Steve Berry - The Alexandria Link

“I can’t talk about it. But some really bad guys have targeted your dad and they were going to come after you and your mom, so we stepped in to protect you.” He could see that the explanation didn’t seem to totally satisfy.

“But my dad doesn’t work for the government anymore.”

“Unfortunately his enemies don’t care about that. They just want to cause him pain.”

“This is all really weird.”

He forced a smile. “Part of the business, I’m afraid.”

“You have any kids?”

He wondered about the boy’s interest. “No. Never been married.”

“You seem like a nice man.”

“Thanks. Just doing my job.” He motioned and said, “You work out?”

“I play baseball. Season’s been over awhile, though. But I wouldn’t mind throwing a few.”

“Hard to do in Denmark. Baseball is not the national pastime here.”

“I’ve visited the past two summers. I really like it.”

“That the time you spend with your dad?”

Gary nodded. “About the only chance we get together. But that’s okay. I’m glad he lives here. It makes him happy.”

He thought he again sensed something. “Does it make you happy?”

“Sometimes. Other times I wish he was closer.”

“You ever thought about living with him?”

The boy’s face scrunched with concern. “That would kill my mom. She wouldn’t want me to do that.”

“Sometimes you have to do what you have to do.”

“I’ve thought about it.”

He grinned. “Don’t think too hard. And try not to be bored.”

“I miss my mom and dad. I hope they’re all right.”

He’d heard enough. The boy was pacified. He wouldn’t be a problem, at least not for the next hour, which was all Sabre would need.

After that, it wouldn’t matter what Gary Malone did.

So he stepped toward the door and said, “Not to worry. I’m sure this is all going to be over soon.”

MALONE STOOD ON THE STREETS OF HELSINGØR AND WATCHED the café. A steady stream of patrons had flowed in and out. His target was sitting at a window table, sipping from a mug. Pam, he assumed, was with the car, parked at the train station, waiting. She’d better be. When this guy made his move, they’d only have one chance. If his adversaries were somewhere nearby, and he firmly believed that to be the case, this might be his only route to them.

Pam’s appearance in Denmark had rattled him. But then she’d always had that effect. Once, love and respect bound them, or at least he’d thought that the case; now only Gary drew them together.

His mind replayed what she’d said to him in August. About Gary.

“After years of lying to me, you want to be fair?”

“You were no saint yourself years ago, Cotton.”

“And you made my life a living hell because of it.”

She shrugged. “I had an indiscretion of my own. I didn’t think you’d mind, considering.”

“I told you everything.”

“No, Cotton. I caught you.”

“But you let me think Gary was mine.”

“He is. In every way except blood.”

“That the way you rationalize it?”

“I don’t have to. I just thought you should know the truth. I should have told you last year when we divorced.”

“How do you know he’s not my son?”

“Cotton, run tests. I don’t care. Just know you’re not Gary’s father. Do with the information what you please.”

“Does he know?”

“Of course not. That’s between him and you. He’ll never hear it from me.”

He could still feel the anger that had flooded him as Pam remained calm. They were so different, which might also explain why they were no longer together. He’d lost his father young but had been raised by a mother who adored him. Pam’s childhood had been nothing but turmoil. Her mother had been a flighty woman with conflicting emotions who’d operated a day care center. She’d squandered the family savings not once but twice. Astrologers were her weakness. She never could resist them, eagerly listening as they told her exactly what she wanted to hear. Pam’s father was equally troubling, a distant drifting soul who cared far more about radio-controlled airplanes than his wife and three children. He’d labored for forty years at an ice cream cone factory, a salaried employee who never rose above midlevel manager. Loyalty mixed with a false sense of contentment-that had been his father-in-law up to the day that a three-pack-a-day cigarette habit finally stopped his heart.

Until they met, Pam had known little love or security. Miserly with emotion but exacting in devotion, she’d always given far less than she demanded. And pointing out that reality brought only anger. His own mistake with other women, early in their marriage, merely proved her point-that nothing and no one could ever be counted on.

Not mothers, fathers, siblings, or husbands.

All of them failed.

And so had she.

Having a baby out of wedlock and never telling her husband he was not the father. She seemed to still be paying the price of that failure.

He ought to cut her some slack. But it took two to make a bargain, and she wasn’t willing-at least not yet-to deal.

The shooter disappeared from the window.

Malone’s attention snapped back to the café.

He watched as the man exited the building and headed toward his parked car, climbed in, and left. He abandoned his position, raced through the alley, and spotted Pam.

He crossed the street and jumped into the passenger seat. “Crank it up and get ready.”

“Me? Why don’t you drive?”

“No time. Here he comes.”

He saw the Volvo round the bend in the highway that paralleled the shore and speed past.

“Go,” he urged.

And she followed.

GEORGE HADDAD ENTERED HIS LONDON FLAT. THE TRIP TO Bainbridge Hall had generated its usual frustration so he ignored his computer, which signaled that there were unread e-mails, and sat at the kitchen table.

For five years he’d stayed dead. To know, but not to know. To understand, but at the same time to be confused.

He shook his head.

What a dilemma.

He glanced around. The soothing, cleansing magic of the apartment was no more. Clearly it was time. Others must know. He owed that revelation to every soul destroyed in the nakba, whose land was stolen, whose property was seized. And he owed it to the Jews.

Everyone had a right to the truth.

The first time months ago had not seemed to work. That was why yesterday, he’d again reached for the phone.

Now, for the third time, he dialed an international call.

MALONE WATCHED THE ROAD AHEAD AS PAM SPED DOWN THE coastal highway, south, toward Copenhagen. The Volvo was half a mile ahead. He’d allowed several cars to pass, which provided a buffer, but cautioned her more than once not to fall too far back.

“I’m not an agent,” Pam said, her eyes glued out the windshield. “Never done this before.”

“They didn’t teach you this in law school?”

“No, Cotton. They taught you this in spy school.”

“I wish they’d had a spy school. Unfortunately I had to learn on the job.”

The Volvo quickened its pace and he wondered if they’d been spotted. But then he saw that the car was simply passing another. He noticed Pam starting to keep pace. “Don’t. If he’s watching, that’s a trick to find out if he has company. I can see him, so stay where you are.”

“I knew that Justice Department education would pay off.”

Levity. Rare for her. But he appreciated the effort. He hoped this lead paid off. Gary had to be nearby, and all he’d need was one chance to get the boy out.