Then the hotel’s service door opened, and I saw movement in the alley. One of the CIA men emerged, his hand inside his coat. Then the Baroness, moving carefully, her bandaged hands tucked against her chest. Another CIA man followed, his eyes cold and watchful.
Good. They’d seen my signal and were using the back way out.
A dark sedan with diplomatic plates pulled into the alley. Behind the wheel was another member of the American team. He looked young, early twenties, with bushy black hair poking out from beneath a driver’s cap that looked like it belonged in reels from the twenties. With the car idling, the driver hopped out and held the door open while the Baroness slid inside. One of the other CIA men joined her in the back seat. The last man strode down the alley and onto the street as though he didn’t know the others and had no interest in whatever they were up to.
The sedan pulled away and headed east.
I waited.
The gray Opel started to move.
But instead of following the sedan, it turned in the opposite direction, heading west.
I let out a relieved sigh, but memorized the plate number just in case.
We met back at the farmhouse two hours later. I drove back alone, well behind the car with the Baroness and her CIA protectors. Still, my drive was circuitous with multiple route changes, as I watched the rearview mirror for tails, the usualprecautions. By the time I pulled into Dr. Müller’s drive, the sun was setting and my shoulder was screaming.
Will met me at the door.
“You saw them?” he asked.
I nodded. “Gray Opel, two men. They watched the hotel for at least fifteen minutes before you came out.” I followed him inside. “They didn’t pursue. When the Baroness’s car drove away, they turned west.”
“The CIA team spotted them, too. One of their people followed.”
“And?”
“They wound around town and ended up at a warehouse on the east side of the city in the industrial district. Our man couldn’t stick around because of heavy security guarding the place.” Will’s jaw tightened. “It could be one of the infrastructure targets.”
“Or could be nothing.”
“Maybe.” His tone said he didn’t believe that any more than I did.
The Baroness was standing at the stove, waiting for the kettle to whistle. She looked exhausted, but there was something different in her gaze, something I hadn’t seen in a while, a confidence that looked a lot like hope. Bisch sat in the living room with the two CIA men who’d escorted the Baroness.
“The general believes us,” she said before either of us could ask how the meeting went. “He has seen the documents and heard my testimony. He believes this is real.”
“Will he act?” I asked.
“He is already acting. He has contacts within the Federal Council, men he believes are compromised. By morning, they will know what we know. He cannot stop the Chamber Session—that would require a vote of the full Council—but he can ensure that when it is called, there will be voices ready to oppose it.”
“That’s something,” Will said.
“It is more than something, William.” The Baroness looked up from the kettle. “For the first time since this began, I believe we have a chance of saving my country.”
The gray Opel flashed in my mind, then the men who had been watching the hotel, who had known where to look when the meeting should’ve been hidden in plain sight.
“They knew about the meeting,” I said quietly. “The men in the Opel were waiting for you to come out. I think your escorts discouraged them from taking action.”
The Baroness nodded slowly. “Yes. I suspected as much.”
“How did they find out?” Will asked. “We were careful. The location wasneed-to-know.”
“Even retired, the general has staff. There are household servants, aids, and drivers.” She spread her ruined hands. “It is easy to learn things if you know where to look and who to ask. They may not have known who the general was meeting until I stepped out of the hotel. That would also explain why they did not act. Still, we must assume they now know we are moving against them.”
“They’ll try to stop us,” Will said.
“Yes. They will.” She looked at Will, then turned and met my eyes. I saw the steel in them, battered but unbroken. “Which is why we must move faster than they expect. The night of the 14th, we cannot simply watch the infrastructure targets. We must be ready to act.”
