“Much too much like it.”
“The van justified its existence, I’m told.”
“It did indeed. How was the rest of your evening, Lance?”
“Stimulating,” Lance replied. “And we’ll say no more about it.”
“As you wish.”
“Rick will be there soon with a new one.”
“He’s already here.”
“I’ve briefed him on the situation with Jacques Chance.”
“We’ve been discussing it.”
“Quite soon, now, M’sieur Chance will have his hands full with new problems, and he will be unlikely to be further concerned with you.”
“That would be a welcome relief,” Stone said.
“And you may get some good news from home. Good night. Read the papers tomorrow morning.”
“After I’ve slept for twelve hours,” Stone said, but Lance was already gone. He hung up. “Well, Rick, Lance seems as pleased as punch about how things have gone.”
“Lance is a little twisted that way,” Rick replied. “I’ll say good night. It’s unlikely that you two will be assaulted again before morning.”
“Only until morning?” Holly asked. “Can’t you do better than that?”
“Sweet dreams,” Rick said, letting himself out.
Holly came and took Stone’s empty glass from him, led him to the bed, undressed him, and tucked him in. “Tell me,” she said, adjusting the covers, “do you often have these déjà vu/premonition things?”
“Déjà vu, yes. Doesn’t everybody? But premonitions, no. My first time.”
“Next time, try to have it a bit earlier, like, before we get into the van.”
“I’ll work on that,” Stone said, stroking her hair. “Are you really all right?”
“If I attack you in the morning, then I’m all right. Ask me then.”
“I’ll be sure and do that,” Stone said, drifting off.
37
The International New York Times arrived with breakfast. Stone searched the front page for news of Jacques Chance, but there was nothing.
Holly bit into a croissant. “Maybe the Times closes early,” she said. “Let’s try the French newspapers.”
Stone called down for the papers, and they arrived as they were finishing their coffee.
“Here we go,” Holly said, holding up a paper.
SCANDALE!
ASSASSIN! CORRUPTION! ESPIONNAGE RUSSE!
EN HAUT LIEU!
“Now, that’s more like it,” Holly said.
“May I have a translation, please?”
“Here you go: ‘Scandal! Murder! Corruption! Russian Spying!’ And all of it ‘in High Places!’ Or maybe ‘Instead of High Places!’”
“That’s pretty comprehensive, except that last one doesn’t sound quite right.”
“My French isn’t all that hot,” Holly admitted, “but what more could we—correction, Lance—ask for? Look, there’s even a mention of Howard Axelrod, a couple of paragraphs down. Apparently, it broke on his website.”