"I can't," said Lucas. "At least, not now. I told you, I didn't expect you to believe me. But suppose, just for one moment, that Mongoose went over. Where would that leave you? What would be my motive for lying to you?"
"Well, let's suppose that you went over," Cobra said. "We know that Delaney, at least, has some sympathy for the league. And you were out of the service for a period of time. Who knows what you were doing? Not to mention the fact that you're here with someone who burned one of our agents."
"She did that in self-defense and you know it," Lucas said, angrily. "Besides, you know our records. They speak for themselves."
"So does Mongoose's."
"All right, then, pull us off the mission," Lucas said. "But ask yourself why, if I'm not on the level, I haven't taken advantage of all the opportunities I've had to sabotage this mission. Finn and I could easily have taken Mongoose out. We could easily have killed any one of the musketeers or even all of them. Besides, you picked us for this mission. Can you afford to take the chance that I'm not telling you the truth? Can you afford not to check it out?"
"You're putting me in a very bad position, Priest." The agent thought a moment. Lucas found that his palms were sweating. Finally, Cobra nodded. "You're right," he said. "I can't afford to take the chance. All right. I'll take some men and return to Paris. It means pulling some people off this operation and I don't like that. You'd damn well better be right."
"Fine," said Lucas. "Let's go."
"You're not going anywhere," said Cobra. "You two are going to finish out this ride. You'll be covered every inch of the way. You make one wrong move and you've both had it, understand? And I'll take those lasers."
He held his hand out, palm up.
"No way," said Lucas.
"I'm not asking you, I'm telling you," the agent said. "You want me to stick my neck way out for you. You're asking me to consider your position; well, I'm asking you to consider mine. You'll still have your daggers and your rapiers, but after this, I'd have to be insane to let you keep your lasers. Now let's have them."
Lucas licked his lips nervously and glanced at Andre.
"He is only asking for a gesture of good faith," she said.
"He's asking a lot more than that," said Lucas, "but I'm afraid I see his point."
He reversed his laser and handed it over. Andre did the same.
"Okay," said Cobra. "I'll take some men and leave right away. Where can I find Delaney?"
"I don't know," said Lucas. "He's probably trailing Mongoose, wherever he is."
"He still wearing his comset?"
"I doubt it," Lucas said. "With Mongoose in charge, he would be wide open if he was transmitting. Which reminds me, just how far do these things go?" he said, pointing at his throat.
"Not to Paris, if that's what you're thinking. They're short-range. Assuming what you're saying is true, and Mongoose is a renegade, Delaney will have every reason to expect hostility from us. Can you think of anything that I can do to convince him that I'm giving you a chance to prove your allegations?"
Lucas thought a moment. "Yeah. Tell him that I wish he had called 'Tails.' He'll know what it means."
Finn followed Mongoose to the same alley in the Rue Ferou where Andre had seen him confer with Freytag. Mongoose was being sloppy. He didn't expect anyone to be on his trail, so he didn't even bother to check to see if he was being followed. Just the same, Finn gave him plenty of room. It was late and the darkness made it easier. As the agent stepped into the alley, Finn quickly ran across the street. He would be in good position to fire at them in the alley, but then he'd have no idea where Taylor was. He debated the question of whether or not to go for the sure thing and kill the two of them now, hoping to catch Taylor on his own, or follow them to Taylor and try taking them out all at once.
It was tempting. All he had to do was step into the mouth of the alley and sweep it quickly with the laser and it would be all over for Mongoose and Freytag. But then it would mean cutting it very close with Taylor. Finn's cover did not gain him admission to the palace, whereas Taylor's did. He'd either have to sneak into the palace somehow and catch "Milady" inside, which would be next to impossible considering the odds, or get Taylor before he went into the palace, and there was no way of knowing for certain which entrance he would use. Finn could not cover all of them at once.
Staying low and keeping to the shadows, Finn glanced into the alley. He could just barely make out two shapes in there. The big one had to be Freytag. On the floor directly above him, a man and a woman were screaming at each other and there was the occasional crash of crockery. The noise made it impossible for him to overhear anything that went on inside the alley. He cursed the quarreling couple, but didn't want to risk getting any closer. He felt the laser in his right hand and wished that he could get it over with right now, but he fought down the impulse to fire. Two of them would not be good enough. He'd have to get all three. He steeled himself and waited. They would lead him to Taylor. They had to.
"All right, let's do it," Mongoose said.
Freytag smiled. "Sure. Anything you say. Adrian would just love to see you."
Mongoose looked down at the slim laser in Freytag's hand. It was aimed directly at his midsection.
"What the hell is this?"
"Just don't move a muscle, friend, or I'll fry your guts right here," said Freytag, reaching out with his other hand and patting him down. He relieved Mongoose of his weapon.
"I thought we had a deal," said Mongoose,
"Immunity from prosecution and a blanket pardon in return for handing Taylor over to you personally?" Freytag chuckled. "That's not what I call a very attractive deal. It won't put any money in my pocket."
"How much do you want?"
"You must really take me for a fool," said Freytag. "Once you had Taylor, you'd hang me, as well. You should've tried your pitch on Darcy. He might've been stupid enough to go for it; but then, he's dead."
"Don't be a fool, Bruno. You'll never get away with this."
"Who's to stop me?" Freytag said. "You wanted Taylor to yourself so badly that you sent all your people off on a wild goose chase. Your own colossal ego did you in, Mongoose. If not for that, you might've stopped us, but you blew it. You did just what Taylor said you would. You know, I didn't believe him. I told him that nobody could be that stupid. But here you are."
Casually, Mongoose reached up as if to scratch himself. Freytag slapped his hand down.
"You go for that panic button one more time and you've had it," he said.
"Taylor wouldn't like that," Mongoose said. "I'm sure he'd be real disappointed if you didn't bring me in alive."
"I'm sure he would be, but nothing says I gotta bring you in with both your hands still attached to your wrists."
"I'm afraid you've got a point," said Mongoose.
"All right. Now we're going to take a little walk. You walk in front of me, nice and easy. I'll tell you where to go. And don't get any ideas. You try anything and I'll burn your legs off at the knees and carry you the rest of the way. Now let's go."
Finn could hardly see inside the alley. Occasionally, he would catch some motion in there, but it was hard to make out what was happening. There was a fresh burst of screaming from the couple fighting upstairs and a crash as a thrown footstool hurtled through the window and out into the alley. Finn ducked down, quickly. When he looked up, both men had moved out into the center of the alley and were silhouetted as they walked out the other end. He followed, keeping at a distance.
They went several blocks, walking casually down the street until they came to a familiar neighborhood. With a shock, Finn realized that they were heading straight toward Moreau's Tavern. They passed the entrance to the tavern and went into the house right beside it.