Stepping out of the van, Jacques smoothed out his crinkled sailor’s uniform, then looked down at the address. “Mike, I think we’ve just gone down in rank.”
Chapter 31
TIME TO MAKE A DEAL
As Henri Demaureux read the papers, Karl Schagel looked out the window of Henri’s office in Geneva. He had laid out all of his documents on the small conference table in front of a window overlooking the lake. Outside, the April sun made everything look especially crisp and bright. But here, inside Henri’s office, the mood was somber and serious.
Henri carefully studied each document in front of him. Taking off his glasses to clean them, he stared directly into Karl’s eyes.
“Although this agreement is an accurate reflection of what we discussed on your last visit, things have changed… and these terms are no longer satisfactory.” Henri leaned back in his chair. “Ian Meyer is still missing, and there was that attack in Napa. Two Samson agents who were captured have divulged that they were in the employ of a German client. Karl, what additional information do you need to understand that the people you’re working for are not to be trusted?”
“Henri, you have to believe me—I was not informed of any of these plans. It has become apparent that since Herr Schmidt learned about Claudine and the others, they no longer welcome me in their inner circle. I have simply become an errand boy… and they have instructed me that this is our last chance to come to an agreement. Henri,” he said, leaning forward over the small table, “this may be the only way to make it all stop.”
“Karl, can’t you see that the game has changed? Forgive me, but obviously you are no longer authorized to speak for your clients, so why should I even discuss this deal with you?”
“I know money alone won’t convince you that we—they—can be trusted,” Karl said. “But they have sent me here to offer an additional hundred and ten million dollars in escrow to buy back the duplicate bonds. They are also willing to wait ten years before collecting their own savings. Doesn’t that indicate my clients’ good faith?”
“No, Karl. This is not an issue of money. It never was. Your clients have already demonstrated that they are willing to abuse their power to get their way. That is exactly what my daughter and her friends are trying, in their way, to prevent.”
“Henri,” Karl said, an alarmed look on his face, “sign this agreement and Claudine can come out of hiding. She can be safe again, here with you. Isn’t that what you want?”
“More than anything. But it’s not my decision to make. Let me be clear: Events are not in your clients’ favor. Since the beginning of 1944, the Allies have opened a front at Anzio, Berlin and Hamburg have been bombed, and the Soviet army is moving in the Crimea. The Allied invasion of France is days, perhaps hours, away. You and I both know that your clients have precious little time left in their country before they are either discovered and prosecuted—and likely executed very quickly—or forced to flee the Allied forces. My six charges may just be willing to wait out the clock.”
Karl’s mouth opened and closed. Henri felt a deep pang of pity for his old friend, who was in an impossible situation. But he had little room for compassion for the man. This was, after all, about his only daughter, Claudine.
“But, Henri, is that smart?” Karl said, finally. “The men I’m dealing with… This is their last chance. If you reject their offer, I’m afraid they’ll lash out in any way they can.”
Henri knew that Karl was not only concerned about the fate of Claudine and her friends; he was scared for his own life as well.
Henri stared at his friend for a full minute, studying his face. “Very well,” Henri said at last. “They do have a bargaining chip with Ian Meyer in captivity. I’ll try to convince my daughter’s friends to agree to these terms. Place the funds in escrow, and I will advise them to start collecting all the duplicate bonds as soon as possible. But tell your clients that if there is any more trouble, I can guarantee the deal won’t go through.”
“Thank you,” Karl said, visibly relieved. “You are making the correct choice for everyone concerned.”
Henri stood to shake his friend’s hand. “Be very careful, Karl. It is clear to me that your clients make decisions based more on desperation and revenge than on reason.”
______
Karl stood in Erhart Schmidt’s inner office. Schmidt was treating him like a truant schoolboy in front of the headmaster; he had not even suggested his guest sit down. He stared at Karl, silently waiting for his report on the meeting with Henri.
“The documents have been completed, the funds are on deposit, and the time has come for them to start assembling the duplicate bonds,” he told Schmidt. “That process will require a few more weeks to complete—providing there are no more threats or attacks directed at any of the people involved. It is also imperative that Ian Meyer be released unhurt.”
Schmidt folded his hands and spoke in a calm voice. “Karl, so far, all of our attempts to locate them have failed. The U.S. Secret Service is heavily guarding some of their members and others have disappeared under the protection of the French Resistance. I am no longer employing any outside services. Therefore, there is nothing I can do.”
He threw up his hands theatrically and gave Karl a tight smile. “At this point, we are totally dependent upon the completion of this deal if we are to ever recover our bonds and access our savings. Believe me, we will do nothing to jeopardize that.”
Karl left the office. He wished he could believe Schmidt was telling the truth.
______
Through Dr. Tom’s special courier system, Henri was able to send word stateside that the bonds should be retrieved immediately from their hiding places around the world and shipped to the Demaureux Bank in Geneva. Dr. Tom personally delivered this message to Cecelia at the ranch.
“Getting the bonds back is the easy part,” Cecelia said to Dr. Tom and Tony as they sat around the kitchen table, drinking coffee. “The more difficult problem is finding some safe way to communicate with my old network for assistance. As tempting as it is to use your switchboard system, I’m afraid we have to assume Samson has it tapped.”
“Remember, I’ve been able to correspond with Henri and Karl von Schagel during wartime by using commercial bank courier systems,” Dr. Tom said. “Friends of mine have allowed me to use regular bank envelopes to include the letters of a bunch of old, harmless academics with interbank deliveries. Once they arrive at the designated bank, they’re placed in the regular mail for their final destination. The system is all quite simple and seems to work very well.”
“That’s a great idea. I can ask Mr. Ferrari to let me use the outgoing envelopes from the Napa branch of the American West National Bank,” Cecelia said. “Since I send out payroll for the ranch each Friday, that would be an opportune time to deliver and receive any special letters without raising suspicions.”
“If you think your communication system is tapped, how are you getting in touch with Mike and Jacques?” Dr. Tom asked.
“We’re not.” Cecelia’s face was downcast.
“But we’ve made it this far, and this is the final phase,” Tony said, putting a hand on her shoulder. “We just have to believe that all of us will be all right.”
“You have to do more than believe it,” Dr. Tom said. “The six of you have to ensure it. Everything is in your hands now.”
Chapter 32
AN OLD FRIEND
One look at their new accommodations was all it took to convince Mike and Jacques that within the space of a few hours, they had managed to slide down from the top rung of the social ladder, alongside the rich and famous, to the bottom rung, alongside the disenfranchised.
Pressed in between a strip joint and a tattoo shop, the hotel where they were staying was frequented by an endless stream of hookers and their wartime supply of lonely, drunk sailors. Rooms were let by the hour on a cash-up-front basis, with no questions asked and no written registrations required. The seedy front lobby—with
its stained carpet, broken furniture, and encaged front desk—was outdone only by their second-story room, which overlooked the street below.
Entering the room, Mike and Jacques first noticed the eerie patterns that the blue-and-pink, blinking neon lights made through the cracked window on the unadorned, peeling wall. They preferred not to think about the soiled, dirty linen on the beds and how it got that way. The room was lit by one naked lightbulb hanging through a hole in the ceiling. The furniture had seen better days; chipped paint, drawers that didn’t fit their cases, broken handles, and missing legs represented the latest in Sculley Square decor.
Too exhausted to care, Mike and Jacques lay down, fully clothed, on top of the dirty beds. Using their pea jackets for pillows, they found sleep almost immediately.
The next morning, they awoke to the reality of their new environment. Standing in front of the broken window, Jacques studied the activity on the street below. After twenty minutes of seeing nothing suspicious, he suggested, “Why don’t we take a chance and leave this hotel for some fresh air? Somewhere around here there must be a place to get a cup of coffee.”
Just around the corner, they were able to find a twenty-four-hour shop that sold bad coffee, stale doughnuts, and newspapers. Retreating with their precious bounty to the safety of their room, the two old friends gagged over the cooling coffee and the hardened doughnuts.
“Try dipping them,” Mike said, mouth full. “They’re not as bad that way.”
As in the Maddox mansion, they began to adjust to their new environment. Mornings would start with the same bad coffee, day-old doughnuts, and copies of the Boston Globe and New York Times. Having arrived with only the clothes on their backs, days were spent in search of naval surplus stores, Laundromats, and better places to eat.
Late in the afternoon, they would carry paper bags filled with cleaning supplies and tools back to their den of iniquity. As unaccustomed as they were to repairing things, they began to enjoy the process.
“I don’t know how it was with you growing up in France,” Mike said, “but fixing up this room reminds me of some of the tree forts I used to build in my backyard.”
Hammering away, with extra nails clamped between his lips, Jacques smiled as best he could at Mike’s nostalgia.
Nights were still their favorite time. After some initial hesitation about entering certain establishments, they were able to find the bars and nightclubs most often frequented by wartime musicians. But this time, they were more careful to mix up their pattern, never visiting the same bar on a regular basis.
For weeks, their days in solitude drifted along in the same way, until one morning, while Mike was reading the Globe, Jacques heard him say, “Well, I’ll be damned. Guess who’s coming to town?”
Jacques walked over to Mike’s cot and peered over his shoulder. “I can’t believe it! Natalie and her new show are coming to Boston for an out-of-town rehearsal.”
“Maybe your luck is beginning to change,” Mike said.
“What do you think?” Jacques asked excitedly. “Should we take the risk of attending at such a high-profile place?”
“Jacques, you and I both know that there is absolutely no way we are not attending that show… and going backstage afterward!”
______
No one noticed two more sailors sitting in the audience for the road performance of Natalie’s Rodgers and Hammerstein musical. As the curtain rose, all eyes were riveted on the stage, anticipating the appearance of the new face from England.
Dressed in a white sailor suit perfectly tailored to fit her shapely figure, Natalie emerged from the wings to a thunderous ovation. To Jacques, she seemed more beautiful than ever. Even her voice had changed; it was deeper and stronger, perfectly suited to Rodgers’ music. Somehow, she had managed to make herself into what Jacques knew she could become, an international star of the musical stage.
The final curtain came down all too soon. Jacques wished he could go on watching her forever. From the audience’s reaction, he was certain that the show would be a huge hit on Broadway.
Mike and Jacques worked their way backstage and waited for Natalie. Flushed with excitement, she failed to notice the two sailors quietly standing in the wings. She was absorbed in conversation with the play’s producer and director when she suddenly felt his eyes upon her. She turned and saw Jacques.
He could almost read her thoughts on her face:How could it be! I thought he’d been killed in London! But there’s no mistaking that stupid-looking grin.
Even if Natalie hadn’t let out a Maggie-style “whoop!” everyone backstage would have taken notice when she flew across the room to Jacques, threw her arms around him, and began kissing him and crying at the same time.
Standing behind some scenery, giving notes to one of the actors, Emily hadn’t noticed what had happened. She turned to see what all the excitement was about and couldn’t believe her eyes. She ran up and started hugging Jacques and Natalie together, then turned and grabbed Mike.
The old mahogany-walled bar at the Milner Hotel was their tavern of choice after the theater. It also happened to be where Natalie was staying. The four friends ordered too many bottles of Dom Perignon, and all started talking at once. But the celebration quickly began to wind down when Emily, no longer able to hide being distraught over the lack of news as to Ian’s whereabouts, tearfully excused herself and went to bed.
Mike’s attention had long since drifted away from the conversation. The more he drank, the more he thought about Cecilia—and the more convinced he became of his need to hear her voice.
He suddenly excused himself from the table, found a pay phone, and placed a call to Tony’s ranch.
______
A yellow light started to shine in the basement of a small house in Napa. The on-duty Samson agent put on his earphones and heard Cecelia say, “Hello?”
“Cecelia, I have to talk to you.”
“Mike! Are you okay?”
“Yes. No. Listen, I know I’m breaking the rules by calling, but Jacques and I just saw Natalie’s new play, and when I saw how hard this has all been on her and Emily, I just knew I needed to call.”
“I miss you, too, Mike. But this should all be over soon. We got word to start collecting the bonds.”
Their conversation lasted just a little while longer as Cecelia explained the message from Henri that Dr. Tom had brought.
By the time they hung up, another phone call had been placed.
“Stone and Roth have just seen some new play that has a girl named Natalie in it. They are having drinks at the Milner Hotel. Find out where it is and get some agents on it right away.”
______
Midnight came all too soon. Mike started his lonely trek back to the hotel. Jacques and Natalie, taking a bottle of champagne with them, found the elevator and disappeared upstairs, in search of her room. They had a lot of catching up to do.
The door had barely closed before they were in each other’s arms. Natalie still couldn’t believe that her prince had returned.
“Jacques Roth, I hope you haven’t forgotten about the healthy girl with healthy appetites! Welcome back.”
Once Natalie closed and locked the door to her hotel room they just stood there, holding each other while he kissed her lips, her neck, her eyes, and her forehead. Suddenly, she pulled back from him and, eyes twinkling, asked, “Have you ever noticed how unnecessary clothes are?”
On cue, articles of clothing were flung everywhere. Not waiting to turn off the lights or pull back the covers, they found themselves fully engulfed in each other on top of the bed. Natalie was as glamorous naked as she was in full costume.
Stretching out full length, she said, “Well, sailor boy, see anything you like?”
______
Lying spent on the bed, Jacques watched as Natalie sat up, crossing her legs. Unaware of the effect the sight of her nakedness was having on him, this unbelievably sexy woman wanted more than anything else to tell him all about her new life in
the theater.
“Jacques, you wouldn’t believe the things that have happened. When Mr. Rodgers came to London, he had me sing some of the early songs he’d written for the play. It seemed like we were on another planet! He played the piano and I sat beside him, reading the music and singing. His new score perfectly fit my voice, or was it the other way around? I’ve never been able to decide.” She laughed. “Anyway, afterward, he called his producers in New York and convinced them that the play should open there, not London. So here we are. Tomorrow, we return to New York, and we open next Friday. Is there any chance you could be there?”
“Nothing would please me more, Natalie,” Jacques said, “but things are happening in my life that make it necessary for me to return to Europe.”
She looked shocked for a moment, then recovered, giving him a slow, seductive smile.
Jacques was surprised when she suddenly pushed him over backward with both hands. “The appetizer was fine,” she said, “but what are we going to do about the main course?”
The full moon had come up and was shining through the window when they finally rolled away from each other, covered with sweat and gasping for air.
“My dear, don’t you think some nourishment is in order?” Jacques asked.
“Nothing too filling. Remember, we wouldn’t want to destroy our appetite for dessert,” she answered, smiling that devilish grin he had learned to understand so well.
______
As Mike was walking slowly back to the room in Sculley Square, thoughts of Cecilia occupied his mind. So, he was caught totally off guard when a woman of the night approached him, pulling him into the entrance of a nearby alley. Before he could react, she peeled back a section of her coat lapel, revealing a gold badge.
“Mike Stone, listen very closely to what I am going to tell you,” she said, her mouth close to his ear. “Your call to Cecelia Chang was intercepted. The Samson agents have discovered that you and Jacques Roth were in the vicinity of the Milner Hotel. Their agents are on their way. It’s important you do exactly as I say.”
The Sentinels: Fortunes of War Page 21