The jet was moving away. Teddy slammed the luggage hatch. He pulled Barkley off to one side, out of the line of sight.
* * *
• • •
FAHD WAS PRACTICALLY tapping his foot waiting for the jet to be towed into position. Though Kristin had assured him everything was fine, Fahd didn’t believe in tempting fate. Hanging out on a runway was not a good idea. “No nonsense taking off,” he told the pilot. “You don’t need to go through a lot of procedures, just start the plane and go. Once we’re in the air you can do anything you like. Just get it off the ground.”
“As soon as it’s ready,” the pilot said.
The hangar pilot unhitched the tow and opened the cabin door. “All set. Go ahead and board.”
“Come on, come on,” Fahd said, herding Aziz ahead of him. “Let’s go.”
The Syrians boarded the plane and took their seats. The pilot climbed into the cockpit.
“Well, come on, start the engine,” Fahd said.
“They’re loading your luggage. I can’t start the engine until they’re clear.”
“What’s keeping them?”
“They’re loading it now.”
The hangar pilot closed the cargo door.
“Okay, they’re finished,” the pilot said. “Sit down and buckle up. Here we go.”
Fahd returned to his seat. Before he sat down he looked at the crate in the back of the plane. It was covered by a blanket.
“Check the dog,” he said to Aziz.
Without changing expression, the little man managed to look put upon. He got up, and went to the back of the plane. He lifted the blanket off the crate.
He blinked. The dog was gone!
Fahd turned in his seat to look at the dog. Aziz looked stricken. He pulled a backpack out of the crate.
“What’s that?” Fahd demanded. “Where’s the dog?”
Aziz reached into the backpack and pulled out a package. His eyes widened in alarm. He held it up for Fahd to see.
It was plastic explosives with a remote-control detonator.
* * *
• • •
CROUCHED IN THE bay doors of the hangar, holding on tightly to the dog, Teddy Fay pushed the button on his cell phone.
The plane blew up.
90.
A SQUAD OF police officers burst into Rene Darjon’s office. Paris Prefect Clement Moreau came striding in after them, a triumphant smile on his face. “Rene Darjon, I have a warrant for your arrest.”
Rene Darjon’s mouth fell open. He rose from his chair in astonishment. “On what charge?”
“Terrorism. Treason. Murder. There are more, but those are probably the ones you will be most concerned with. After you’ve been convicted of treason, it’s hard to focus on your other charges.”
“Have you lost your mind?”
“Not at all. At this very moment, my men are arresting Dr. von Heinrich in his laboratory, as well as seizing the dog and arresting the Syrian buyers. By the time they get done talking, you’ll be a very sorry individual.”
The prefect’s cocky boast was only half-true. His men were indeed seizing the doctor, but his other squad had just burst in on an empty house. He was lucky he had another string for his bow.
“It’s their word against mine. You’ve got nothing against me.”
The prefect pointed his finger at the framed picture of Rene Darjon and the prime minister. “Get that wall safe open.”
91.
TEDDY AND BARKLEY walked out the main gate. With a plane burning on the runway, no one noticed them.
Dino was waiting in his car. He helped Teddy load Barkley into the crate he’d just purchased, and they took off.
“The prefect’s going to be pissed,” Dino said.
“Not as pissed as he would have been if he’d stopped the plane. He’d have caught the Syrians with no dog.”
“I know it, and you know it, but he doesn’t know it, and that’s why he’s going to be pissed.”
“Well,” Teddy said, “it’s a good thing we’re leaving Paris.”
“You didn’t tell me we’d be leaving ahead of the posse.”
“It’s not as bad as all that, Dino. He’s still got a case against Rene Darjon, which I’m sure matters more to him than all the Syrians in the world put together. They may not have the dog, but they’re squeezing his scientist, who’s bound to roll over on him. And there’s sure to be a paper trail linking Rene Darjon to the virus.”
“‘There’s sure to be’?” Dino said.
“Count on it.”
Dino pulled up in front of the apartment. Teddy got the dog out of the crate, walked him upstairs, and knocked on the apartment door.
The handler opened it.
“Hi,” Teddy said. “I just took Barkley out for a walk. Here he is. He seems fine.”
The handler stared at him. “What the hell!”
“And I’ve got good news. You can go home.”
The handler was looking back and forth from Barkley to Rocky. “But . . . But . . .”
“Oh, and you’re taking two dogs home. If there’s an extra charge, it’s all right, just put it on the bill. We got another crate. It’s out in the car. I hope the dogs get along. I’m sure they will. They’re both pretty easygoing.”
The handler was dumbfounded.
“So, I’ll take you to the airport this afternoon. You could go now, but it’s a little busy out there. And it’s the absolute wrong time to show up with a dog.”
Teddy smiled. “Enjoy your stay in Paris?”
92.
MILLIE MET LANCE on the White House lawn.
“Our friend is coming home.”
“Oh?”
“He found the mole.”
“Really?”
“Her name is Kristin Rowan. The Syrian agents brought her onto their payroll to ensure the CIA wouldn’t interfere with an international conspiracy taking place at l’Arrington Hotel.”
“At l’Arrington? Does Stone know that?”
“He will. It’s in no way his or Marcel DuBois’s fault. A convention for the preservation of endangered species turned out to be a front for a biological weapons deal. That’s why finding the mole was just the tip of the iceberg. The real mission was putting the terrorists out of operation.”