Gabriel patted the front of his shirt to indicate that the talisman, which was identical to Keller’s, was hanging around his neck.
“If you don’t believe,” asked Keller, “why are you wearing it?”
“I like the way it accents my outfit.”
“Whatever you do, don’t ever take it off. It keeps the evil at bay.”
“I have a few people in my life I’d like to keep at bay.”
“Like Ari Shamron?”
Gabriel managed to hide his surprise. “How do you know about Shamron?” he asked.
“I met him when I came to Israel to train. Besides,” Keller added quickly, “everyone in the trade knows about Shamron. And everyone knows he wanted you to be the chief instead of Uzi Navot.”
“You shouldn’t believe everything you read in the papers, Keller.”
“I have good sources,” said Keller. “And they tell me the job was yours for the taking but you turned it down.”
“You might find this hard to believe,” said Gabriel, staring wearily through the rain-spattered glass, “but I’m really not in the mood to take a stroll down memory lane with you.”
“I was just trying to help pass the time.”
“Perhaps we should enjoy a comfortable silence.”
“Another wisecrack?”
“You’d understand if you were Jewish.”
“Technically, I am Jewish.”
“Who do you prefer? Puccini or Wagner?”
“Wagner, of course.”
“Then you can’t possibly be Jewish.”
Keller lit a cigarette and waved out the match. A gust of wind hurled rain against the windshield, obscuring the view of the harbor. Gabriel lowered his own window a few inches to vent Keller’s smoke.
“Maybe you’re right,” he said. “Maybe we should get a hotel room after all.”
“I don’t think that’s going to be necessary.”
“Why not?”
Keller flipped the wipers and pointed through the glass.
“Because Marcel Lacroix is headed our way.”
He wore a black tracksuit and neon-green trainers, and carried a Puma sports bag over one shoulder. Obviously, he had spent a good portion of the afternoon at the gym. Not that he needed it; Lacroix was at least six-foot-two and weighed well over two hundred pounds. His dark hair was oiled and pulled back into a short ponytail. He had studs in both ears and Chinese characters tattooed on the side of his thick neck, evidence he was a student of the Asian martial arts. His eyes never stopped moving, though they failed to register the two men seated in the battered Renault hatchback with fogged windows. Watching him, Gabriel sighed heavily. Lacroix would surely be a worthy opponent, especially within the tight confines of Moondance. Regardless of what anyone said, size mattered.
“No wisecracks?” asked Keller.
“I’m working on one.”
“Why don’t you let me handle it?”
“Somehow I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“Why not?”
“Because he knows you work for the don. And if you show up and start asking questions about Madeline Hart, he’ll know the don betrayed him, which will be detrimental to the don’s interests.”
“Let me worry about the don’s interests.”
“Is that why you’re here, Keller?”
“I’m here to make sure you don’t end up in a cement coffin at the bottom of the Mediterranean.”
“There are worse places to be buried.”
“Jewish law doesn’t permit burial at sea.”
Keller fell silent as Lacroix stepped onto the dock and started toward Moondance. Gabriel looked at the way the fabric of his tracksuit was falling across the small of the Frenchman’s back. Then he looked at the way the gym bag was hanging over his shoulder.
“What do you think?” asked Keller.
“I think he’s carrying his gun in the bag.”
“You noticed that, too?”
“I notice everything.”
“How are you going to handle it?”
“As quietly as possible.”
“What do you want me to do?”
“Wait here,” said Gabriel, opening the car door. “And try not to kill anyone while I’m gone.”
The Office had a simple doctrine regarding the proper operational use of concealed firearms. It had been given by God to Ari Shamron—at least that was how the story went—and Shamron in turn had given it to all those who went secretly into the night to carry out his wishes. Though it appeared nowhere in written form, every field officer could recite it as easily as they could recite the Shabbat blessing of the candles. An Office agent draws his weapon for one reason and one reason only. He does not wave it around like a gangster or make idle threats. He draws his gun in order to fire it—and he does not stop firing it until the person at whom it is pointed is no longer among the living. Amen.
It was with Shamron’s admonition ringing in his ears that Gabriel walked the final steps toward Moondance. He hesitated before boarding; even a man with a build as slender as his would cause the boat to list slightly. Therefore, speed and an appearance of outward confidence were critical.
Gabriel cast one last glance over his right shoulder and saw Keller eyeing him warily through the driver’s-side window of the Renault. Then he climbed aboard Moondance and made his way quickly across the aft deck toward the doorway of the main cabin. Lacroix was on his feet in the passageway by the time Gabriel arrived. In the cramped quarters of the boat, the Frenchman seemed even larger than he had appeared on the street.
“What the fuck are you doing on my boat?” he asked quickly.
“I’m sorry,” Gabriel said, raising his palms in a placatory gesture. “I was told you would be expecting me.”
“Told by whom?”
“Paul, of course. Didn’t he tell you I was coming to see you?”
“Paul?”
“Yes, Paul,” said Gabriel assuredly. “The man who hired you to deliver the package from Corsica to the mainland. He said you were the best he’d ever seen. He said that if I ever needed someone to transport valuable goods, you were the person to handle the job.”
On the Frenchman’s face, Gabriel saw several competing reactions: confusion, apprehension, and, of course, greed. In the end, greed emerged victorious. He stepped aside and with a movement of his eyes invited Gabriel to enter. Gabriel took two languid steps forward while scanning the interior of the cabin for Lacroix’s gym bag. It was lying on a tabletop next to a bottle of Pernod.
“Do you mind?” asked Gabriel, nodding toward the open door. “It’s not the sort of thing I want your neighbors to hear.”
Lacroix hesitated for a moment. Then he walked over to the door and closed it. Gabriel positioned himself next to the table