“Half of it, anyway. A Frenchman named Marcel DuBois is the co-owner.”
“He’s going to stay there the whole time he’s in Paris?”
“That’s hard to say, sir.”
“Well, how long is his reservation for?”
“Just for one night.”
Fahd gave him the evil eye. “You could have said that to begin with.” Fahd snatched up the phone and called Glenville back. “He’s going to the l’Arrington.”
“Sir?”
“The l’Arrington Hotel. Pick him up there.”
“He’s not going to his house?”
“Not today. He’s checking in at the hotel.”
“Do you have any idea when?”
“No, but you’ll know it when it happens. Stone Barrington owns half the hotel. His reservation includes Dino Bacchetti and Billy Barnett. I assume you have located a photo of Barnett?”
“Of course.”
“He may look different. Our man in New York never spotted him. Do you have photos of Stone Barrington and Dino Bacchetti?”
“Yes.”
“He’ll be with them.”
* * *
• • •
“LET ME OUT here,” Teddy said.
The car service was en route from the airport to the hotel.
“You’re not going to the hotel?” Stone said.
“If you wouldn’t mind checking in for me, I have an errand to run.”
Dino snorted. “Well, that could cover any act in the penal code.”
“Will you be back in time for dinner?” Stone said.
“Oh, yes. It shouldn’t take long.”
Teddy hopped out at the corner and strolled down the street. It was a ten-minute walk to a small antique shop that featured jewelry and knickknacks. The owner was a diminutive Frenchman with a graying mustache.
Teddy stepped inside and flipped Felix Dressler’s new CIA credentials open on the counter.
The owner took a look and cocked his head. “Who are you?”
Teddy pointed to the credentials.
The owner made a face. “Please. Do you expect me to be impressed by an amateurish set of phony credentials?”
Teddy smiled. “That’s hurtful, Andre.”
Andre frowned. “Do I know you?”
Teddy smiled. “Under another name.”
“What name?”
“Any name you like.”
Andre blinked. “Teddy?”
Teddy put up his hand. “Whoa, whoa. I don’t know this man of whom you speak. But let’s assume an acquaintance and take it from there. Can you do the work?”
“You want more CIA credentials?”
“Passports, actually. Six of them, in six different names. All with this photo.” Teddy laid the six passport photos on the counter. “Can that be done?”
Andre squinted at him shrewdly. “If the price is right.”
“Name it.”
After a short negotiation, Teddy and Andre agreed on a price.
“When do you need these?”
“First thing tomorrow morning.”
“A rush order. You didn’t say that.”
“You can’t do it?”
“It will affect the price.”
After another round of bargaining, they were agreed.
23.
THOUGH GLENVILLE WAS used to a bit of unpredictability on the job, this mission was a bit of a mess. First he was told to stake out Stone Barrington’s house to pick up Billy Barnett, and it turned out nobody was going there.
Then he was told Barnett was checking into l’Arrington with his friends, and the other two show up without him. Glenville had no trouble identifying Stone Barrington and Dino Bacchetti from their photos, but Billy Barnett was not with them. They checked in for him and had his luggage sent up to his room.
Only it wasn’t a room with a number, something he could stake out and monitor when the man arrived. No, all three men were in the extensive Royal Suite, which in addition to the main suite, had smaller connecting suites for members of the entourage. So Billy Barnett wouldn’t have to go to the front desk like he would if he had his own room, he could go straight up to the Royal Suite and knock on the door.
With that in mind, Glenville had taken the elevator up to the floor with the Royal Suite, only to find a man who was obviously a hotel detective lurking in the hall.
So Glenville was hanging out in the lobby, keeping an eye on the front desk, in case anyone asked for a key to the Royal Suite, and an eye on the elevator, in case anyone vaguely resembling his photo of Billy Barnett came in and got on.
It was not a great plan. Glenville figured he’d probably miss Barnett going in, but if the three men went out together he’d have him. It wasn’t perfect, but he couldn’t think of anything better.
He reminded himself to snap a picture, if by a miracle the man ever did appear.
24.
TEDDY SHOWED UP in a beret.
Stone and Dino were having drinks on the balcony when the bell to the suite rang. Dino went to the door, looked through the peephole, and opened the door.
Dino surveyed Teddy critically. “I’m not sure it suits you,” he said.
“It would if I changed my appearance, but then I wouldn’t match my credentials.” Teddy took off the beret, and spun it like a Frisbee in the direction of the couch. “Ah, Paris in the springtime,” he said.
“Brings back memories?”
“Yes, and none of them good. ‘Look, honey, there’s the café where I killed the German courier.’”
“Did you accomplish your purpose, whatever it was?” Stone said.
“I stretched my legs. That was the main thing. Where’s my suitcase?”
“In your bedroom. Don’t worry, it hasn’t been touched. I don’t think Houdini could get through that lock you have on it.”
“Even so, I’d feel better not leaving it lying around in the room.”
“I could have the hotel lock it up for you in the safe,” Stone said, “but that would call attention to it.”
“Not if you tell them it’s yours. Put it in your room and change the luggage tag. You’re Mr. Big Hotel Owner, they’ll rent out Fort Knox for you.”