Chapter Twelve.
Feigning innocence, I clutched Jon’s arm and breezed over to the table. I sat down next to Carlene, so Jon had to slide in next to me.
“Hi Carlene, guys. What’s happening?”
The two men looked at each other and then at Carlene.
“This is difficult, but Carlene tells us you were at the fair today,” Carlton said.
“Yeah, we tried to drop in on you guys. We even found your stand, but you weren’t there.”
Carlene looked relieved, so far so good.
“We were there all day,” said Wayne, slightly rudely.
“Okay, then call it dumb blonde syndrome, I never saw either of you.”
Carlton looked sternly at his colleague before turning to me.
“What time was this?”
“Well, I then met Jon here in the games section, can you believe it, he’s at university learning how to write them? Anyway, Carlene and I left just after that and had lunch, so it must have been about twelve thirty or so.”
Carlton then directed his angry gaze at Wayne. “That’s what I said. You went off for ten minutes, which turned into an hour and I took a leak.”
“Sorry, I’m missing something here, what’s with you two, has a crime been committed or something?”
The men looked a little guilty, Carlton particularly, so he attempted to smile.
“This is embarrassing and a little delicate. You see, my, our company is looking at a possible merger.”
“Takeover!” Wayne interrupted his friend.
Carlton looked annoyed, but continued. “Okay, takeover then. But we suspected you were working for another interested party.”
“Us! Working for a computer company? You have to be kidding?” I said; my surprise was genuine.
Jon was watching this with a mixture of shock and disbelief.
“See, I told you!” said Carlene, looking slightly more relieved.
Both men were looking sheepish, but Wayne was still annoyed.
“Can you let us buy you a drink, as compensation?” Carlton asked.
Carlene stood up. “No thanks, I don’t actually feel like one.”
I smiled. “Gentlemen, it seems your presence is no longer required. Goodnight!”
They had no choice but to leave.
We left shortly afterwards, making for the room. This time I removed the bug from the telephone and threw it out the window. I swept the room again, finding it clear.
“Okay, what the hell happened?” I asked.
It turns out that Carlene, on returning from a very profitable time at the Embassy, ran into Wayne, who looked annoyed when he saw the Fair handbook in her hand.
He accused her of spying on him, which I found ironic. Then Carlton came and they grilled her about why we were really here.
“I told them almost exactly what you did, so that was fortunate. And then, thank God, you walked in.”
“Okay, this is getting silly. We have three plays all running at once. There’s the company takeover, there’s the missing professor and then there’s Jon. It seems that my presence is not yet connected to the others. So, the CIA believes that I’m a girl who is a family friend of the Colonel. I have no links with the facility and, as yet, they haven’t twigged that I’m here in Paris.”
“What?” asked Jon.
“In a minute, let me think. That means we have two different departments working on this. The Professor Standing unit is not linking things with the Maxim unit. Why should they, there’s no reason to suppose they are linked, is there?”
“What are you saying?”
“Coincidences. This is just riddled with them. What evidence have we that Maxim is involved with Jon’s Dad?”
“None, I suppose.”
“Okay, now who did we have a run in along the river bank, and why are they interested in Jon?”
“You mentioned kidnap and blackmail.”
“Okay. Let’s suppose that the good professor is willingly working for group A. Group B are miffed because he approached them, but then they wouldn’t pay enough, so he dumps them in preference to group A. Then there’s group C, who think he is working for them, to have him up sticks and bugger off with the goodies just before completion. A doesn’t need to kidnap him, as he’s already working for them. Group B and C don’t know where he is, so why kidnap Jon?”
They both looked at me with dazed expressions.
“Group D!” I said.
“There’s another group?” Carlene asked.
“There’s got to be at least one. Look, the Americans can afford it, we’ve already paid for it, there’s this group to which he’s gone, they’ve paid him; so what if some other groups, who can’t afford it but want what he’s selling?”
“How do they know it exists?” asked Jon.
I shook my head. “I don’t know. It wasn’t from us, and your father wouldn’t tell anyone else. Oh yes, he approached the Americans, but then…”
My expression must have given away the fact the penny had dropped, for they both looked at me expectantly.
I sat on the bed, running my fingers though my short hair. I smiled, for in all the excitement, I’d forgotten what I was for a moment.
“We knew because we contracted the project in the first place. The Americans knew because Hugh approached them first, believing they could afford it. I believe that whoever Hugh is now with, he approached.”
“So, what about the others?” Carlene asked.
I turned to Jon. “When did you last speak to your mother?”
“My mother? What’s she got to do with this?”
“Maybe nothing, maybe everything. When?”
“A week ago, why?”
“Did you tell her about this trip?”
“Of course, so?”
I turned to Carlene.
“I think that’s our key. What did you turn up?”
“The Chinese man isn’t Chinese, he’s Korean, but from the south. He’s part of the Maxim group. There’s a file on him, as he’s an ex-Korean army general.”
“Excellent, anything else?”
“One thing, there was an email on the file you managed to download. It was from the professor to an art gallery in London. It mentions a picture and a large price.”
“Picture?” Jon asked.
“It’s the device, does the gallery exist?” I asked.
“Oh yes, and after some checking, guess who owns it?”
“Maxim?”
“On the button!”
“We need to be in England. There’s nothing for us here!” I said.
“What about me? My friends will be worried about me,” Jon asked.
“Leave that to me!” I said, pulling out my mobile phone.
“What was that?” Carlene asked.
I froze, for I’d heard it as well. Metal on metal. All my training and instincts snapped in. The phone was my link with the colonel, but it was also the only evidence of that link.
With just seconds to react, I shoved it down my bra, grabbed my bag and dived for the door to the balcony.
The world seemed to come to an end with tremendous flashes and a loud bang. I knew what a flash-bang grenade would do in a confined space, but Carlene and Jon didn’t. I kicked open the window and rolled onto the small balcony, while dark shapes invaded the room. It was too far to drop, so I simply slung my bag round my neck and hurled myself across to the neighbouring balcony and then onto the next one. Stone chippings few out of the balustrade next to me - silenced bullets, shit!