From the Shadows by James R. Benn

Author:James R. Benn
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Soho Press

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

I FOUND CHRISTINE and Diana as they were leaving the Fleur de Sel. The air had grown cold, and the late-afternoon sky was steel gray. The outdoor tables stood empty, chairs tipped against them. The look on Diana’s face matched the weather.

“Madame Lemaire is frightened,” Diana said, shoving her arms into a raincoat. “She went white at the mention of Octave.”

“Then said she’d never heard of him,” Christine said. “Only to say a minute later that he was dead. This is not a woman who frightens easily. She served the Boche in the café while she passed on messages to résistants in the kitchen.”

“She was fighting in a cause worth dying for,” I said. “But now, why die over a name? Does she have any family?”

“Her husband died years ago. One son joined the FFI and is fighting in the north. The other, her youngest, was wounded and is recovering at home. A threat against him would be most effective,” Christine said, folding her arms against the chill and glancing skyward.

The sky looked ready to break open. We hustled to the hotel and made it to the door as the rain came down in slashing torrents, and lightning crackled in the distance.

“Big Mike should be rested enough,” Diana said. “Should we set him free?”

“I think so. I’ll get him and make arrangements with the manager,” Christine said.

“What arrangements?” I asked Diana. “I thought he had to guard the gold.”

“The hotel has a safe,” she said, smiling. “Big Mike would not have stayed put if he didn’t have to guard the briefcase. We’ll just say we didn’t know they had a safe.”

“Are you really worried about him?” I asked as we headed for a secluded table in the restaurant. It was early for dinner, but a few drinkers were gathered around the bar, making enough noise to cover our conversation.

“He had a bit of a limp, which he refused to admit,” Diana said. I held out a chair for her, but she preferred one that put her back to the wall. Some habits will never die. “He’s probably fine, but I wanted to be sure he could rest. I don’t know what Big Mike would do if they gave him a medical discharge.”

“Funny,” I said as I took my seat. “Most guys would give anything to get back home.”

“What about you, Billy Boyle?” Diana said, leaning forward with her arms on the table and smiling, her hazel eyes drilling into mine. “Aren’t you homesick for Boston?”

“Not at the moment,” I said, taking her hand and kissing it. We were interrupted by a waiter. Diana ordered a bottle of wine and told him several more guests were expected. “Whenever I do think of home, it’s all before the war. Before everything changed, you know? But it can never be like that again. We’re different now. The people who never left home, they’ve changed too. Who knows what home is even like?”

“I understand,” Diana said. “Being at Seaton Manor was like traveling back in time.

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