He glanced around the empty apartment, his brief moment of superiority crumbling with the reminder of the life he was actually living. The edge he had over the others was that he had nothing much to lose, and he wasn’t sure how much of an edge that was or if it was worth the price he’d paid.
Dan stood and looked through the scope. Martinez was in the sitting room, talking to the nanny. She was young and attractive, and Dan watched, somehow dreading that Martinez might be about to disappoint him, showing himself up as less than the perfect family man he seemed. But the body language between the two was entirely platonic, and Dan smiled as Martinez nodded his assent to some request and they left the room in opposite directions.
Dan sat again, conscious of the irony of his situation since receiving that call from Hugo and how instantly things had changed. Time was almost up for Ramon Martinez, and Dan still felt a little regret that he was about to bring this family idyll to a close, but it seemed Dan’s future was now no less certain. This was the only real difference between the two of them, an empty apartment, and another full of life.
Chapter Two
He went back to the hotel just after lunch to wait for Charlie and Benoit, but couldn’t settle in his room. The news from Hugo had already started to work on him, putting him on edge, plying him with unanswerable questions—how would they come for him, would it be someone he knew, who could he trust?
So he moved down to the lobby and found a good spot to watch over the people coming and going. He couldn’t imagine anyone knowing he was here, not yet, but it didn’t hurt to be vigilant.
Just after three, a cab pulled up and Charlie got out, alone. He walked in, carrying an overnight bag, looking as if he’d been built on a larger scale than the people around him—he was too big to be inconspicuous and yet it was amazing how often his size was the only thing people remembered about him.
Charlie scanned the lobby as he walked, and when he spotted Dan he smiled and changed course.
They shook hands when he got there and sat down again as Dan said, “Where’s Benoit?”
“Didn’t show. And before you ask, I tried to call him—he’s not picking up.”
Dan didn’t want to believe Benoit had been caught up in the same business, not least because it would mean it was already getting a little too close to home but, instinctively, he knew this wasn’t good.
“You speak to Isabelle?”
Charlie seemed relaxed and said, “Yeah, she said he had to go away the day before yesterday, didn’t say where. But he should’ve told me if he had another job. Will it be a problem?”
Dan shook his head as he said, “No, as it turns out, I wouldn’t have needed him anyway, but . . .”
As if making the link at a subconscious level, Charlie interrupted, the tone of someone passing on news that didn’t directly concern them, saying, “Did you know Paul Gardener’s dead? Someone broke into his house.”
“Yeah, I know.” Something about Dan’s tone snagged and Charlie looked at him askance. “I had a call from Hugo this morning. Rich Woodward’s dead too, killed in a street robbery in Athens. And so is Karl . . .”
“Karl Wittman! I only spoke to him . . .” He ground to a halt, trying to remember when they’d last spoken.
“He’s dead. They’re all dead. Worse, Hugo thinks it’s concerted, and he thinks it’s intensifying. Karl was shot execution-style, left on a building site.”
“Fuck.” Charlie brought his hands up and cupped them over his mouth, the sound muffled as he repeated quietly, “Fuck, fuck, fuck.” When he lowered his hands again he said, “Does he know who’s behind it?”
“He said he’ll make some inquiries. I’ll call him tomorrow. But he does have a theory, and if these killings are as organized as they appear, I’m inclined to agree with him.”
“Bastards.” Dan didn’t need to spell out who they thought it might be. He also knew what Charlie’s next move would be, and he watched patiently as Charlie took his phone and tried to call Benoit again. He shook his head as he lowered it a few moments later and said, “Voicemail.”
“He didn’t speak to you before he disappeared? Nothing to suggest he was nervous?” All the while, as Dan spoke, Charlie was shaking his head, the concern growing greater. “Okay.”
Charlie and Benoit had always been closer, even after Benoit had settled a year or so back, and he said now, “What will they do, Isabelle and the baby?”
Dan smiled and said, “Don’t write him off yet. For all we know he could be lying drunk somewhere with his old Legion buddies.” Charlie nodded, not really buying it. “Look, we’ll find out more tomorrow. For now, we concentrate on getting this job finished.”
Charlie nodded again, making an effort to focus on the task at hand, and said, “Envisage any problems?”
“I don’t think so—finding him was the tough part. Why don’t you check in and we’ll take a walk over there.”