No, he couldn't. And besides, a third missing GEM employee would guarantee an investigation. Nadia was as much a danger to him alive as dead.
His gut crawled as he watched her punch in 9-1-1. She paced back and forth as she waited for an answer, then wandered out of the room as she began talking to the operator or dispatcher or whoever handled those calls.
This tore it then. It was all over. He'd have to leave the country immediately. But what about his wine? He needed another two days to pack up the rest and ship it out—just one day if he worked all night…
But what was the use? In France he could hide from Dragovic but not from the U.S. and French governments. He would be found, extradited, and Dragovic's contacts in prison would see to it that he never reached a courtroom.
There had to be a way to stop her. But how?
His nervous, restless, roving gaze came to rest on Nadia's shoulder bag and a plan crystallized. It was beautiful, perfect.
Quickly Luc reached into the bag and rummaged around. He felt a sweat break at the thought of Nadia wandering back and finding him up to his elbows in her personal belongings. He heard a jangle, reached for it, came up with her key ring, and shoved it into his jacket pocket a second before Nadia stepped back into the room.
"They're sending someone over."
She dropped the phone into her bag and stood there. For a moment she seemed lost; then her features twisted. She covered her face with her hands and began to sob.
"Where is he? Something's happened to him. I just know something terrible's happened!"
Moved by her anguish, Luc rose and put an arm around her shoulders. For a moment he regretted everything, then reminded himself that if Gleason had minded his own damn business, if he'd just kept his nose out of places it did not belong, Luc wouldn't be comforting this young woman while he planned her ruin.
"It'll be all right, Nadia. I know it will be all right."
And he meant that. Every word of it.
But for him, not her.
3
"This is too much!" Sal was saying. "Just too freakin' much!"
Jack had to smile as he watched the destruction of last night's party play out on the thirteen-inch screen. It was too much.
Holiday quiet outside the office. Except for the guard dogs padding around behind the fences, he and Sal had the junkyard to themselves.
"Now here comes the best part," Sal said, pointing at the screen. "I musta watched this a hundred times."
Jack watched Dragovic shove a pretty young woman out from under a table, then watched that table collapse under the impact of a tottering overweight party guest. Jack laughed. Beautiful.
Sal was almost falling out of his seat. "Can you imagine when that hits the airwaves? "This guy ain't gonna be able to show his face in Burger King, let alone Studio 54!"
Jack started to tell him that Studio 54 was passe now but let it go. He knew what Sal meant, and he was right on the money.
"A fate worse than death," Jack said.
Sal hit the stop button and turned to Jack. "I don't know about a fate worse than death. Not that all this ain't good an' all, but good as it is—"
"Yeah, I know… Somehow it's not enough."
Sal smiled. "Yeah. Am I a broken record or what. But it's just… not. If you know what I'm sayin'."
"I do. But this has only been phase one. These first two hits are what you might call 'baking the cake.' In phase two we ice it."
"And when's phase two?"
"Tonight. This whole gig ends at tonight's party."
Jack was glad of that. After tonight, no more hard guys hanging around outside Gia's. He hoped.
"Tonight? Ain't no party tonight—least not according to my contact."
"Yeah, there is. Got it straight from Dragovic. Special party tonight, but your caterer friend won't be hired for this one."
"Well, we did tires and crankcase gunk," Sal said. "What next?"
"Something very special. You just make sure you and your camera are on that dune tonight. Be ready to shoot as soon as it's good and dark. This one will be the best yet."
"Yeah?" Sal wiggled his eyebrows. "Whatcha plannin'?"
"I'm planning to make a phone call."
"That's it? A call? To who?"
Jack wagged his finger at Sal. "If you knew that, you wouldn't need to pay me, would you. Just make sure you don't miss this party. And have the rest of my money ready. After tonight I don't think you'll be saying, 'it ain't enough.'"
4
"I thought we were going to see a parade," Vicky said.
"I did too, Vicks."
Jack stood on the curb between Gia and Vicky and gazed up and down Fifth Avenue. Saks and Gucci and Bergdorf Goodman lined the sidewalks but no marchers. Blue skies and mild weather, a perfect day for a parade. So where was everybody? Not even a single one of those pale blue wooden horses the police use to block streets to hint that a parade was expected or had already been by.
Jack did a full three-sixty scan, his eye out for more than marching bands. He'd done a careful reconnoiter of Gia's neighborhood before heading out to Sal's this morning, and then again a little while ago, and neither time had he found any signs of surveillance. Pretty much what he'd expected, but it didn't take him off alert. Jack had always found it more comforting to know where the bad guys were than where they weren't.
Since no one was watching them, and since he couldn't get hold of Nadia, he'd decided to take Vicky to a Memorial Day parade. But so far, no luck.
"God, it's good to be out," Gia said. "How much longer are we going to be under house arrest?"
To make the house look empty, Jack had advised Gia to stay inside and out of sight for the long weekend.
"We should be able to loosen up tomorrow."
She looked at him. "That means things come to a head tonight, I take it?"
"If all goes according to plan."
"Hey, look!" Vicky said, pointing. "More sailors."
Sure enough, a trio of young men of various shades—they looked like teenagers, and maybe they were—dressed in bell-bottomed whites and Dixie cup caps strolled their way from the direction of St. Pat's. As usual, the fleet was in for Memorial Day Weekend and white uniforms abounded.
"They're cute," Gia said. "But how do they get their whites so white?"
"Why don't you ask them?" Jack said.
Vicky put a hand on her out-thrust hip as they passed and said, "Hi-ya, sailor!"
The guys all but fell off the curb laughing, and Jack bit the insides of both cheeks to keep from doing the same. Gia turned scarlet and found something interesting atop the Saks building.
"What?" Vicky said, looking at her mother as the still-chortling sailors moved on.
"Where on earth did you hear that?"
"I saw it on MTV."
"There you go," Jack said, finally trusting himself to speak. "The root of the decline of Western civilization, such as it is."
"Well, young lady," Gia said, taking her by the hand and leading her across the street, "I think we're going to monitor your TV habits a little more closely from now on." She glanced back at Jack. "By the way, where are we going?"
"Let's try Broadway. Maybe they've got a parade there."
"You know," Gia said, taking his arm as they walked along, "I love the city on holiday weekends."
"You mean half-empty?"
She nodded. "It's like we've got the place almost to ourselves." She stretched out her arms and did a quick turn. "Look at that. I didn't hit anybody." She took his arm again. "I feel sorry for all these sailors. Of all times to get a leave in New York—one of the two big weekends a year when almost all the girls have left town for the beaches."
"I saw them checking you out pretty well as they passed."