Cross of Fire (85 page)

'I was stopped by a sergeant behind a cabin. I showed
him the DST card, knocked him
out, tied him up with rope,
hid him in a large rubbish bin, which seemed appropriate.
Then I waited a long time near General Charles de Forge's office. When he rushed out I marched inside. I told you the
rest.'

'Interesting,' said Tweed.

'And you haven't answered my question,' Stahl
reminded him. 'The other reason why you brought us all
here?'

Tweed paused. He looked all round the table. He wanted
his reply to have the desired effect: to make them more
alert.

'Because when I was flying over Arcachon in the Alouette
which brought me from Paris I saw Kalmar.'

Chapter Fifty-Five

Lasalle arrived in a large powerboat half an hour before
dusk. The craft edged its way up the creek, filling with the
incoming tide, bumped against the hull of
L'Orage V.
There
were already several DST men aboard, armed with auto
matic weapons. Lasalle was impatient.

'Join us quickly,' he called up to Tweed. 'We are on a
tight time schedule. Berthier, you come too ...'

'Newman is coming as well.' Tweed told him.

The powerboat turned round beneath the hull of the
cabin cruiser, raced out of the creek. Paula was standing on deck, anxiously watching the wake of the craft heading for the lie aux Oiseaux. Butler took her by the arm.

'Below decks. Now. You're a target out here.'

'I sense it's a dangerous mission they're going on.'

'Probably.' Butler followed her down the companionway.
'But surely you always realized when it came to a climax it
would be just that. Dangerous ...'

Thanking heaven that he'd taken Dramamine, Tweed
hung on to the rail as the powerboat whipped over the
waves which were now rolling in. A storm was imminent.

Reaching the island, Lasalle bundled them aboard a
waiting Alouette. It took off almost before they had time to
fasten their seat belts, put on their headsets. The machine headed east - inland and away from Arcachon.

'Is this when I meet de Forge?' Tweed asked.

'That's part of the idea.' Lasalle replied. 'In fact you're going to meet the whole of the
Cercle Noir -
now assembled for its final meeting at the Villa Forban.'

'How do you know that?'

'Berthier informed me.'

'From a phone inside GHQ?' Tweed queried.

'No. He phoned from a call box in a small village. That
last call which nearly cost him his life told me de Forge was
massing his Second Armoured Division at GHQ. This raid
will be a complete surprise. We grab the lot...'

As they flew at top speed further inland Tweed, peering
out of the window, saw other Alouettes rising up out of
small clearings in woods, from inside huge barns. Beyond
his window a whole fleet of Alouettes was flying at the
same height. Another small armada could be seen through
a window on the other side.

'Who is aboard those machines?' Tweed asked.

'Heavily armed, reliable units of the CRS. De Forge will
be thinking any CRS are still stationed in the trucks at the Bordeaux Prefecture. In fact they were all flown down in
Alouettes which made the trip one by one, landing in
preselected sites chosen by a DST deputy who knows the area. I think I can see the lights of the Villa Forban.'

Dusk, a smoky grey dusk, had descended. The Alouettes were circling. Ahead Tweed could see a walled estate, a
winding drive leading to a large villa with lights on. As they
drew closer he saw limousines drawn up in front of the
villa. Where poor Jean Burgoyne had spied.

The swoop from the sky had been well organized. Tweed
watched large numbers of the choppers moving ahead of
their machine, landing on all sides of the estate. The
Cercle
Noir
was surrounded.

*

'No one can escape this cordon.' Newman remarked.

'And they've neutralized the guard at the gate.' Tweed
pointed out.

As their machine flew below tree-top height he had seen
guards - uniformed soldiers - holding up their hands at the entrance. An Alouette equipped with a swivel-mounted
machine-gun had touched down on the grass verge opposite
the closed gates.

Lasalle's Alouette landed in front of the villa next to the parked limousines. Pistol in one hand, keys in the other, he was the first out of the machine, followed by several CRS
men in leather jackets who had sat at the rear of the chopper.
Tweed, Newman, and Berthier jumped out and followed
him to the door. Lasalle inserted and turned each key,
nodded to the CRS.

'Where did he get those keys?' Tweed whispered.

'I gave him a bunch of keys I found in Jean Burgoyne's handbag.' Newman told him. 'Two were engraved with the
Cross of Lorraine - like the emblem on the door...'

Lasalle had rushed inside the large hall. He seemed to know just where to go. Aiming his pistol he threw open a
door to the left. Inside everything was confusion.

Tweed recognized General Masson, Chief of the Army
Staff, hastily stuffing papers into a briefcase. General
Lapointe, commander of the
force de frappe,
standing erect
by a chair. Louis Janin, Minister of Defence, ashen-faced, sat
petrified at the long table. Dubois, dressed again in a rum
pled black suit, soiled white tie, shaggy hair awry, looked
desperate.

But what attracted Tweed's attention was the chair at the
head of the table, pushed back. And no sign of General
Charles de Forge. Lasalle, standing at the near end of the table as CRS men crowded in, weapons aimed, addressed
Masson.

'Where is de Forge?'

'General Charles de Forge, do you mean?'

Masson's manner was cold, brusque. He stared at Lasalle
with undisguised contempt.

'I repeat, where is de Forge?' Lasalle snapped. 'You are
all under arrest. The charge? High treason. And that applies
to Charles de Forge - who was sitting in that chair. Where
is he?'

'The General has never been here. Who are you? Address
me as General...'

'Lasalle, Chief of the Paris DST...'

'You won't hold that job much longer!' Masson stormed.
'I will personally see you are thrown into the street...'

'You are a liar. Come with me this instant. All of you.' Lasalle ordered.

He went to a side door halfway along the room, opened it, walked into the next room which was furnished like a
study with a large desk. Newman and Berthier watched as two CRS men had to grab Masson by the arms. He raged as they frog-marched him into the study.

General Lapointe, thin and grave-faced, needed no encouragement to do as he was told. With a certain dignity
he moved into the study: he struck Newman as the most
intelligent man in the
Cercle.
Dubois also offered no resistance. He pulled at his untidy moustache as he slouched after
Masson with dropping shoulders. Lasalle was seated behind
the desk, had used a key to open a deep bottom drawer.
Newman glanced inside: it held a modern tape recorder. Lasalle had pressed the rewind button and the reels were
spinning. The members of the
Cercle
were lined up against
the wall as he pressed the play button, sat back, listened.

'Gentlemen, I will not waste words. Tomorrow we take
Paris. I shall send the Austerlitz signal to destabilize the
capital early in the morning...'

De Forge's crisp commanding voice. Unmistakably.

'Are you quite certain Austerlitz will work? Only that gives us the excuse that you are needed to restore order.'

Masson's voice, showing a trace of nervousness.

'Masson, you really must trust me. There can be only one
commander of an operation. I, General de Forge, am that
commander.'

Masson's normally ruddy face had lost colour. He stood
like a frozen statue as the tape continued to relay the
conversation.

'Of course we all accept you as commander of the operation, General. Soon I shall be addressing you as President.
But how soon can we remove Navarre so I can take over his
position?'

The oily voice of Dubois. His eyes shifted uncertainly
from the CRS man on his left to the one on his right. Lasalle
stopped the tape, stared at the three men.

'Do I have to play any more? I said high treason,
Masson. You have only one alternative, not open to the
others...'

While he had played the tape Newman had moved to the
other side of the room, walled with glass-fronted bookcases.
He noticed one case where the books inside had toppled.
He ran his fingers down the hinges of the glass-fronted
door. As he pressed one hinge there was a click. The edge of the bookcase slid an inch or so open all the way to the floor like a door. He hauled at it and the concealed door
opened, exposing a flight of stone steps.

The Smith & Wesson was in his hand as he ran down the
steps and down a long corridor under the house. He was stopped by a steel slab he couldn't shift. He ran back and
Lasalle turned in his chair.

'De Forge got away through an escape tunnel,' Newman reported. 'I've no doubt it comes out well beyond the walls round the estate. Probably had a car waiting for him.'

'Pity. Our troubles are not over.' Lasalle gave the order
to one of the CRS men. 'Handcuff the prisoners, escort them
to separate helicopters. They will be flown to Paris.'

'This is outrageous.' Dubois protested.

General Lapointe made no protest. He simply extended both hands, wrists close together. Lasalle shook his head as the DST man next to Lapointe produced handcuffs.

'No cuffs for General Lapointe. Simply escort him.'

Tweed had kept quiet up to now. This was, after all,
Lasalle's affair, but he was curious about Lapointe. He asked
his question as Masson was shown into another room and
Dubois was taken away.

'General, your voice is on that tape?'

'Yes.' Lapointe smiled drily. 'You'll find you have the
evidence you need on me.'

'You supported de Forge's plan?' Tweed pressed.

'He never told us his battle plan. He is a very careful
man.' He paused. 'Oh, well, it is on the tape. I urged him to
do nothing rash, to go and see Navarre to get his view. I
still take full responsibility for my actions. Good evening,
gentlemen...'