SINS of the FATHER Page 10

  “Yes, he has an annoying habit of doing that.”

  “Baie-du-mont-Saint-Michel,” Kate said.

  Alan frowned and looked at her.

  “You have never heard of it?”

  “I can’t even say it,” Alan replied.

  “She is right, you are close. Everyone should see Saint-Michel at least once in their lifetime. It is one of the most beautiful places in all of France.”

  “What is it? A church?”

  “Oh heavens no. It is so much more. Ms. Garber, I’m sure he would appreciate seeing such a sight.”

  “I totally agree. We can just drive along the coast until we get there,” she said.

  “It is a very nice and scenic drive Mr. Lang. Listen to Ms. Gerber. You will not be disappointed.”

  “Sounds good to me. Look Doctor Brandt, I still don’t entirely know what’s going on here. You still suspect that I have some secret knowledge about the location but I don’t. I wish I could find the right words to convince you but I doubt they exist.”

  “I will be straight forward with you Mr. Lang. Maybe you don’t realize that you have the missing pieces to the puzzle, as you put it, but I think you do. What I do know is that we will be watching you very closely. I wish I could say that we trust you one hundred percent but that would be a lie. Now, if you decide that you would like to share the information then we would be willing to offer you the same deal that our grandparents had. We would split whatever is left and go on our individual ways,” Brandt said.

  “And I would assume at some point one of you would think ‘well his grandfather killed ours so I’ll just get even.”

  “Mr. Lang, I doubt anyone holds grandchildren responsible for the acts of their grandfathers. As you pointed out, our grandfathers were in the German Army. I’m sure they did things they would not be proud of today but do you hold us responsible?”

  “Of course not.”

  “There you have it,” Brandt replied.

  **

  Kate and Alan walked back to the hotel holding hands. They stopped and bought a bottle of Bordeaux to drink later. They went upstairs and Alan checked on Clouse. He was still there but he was breathing better and his pulse was stronger. The problem was what to do about him. He was obviously a killer and if they just let him go he would probably be a problem for them again.

  “What should we do about him?” Alan asked.

  “I guess we could just drop him off at a hospital. Leave him outside and simply take off.”

  “But if someone sees us we could be in big trouble.”

  “Let Brandt and his men take care of him. They offered.”

  “I think they meant they would kill him,” Alan said.

  “Oh. I guess I didn’t pick up on that. I’ve been thinking about Clouse ever since he broke in the afternoon. How is he keeping track of us? I mean you noticed him following us for a while but how long before that and how is he doing it when we stop?”

  “Darned good question. Do you think he had us bugged somehow?”

  “Bugged? No, I don’t think he is that sophisticated. Maybe something on the car?” Kate asked.

  “The car? Yes. Very good. He probably put some kind of transponder on the car. I’m going to go check.”

  “In the morning. We need to decide what to do with him first.”

  “Like you said, I guess we will chance the hospital,” Alan replied.

  “Then maybe we can go someplace light and check out the car. I think we should change cars tomorrow as well.”

  “I totally agree.”

  **

  It took some cold water and a lot of effort to get Clouse on his feet finally. Alan took the tape off his legs and together Kate and he were able to get him out the back of the hotel and around to their car.

  Kate programed the hotel on the GPS and they followed the directions. Clouse was lying in the back seat moaning occasionally.

  “You must have really bashed in his head,” Kate said looking back.

  “It’s not like in the movies when someone gets the hell beat out of them; they are up and ready to go. When someone smashes your face for real it screws you up for day, weeks even.”

  “Not quite so macho as they show?”

  “Not even close. Getting beat up hurts.”

  “Okay, there’s the hospital on the left. Slow down, I need to see if we can find a place to leave him.

  They circled the hospital two times before Kate found a relatively secure area. Alan drove in the lot and turned off his head lights. He backed the car up next to an entrance door and jumped out. He opened the back door and pulled Clouse out. He had to drag him over and prop him against the wall. He ran back, closed the back door and jumped in.

  “Go out and take a right,” Kate said as soon as he had it in gear.

  He kept his lights off until he turned onto Rue Terrémont.

  “That went better than expected,” Kate said.

  “I hope someone finds him soon and he gets some medical treatment,” Alan replied.

  “Even if he tried to kill you?”

  “But he didn’t.”

  “Still,” she said.

  “Yeah, I know. I can tell you this, if he had hurt you, then he would be dead. It’s as simple as that,” Alan told her.

  She was playing with the GPS and then told him there was a place up ahead they could pull into to check out the car.

  A few minutes later Alan was holding a transmitter that had been attached to the back license plate holder. Rather than smashing it he drove until they found another hotel and placed it on another car. With any luck Clouse would be off chasing the wrong car. They would still change cars tomorrow.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  “What do you think we should do about Brandt?” Kate asked as Alan poured her another glass of wine while they sat on the deck outside their room.

  “What do you mean?”

  “It seems like they think we know a lot more than we are letting on,” Kate replied.

  “I can’t say I blame them. I’m not sure I would believe me either if the shoe was on the other foot.”

  “You know they will follow us everyplace we go.”

  “I don’t see that we can do a whole lot about that.”

  “I suppose not but I don’t like it.”

  “Neither do I. Look we have a slightly bigger problem at the moment. I was checking out the room. One bullet is in the ceiling and the other is lodged in the woodwork of the door. We can’t just leave the room like that,” Alan told her.

  “You’re right. Since the owners probably clean the room they would notice it right away. When we go into town to change the car maybe we can find something to patch the holes with. Can you do something like that?”

  “It shouldn’t be too hard. I’m not worried about the ceiling. I can use toothpaste and they will never know for quite some time. By then it will be too late. It is the wood that concerns me. Matching the color so it won’t be noticeable may be difficult,” Alan told her.

  “We will find something in town. What we need is a Lowe’s or Home Depot but I doubt that we will find anything remotely like that around here,” Kate said.

  “Okay, so we have sort of a plan. We get the supplies, change cars and then head out. I saw you locating the coordinates, where are they taking us,” Alan asked.

  “Saint-Michel.”

  “Ah. So that’s why you said that at diner. I wondered where that suddenly came from,” Alan replied.

  “First, you are correct. It is someplace in Saint-Michel. Secondly, you really do have to see it to believe it. Third, it would make sense to Brandt and not create suspicion because so many people go there. If we are sightseeing that would be a perfectly logical place for us to go,” Kate told him.

  “Do you have an exact location?”

  “Believe me, it will not be easy. First of all you will not totally understand until you actually see the place. You have to image a city built out of stones where no stones are and in the
middle of an area where the tide is so erratic that it wipes out all access at times and at others you can walk on the sand to the place. It is huge. More than huge really. It is an entire city with walkways that twist and turn and stairs that constantly go up and down. It is nothing more than a maze of walks and alleyways.”

  “Why was it built that way? I mean it sounds like a nightmare to get from one place to another.”

  “Alan we are talking about the 700s. City planning wasn’t exactly a big issue. It would be another 1100 years before cars would become an issue.”

  “Okay. I guess it’s just hard to picture.”

  “You will get it when you see it. And that brings us to another small point,” Kate told him.

  “Yes?”

  “We will walk a lot. By a lot, I mean a whole lot. You can only go so far then you have to park in special lots.”

  “And then take a shuttle?”

  “Not exactly. Then you have to walk the rest of the way.”

  “Meaning?”

  “Maybe three quarters of a mile or so.”

  “What? How do the older people get there?”

  “Walk.”

  “No way.”

  “You’ll see.”

  Alan glanced at his watch. It was almost midnight.

  “We should get some sleep them. We have a big day tomorrow and need to get an early start if we are going to get it all done,”

  “And if we don’t get it done? Does it really matter? As long as we get the car and the room fixed, who cares. We can always leave for Du-mon-Saint-Michel the next day. One day won’t change a thing will it?”

  “I guess not but I am sort of tired.”

  “Then come to bed and let’s see how sleepy you really are,” she said taking his hand and leading him to bed.

  He found he wasn’t nearly as sleepy as he thought he was. In fact it was after 1:00 a.m. before he finally drifted off, spooned behind Kate.

  **

  The next morning was sunny and beautiful. Kate was ravishing and he studied her while she slept. He slipped out of bed and fired up the computer. Kate was right, he saw after Googling du mon Saint-Michel. It was certainly very impressive. She was also right about finding exactly what they were looking for. It would be their biggest challenge yet.

  However she was wrong about some things. You could get a hotel a lot closer than the parking lots on the outskirts and they had shuttles that took you within a few hundred yards of the city. He called up the hotels and booked a room for the day after tomorrow. This way they would not have to rush even though it wasn’t all that far.

  While Kate slept, he shaved and showered then came out of the bathroom. Kate was awake and sitting on the side of the bed.

  “Well, well. Good morning sunshine,” Alan said.

  “Don’t start in on me,” she grumbled.

  “But Kate, it’s a beautiful day and I have a beautiful woman naked in my bed. It doesn’t get any better than that.”

  “Where’s that gun?”

  “Why?”

  “I shoot cheerful people in the morning,” she said.

  “Grump butt.”

  “You didn’t say that last night.”

  “Come on, time is a wasting. I’m going to get dressed and let you have the room while I go get some tea. Come down when you’re ready.”

  “Sure,” She said and flopped back on the bed.”

  “Kate Gerber,” he said sternly.

  “I’m up. I’m up. Go, give me some space,” she said pointing to the door.

  He looked at her lying there for a few seconds, not moving.

  “Go. I’m getting up I promise,” she said sitting back up.

  “Okay,” he finally said and gave her a quick kiss.

  She went to the bathroom while he dressed and then slipped out to go to the dining room.

  “Bonjour.”

  “Bonjour. Tea please,” Alan said.

  “You help yourself. It is ready when you are,” she said pointing to the buffet breakfast.

  Alan looked at the offerings and was surprised at the quantity and quality. Everything was not only fresh but abundant as well. He has halfway through his first cup of tea when Kate appeared.

  “That was quick,” he said.

  “I’m starved,” she said.

  “And I thought it was because you couldn’t stand being away from me that long,” Alan quipped.

  “You wish. Now feed me.”

  “I see. Did you forget to change your grump butt?”

  “Ha, ha. I want food.”

  “Yes ma’am,” Alan was smart enough to say.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  “Alan,” Kate said exasperated.

  “Look. I know it costs a little more but I am not going to be caught out like that again,” he answered.

  “But a Mercedes?”

  “Nice and heavy.”

  “Then take out the insurance. You smash one of those up and you will pay through the nose.”

  “I intend to,” he assured her.

  A few minutes later Alan familiarized himself with the controls and made the final mirror adjustments before starting off. They had asked at the car rental where they could find a place to patch and repair wood and were given directions. They were there a few minutes later and found a powdered spackling and wood filler. Alan was surprised at finding a little assortment of blending agents for the wood filler. It would make his job a lot less difficult. On the way back to the hotel they saw a small shop and Kate insisted that they stop.

  “What could you possibly need woman?” he said exasperated.

  “None of your business. You just stay here and I’ll be back.

  He sighed and waited. Unfortunately right across the street was a Pâtisserie. He tried to resist temptation but finally gave in and dashed across the street. He was pretty sure he was going to drown in his own drool as he looked at all the different offerings. It was almost impossible to choose just one so he didn’t. He had a bag full when he got back to the car.

  He was cramming one in his mouth when Kate got in the car. She just looked at him.

  “What?”

  “Nothing.”

  “It’s France. It’s a law that you have to eat the pastries. I read that someplace.”

  “Maybe in your grandfather’s diary.”

  “Now that you mention it, maybe I did.”

  “Just go back and fix our room before someone finds out about it. Oh by the way, here," she said handing him a newspaper.

  “Kate I hate to mention this but I don’t read French. I mean, I’ve been here a little over a week but I’m not that smart.”

  “How about pictures?” Kate said pointing to one of Fredric Clouse.

  “Oh crap. Battus, means beaten, right?”

  “Most assuredly,” she said.

  “Does it say how or why?”

  “Gee Alan, I’ve been here the same amount of time as you. I can’t read any more than you can.”

  “Sorry. It just kind of shakes me up. I mean if he told them I did it, that’s not so good.”

  “You think? Anyway, I doubt he would. It would be hard to explain why he had broken to our room.”

  “Now what?” Alan said.

  “Let’s get the room fixed and then move a little further down the road. The rental agency has the car and will clean it. I think we are safe.”

  “Man. I wonder what Brandt is thinking. Will he turn us in do you think?” Alan asked.

  “I seriously doubt it. He didn’t like Clouse one bit. Besides he offered to relieve us of him. No, I can’t see any advantage to him doing anything. He wants us free.”

  “I didn’t really mean to hurt the guy that badly.”

  “Yes you did. You thought he might hurt me. You did what any real man would have done. Besides, we can’t do anything about that now. Just get the room fixed so we can move on.”

  “Agreed,” he said as they drove off.

  **

  “Where are ou
r friends?” Brandt asked Durr.

  “They headed into town. They haven’t checked out yet so maybe they are staying another night.”

  “Just make sure they don’t know we are following them. Keep it loose. We can always pick them up at Saint-Michel if we lose them.”

  “I agree.”

  “And I see that Fredric will no longer be a problem, at least for the time being,” Brandt stated.

  “Yes. He is pretty much out of action. Broken jaw among other things. Nadel is keeping an eye on them.”

  “Alright. But remember, keep your tail very loose on them. I don’t want them to spot our people.”

  “We will do as you suggest. Do you think he really can lead us to the gold?”

  “I honestly don’t know at this point. I am having Finkel do the same thing that Lang suggested. Having it analyzed to see if someone else could have possibly forged the last part.”

  “You don’t honestly believe that do you?”

  “I only know that unless we check out, it is another possibility that needs to be covered. If we can eliminate it, we should. “

  “What do you think about Lang?”

  “He is either a very good actor or he really is trying to figure all of this out. If his grandfather didn’t do this, who did and why would he let his own son think he did all these years? That is why I keep coming back to the grandfather’s involvement.”

  “I, for one, think he did do the killing of our grandparents. He got greedy and stole it all for himself.”

  “They why not get it out of the country and live life as a rich man. Lang is right about that part. I had a background check made on all of them. They have no money to speak of.”

  “When where the hell did it all go?” Durr asked.

  “I don’t know.” Brandt said.

  **

  Within an hour Alan was finished with his handy work. He was over all pleased with the results.

  “Not bad. I can’t even tell where the hole in the ceiling is.”

  “The spackle made it easy. The wood was a little more of a challenge.”

  “I think it looks great. I couldn’t tell where it was if you hadn’t pointed to it. I doubt anyone will ever notice it. People don’t wipe down the door frames very often,” Kate told him.