The Admiral's Mark (Short Story) (4 page)

He followed his minders toward the ruin across a carpet of green grass. He recalled that
sans souci
translated to “without care,” which did not
accurately describe the current state of his emotions. Though the Israelis were allies, he’d never liked dealing with them. The fact that they were here, watching him, and he hadn’t known, made things worse.

What in the world had Scott involved himself in?

A man waited for him at the base of the crumbling château. Interesting that Christophe had built the palace to advance African supremacy, but everything here screamed European monarchal prestige. Few other people were around, odd considering that this one of the region’s main attractions.

“Mr. Malone, I appreciate your coming here,” the man said. He was mid-fifties, thin, fit, with a full head of brown hair. He, too, was dressed casually, and was clearly in charge. The two young men from the hotel withdrew to a discreet distance, keeping an eye on things, but not close enough to hear.

“You have a name?”

The man smiled. “Matt Schwartz.”

“And why is Israeli intelligence here in Haiti, watching me?”

“You’re a man to be watched. Quite a reputation. An agent with the famed Magellan Billet. One of Stephanie Nelle’s hand-chosen twelve. In fact,
from what I’ve been told, you’re her prized agent, the one she sends on the toughest jobs.”

“You can’t believe everything my publicist says.”

Schwartz chuckled. “No, you can’t. What were you doing in Zachariah Simon’s room?”

“My mistake. Went into the wrong one. That hotel is like a maze.”

“I was hoping you might offer something more creative.”

“And why would I do that?”

“Professional courtesy?”

Now he smiled. “Why don’t you tell me why you’re here?”

“Simon is someone we’ve kept an eye on for a while. You know anything about him?”

He shook his head.

“Billionaire. Lives in Austria. His family is a big supporter of Israel. They survived the Holocaust, even prospered after the war. His father and grandfather helped form our state. But this third generation is not nearly as benevolent. In fact, Zachariah Simon is a problem.”

“Terrorism?”

Schwartz shook his head. “If so, not the garden variety.”

He wasn’t getting much more than what a department summary might reveal, available to anyone with even a minor security clearance. This man was doing his job, keeping things close, offering just enough so his listener might reciprocate. So he offered, “I’m not here on official business.”

“Really? You just decided to take a little trip down to Haiti?”

“My brother-in-law, Scott Brown, drowned here last week. I came to find out what happened.”

“Scott Brown.” Schwartz shook his head. “
That
man was a problem, too.”

Malone was taken aback by the comment. Now he wondered if the Israelis had been part of what had happened, so he asked, “What did Scott do?”

“He nearly wrecked a year’s worth of effort. He was working some sort of con on Simon. But he had no idea who he was dealing with.”

Now he was getting angry. “So you let them kill him?”

“We didn’t let anything happen. It just did. Our surveillance on Simon is loose. We can’t spook him. He has no idea we’re watching. I want to keep it that way.”

“But you knew Scott was in danger?”

“With his background we figured he could take care of himself.”

“You figured wrong.”

Schwartz caught the message, but seemed undeterred. “You know the rules of this game.”

Yes, he did. But that didn’t mean he either liked or approved of them. One day, maybe, he’d get out, and then he could play by his own rules.

“My brother-in-law took a lot of chances. But he never played for keeps. His marks were the nonviolent type.
He
didn’t know the rules of this game.”

“But he took something Simon wants back.”

Herr Brown managed to get ahead of us
.

“Unfortunately, we don’t know what that is.”

“And you want me to find out?”

“We were hoping you might help.”

He was still pissed about the cavalier attitude toward Scott’s death. He may not have liked Scott Brown, but the man was Ginger’s husband and she was family, and that counted for something.

And another reality hit home.

Seemed not only Scott had stumbled into a mess. So had he.

“I’m leaving,” he said.

“Not until I say you can.”

“I don’t work for you.”

“But if you’re not going to cooperate, you’re going to leave this island. I can’t risk any more interference.”

He’d already assessed the situation and concluded that the two young men who’d brought him were all the army Schwartz had, at least here. Only a handful of others wandered through the ruins, none raising any alarm. He assumed Schwartz was armed, so the first play was obvious.

He shook his head and grinned. “You don’t give up, do you?”

Schwartz pointed both palms skyward, shrugged, and said, “It’s my nature.”

“Look,” he said, casually stepping closer, as if he wanted to say something in private, “I’ll leave—”

His right arm swung out and clamped Schwartz’s neck in a vise as he brought the man toward him. The move caught his opponent off guard, and he was able to reach beneath the hanging shirttail and find the gun he knew was there. With weapon in hand he kneed Schwartz in the groin, doubling the man over.

An elbow to the nape of the neck sent the Israeli to the ground.

He whirled and caught the other two problems reaching for their own weapons. He fired at both, sending them scattering for cover among the crumbling stones.

He darted right, seeking refuge behind a standing column. Making his escape would require a sprint of fifty yards, back down the grassy path to the parking lot. Schwartz was still on the ground, barely moving, the other two agents somewhere to his left. The next patch of safety lay twenty feet away. He leaped, hit the ground, and rolled toward it.

Bullets came his way, but missed.

He sprang to his feet behind a clump of stone infested with lichens and caught sight of Twittily Dee and Dittily Doo trying to make their way to Schwartz. He used that moment of distraction to race ahead and hop a waist-high stone wall that separated the grassy path from the rocks beyond.

Crouching low, he kept heading forward until he turned a bend and was out of the line of fire. He leaped back over the wall, onto the grass, and raced to the parking lot.

Now what?

The car he’d come in waited to his right.

No way were the keys in it, but he checked to be sure.

Three more cars were there and he checked those too.

No keys, either.

He’d have to keep moving.

The growl of an engine could be heard from the steep switchback road that led back to the highway.

A vehicle appeared around the last bend.

One he recognized.

Dubois.

The engine rattled and strained, but sounded to him like a fine orchestra. His ally wheeled to a stop. He jumped into the passenger’s side and said, “Good timing.”

“I follow from hotel. They don’t look like good men.”

“They’re not. Let’s get out of here.”

Then something occurred to him.

“Wait.”

He popped open the door, stood, and fired one round into the Israeli’s car, flattening a rear tire.

They drove back toward Cap-Haïtien, the tires wobbling, the wretched road more holes than pavement. No one had followed, and Dubois decided to take them to his house.

“Scotty come there a lot. He like it.”

The dwelling was another shanty, tin-sided, tin-roofed, a few hundred square feet. It sat among a cluster of several hundred, east of town, not far from the airport, the rough land succumbing to weeds. Goats milled around in the front and on the sides, and a group of children played. The stench was overpowering, but he’d become accustomed to the pall. Then again, who was he to judge? Dubois seemed like a hardworking, decent man who’d genuinely liked Scott Brown. Life was tough here, but he was making the best of it.

Besides, he owed him one.

Two of the children rushed over. The boy maybe nine or ten, the girl a bit younger. Both hugged Dubois.

“These be mine. Violine is my precious girl, but Alain is future man of house.”

Malone nodded to them both.

“This be Cotton Malone. He was close to Scotty,” Dubois told them.

“Are you a secret agent, too?” Alain asked.

He threw Dubois a curious look.

“Scotty told them he be an agent for the Americans. Worked for the Billet.”

He decided not to burst anyone’s bubble. “I think it’s called the Magellan Billet.”

“That’s what Scotty say. Very secret thing.”

“Scotty say anything else?”

Dubois shook his head. “Only that he be here on a mission. He need help. I give it, like I do with you.”

The children ran back to their friends. A woman appeared in the shanty’s door. She was thin, long-haired, with bright eyes and a fresh face.

“This be Elise. My wife.”

Malone shook the woman’s hand, and she threw him a warm smile.

“You were Scotty’s relative?” she asked.

He nodded. “He was married to my wife’s sister.”

“We liked him a lot. He was a good man.”

Her English was cleaner than Dubois’ and carried no accent, each syllable perfectly pronounced.

“Elise teaches school,” her husband said with pride in his voice. “She be real good at that.”

The auction would begin in three hours. In the meantime he’d decided to talk with Stephanie Nelle. Though this trip hadn’t started off as Magellan Billet business, things had changed. His boss had to know about the Israelis.

“I need to make a call,” he said. “I’ll step out over there where I can talk in private.”

“Take your time,” Dubois said. “Elise make the food. We eat.”

He nodded at the hospitality and found the phone in his pocket. It was state-of-the-art, Magellan Billet issue, satellite-rated. The smallest unit on the market, produced solely for U.S. intelligence. But he wondered how long it would be before everyone’s phone was similarly capable.

Stephanie was in her office and answered the call.

“I thought you were on vacation,” she said.

“So did I.”

He told her what had happened, omitting nothing.

“Schwartz is right,” she said. “Zachariah Simon is a fanatic who just recently crept onto our radar. We’re not sure what he’s after, but we passed what we had along to the Israelis and they became awfully interested.”

He knew his boss. “So you ran a full check?”

“Of course. Simon is wealthy, reclusive, a religious zealot. But he keeps his fingerprints off everything. He also openly stays out of politics and never talks to the press.”

“In other words he’s careful.”

“Too much so, in my opinion.”

“What’s he doing in Haiti?”

“An excellent question. I’m sorry about what happened to your brother-in-law, but he was in way over his head.”

“That much is obvious. What isn’t is why the Mossad wants us out of the way.”

“I’d like to know what they’re up to.”

He’d thought she might, and he had a way to find out. “I can do that, but I’ll need some help from your end. I want to go to the auction and buy that book. Simon wants it. My guess is the Israelis are interested, too. If nothing else, it’s our ante into the game.”

“I agree. Do it. I’ll set up a line of credit. But, Cotton, keep the price reasonable. Okay?”

“Don’t I always?”