Trader of secrets

Chapter Forty-Three

When the phone rang, it was just after eleven. Sarah knew that only one person would be calling this late at night. “Can we stop it?”

Adin pressed the button on the remote and stopped the DVD, the movie they were watching in the living room of Sarah’s condo.

She leaped across the room and grabbed the phone, but not before it rang one more time. “Hello.”

“Sarah. It’s Dad.”

“Where are you?”

“We’re still in Paris. How is Herman doing?”

“Grouchy as ever,” said Sarah. “When are you coming back? I’m worried about you.”

“Soon. Is Herman awake?”

“I don’t know. I’ll check in a minute. First I want to know, when are you coming back? Is Harry all right?” Sarah had seen enough of the legacy of Herman’s wounds to worry about her father, Harry, and even Joselyn, whom she did not know all that well.

“Harry’s fine.”

“And Jos…?”

“We are all fine. Not to worry.”

Paul was not about to tell Sarah about the body in the alley. That would be enough to make his daughter go ballistic. “I need to talk to Herman.”

“Let me see if he’s awake. Gimme a second.”

Before she could take half a step, Herman hollered from the other room: “I’ll take it in here. And do me a favor, watch who you go callin’ grouchy, girl.”

She laughed, waited for Herman to pick up the phone in the other room, and then hung up the receiver. As Sarah headed back toward the couch and the movie, Adin stood up.

“Your father?”

“Yeah.”

“As long as we’re taking a break, I’ve got to go to the bathroom,” said Adin. “Don’t wait for me. Go ahead and turn it on. I’ll be right back.”

“I’ll wait for you.”

Adin slipped quietly down the hall, stepped into the bathroom, and silently closed the door and locked it. He didn’t turn on the light because it would trigger the overhead fan. Instead he stood in the dark and listened. The guest bath and Herman’s room shared a common wall.

“Yeah, I ’member the place,” said Herman. “Ruins in the Mexican jungle on the Yucatan, a ways out of Tulum, as I recall. Yeah, I remember Coba. That’s the place you hired me, right? Sure.”

Silence for a few seconds, then: “It’s been a while since I been down there, but I think I still got some friends in the area. Why do you ask?”

More silence: “I don’t understand. You’re in Paris. Why would you be needing security in Mexico?”

Herman listened. Adin waited. “You sure you want to do that? Why don’t you just call Thorpe and tell him?…

“What do you mean, he hasn’t followed up?”

I was wearing a headset with a mic, using Skype to talk to Herman through Joselyn’s laptop while she and Harry used the landline in the room to book our flight and get a taxi.

I had to be careful what I said to Herman. I knew that the front desk at the condo would be listening. While I wanted the message to get to Thorpe, I didn’t want it to get there too quickly. If it did, Thorpe would put us on the no-fly list immediately and we would never get out of Paris.

“How are you doing? How are you healing up?” I ask him.

“Me. I’m fine,” he says. “Fit as a fiddle. I’m back on my feet. Why don’t I just meet you in Mexico?…”

“No!” With Herman you never know whether he’s telling the truth or just being stoic. I wouldn’t put it past him to jump on a plane tomorrow. “You just get better. Take care of yourself. We’ll be fine. Listen, I can’t talk long. I’ll call you again later. What time is it there?”

It took a second for Herman to check. “Twelve minutes after eleven.”

“Do you have something to write with?” I ask.

“Gimme a sec.”

I wait.

“Got it,” says Herman.

“Wait until noon tomorrow. Then I want you to call Thorpe’s office. Make sure you get through to him. Tell him to call the Paris police and ask about the package in the blue tarp that was left in the alley behind the Hotel Saint-Jacques early this morning. You got it?”

“Slow down,” says Herman. “I don’t take shorthand. Saint-Jacques. Blue tarp.”

“That’s right, blue tarp. The French police will know what he’s talking about. Tell him that the package was done by Liquida. We don’t know who it is, but I’m sure Thorpe will find out. Tell him Liquida is no longer in Paris. You got that? Tell him to check the area around Coba. I don’t know exactly where, but he can look for a large antenna array…”

“Slow down. Large antenna array…”

I am trying to keep the information cryptic so that Thorpe will not land on us too quickly, either before we can get out of France or before we land in Mexico.

“That’s what I said. There should be a large building there as well. In the jungle. I don’t know exactly where. We’re guessing that that’s where Liquida is headed. And tell him we found some strange-looking software inside the package.”

“What do mean? What kind of software? What’s it for?”

“We don’t know. But maybe Thorpe will. Tell him the French police don’t have it, we do.”

“OK, police don’t have it. You do. You didn’t talk to the police?”

“No. We didn’t want to stick around. Oh, and Herman, listen. Tell Sarah not to worry. Tell her I’m getting closer to home. You can tell her about Coba, but not too much. You know the area, give her some details, but tell her not to worry. I’ll be back there as soon as I can.”

“Got it. Where can I catch you, assuming I get ahold of some people to set up security down there?”

“I don’t know. I’ll try and call you from Mexico when we get there.”

“OK.”

“Catch you later.” I tap the red button with the computer’s cursor and the Skype screen closes.