“Then why aren’t there two of each of us around?” said Finn.
Cobra smiled. “You never know,” he said. “When you get back, maybe there will be.”
“Maybe,” said Lucas. “That might very well depend on what we do about Mongoose.”
“I’ll make a deal with you,” Cobra said. “You open to a proposition?”
“We’ll listen,” Finn said.
“I can’t trust my own people,” Cobra said, “but I can trust the two of you. If the new director is made to back off and covert operations continues being autonomous, the investigation will be called off and my problem will be solved. If it goes the other way, I’m still duty-bound to deliver Mongoose, but there might be people in my team with orders to eliminate him if that happens. In that event, I’ll need help.”
“What’s your proposal?” Finn said.
“I think that I can see a way out of our present predicament,” said Cobra. “You want Mongoose stopped, neutralized before he does something to screw up your mission. I want him alive and I don’t want to interfere with you doing your job as you see it. I think that I may have a line on Mongoose, but my hands are tied right now. As a result, I can’t help you. However, I can misdirect my own people. I’ll be taking a chance, but I think I can pull it off. I also think that I can apprehend Mongoose within a matter of days. I propose to do just that, as soon as possible, and then hand him over to you.”
“There’s only one problem with that idea,” Lucas said. “We can’t protect him for you and continue with this adjustment at the same time. The Scarlet Pimpernel still has work to do. We won’t be able to guarantee his safety.”
“You can if I give you a chronoplate,” said Cobra. “I’ll stay here with Finn and help him to continue doing the Pimpernel’s work. You and Andre can take the chronoplate and, with Mongoose in your custody, you can get lost.”
“You’re asking us to desert,” said Lucas.
“No, just to go A.W.O.L. for a while.”
“Really?” Finn said. “Who gets to explain their sudden disappearance to Fitzroy?”
“Leave that to me,” said Cobra.
“Forget it, we’re leaving nothing to you,” said Finn. “We came here to do a job and all you’ve done since you arrived is complicate things. This would have been a simple adjustment mission, inasmuch as any mission can be simple, if it wasn’t for the TIA. All you guys were ever meant to do was gather historical intelligence to compensate for inaccuracies and omissions in the books and that’s it, period. Somewhere along the line, you decided to become historical policemen. I find the idea that your people might have a Referee or two in their pocket frankly frightening. Next thing you know, the agency is going to start getting involved in arbitration conflicts. Maybe you people should change your initials to CIA or KGB. They did much the same sort of thing before one became a multinational corporation and the other became a monarchy.”
“I can well understand your frustration, Finn, but I don’t set agency policy, you know.”
“You just got through telling us that you’re the only one in a position to do just that on this adjustment,” Finn said. “Do you know what you’re doing or are you just making all this up as you go along?”
“I take it you’re refusing to cooperate, then?” said Cobra.
“You take it wrong, Agent Cobra,” said Delaney. “ You’re the one who’s refusing to cooperate. If I wasn’t convinced that there might actually be a real threat to Fitzroy’s life, I’d tell him exactly what you’re doing. I’ll give you one thing, you’ve demonstrated that Mongoose must be taken alive, if for no other reason than that the new Observer-backed administration of your agency needs to learn who’s really been calling the shots all this time.”
“I see no conflict there,” said Cobra.
“Well then, I’ll make a deal with you,” said Finn, “and we can stop all this nonsense. Lucas and I will agree to back off and leave Mongoose to you provided that you stop wasting your time shadowing us, get onto Mongoose, and either arrest him or make certain that he doesn’t sabotage this mission. Tell us who your suspect is. We won’t move against him without any proof, but at least we can watch him and work around him.”
“Or else?” said Cobra.
“Or else we grab him ourselves the moment we have an opportunity and turn him over to Fitzroy, who’ll clock him out before your people have a chance to do much more than widen their eyes in surprise. And that’s my proposition.”
Cobra smiled. “That makes a good deal of sense,” he said. “There’s really only one slight problem with that idea.”
“I somehow had a feeling that there might be,” Finn said.
“I doubt that you know what it is, though,” Cobra said, grinning. “All right, Finn, I’ll play my ace. I’ll play it because I think you’ll have no choice but to fold. I’ll even accept your proposition, conditionally.”
“What’s the condition?” Lucas said
“That you follow my direction from this point on, regardless of what Fitzroy says.”
“Brother, it had better be one hell of an ace you’re going to play,” said Finn. “If you think you can undermine Fitzroy-”
“My suspect is Fitzroy,” said Cobra.
Andrew Ffoulkes and Tony Dewhurst didn’t recognize the young man who had arrived in Dover with Lucas and Percy Blakeney. Dewhurst thought that the young man looked somehow familiar, but he could not place where he had seen him. What puzzled both of them was the fact that this dark-haired, bearded young man whom neither of them knew was suddenly a member of their league, the only one besides themselves, Lucas, and Andre who was allowed to know that Percy Blakeney was the Pimpernel.
“Curious chap, that,” Ffoulkes said to Blakeney as they sat together in The Fisherman’s Rest. “Keeps to himself, all right. He hasn’t said two words to us.”
Finn nodded. “Rico is not the friendly sort, I’ll warrant. Gets along with damn few people.”
“He’s an Italian, then?” said Dewhurst.
“Neapolitano,” Finn said. “Doesn’t speak English very well, but he’s fluent in French.”
“Damn it, Percy,” Ffoulkes said, “who in God’s name is he? I thought we had agreed that we would pass on all members of the league together!”
“Steady, Andrew,” Dewhurst said. “Percy knows what he’s about.”
“No, no, it’s all right,” Finn said, placatingly. “It’s true, we did agree upon that and I apologize for not consulting with you. However, Rico is a rather special case. He is an old friend of mine. I wrote to him some time ago, asking him to come and join us.”
“Didn’t I meet him once in Naples, aboard the Day Dream?” Dewhurst said, frowning.
Finn raised his eyebrows. “Why, I think you might have, Tony. Yes, I do seem to recall your meeting briefly.”
Dewhurst nodded. “I was certain that he looked familiar. That must be it, then. Why all the mystery?”
Finn smiled. “No mystery, really. I simply wasn’t sure if he could come. I meant to discuss it with you, I suppose, but what with one thing and another, it must have slipped my mind.”
Dewhurst and Ffoulkes both looked at Rico, who was sitting at a corner table by himself, smoking a pipe.
“What’s so special about him, then?” said Ffoulkes.
“He’s to be our main agent in Paris,” said Finn. “Knows the city well, spent a good part of his childhood there. I wanted to have someone who was not known to be associated with us to keep in close contact with St. Just. In fact, the less we’re seen together with him, the better. That’s why I’ve arranged for separate passage for him to Calais.”
“None of the others knows him, then?” said Dewhurst.
“No, that’s how I wanted it,” said Finn. “The French government is furious with us, you know. They’ve set their spies to watching everyone. I expect they’ll be nosing about in London soon, if they’re not there already. We must take all steps possible to protect ourselves and St. Just, in particular, especially since Marguerite wants me to bring him over for a visit. He’ll be seen with all of us at Richmond and I can’t chance his being seen with any of our group when he returns to Paris.”