‘Point taken. Does she know?’
The Inspector crushed his smoke on the fountain wall and tossed it in the nearby bin.
‘There was a genuine concern it would drive her insane. For the time being we’ve masked it from her consciousness. Once in America we’ll help her through it. Given the trauma she’s experienced I think you’d agree it’s the best thing.’
‘Maybe.’
‘Maybe?’
‘Or maybe you’re cooking up another one of your whizbang experiments. Raise one of their half-breeds as our own, see if you can flip him to our side.’
‘Mr Harper, I understand you have … feelings. But I promise you it’s not like that. Something’s happened to her through all of this. Her light readings are off the chart. It could be her exposure to the fire, it could be the dream revealed to her in the nave. We just don’t know.’
‘Have you debriefed Gabriel?’
‘I’m afraid I’m forbidden to question him regarding his revelations to the locals. Always been that way. From the time of the unremembered beginning. Damn inconvenient but that’s the fact of it. However, we’re picking up some interesting enemy chatter.’
‘They know Miss Taylor’s pregnant and they want the child.’
The Inspector reacted with a steel-eyed stare.
No fucking comment
.
‘Just tell me you’re not using her as bait.’
‘Quite the opposite, Mr Harper. We have a duty to protect her and the child, have we not? You do remember the First Law of Existence, I trust?’
‘The souls of men are born of the first light, we are forbidden to snuff it out.’
‘Correct.’
Harper heard the bells from Place de la Palud ring the quarter-hour.
‘So, seeing as you didn’t drag me out of bed to tell me to keep my mouth shut or remind me there’re things you can’t tell me, why am I here?’
‘I’ve received new orders regarding you.’
‘Orders? Rather quick, isn’t it?’
‘I’m afraid so.’
‘If that’s the case, maybe I will have one of your flash fags, Inspector.’
‘Of course.’
The Inspector offered his cigarette case and a light. Harper pulled a smoke and lit up, drew in the smoke, waited for clarity to seep into his blood.
‘Right, I’m listening.’
‘HQ’s expressed concern about the intense level of emotions you experienced on this mission, especially after the results of your last medical. It seems they aren’t dissipating. In fact they’ve become embedded to your eternal being. And now that you’re out of danger of dying in your form, HQ wants you returned to stasis and separated from Captain Jay Harper, without delay.’
Harper took a deeper drag.
Without delay
. Meaning right the fuck now.
‘Understood, where do I report?’
The Inspector pointed to the cathedral.
‘In ten minutes, the bells will ring the six o’clock. Stand before the doors of the cathedral and place your right hand on the iron handle and wait for
la grande sonnerie
of the bells. When they finish, and before the sound fades, enter the nave. Monsieur Gabriel will meet you at the crossing square. I believe you remember the rest of the drill.’
‘From what I remember it’s a hell of a lot easier than awakening.’
‘Yes, it is. You’re in for a very long rest.’
‘Long enough to sleep?’
‘Perchance to dream, Mr Harper.’
Harper rubbed the back of his neck, feeling the weariness of eternity bearing down.
‘Now that would be interesting.’
The Inspector cleared his throat.
‘However, I’ve convinced HQ to come up with alternative orders, in the event you wish to stick around.’
‘You did what?’
‘I do have considerable influence and managed to float the idea that the very emotions they’re concerned about could prove helpful to our cause. Give us an edge in predicting what the enemy may throw at us next.’
‘Don’t tell me you’re offering me a choice, Inspector?’
‘As a matter of fact, yes. Care to hear it?’
‘Not really but feel free to give it a go.’
‘You can return to stasis or you can make your way down Escaliers du marché to Café du Grütli. Have a saucisse de veau with a good bottle of Villette from our vineyards in Lavaux. Tell Monsieur Dufaux to put it on my tab.’
‘Then what?’
‘You relax, Mr Harper. Think about getting fit for the next battle. That will surely come sooner rather than later.’
‘That’s your idea of a choice?’
‘Unlike you, my experience is limited in that regard. Let’s call it the best I can do. Of course, there will be certain protocols to your staying on.’
‘What sort of protocols?’
‘For one, that you have no further contact with Miss Taylor.’
‘Further? I haven’t seen or talked to her since …’
‘I mean from now, Mr Harper.’
The sound of tyres on cobblestones coming up Rue Curtat again. Another dark blue Merc driving up the hill to the esplanade. The windows tinted and raised.
‘Her?’
‘She wanted to see the cathedral before she left. And to talk to you, of course. I must warn you – she’ll have no memory of Jay Harper after today.’
‘Sorry?’
‘The potions being administered to her to mask the trauma. We’ve adjusted them to remove you from the picture, as it were.’
Harper felt something inside him sink, wanting to hold on to it, whatever it was … but knowing there was no choice but to let it go.
‘Fair enough.’
The Inspector turned and walked away to meet the car.
‘Inspector?’ Harper nodded towards the belfry. ‘Up there, with the bells.’
‘Yes, there’s someone new. A young girl from Iceland with a fine voice to call the hour.’
‘A girl?’
‘I realize you’ve been busy and may not have noticed, but the world has changed a bit since you were last here, Mr Harper.’
‘I guess so.’
‘Plays classical guitar as well, likes to sit on the balcony near Marie-Madeleine on warmer nights to play. She imagines the old thing is sad these days and needs a bit of comfort. Monsieur Buhlmann’s bringing her along. Seems the first thing she did upon coming into the loge was pick up the young boy’s binoculars to have a look over Lausanne. Monsieur Buhlmann thinks she’ll work out very well. If you choose to stay, you might come round of an evening and have a listen. Keep an eye on her, what?’
The Merc made a slow circle in front of the cathedral and came to a stop.
Mutt stepped from the jump seat and scanned the perimeter. Harper saw Jeff at the wheel, Brügger & Thomet submachine gun on his lap, well-notched killing knife in his belt. The Inspector had quiet words with Mutt and then turned to Harper.
‘Only a few minutes, Mr Harper, we need to get her to the airport. And the six o’clock bells will be ringing soon.’
The Inspector pulled open the rear door.
Officer Jannsen slid out, turned back, reached in the car.
Harper saw her take a woman’s hand and, for a second, he didn’t want to see her. He dropped his eyes to the cobblestones. To where a pair of black penny loafers and nice ankles hit the ground. Then he couldn’t keep his eyes from looking up. Black jeans, black jumper, a slender form draped in a long black cloak. Her hair and eyebrows gone blond, grown out some. She held a fat grey cat in her arms.
Officer Jannsen helped the woman from the seat.
The woman stood still a moment before walking towards him.
Harper crushed out his fag, tossed it in the bin. He pressed down on his cane, stood to meet her. She stopped in front of him, she was quiet. He gave her a moment.
‘Hello, Miss Taylor.’
‘Hi.’
‘Looks like the lad’s cat’s off to America.’
‘Yeah, we’ve sort of got attached at the hip. I can’t seem to let go of him.’ She scratched the beast’s head.
Mew
.
‘Maybe he doesn’t want to let go of you.’
‘Yeah, maybe.’
‘The scar’s gone.’
She tried to smile.
‘Vitamin E, four times a day.’
‘You look fine, Miss Taylor. You’re going to be fine.’
‘They won’t tell me where I’m going, Harper.’
‘It’s for your own protection, Miss Taylor.’
‘I know. It’s just …’
Harper waited for her to finish. She couldn’t.
‘The Inspector tells me you’re opening a candle shop.’
‘I like making candles. I’ve gotten really good at it.’
‘That’s swell, Miss Taylor.’
She took a quick breath.
‘Anne’s coming with me. She’s going to live with me till I feel better.’
‘Anne?’
‘Officer Jannsen.’
‘Right. Then you’ll be very fine.’
Katherine turned, looked at the cathedral, her eyes rising to the tower.
‘I didn’t think I’d ever want to come here again, but I guess I needed to see the cathedral before I left. I asked Inspector Gobet if you could be here. Hope that’s OK with you.’
‘I’m glad you did.’
They faced the lake and the setting sun, listening to the wind circle the belfry and drift through the trees. He listened to her sigh.
‘Sometimes, I hear him shuffling up behind me.’
‘Me too.’
‘But it’s never him.’
‘No, it’s never him.’
She kicked back her head, trying to keep the tears away.
Harper edged closer to her.
‘It wasn’t your fault, Miss Taylor.’
‘That’s what the doctors keep telling me, but it’s all so confusing. I can’t remember things and I have the strangest dreams.’
‘Give yourself some time. It’ll pass.’
‘They had me meeting with a counsellor. He told me to imagine life never really ends, that people always come back. They just don’t know it and we can’t see them the way they were.’
‘I’ve heard that too.’
‘Really?’
‘Yes.’
‘Then that means Marc could be somewhere in the world right now, and that makes me feel better. Even if I run into him and he doesn’t know me and I don’t know him, it makes me feel better thinking he’s still in the same world. I really want to believe it.’
‘Then believe it, Miss Taylor.’
The Inspector called from the esplanade:
‘Mr Harper, we must leave in three minutes.’
Katherine rolled her eyes.
‘God, he’s such a stickler for time. Keeps telling me I must be punctual in all things. I asked him if I could see you because I want to ask you something before I left Lausanne.’
‘Sure.’
‘Before … before Marc died, I remember talking to him in the loge. I had a feeling he knew I was just a hooker hiding out in his tower. I was wondering if you said anything to him.’
‘Like what?’
‘Like I wasn’t an angel.’
‘No, he figured it out by himself.’
‘Honestly?’
‘Yes.’
She wiped a tear from her cheek.
‘What did he say?’
‘Why are you asking?’
‘I keep seeing him in the loge, looking at me and knowing I wasn’t the angel he wanted me to be. And I keep thinking I broke his heart. Like I took something from his life that made him happy and I broke it, then he died.’
‘You didn’t break his heart.’
‘Really?’
Harper looked up at the belfry again.
‘We were up there, on the roof, waiting for the killers. And out of nowhere he asked me about things girls like. Flowers, perfume. What kind of movies did they like, did they like to eat pizza on Thursday nights, Tom and Jerry cartoons. And he asked me if I thought you were beautiful. I teased him at first, said I didn’t think so. But he kept saying you were the most beautiful girl he had ever seen till I agreed. Then he asked if I thought you might like to come to his flat sometime for tuna-noodle casserole. Seems he had a secret recipe from his mother back in Canada.’
‘Oh, God. What’d you tell him?’
‘I told him I was very sure you’d accept his invitation with genuine pleasure.’
‘Please tell me it’s the truth. You know what a sucker I am for fairytales. I’m afraid I hurt him so terribly, I can’t let go of it. I don’t know what to do. Please, tell me something.’
Harper stepped close to her …
‘One thing I know, that love with chance
And use and time and necessity
Will grow, and louder the heart’s dance
At parting than at meeting be.’
Katherine looked at him.
‘That’s lovely, Harper, what is it?’
‘A poem by a soldier killed in the First World War, his name was Edward Thomas.’
‘Where would someone like you ever get something like that?’
‘Just something I heard somewhere. You’re going to be all right, Miss Taylor. Someone will be watching over you.’
‘I think someone already is, I just can’t see him.’
The engines of the Mercs turned over. The Inspector stepped to Katherine’s side.
‘I apologize but we must be going.’
‘OK.’ Katherine scratched the head of the fat cat in her arms. ‘Say goodbye, Monsieur Booty.’
Mew
.
The Inspector took Katherine’s arm and they turned to leave. Katherine turned back to Harper.
‘Oh, I almost forgot. This is for you.’
Something in her fingers. He held out his hand and watched a five-franc coin, well-dented at the edge, fall into his palm.
‘Where … How did you get this?’
‘Marc gave it to me that night, before he died. He gave it to me for good luck. I thought you’d like to have it.’
Harper stared at the remembered thing.
‘I’m grateful for this, Miss Taylor, I truly am.’
She stood on her toes, kissed him on the cheek.
‘Goodbye, Harper.’
He watched her walk away and settle in the back seat of the Merc, fat cat still in her arms. Officer Jannsen climbed in behind her and closed the door. The rear window slid down. Katherine leaned across Officer Jannsen and through the window.