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“You won’t be able to hear—”
“He’ll hear
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“You won’t be able to hear—”
“He’ll hear me, that’s all that mattersTake your time, give me time Bourne crossed to the
phone, instantly understanding why it was not used; the noise of the store was nearly unbearable
“Mademoiselle, s’il vous pla?t, c’est urgent!” Three minutes later, holding his palm against his left
ear, Jason had the unexpected comfort of hearing Tranquility Inn’s most irritating employee over
the phonePritchard, Tranquility Inn’s associate managerMy switchboard informs me that
you have an emergency, sirMay I inquire as to the nature of your—”
“You can shut up!” shouted Jason from the cacophonous ice cream parlor in Corbeil-Essonnes
in FranceJay on the phone, nowThis is his brother-in-law
“Oh, it is such a pleasure to hear from you, sir! Much has happened since you leftYour lovely
children are with us and the handsome young boy plays on the beach—with me, sir—and all is—”
“MrNow!”
“Of course, sir
“Johnny?”
“David, where are you?”
“That doesn’t matterTake the kids and MrsCooper and get out!”
“We know all about it, DaveAlex Conklin called several hours ago and said somebody named
Holland would reach usI gather he’s the chief honcho of your intelligence serviceDid he?”
“Yeah, about twenty minutes after I talked to AlexHe told us we were being choppered out
around two o’clock this afternoonHe needed the time to clear a military aircraft in here
Cooper was my idea; your backward son says he doesn’t know how to change diapers, sport
David, what the hell is going on? Where’s Marie?”
“She’s all right—I’ll explain everything laterJust do as Holland saysDid he say where you
were being taken?”
“He didn’t want to, I’ll tell you thatBut no fucking American’s going to order me and your kids
around—my Canadian sister’s kids—and I told him that in a seven spade fl |