A long time later Tracy asked, "When did you know, Jeff?"

"When I saw you in that house and I thought you were dying. I was half out of my mind."

"I thought you had run away with the diamonds," Tracy confessed.

He took her in his arms again. "Tracy, what I did in Madrid wasn't for the money. It was for the game--- the challenge. That's why we're both in the business we're in, isn't it? You're given a puzzle that can't possibly be solved, and then you begin to wonder if there isn't some way."

Tracy nodded. "I know. At first it was because I needed the money. And then it became something else; I've given away quite a bit of money. I love matching wits against people who are successful and bright and unscrupulous. I love living on the cutting edge of danger."

After a long silence, Jeff said, "Tracy... how would you feel about giving it up?"

She looked at him, puzzled. "Giving it up? Whys"

"We were each on our own before. Now, everything has changed. I couldn't bear it if anything happened. Why take any more risks? We have all the money we'll ever need. Why don't we consider ourselves retired?"

"What would we do, Jeff?"

He grinned. "We'll think of something."

"Seriously, darling, how would we spend our lives?"

"Doing anything we like, my love. We'll travel, indulge ourselves in hobbies. I've always been fascinated by archaeology. I'd like to go on a dig in Tunisia. I made a promise once to an old friend. We can finance our own digs. We'll travel all over the world."

"It sounds exciting."

"Then what do you say?"

She looked at him for along moment. "If that's what you want," Tracy said softly.

He hugged her and began laughing. "I wonder if we should send a formal announcement to the police?"

Tracy joined in his laughter.

The churches were older than any Cooper had ever known before. Some dated back to the pagan days, and at times he was not certain whether he was praying to the devil or to G.o.d. He sat with bowed head in the ancient Beguine Court Church and in St. Bavokerk and Pieterskerk and the Nieuwekerk at Delft, and each time his prayer was the same: Let me make her suffer as I suffer.

The telephone call from Gunther Hartog came the next day, while Jeff was out.

"How are you feeling?" Gunther asked.

"I feel wonderful," Tracy a.s.sured him.

Gunther had telephoned every day after he had heard what had happened to her. Tracy decided not to tell him the news about Jeff and herself, not yet. She wanted to hug it to herself for a while, take it out and examine it, cherish it.

"Are you and Jeff getting along all right together?"

She smiled. "We're getting along splendidly."

"Would you consider working together again?"

Now she had to tell him. "Gunther... we're... quitting."

There was a momentary silence. "I don't understand."

"Jeff and I are--- as they used to say in the old James Cagney movies--- going straight."

"What? But... why?"

"It was Jeff's idea, and I agreed to it. No more risks."

"Supposing I told you that the jab I have in mind is worth two million dollars to you and there are no risks?"

"I'd laugh a lot, Gunther."

"I'm serious, my dear. You would travel to Amsterdam, which is only an hour from where you are now, and---"

"You'll have to find someone else."

He sighed. "I'm afraid there is no one else who could handle this. Will you at least discuss the possibility with Jeff?"

"All right, but it won't do any good."

"I will call back this evening."

When Jeff returned, Tracy reported the conversation.

"Didn't you tell him we've become law-abiding citizens?"

"Of course, darling, I told him to find someone else."

"But he doesn't want to," Jeff guessed.

"He insisted he needed us. He said there's no risk and that we could pick up two million dollars for a little bit of effort."

"Which means that whatever he has in mind must be guarded like Fort Knox."

"Or the Prado," Tracy said mischievously.

Jeff grinned. "That was really a neat plan, sweetheart. You know, I think that's when I started to fall in love with you."

"I think when you stole my Goya is when I began to hate you."

"Be fair," Jeff admonished. "You started to hate me before that."

"True. What do we tell Gunther?"

"You've already told him. We're not in that line of work anymore."

"Shouldn't we at least find out what he's thinking?"

"Tracy, we agreed that---"

"We're going to Amsterdam anyway, aren't we?"

"Yes, but---"

"Well, while we're there, darling, why don't we just listen to what he has to say?"

Jeff studied her suspiciously. "You want to do it, don't you?"

"Certainly not! But it can't hurt to hear what he has to say...."

They drove to Amsterdam the following day and checked into the Amstel Hotel. Gunther Hartog flew in from London to meet them.

They managed to sit together, as casual tourists, on a Plas Motor launch cruising the Amstel River.

"I'm delighted that you two are getting married," Gunther said. "My warmest congratulations."

"Thank you, Gunther." Tracy knew that he was sincere.

"I respect your wishes about retiring, but I have come across a situation so unique that I felt I had to call it to your attention. It could be a very rewarding swan song."

"We're listening," Tracy said.

Gunther leaned forward and began talking, his voice low. When he had finished, he said, "Two million dollars if you can pull it off."

"It's impossible," Jeff declared flatly. "Tracy---"

But Tracy was not listening. She was busily figuring out how it could be done.

Amsterdam's police headquarters, at the corner of Marnix Straat and Elandsgracht, is a gracious old five-story, brownbrick building with a long white-stucco corridor on the ground floor and a marble staircase leading to the upper floors. In a meeting room upstairs, the Gemeentepolitie were in conference. There were six Dutch detectives in the room. The lone foreigner was Daniel Cooper.

Inspector Joop van Duren was a giant of a man, larger than life, with a beefy face adorned by a flowing mustache, and a roaring ba.s.so voice. He was addressing Toon Willems, the neat, crisp, efficient chief commissioner, head of the city's police force.

"Tracy Whitney arrived in Amsterdam this morning, Chief Commissioner. Interpol is certain she was responsible for the De Beers hijacking. Mr. Cooper, here, feels she has come to Holland to cgmmit another felony."

Chief Commissioner Willems turned to Cooper. "Do you have any proof of this, Mr. Cooper?"

Daniel Cooper did not need proof. He knew Tracy Whitney, body and soul. Of course she was here to carry out a crime, something outrageous,. something beyond the scope of their tiny imaginations. He forced himself to remain calm.

"No proof. That's why she must be caught red-handed."

"And just how do you propose that we do that?"

"By not letting the woman out of our sight."

The use of the p.r.o.noun our disturbed the chief commissioner. He had spoken with Inspector Trignant in Paris about Cooper. He's obnoxious, but he knows what he's about. If we had listened to him, we would have caught the Whitney woman red-handed. It was the same phrase Cooper had just used.

Toon Willems made his decision, and it was based partly on the well-publicized failure of the French police to apprehend the hijackers of the De Beers diamonds. Where the French police had failed, the Dutch police would succeed.

"Very well," the chief commissioner said. "If the lady has come to Holland to test the efficiency of our police force, we shall accommodate her." He turned to Inspector van Duren. "Take whatever measures you think necessary."

The city of Amsterdam is divided into six police districts, with each district responsible for its own territory. On orders from Inspector Joop van Duren, the boundaries were ignored, and detectives from different districts were a.s.signed to surveillance teams. "I want her watched twenty-four hours a day. Don't let her out of your sight."

Inspector van Duren turned to Daniel Cooper. "Well, Mr. Cooper, are you satisfied?"

"Not until we have her."

"We will," the inspector a.s.sured him. "You see, Mr. Cooper, we pride ourselves on having the best police force in the world."

Amsterdam is a tourist's paradise, a city of windmills and dams and row upon row of gabled houses leaning crazily against one another along a network of tree-lined ca.n.a.ls filled with houseboats decorated by boxes of geraniums and plants, and laundry flying in the breeze. The Dutch were the friendliest people Tracy had ever met.

"They all seem so happy," Tracy said.

"Remember, they're the original flower people. Tulips."

Tracy laughed and took Jeff's arm. She felt such joy in being with him. He's so wonderful. And Jeff was looking at her and thinking, I'm the luckiest fellow in the world.

Tracy and Jeff did all the usual sightseeing things tourists do. They strolled along Albert Cuyp Straat, the open-air market that stretches block after block and is filled with stands of antiques, fruits and vegetables, flowers, and clothing, and wandered through Dam Square, where young people gathered to listen to itinerant singers and punk bands. They visited Volendam, the old picturesque fishing village on the Zuider Zee, and Madurodam, Holland in miniature. As they drove past the bustling Schiphol Airport, Jeff said, "Not long ago, all that land the airport stands on was the North Sea. Schiphol means 'cemetery of ships.' "

Tracy nestled closer to him. "I'm impressed. It's nice to be in love with such a smart fellow."

"You ain't heard nothin' yet. Twenty-five percent of the Netherlands is reclaimed land. The whole country is sixteen feet below sea level."

"Sounds scary."

"Not to worry. We're perfectly safe as long as that little kid keeps his finger in the d.y.k.e."

Everywhere Tracy and Jeff went, they were followed by the Gemeetepolitie, and each evening Daniel Cooper studied the written reports submitted to Inspector van Duren. There was nothing unusual in them, but Cooper's suspicions were not allayed. She's up to something, he told himself, something big. I wonder if she knows she's being followed? I wonder if she knows I'm going to destroy her?

As far as the detectives could see, Tracy Whitney and Jeff Stevens were merely tourists.

Inspector van Duren said to Cooper, "Isn't it possible you're wrong? They could be in Holland just to have a good time."

"No," Cooper said stubbornly. "I'm not wrong. Stay with her." He had an ominous feeling that time was running out, that if Tracy Whitney did not make a move soon, the police surveillance would be called off again. That could not be allowed to happen. He joined the detectives who were keeping Tracy under observation.