approached their position.
“Galahad.”
“Affirmative.”
With that, the man seemed to materialize beside them. “Are you okay, Sonya,” he asked. She nodded and the man in the balaclava smiled. ”Good! Soon, we’ll know where Bryan and Lucien are being held.”
About ten minutes later, BB’s voice addressed them again. “We now have information about the location of the Crusaders. Galahad and la Parisienne will coordinate rescue with the Sorcerer and the Wizard. The Bonmarche group will haul that traitor’s ass into custody. According to my source, he is ready to sing like a canary. You know what to do. Thank you all for a successful operation.”
Madame Lalonde spiked her fist into the air. “Bien!” she grinned, pulling off her balaclava. “We have first step!”
Obviously, she was wearing an earpiece as well. “We shall meet at 0400 hours outside the University. We shall convene at the usual location. A warehouse is the target. The Bride, the Family Man and La Belle will join us.”
So they had code names! If this situation wasn’t so grave, it would be seriously cool. La Belle, she could see that would suit Madame Lalonde, especially as a young woman. Obviously she was the Bride and Mike was the Family Man.
It appeared that the big man with the accent had extracted some information from that little weasel, Grégoire. What had BB called him, the traitor? Hopefully, they would hang the SOB. Preferably by some tender part of his body.
Steve and Mike shed their balaclavas and climbed into the car, relegating Madame Lalonde and Sonya to the back seat. Sonya took a deep breath. This was the stuff that you saw in movies, not real life.
Wasn’t that what both Sara and Susan had said about their encounters with the darker side? Extraordinary things happened to ordinary people. Here she was, this ordinary person, driving through Paris with an MI5 operative obviously working here, and a retired operative from some similar agency on a mission to find the kidnapped Bryan and Lucien. Wow, this was about as un-ordinary as it could get!
Sonya recognized the university as they approached. The car was parked and Steve ushered them out of the vehicle and into a pool of dark shadow. By the time that Sonya’s eyes adjusted to the darkness, she realized that they were not alone.
BB was issuing orders, while Maurice directed their troops in various directions. Waving Steve and Mimi over, BB said something privately to them. Steve came back to their group and stood quietly for a second.
He spoke to Mike and Sonya directly. “We have information that we hope will lead us to Bryan and Lucien. La Belle will remain here to ensure your safety. You realize Lise, that you cannot come along because of your condition?” Madame Lalonde nodded. “Your assistance in ensuring that Sonya and Mike remain safe is essential. You and Sonya are here as a courtesy,” Steve continued. “Please don’t make me regret your presence here.”
“You won’t,” Mike promised. “You have my word.” He raised his eyebrows at Sonya.
“I’m not going anywhere,” Sonya replied. “I’ve had enough excitement for one night. Please come back with Bryan and Lucien.”
“We shall do our best,” Steve promised, turned and disappeared.
“This is not how I envisioned these past few days would unfold,” Mike stated casually, leaning against the building. “It sure makes life in Calgary seem pretty dull.”
Sonya chuckled. “It’s going to seem even duller now!” She stopped abruptly as her earpiece took life.
BB’s quiet voice broke the silence. “We have information that there are two guards, one outside the door, one inside. There are no windows to breach. All action will take place at the door. The first guard will be taken silently. He has the keys to the door. Please advise when this is done.” Then there was silence.
“Excellent! The inside guard is armed. If the Crusaders
are indeed inside, the inside guard is to be made impotent. The Crusaders are priority.”
Sonya and Madame Lalonde held their breath.
“Ah, another traitor, we are cleaning house tonight! We need to know where the Crusaders are. If not, allow our friend to speak to him – alone.”
More silence. Sonya and Madame Lalonde looked at each other both in hope and in horror. Where were Bryan and Lucien if they weren’t with the guards?
CHAPTER 20
Holding their breath, they waited for another broadcast on their ear pieces. They didn’t wait long.
“The Crusaders are in another room and our experts believe that it is booby trapped. Our informant states that within are stored some works of art, earmarked for the Middle East.”
Loud noise was heard, echoing into the earpieces. Both Sonya and Madame Lalonde winced and covered their ears. This did not bode well! Silence ensued.
BB’s calm voice was heard, “It occurred to me that you would show up.”
Laughter, and then another voice. “The Wizard and his Sorcerer together in one time! My plan has work. My employers will be very please! Gentlemen, shall we? Oh, and do not think that you can call your squad back from building. They do not get out alive.”
“A detonator, how very original,” BB’s voice was acerbic. “What makes you believe that my squad is in the building?”
“Video camera, old man, video! Before they can enter to back room, we will be long past city limits.” Obviously, they had begun to walk. Silence again!
Madame Lalonde’s eyes grew wide and tears began to flow. Sonya slid her arms around her shoulders. There was nothing else that they could do.
Mimi and Steve materialized, rushed to the car and jumped in. Madame Lalonde tried to join them, but Steve said something to her and she dropped back, sinking to her haunches. Both Mike and Sonya helped her up, and they sat in the grass in the dark under a tree, all three leaning against its rough, aged bark.
Secrets Page 7