I noticed that Olivia was twisting her new wedding ring on her finger. "It's a funny feeling," she said.
"What is?"
"Being married. Like this. In cold blood, so to speak. Paul?"
"Yes?"
She didn't look at me. "Please remember that in spite of last night it's purely a business proposition."
I said, rather stiffly, "If you mean I'm not to presume on the wedding license-"
"No, that's not what I mean," she said quickly. "But it's not as if we were in love with each other or trusted each other, really. It's not as if we really knew each other and expected to spend a lifetime together."
"What are you trying to say, Doc?"
She didn't look up. "Just that I'm not really a very nice person. I used to think I was. Nicey-nice. Prissy, even. A very high-minded and moral citizen. But I'm just not, that's all. The last few days-the last few weeks-have shown me things about myself that are rather frightening. But you're not marrying me for my character or personality, or my looks or money or background, or anything like that, are you? You picked me out for this job, or your chief did. It wasn't my idea. Please remember that. So if you should learn something about me one day, something not very pleasant, you'll have no right to complain that I tricked or deceived you. Will you?"
I said, "Is this another of those little personal matters you don't care to discuss, Doc? The last one got me a sock on the jaw, as I recall. l hope you don't have any more pugilistic boy friends hanging around."
"No," she said. "No, it's nothing like that. It's just. No, I can't say any more. It's not my secret."
I looked at her for a moment longer, looked ahead, and straightened the little car out at the edge of the pavement. For some reason I found myself remembering that Mariassy was a Hungarian name, and that Emil Taussig had once pulled a big, murderous job in Budapest, or tried. It would be a hell of a coincidence if there was any connection, and if there was one, I couldn't think what it would be, but it made me uneasy just the same.
"You pick the damndest times to go into your mystery-woman act," I said irritably. "The secret life of Olivia Mariassy. Nuts!"
"I shouldn't have said anything. I was just trying to keep the record straight, for my conscience's sake. It's really completely irrelevant."
"Sure," I said. "So was Mooney, you said. If it's not your secret, whose is it?" I looked at her again. She shook her head minutely; she wasn't telling. I said, "Doc, if you'd heard that darling-never-trust-me line as often as I have-"
"And always from a beautiful female agent, I suppose." Olivia's voice was dry. "And usually in bed, no doubt. It must be a fascinating life."
"You'll have an opportunity to judge it for yourself in just a moment," I said. "I'm going to give it a try while we're still on the road. If somebody's tailing us, they're very good, and they're obviously not going to give us a look at them, driving. I think we'd better disappear from the highway temporarily. Get the guy worrying about losing us, if there is a guy, and maybe he'll show himself while we lie in the woods, watching. He may even come in after us, if we arrange it right."
She looked at me, and touched her tongue to her lips. "And if he does?"
"If he does," I said, "we've got orders to take him."
"You mean right now? Right here? I thought you said you were going to wait and lure him out to one of the beaches-"
"We'll keep the beaches in reserve," I said. "This piney country looks pretty good. I'm pretty good in the woods, if I do say so myself."
Olivia shivered slightly. "All right," she breathed. "All right. You don't mind if I'm a little frightened, do you? But it will be nice to have it over, if it works. if there is someone." She hesitated. "You'll have to tell me what to do."
I told her.
XIV
THE ROAD I PICKED to turn off on was just two ruts among the trees. It ran straight back into a patch of timber that promised adequate cover. I drove off the highway a reasonable distance but not so far that the Renault couldn't be spotted by someone with sharp eyes driving by.
Stopping, I took Olivia into my arms. It was supposed to look very passionate from a distance-after all, we'd just got married, and a little private clinch was in order-but the French, for all their sexy reputation, must not go in for that stuff much or they wouldn't put the handbrake and gearshift lever where they do.
Still, it wasn't exactly a mechanical performance. I mean, we were both human and we'd spent some time in the same bed the night before. She still knew where the noses went. I was aware of traffic on the highway, but I won't claim I kept an accurate count of every car that went past. We were both a bit breathless when the time came to break.
"One of these days," I said, releasing her, "one of these days we'll have to do that just for fun, Doc. Scene Two coming up. Do you have a blanket on board?"
"Blanket?" She had her hands to her hair. She wasn't looking at me. There was color in her cheeks, and she looked just like a woman who'd been kissed and not at all like a scientific institution. "No, I'm afraid there's no blanket. Why?"
"Don't be innocent," I said. "Because of what would follow naturally between two newlyweds in a secluded spot like this, that's why. Because of what obviously can't be done in a car this size by a man my size. Well, my topcoat will have to do. Leave your damn hair alone and come on."
I grabbed the coat from the rear seat, got out, and joined her on the other side of the car, putting my arm around her to make it look good if somebody was watching. A vehicle went past on the highway doing at least eighty; that one wasn't looking out for anything but cops. I led her toward a patch of brush that offered privacy. Inside there was enough space at the foot of a big pine to spread my coat. Olivia sat down and checked her stockings for snags, then looked up smiling.
"I'm not supposed to be thinking of my appearance, am I?"
Her voice was cool and steady now, and I found myself wondering if that was really what she'd been thinking. It wasn't my idea, she'd said. You'll have no right to complain that I tricked or deceived you. It was as clear a warning as I could expect.
It was a hell of a case, I reflected. Nobody was really acting right, not Kroch, not the woman who was supposed to be my partner in the assignment, the woman who was now, according to law, my wife. Even Mooney, the lightweight, couldn't seem to stay in character either as a sincere lover or a panicky seducer or a cowardly accomplice. And in some respects I wasn't being very consistent myself, although I preferred not to examine that idea too closely.
I said, businesslike: "If anybody's shadowing us, he's had plenty of time to go past. We'll assume he spotted us smooching in the car."
"Kroch knows what you are," Olivia interrupted. "The passionate love scene isn't likely to have fooled him, is it? Any more than our hasty marriage?"
I said, watching her, "Let's not go overboard on this Kroch theory, Doc. He's our best bet, true, but he's acting very oddly. And if there should be somebody else, neither Kroch nor Mooney-"
She frowned quickly. "Who?"
"I don't know," I said. "But there's something in this damn case that I'm overlooking, and until I find it I'm not going to settle on Herr Kroch to the exclusion of everything else. And if it's Kroch following us, no harm is done. He'll naturally have some doubts about the sincerity of our display of passion; he'll wonder just who the hell we think we're fooling. He'll be puzzled. So much the better. He'll have all the more reason to want to find out what we're really up to in here. Let's hope he parks up ahead and comes sneaking back for a look. If he does, your job is to make him think we're both right here in this thicket. I leave the details to your imagination." I paused, and took my compact.38 Special out of my pocket. "One more thing. Have you ever been checked out on one of these, Doc?"