Deliver Us From Evil

24

THAT WAS the first mistake. The person was too close, mere inches away, which allowed no adequate buffer to ward off a sudden counterattack. The second mistake was not pulling the trigger and killing him. Shaw’s thumb jammed behind the trigger, making discharge impossible. His other four fingers closed on the muzzle, jerking it downward so it pointed at the ground. The final mistake was not letting go of the pistol. He pulled hard, bent his body forward, and the figure sailed over him, landing hard in the grass. He ripped the gun free, straddled the body, and pointed the weapon at the person’s head.

“Janie?”

She was lying under him, her cotton robe askew and her hair in her face. She was breathing hard, probably from the impact with the ground. She had on a pair of tennis shoes, a robe, and not much else that he could see.

Her knee slamming into his left kidney sent a jarring pain up his back. He fell sideways and lay hunched over in the grass next to her. The two rose slowly, nursing their bumps and bruises. Shaw kept the gun in his hand.

“What the hell are you doing here?” she demanded, her gaze flitting from the gun to his face.

“I saw lights on in the villa next door. Then I thought I saw a guy coming over the wall into your grounds.”

She looked around. “From where did you see all this?”

Shaw pointed at the cliffs. “I was taking a stroll. From up there it’s a clear line to your villa.”

“How did you know where I was staying?” she said sharply.

He looked sheepish. “Okay, I confess, I followed you home the night we had dinner, but just to make sure you got here okay. You know, rich woman traveling alone? I was worried about you.” He held up the gun. “I’m a little surprised you have one of these.”

“Like you said, I’m rich and traveling alone. And I have a permit for it.”

“Really?” He handed it back to her. “I thought France was pretty strict about guns.”

“Money solves many problems,” she said coolly.

He rubbed his back. “Let me guess, in addition to foreign-language immersion classes, you also have time for martial arts.”

She fingered the gun before releasing the hammer and placing it in the pocket of her robe, which she cinched up tightly. “I heard something in the rear yard, but I didn’t see a man come over the wall. Well, that is, except for you.”

“But you must’ve seen the lights come on next door. And there’s a van out front with two men in it.”

She gazed at the wall separating the two villas. “Maybe I did. I… I can’t be sure.” She looked back at him. “So you can see my villa from the cliffs?”

“Yeah. The tourist buses come there every day and take photos of the villas, the valley, and the mountains.” For some reason Shaw could tell that she knew all of this. That along with her having a gun now rekindled his suspicions. “Your pool is the only one directly visible from that vantage point. The pool next door is mostly hidden by a garage and some trees.”

She glanced at the dark waters. “The pool?” She shot him an accusatory look. “Could you see me swimming then? And afterwards?”

Shaw didn’t hesitate. “All I saw was the guy. That’s why I came down here, to make sure you were okay. I would’ve knocked on the front door, but again there were the dudes next door and I wasn’t sure what was going on. And it is after one in the morning.”

“Yes, it is. I’m surprised you’re still up.”

“Yeah, I was surprised to see you too. Guess I’m still on U.S. time. You sure you didn’t see anyone?”

“No one, and the doors are all locked.” She paused. “I didn’t know lobbyists were so good with defensive maneuvers and guns.”

Shaw managed a chuckle. “Hell, it was all luck. When I felt the muzzle against my head I just sort of freaked. Last time I fired a gun I was thirteen. It was a.22 caliber rifle and the targets were tin cans stuck on a fencepost. But where did you learn to sneak up on people like that? I never even heard you.”

Shaw had thought it impossible for anyone to do that to him.

“I took ballet. I’m light on my feet.”

When she didn’t say anything else, he lightly touched her arm and said, “I’m just glad you’re okay. I better get going now.”

“Maybe we can see if the men are still out there,” she said, turning toward the villa.

Shaw mutely followed her, noting the grass stain on the backside of her cotton robe from where he’d thrown the woman. The house was dark and she didn’t turn on any lights as they moved through the space, Shaw following her lead. He could tell that she had excellent night vision. They reached the front room, where Shaw could see the oak double doors leading outside. The room was barrel-vaulted, supported by visible curved wooden trusses in a style often seen in older European homes. The interior walls were thick, with a stucco veneer. They kept the cool or heat in as needed. The furnishings were eclectic, costly, and plentiful to the point of the large room feeling slightly cluttered but cozy. To his left he noted the corkscrew limestone staircase that provided access to the interior five floors. A lot of space for one person.

They drew close to the door and he watched as Janie eased back a curtain of the sidelight next to the doorway. Shaw peered over her shoulder. He breathed an inaudible sigh of relief when he saw the Citroën van still there with the dark shadows in the front indicating the men were also still present and accounted for.

She closed the curtain and took a step back, turning to him. “Thanks for your concern, Bill.”

“Anytime. You have any idea who those guys are?”

She shook her head. “Maybe we should report this to the police.”

“Maybe we should,” said Shaw. He had no intention of doing any such thing, and something made him suspect that she wasn’t going to call them either. “Well, I better get going. Do you mind if I go out the way I came in? Those guys look a little rough for my tastes.”

She nodded absently, her gaze on his face. “I’m sure you could handle yourself just fine.”

She followed him out to the rear, where he used his jacket as protective cover while he hoisted himself back up on the wall. While he perched there momentarily, she said, “Maybe we can get together soon?”

“Okay. I feel after tonight we’ve really bonded.”

She seemed to force a smile. “I think so too.”

“Look, I’m planning to grab some coffee and a croissant at the little village bakery around nine tomorrow morning. Why don’t we meet there?”

As soon as he disappeared over the wall, Reggie stripped off her robe to reveal dark shorts and a navy blue tube top underneath. She waited for a few beats before going back in the villa and exiting through a door on the lower level that emptied out onto the public path. Finding the same blind spot in the observation lanes of the men in the van that Shaw had earlier, she started following him. He took the shortcut up to the village and wound his way slowly back to his hotel through the silent streets. If he knew he was being followed he gave no indication of it.

Reggie broke off her tail when he entered the hotel’s front doors. At least she knew now where he was staying. She made her way slowly back down to the villa, skirted the men in the van, and re-entered her villa the same way she had left it. She retrieved her robe where she’d dropped it on a table and carefully lifted out the gun. She put it in a plastic baggie. It had Bill’s prints on the muzzle.

She searched the place from top to bottom after locking all the doors. Satisfied, she put on a long T-shirt, climbed into bed, and made a call.

Whit answered on the second ring. His voice did not sound sleepy. He and Dominic were staying at an isolated cottage barely fifteen kilometers away. She filled him in on the night’s events.

“I don’t like this guy,” Whit said.

“There were two men out front,” she pointed out.

“Yeah, but you still don’t know what his angle is. I think we can safely assume that he’s not some bloody lobbyist from the States. The whole mission could be compromised now.”

“I don’t see him working for Waller, if that’s what you’re getting at. He wouldn’t have pointed out the man’s advance team to me and then warned me about the man watching me.”

“So if he’s not with Waller, what then?”

“I don’t know. I’ve got his prints on my gun that I’ll send along to you. I want to see if we get a hit somewhere.”

“Okay, I can pick it up tomorrow. But look, Reg, it’s hard enough going up against Kuchin. We don’t need any unknown shit on top of it.”

She put the phone down and lifted the sheet over her. But she couldn’t sleep. She rose, padded over to the window, opened it, and stared out. She was on the top floor of the villa with excellent views of Gordes. Up there was a tall man who’d just manhandled her. He could have killed her tonight but he hadn’t. She’d never seen anyone move that fast, that fluidly. Not Dominic or even Whit. Or even her.

Who is he?

“Damn,” she muttered before closing her window and flopping on the bed with a long groan. This complication was the last thing she needed right now, if it somehow caused them to miss getting Kuchin. It took another hour for her to fall asleep.

In his room Shaw had just finished talking to Frank, reporting in what had happened. He stripped down to his skivvies, but couldn’t sleep. Lying down he sometimes found it hard to breathe because of a recent nasty attack on his windpipe by a fellow named Caesar. Shaw’s muscles were long and ropy and he was actually stronger than he looked. Yet the giant Caesar had been more physically formidable. However, Shaw had gotten a little help in their confrontation from unexpected sources. Love. Hate. Rage. But mostly hate and rage. The result was he was here and Caesar wasn’t.

He rose and opened his window to let in some fresh air. His window didn’t have a view of the villas below, but he could see them clearly in his mind.

So who was the woman and why was she really here? She might be simply who she said she was. Rich and traveling alone, a woman might carry a weapon-it was not unreasonable. And the database search on her fingerprints had produced no hits. Then an image drove into his mind that he tried but could not get rid of. Her bathing suit coming off and revealing the long, tanned torso sliding down into the smooth, shapely, and naked backside. Massive waves of guilt poured over him. He got back into bed and finally fell asleep.