On Fire

by Thomas Anderson

The wind picks up and the temperature falls. Flakes spill sporadically from the sky.

  “Sophie!” Kina shouts, running out the front door of the hotel.

  “Kina!” Sophie yells back into the wind, which is now blowing her hair out. She has just stepped from the cab, and now reaches for Kina to give her a hug.

  Gilly walks around the cab.

  “Where is everybody?” he asks, embracing Kina.

  Kina’s face changes and looks stricken.

  “We just got a call from Rashida.”

  “Oh?”

  “Zak and Rashida are on their way back. Rashida convinced Zak and Kim to take her to Notre Dame.”

  “So?” asks Sophie, a look of concern spreading across her face.

  “Some guys pulled her into a van and took off,” Kina replies, a sense of unreality entering her voice.

  Sophie and Gilly appear stunned. Megan now comes out the front door of the hotel.

  “Guys, they’re dropping off the bikes. They said to meet them at the restaurant next door,” Megan yells over the wind. The others turn to her.

  “No sense in standing here freezing to death,” she says as she steps up to them, digging her hands further into her coat pockets.

  Le Vieux is a small restaurant with wood paneled windows and café curtains. An iron stand holds a menu at eye level at one end and another is attached to a wooden pilaster at the other end, a small canvas awning stretching between and taking a beating in the wind. Several sidewalk planters stand along the front of the restaurant, full of green shrubs. A hanging plant flies about in a circle, pushed hard by the incessant wind. A small Christmas Tree is anchored near the door, capable of holding only a few shiny ornaments. Visible to the outside above the café style curtains are hanging stained glass ceiling lamps.

  The restaurant is nearly full. They are led to a series of small, square wood tables along the wall where two are free. Above them, set into the paneling, are large slate blackboards with menu items listed in white chalk and set off by spotlights set in the ceiling. A large wood arch spans the bar at the rear of the restaurant, through which the kitchen can be seen. They rearrange the tables and chairs, and study the menu boards. Megan’s phone rings.

  “We’ll be there in a minute. We just got rid of the bikes,” explains Zak.

  “No problem. We just got here.”

  “Le Vieux?”

  “Yes. Gilly and Sophie just arrived and are here with us.”

  “Good,” he signs off.

  “I don’t get how this could have happened,” Sophie says.

  “She was going for her bike. Zak was waiting for Rashida to come down from the cathedral’s towers,” says Kina.

  ‘Well,” says Sophie, turning back from carefully arranging her scarf over her coat on the back of her chair, “they shouldn’t be going anywhere without Gilly, now that we’re here.”

  “I hardly think that a stint in the armed forces really qualifies anyone for bodyguard duty,” volunteers Kina.

  “He was in the protective services,” Sophie hastens to add.

  “Whatever that is,” says Kina.

  Gilly steps in to cut off Sophie’s rejoinder.

  “Look, it doesn’t mean a thing. And if they had wanted to I’m sure they could have fielded a bigger, more violent team, if that had been necessary. The pulled off a rolling car pickup and did it well. Who knows what these people are capable of? In fact, who knows who these people are?”

  “French Mafia?” asks Megan.

  Gilly gives her a look that says how unlikely he thinks that is.

  The inner front door opens and Rashida and Zak enter. They quickly recognize their friends and are halfway to their table along the wall before being greeted by Sophie, who has rushed out of her chair to hug Rashida.

  Zak’s phone rings and he has it out of his pocket as he sits down.

  “This has got to be them,” he announces, putting it on speaker. The group becomes still.

  “Hello?”

  “Transmit Wang’s USB drive. We will release your friend.”

  “You don’t understand. Transmitting is very insecure,” says Zak.

  “You and your friends will find a way.”

  The call ends.

  Zak is deflated.

  “We’ll figure something out,” says Gilly.

  “I’m not doing it,” Zak says vociferously. “She wouldn’t want me to. We got this far.”

  “Okay, I get it,” says Gilly.

  “We’re with you,” says Kina.

  Rashida and Megan agree.

  “You’re crazy,” states Sophie to all of them, “but so is she.”

  This buoys Zak.

  “Thanks guys. I appreciate it.”

  The waitress shows up with their food. Zak and Rashida order.

  “Has anybody heard from Bog?” asks Gilly, looking around the table and stealing fries, only to be greeted by blank expressions.

  Zak finally replies, “Not this morning.”

  “Hmm,” Gilly dials him but there is no response. “He would pick up, right?”

  “Absolutely. He sent me a lot of stuff on how to track different intelligence sources. I think we should get busy seeing what we can find out.”

  “Fine. That could be a great help,” says Zak. “See what you can find out about this Kadin Sa’d, anything you can about his schedule or travel.”

  Rashida is working away on her pad looking for anything on Sa’d between bites of her sandwich.

  “Kim and I bought tracking devices in case we got separated. They’re small and can be placed easily under the scalp. They really can’t be seen,” Zak continues.

  He swipes his phone to the program and holds it up.

  “Problem is, it has to be activated and so far it hasn’t been.”

  “It also means that she probably hasn’t hit the panic button on her phone and all her data could be compromised,” adds Gilly.

  “Is compromised,” says Kina with emphasis. “All of us, we’re in the open.”

  “We have been since this thing began,” responds Zak.

  “Ninety-nine percent of intelligence is in the open. It just has to be interpreted,” says Rashida without looking up.

  Members of the group all look at each other. Sophie, Kina and even Megan start to laugh.

  “Oh really?” asks Kina.

  “Really,” Rashida replies, still quite serious.

  “So, are you going to get us into American and Chinese intel, Rash?” Kina asks.

  Rashida finally looks up.

  “If what Bog sent me is any good, I just might,” is her wide eyed reply.

  “By the way,” she says, “I think I’ve got something for you, Zak. That Sa’d dude you were looking for? Well, it says on his site that he is planning on attending the Global Security Summit in Nice.”

  Zak brightens considerably.

  “When?” he asks.

  She looks down.

  “Now. This week. He’s joining it in progress.”

  Zak is looking at Gilly.

  “When was it posted?”

  “Ah, let me see,” Rashida says, visually scanning her pad.

  “Last night.”

  Gilly sees the light in Zak’s eyes.

  “That’s meant for us,” Gilly says

  “Correctamundo, Seadog,” adds Zak.

  Chapter 60