Cross of Fire (57 page)

Paula was akeady seated in the rear, Nield had the
engine running. Butler dived into the front passenger seat
and Nield drove off at a moderate speed: if he rammed his foot down he'd make more noise.

General de Forge had his keys ready to open the front door of the villa. He glanced over his shoulder to where Lamy waited in his limousine and the group of armed motorcycle riders sat astride their machines, weapons looped over their shoulders.

De Forge walked swiftly through the living room, opened
the connecting door to the study. Jean Burgoyne was sitting
reading a book. She looked surprised, closed the book, stood
up.

'I thought you weren't coming today, Charles ...'

'Exactly!'

As he spat the word at her he shoved her roughly back
into the chair, made his way into the kitchen. He looked
round, turned the handle of the rear door and it opened.
Security at the villa was tight. All windows were bullet
proof. The rear door had a fish-eye spyhole. But it also had
three bolts in addition to the lock. It was seeing the bolts drawn free which had attracted his attention.

Drawing his pistol, de Forge stepped outside, stared down the full length of the garden. He saw nothing but he heard something - the faint sound of a car retreating in the distance.

He rushed back inside, locked the door, ran straight to the front door. Throwing it open he ran down the steps to
the limousine. Lamy was outside the vehicle instantly, stood
on the gravel.

'There's a road at the back of the villa leading across country, isn't there?'

'Yes. And very much a lonely country road ...'

'Send an outrider along that road. If he overtakes a car
he's to stop it - by force if necessary. Get someone on that
road now.'

He walked back inside the villa as Lamy issued instruc
tions. Alone in the study, Jean took the Mauser from a
drawer. Should she shoot the bastard now? She hadn't had
time to go and lock and throw the three bolts across on the rear door. She'd heard his key rattling in the front door and he might have caught her.

When de Forge walked into the study she was sitting in the same chair, staring at him with a cold look, the book
closed on her lap. She'd decided against using the gun:
Paula's escort had warned her de Forge was not alone. If
she killed him she'd end up dead herself. She got her verbal
blow in first.

'Have you gone mad? I'm not one of your slave privates
you can knock about whenever the whim takes you. This
time you have gone too far.'

'No!' De Forge gripped the top of her armchair, partly to
regain self-control.
'You
have gone too far. The rear door
was open. Who was with you? Who ran for it when I
arrived unexpectedly?'

'No one.' she said quietly, laying her book on a table as she stood to face him. 'I went into the back garden for some
fresh air. Then I heard your cavalcade arriving so I came quickly back because you expect me to be waiting for you. And I'm damned if I see why I have to explain all my movements. In fact, I'm not prepared to.'

De Forge had his fury under control. His brain was ice-
cold and racing. He smiled, took her in his arms, kissed her.
She stood there, letting him do it, without responding. He
released her from his embrace.

'You're looking more beautiful than ever.' he com
mented. The fresh air did you good. I just called in
en route
-
to make sure you were all right. I'll come tomorrow - in
the evening. Until then...'

He was careful to walk quickly across the polished wood
block floor of the hall, so she would hear he was in a hurry.
His expression changed as he sat in the limousine beside
Major Lamy and the vehicle began moving. His voice was harsh.

'You sent an outrider to look for that car?'

'Immediately. He will stop it, identify the occupant. He
will then use his radio to call me to say who it is, still
detaining the car.'

'Good. There might well be an unfortunate shooting
accident. A fatal one. Back to GHQ.'

'Press your foot down, Pete,' Butler ordered. 'If they did
hear our car they may send someone to follow us. I want to
be off this loop road, back on the main highway before
anyone catches us up. Then we have no connection with the
Villa Forban.'

'Hold on, Paula,' Nield warned and rammed his foot
down.

The narrow winding country road was sunk in a gully
which meant they were concealed from the main road they
were looping round to join. Its surface was uneven and
bumpy. Paula braced herself as Nield swung the wheel to
the left, to the right and the car rocked at high speed.

Nield had been a racing car buff who earlier had driven
at Brand's Hatch. Few drivers could have moved at his pace and kept the vehicle on the road. Paula watched the needle
climbing on the speedometer and then decided she didn't
want to know how fast they were travelling.

They were within a couple of miles of the highway
when Paula glanced back. The road had straightened, was
stretched ahead of them like a ruler. The rocking had
stopped, the road surface had improved. Paula stared
through the rear window, reached for her field-glasses
inside her shoulder bag. She was now able to swivel round and aim the binoculars.

Behind them a dot had appeared, a dot which grew
steadily larger. She focused on it and sucked in her breath. She patted Butler on the shoulder. He twisted round.

Trouble?'

'I think so. There's a soldier coming up behind us like a bat out of hell. A tall aerial on his motorcycle. What looks like an automatic weapon looped over his back.'

'You could shoot him, Harry.' Nield suggested, checking his rear-view mirror.

'No.' said Butler. 'Killing one of de Forge's men with a
bullet would raise all hell. As I keep reminding you, we're
in enemy territory.'

'You've got a better idea?'

'I might have...'

Butler explained his suggested tactic - providing they had the right situation. Paula looked back again and the
rider was closer, but not close enough yet to see him clearly.
Butler glanced in his wing mirror for the third time. Then
he gave the order to Paula.

'Get down out of sight. Huddle on the floor as far as you
can. We don't want you seen.'

'Anything you say, sir.'

Paula squeezed herself as low as she could. She curled
her long legs in a most uncomfortable posture. Thank God the road surface was smooth now.

Nield kept up his speed but the rider overtook them
rapidly. The road was wider - wide
enough for him to
speed past them, then maintain the same pace ahead of the Renault. Butler saw the camouflage jacket. As the rider had flashed past he'd seen the sinister helmet, the goggles which
made the rider seem eyeless, the tall aerial quivering with
the speed, the automatic weapon across his back.

The rider held on to the handlebars with one hand - not
a difficult feat since this stretch of road was so very straight - and used the other gloved hand to waggle it up and down.
A signal. A command.
Stop your car!

'Keep moving.' Butler ordered Nield, 'but gradually
reduce your speed.'

'I don't see any chance of carrying out your tactic,' Nield
commented.

'Just keep going,' Butler replied calmly. 'We could get lucky.'

'You're an optimist,' Nield chided him.

'Positive thinking, pal.'

'Anything happening?' Paula called out.

'Yes,' said Butler. 'You're to keep your head down.'

The motorcyclist suddenly increased speed, roared on
ahead, then vanished from sight. Butler grunted with satisfaction when the rider didn't reappear in the distance. There
was obviously a dip in the road. The motorcyclist was
waiting for them out of sight. He looked at Nield, who nodded, reduced speed a little more. Butler twisted round
to speak to Paula.

'Go on keeping your head down. There may be a little
excitement in the next minute.'

Nield drove on and without warning the road sloped to
a shallow dip. A hundred yards away the motorcyclist, his
machine standing on its strut beside him, stood in the
middle of the road. He held his automatic weapon in his hands. As the Renault appeared he began to raise it, pre
pared to aim it.

Nield reacted as Butler had suggested. He rammed down his foot, shot forward at high speed, driving point blank for
the soldier who had almost aimed his weapon. When he
saw the projectile hurtling towards him he hesitated, which was a mistake.

At the last moment he jumped to one side. The bumper
of the Renault struck him a glancing blow. The rider hit the
hard road surface like a sack of cement, lay still. The Renault
also hammered into the motorcycle, toppled it on its side.
Nield braked and Paula swore inwardly, but had cushioned
her head with her shoulder bag. Butler looked back. The aerial on the motorcycle was a mangled wreck. No means
of communication.

'You did a nice job, Pete,' he commented.

'Flattery will get you a long way.'

Nield drove on to join the highway, to proceed at speed
towards Arcachon where Paula had an appointment with
Victor Rosewater.

Chapter Thirty-Seven

General de Forge's limousine, preceded by outriders with a second group bringing up the rear, was travelling along the
lonely road halfway back to GHQ. On both sides in the
distance rose low hills, some topped with dumps of trees.
Major Lamy sat beside him, studying a map of Paris.

The chauffeur braked suddenly. De Forge sat up more
erect and stared forward. The leading outrider lay in the
road, his machine sprawled beside him, the wheels still
revolving slowly. Shakily, the rider clambered to his feet.

'What the hell!' de Forge snapped. 'Can't he even keep in
the saddle ...'

The crack of splintering glass stopped him. Something
shot across the interior of the car. The window next to de
Forge was crazed - like the window next to Lamy where
the bullet had entered.

'Down!' Lamy shouted. He grabbed de Forge, forced him
below window level. 'That was a bullet. Stay down and I'll
investigate...'

'You bloody fool,' de Forge stormed. 'Tell the chauffeur
to get moving. At speed...'

Lamy gave the order. The chauffeur drove the limousine round the fallen machine and its rider, scattering the rest of their escort. As they moved past Lamy looked out, saw the machine lying in the road. He stared at de Forge.