"You ever think about being black, Hawk?" He looked at me for maybe ten seconds. "We a lot alike, Spenser. You got more scruples maybe, but we alike. Except one thing. You never been black. That's something I know that you won't ever know."

"So you do think about it. How is it?"

"I used to think about it, when I had to. I don't have to no more. Now I ain't n.i.g.g.e.r any more than you honkie. Now I drink the wine and screw the broads and take the money and n.o.body shoves me. Now I just play all the time. And the games I play n.o.body can play as good." He drank some more champagne, his movements clean and sure and delicate. He was eating with no shirt on and the overhead light made the planes of muscle cast fluid and intricate highlights on the black skin. He put the champagne gla.s.s back on the table, cut another slice of salmon and stopped with the portion halfway to his mouth. He looked at me again and his face opened into a brilliant, oddly mirthless grin. " 'Cept maybe you, babe," he said. "Yeah," I said, "but the game's not the same." Hawk shrugged. "Same game, different rules."

"Maybe," I said. "I never been sure you had any rules."

"You know better. I just got fewer than you. And I ain't softhearted. But you know, I say I gonna do something I do it. It gets done. I hire on for something, I stay hired. I do what I take the bread for."

"I remember a time you didn't stay hired for King Powers."

"That's different," Hawk said. "King Powers is a douche bag. He got no rules, he don't count. I mean you, or Henry Cimoli. I tell you something, you can put it in the bank."

"Yeah. That's so," I said. "Who else?" Hawk had drunk a lot of Taittinger and I had drunk a lot of Amstel. "Who else what?"

"Who else can trust you?"

"Quirk," Hawk said. "Martin Quirk," I said. "Detective Lieutenant Martin Quirk?"

"Yeah."

"Quirk wants to put you in the joint."

"Sure he does," Hawk said. "But he knows how a man acts. He knows how to treat a man."

"Yeah, you're right. Anyone else?"

"That's enough. You, Henry, Quirk. That's more than a lot of people ever know."

"I don't guess Henry will give you trouble," I said. "But Quirk or I may shoot you someday." Hawk finished his salmon and turned the big bright grin at me again. "If you can, man. If you can." Hawk pushed the plate away, and stood up. "Got something to show you," he said. I sipped at my beer while he went to the closet and brought out something that looked like a cross between a shoulder holster and a backpack. He slipped his arms through the loops and stepped back from the closet. "What do you think?" The rig was a shoulder holster for a sawed-off shotgun. The straps went around each shoulder and the gun hung, b.u.t.t down along his spine. "Watch this," he said. He slipped his coat on over his naked skin. The coat covered the gun entirely. Unless you were looking you didn't even see a bulge. With his right hand he reached behind him under the skirt of his suit jacket, gave a brief twisting movement and brought the shotgun out. "Can you dig it?"

"Lemme see," I said. And Hawk put the shotgun in my hand. It was an Ithaca double-barreled 12 gauge. The stock had been cut off and both barrels were cut back. The whole thing was no more than eighteen inches long. "Do a lot more damage than a target pistol," I said. "And it's no problem. Just go buy a shotgun and cut it down. If we have to go to another country I ditch this and buy a new one where we going. Take me an hour maybe to modify the mother."

"Got a hack saw?" Hawk nodded. "And a couple of C clamps. That's all I need."

"Not bad," I said. "What you going to do next, modify an Atlas missile and walk around with it tucked in your sock?"

"No harm," Hawk said, "to fire power." The next morning I got up early and went up and burgled Kathie's apartment while she was at the laundromat. I was neat about it, but sloppy enough to let her know someone had been there. I wasn't looking for anything, I just wanted her to know someone had been there. I was in and out in about five minutes. When she came back I was leaning in the doorway of the next apartment house wearing sungla.s.ses. As she pa.s.sed I turned away so she wouldn't see my face. I wanted her to spot me but I didn't want to overact.

I used to know a guy named Sh.e.l.ley Walden when I was with the cops who would get spotted tailing a guy through a rock concert. I never knew why he was so bad at it. He had a small, innocuous look about him and he wasn't clumsy, but he couldn't keep out of sight. I tried to run this stakeout like Sh.e.l.ley would have. If she spotted me when she went by she didn't let on. I knew Hawk was somewhere behind her but I didn't see him. When she went into her apartment I walked casually across the street and leaned on a lamppost and took out a newspaper and started to read it. That would have been Sh.e.l.ley's style. The old Bogart movies where he pulls back the curtain and there's a guy under a lamppost reading a newspaper.

I figured she'd see that someone had been rummaging in her apartment and that would get her nervous. It did. About two minutes after she went in, I saw her looking out her window. I was looking surrept.i.tiously over my newspaper and for a moment our eyes met. I looked back down at the newspaper. She knew I was there. She should recognize me. It was sunny and I wasn't wearing my Irish walking hat. No mistaking me for Rex Harrison. She had reason to be nervous about being spotted. She had phony pa.s.sports and stolen guns in her bedroom. That would be enough to bust her. But I wanted them all. She was the string and they were the balloon. If I cut her off I lost the balloon. She was all the handle I had. What she should have done was sit tight, but she didn't know that. She would either call out the shooters again, or she'd run. She sat in her apartment and looked at me looking at her for nearly four hours, and then she ran. Hawk had been right. The shooters must be getting wary of me. Or maybe I'd cleaned them out. Maybe all the shooters the organization had had been used up, except the one guy that got away. I wasn't dealing here with the KGB. Liberty's resources were probably limited. She came out of her apartment at about two in the afternoon. She was wearing a tan safari jacket and matching pants and carrying a very large shoulder bag. The same one she'd had at the zoo. She was careful not to pay me any attention as she went past me on Cleveland and headed up Goodge Street toward Bloomsbury.

For a half hour it was hare and hounds with Kathie dekeing and diving the side streets of Bloomsbury with me behind her and Hawk behind me. At every turn I kept before me the clear image of Sh.e.l.ley Walden. When in doubt I asked myself, "What would Sh.e.l.ley, do?" Everywhere she went, she saw me behind her. Only once in all of this did I catch sight of Hawk. He was in Levis and a corduroy sport coat, surprisingly innocuous, on the opposite side of the street going the other way. I let her lose me in the Russell Square Underground. She got on and I got on. At the last minute she got off and I let her go. As the train pulled out she was heading back out of the station and, behind her, Hawk, with his hands in his hip pockets and the faint bulge of the shotgun along his spine.

He was smiling as the train went into the tunnel.

14.

I went back and staked out Kathie's apartment, but she never came back. Good. She was probably headed for a new place. Any pattern break was better than none at this point. After dinner that night I finished up Regeneration Through Violence and was thumbing through the International Herald Tribune when Hawk called. "Where are you?" I said. "Copenhagen, babe, the Paris of the North."

"Where is she?"

"She here too. She checked into an apartment here. You coming over?"

"Yeah. Be there tomorrow. Anyone with her?"

"Not yet. She just flew over, came to the apartment and went in. She ain't come out."

"The revolutionaries do lead an exciting life, don't they?"

"Like you and me, babe, international adventurers. I'm at the Sheraton Copenhagen watching Danish television. What you doing, man?"

"I was glancing through the Herald Tribune when you called. Very interesting. An enriching experience." Hawk said, "Yeah. Me too."

"I'll come over tomorrow," I said. "Room five-two-three," Hawk said. "Have them pack up my stuff and ship it to Henry. Hate to have some limey walking around in my threads."

"Ah Hawk," I said, "you sentimental b.a.s.t.a.r.d."

"You gonna like it here, babe," Hawk said. "Why is that?"

"The broads are all blond and they sell beer in the c.o.ke machine. "

"Maybe I'll come over tonight," I said. But I didn't. I slept another night in England. In the morning I arranged for Hawk's stuff to be shipped to the States. I called Flanders and told him where I was going. Then I packed my gun as before, in my luggage, and flew to Denmark. Have gun, will travel. Did Paladin do vengeance? Probably. The airport at Copenhagen was modern and gla.s.sy, with a lot of level escalators to move people around the airport. I took a bus in from the airport to the SAS terminal in the Royal Hotel. On the way I spotted the Sheraton. A short walk from the terminal. I made the walk carrying my flight bag, my suitcase and my garment bag, feeling the odd excited buzz I always felt in a place I'd never been. The Sheraton looked like Sheratons I'd seen in New York, Boston and Chicago. Newer maybe than New York and Chicago. More like Boston. It looked as Danish as Bond bread.

I checked in. The desk clerk spoke English with no accent. Embarra.s.sing. I didn't even know how to say Sren Kierkegaard. The h.e.l.l with him. How many one-armed push-ups can he do? I unpacked and dialed room 523. No answer. The air conditioner was purring under the window but wasn't cooling the room. The temperature was about 96. I opened the windows and looked out. There was a broad park across the street with a lake in it. The park extended several blocks down to the right. Across the park I could see another hotel. The open window's help was largely psychological, but I didn't feel quite as bad. I rea.s.sembled my gun, loaded it, put it in its shoulder holster and hung the rig on a chair back. My shirt was wet. I took it off. The rest of me was wet too. I took off my clothes, brought the gun and holster with me into the bathroom, hung it on the door k.n.o.b and took a shower. Then I toweled off, put on clean clothes and looked out the window some more. About two in the afternoon there was a knock on the door. I took my gun out, stood to one side of the door and said, "Yeah."

"Hawk." I opened the door and he came in. He was wearing white Nikes with a red slash, and white duck pants and an off-white safari jacket with short sleeves. He was carrying two open bottles of Carlsberg beer. "Fresh from the machine," he said, and gave me one. I drank most of it. "I thought Scandinavia was cool and northern, " I said. "Heat wave," Hawk said. "Never had one like this before, they keep saying. That's why the air conditioners don't do s.h.i.t. They never really use them." I finished the beer. "Right in the c.o.ke machine, you say?"

"Yeah, man, right on your floor here, around the corner from the elevator. You got any kroner?" I nodded. "I exchanged some at the desk when I checked in."

"Come on, we'll get us a couple more. Helps with the heat." We went out and got two more beers and came back in. "Okay, where is she?" I said. The beer was very cool in my throat. "About a block down that way," Hawk said. "You lean far enough out your window, you probably see her place."

"Why aren't you poised outside watching her every move?"

"She went in about eleven, nothing happened since. I was thirsty and I figured I'd come see if you got in."

"Anything shaking since I talked with you before?"

"Naw. She hasn't done a thing. Somebody else staking her out though."

"Ah hah," I said. "What you say?"

"I said, Ah hah."

"That what I thought you say. You honkies do talk strange."

"They spot you?" I said. "Course they didn't spot me. Would they spot you?"

"No. I withdraw the question."

"d.a.m.n right."

"What can you tell me about him?"

"Dark fella. Not a brother. Maybe a Syrian, something, some kind of Arab."

"Tough?"

"Oh yeah. He got a look. I think he had a piece. Saw him sort of shrug like the shoulder holster straps was aggravating him."

"How big?"

"Tall, taller than me. Not too heavy, sort of stoop-shouldered. Big beaky nose. Thirty, maybe thirty-five years old, crew-cut. " I had out my descriptions and my Identikit drawings. "Yeah," I said. "He's one."

"Why is he watching her?" Hawk said. "Maybe he's not watching her, maybe he's looking for me," I said. "Yeah," Hawk said. "That's why she don't do much. Since I tailed her over she just take a couple walks, and come back. Each time the dude with the big honker he follow her, very loose. He stay back of her. He looking for you, see if she was followed." I nodded. "Okay," I said. "She's got some people here. We'll play their match. I'll watch her. I'll let Big Nose watch me, and you can watch him. Then we'll see what happens."

"Maybe Big Nose burn you the first time he see you."

"You're not supposed to let him do that."

"Yeah." The beer was gone. I looked at the empty bottle with sadness. "Let's get to it," I said. "Sooner we get them all, the sooner I get home."

"You don't like foreigners?"

"I miss Susan."

"Can't blame you for that, man, she got one of the finest a.s.s..." I looked up. Hawk said, "Cancel that, man. I sorry. That ain't your kind of talk about Susan. It ain't mine either. I forgot myself." I nodded.

15.

I went out of the Sheraton and turned left on Vester Stogade. Most of the buildings along the street were low apartment buildings, relatively new, and middle-cla.s.s or better. Number 36 was hers. Brick, with a small open porch on the front. Before I got there I crossed the street and lingered inconspicuously near some bushes in the park. A lot of people must walk their dogs, I noticed, 'along a narrow path that skirted the lake. A light blue Simca cruised by with one man at the wheel. I stayed where I was. I didn't see Hawk. In a few minutes the Simca was back. A little one, square and boxy. It went past me gqing the other way and parked a half block up toward the hotel. I stood. It sat.

After another ten minutes a black Saab station wagon pulled up in front of Kathie's apartment. Three men got out and two of them began to walk toward me, the third went into Kathie's. I looked in the other direction toward the Simca. A tall, dark, stoop-shouldered man with a big nose and a gray crew-cut was getting out. Behind me was the lake. One of us was sort of cornered. The two men from the Saab fanned out a little as they came so that if I had wanted to I couldn't run straight ahead and split the defense and get away. I didn't want to. I stood still with my feet about a foot apart, my hands clasped loosely in front of me, slightly below my belt buckle. The three men reached me and spread out in a little circle around me. The tall guy with the nose stood behind me. The two men from the Saab looked like brothers. Young and ruddy-cheeked. One of them had a scar that ran from the corner of his mouth halfway across his cheek. The other had very small eyes and very light eyebrows. Both were wearing loud sport shirts hanging outside their pants. I guessed why. The one with the scar took a .38 automatic out of his waistband and pointed it at me. He said something in German. "I speak English," I said. "Put your hands on top of your head," he said. "Wow," I said, "you hardly have an accent." He gestured with the gun barrel. I rested my hands loosely on my head. "That seems dumb to me," I said. "Should ein cop come by he might notice that I was standing here with my hands on my head. He might pause to ask why, nein?"

"Put your hands down at your sides." I put them down. "Which of you is Hans?" The guy with the gun ignored me. He said something in German to the big-nosed guy behind me. "I'll bet you're Hans," I said to Scarface. "And you're Fritz." Big Nose patted me down, found my gun, and took it. He slipped it into his belt under his shirt. "That's the Captain behind me." They didn't seem to be fans of the Katzenjammer Kids. They didn't seem to be fans of me either. The guy with the small eyes said, "Come." And we walked across the street from the park and into the apartment building. I was careful not to look for Hawk. Kathie's anartment was first floor right, looking out on the park. She was there when we went in, sitting on the couch, half turned so she could look out the window. She was wearing a white corduroy jumpsuit with a black chain for a belt. The man in the room with her was small and wiry with a wide, strong nose and a harsh mouth. He had a big gray mustache that extended beyond his lips, and he wore wire-rimmed gla.s.ses. He was nearly bald, probably, but he had let what little hair he had grow very long on the left side and then combed it up and across. Thus his part started just above his left ear. To keep it in place he seemed to have lacquered it with hair spray. He was wearing work shoes and tight-legged corduroy jeans. His white shirt was frayed at the collar. The sleeves were rolled up and his forearms looked strong. He was dark, like Big Nose, and middle-aged. He didn't look like a German, or a crazy. He looked like a mean grownup. He spoke in German to Scarface. Scarface said, "English."

"Why are you following this young woman?" the guy said to me. He had an accent, but I couldn't say what kind. "Why do you want to know?" I said. He took two steps across the room and punched me in the jaw with his right hand. He was a strong little man and the punch hurt. Hans and Fritz both had their guns out. Fritz's was a Luger. Big Nose stayed behind me. "At least you gave me a straight answer," I said. "Why are you following this young woman?"

"She and a number of her a.s.sociates blew up the family of a rich and vengeful American," I said. "He hired me to get even. "

"Then why did you simply not kill her when you found her?"

"One, I'm too nice a guy. Two, she was the only one I had contact with. I wanted her for a Judas goat. I wanted her to lead me to the others."

"And you think she has?"

"Some. You're new, but the guy with the big bazoo here and Hans and Fritz, they look about right."

"How many people are involved?"

"Nine."

"You have killed or captured three. You have located four more, and it has not taken you very long. You are good at your work." I tried to look modest. "Someone that good at his work should not have been so easy to catch standing there in the park like a statue." I tried to look embarra.s.sed. "You were armed and you look dangerous. In the past you have killed two men lying in ambush for you." He looked out the window. "Have we followed her down the slaughter chute as well?" Big Nose said something in a language I didn't know. The little guy answered him. Big Nose went out the front door, moving with a kind of shambling lope. "We shall see," the little guy said. "What's your part in all of this?" I said. "I have the misfortune to have this collection of thugs and terrorists in my organization. I do not admire them. They are childish amateurs. I have business a good deal more serious to conduct than blowing up tourists in London. But I also have need of bodies and I cannot always choose the best."

"It's hard to get good help," I said. "It is that," he said. "You would be good help, I think. I have knocked men down with punches no harder than I gave you."

"You might try it sometime when your thugs and terrorists were not around to support you."

"I am not big, but I am quick and I know many tricks," he said. "But we're going to kill you so you and I will never know."

"You are when your friend Nose-o comes back and says there's no one waiting outside with an ant.i.tank gun." The little guy smiled. "You are not an amateur either," he said. "We'll kill you whether there is someone there or not. But it is best to know. Perhaps you would serve as a hostage. We shall see."

"What's this important work you're doing?" I said. "It is freedom's work. Africa does not belong to the Nigras or the Communists."

"Who does it belong to?"

"It belongs to us."

"Us?"

"You and me, the white race. The race that brought it out of the cesspool of tribalism and savagery in the nineteenth century. The race that can make Africa a civilization."

"You aren't Cecil Rhodes, are you?"

"My name is Paul."

"All your people share this goal?"

"We are pro-white and anticommunist," Paul said. "That is common ground enough."

"Let me ask you a question, Kathie," I said. "You speak English, I a.s.sume."

"I speak five languages," she said. She was on the couch in the same spot she'd been in when I came in. She was very still. When she spoke only her mouth moved. "How do you wear white pants like that without the French bikinis showing through?" Kathie's face turned a slow red. "You are filthy," she said. Paul hit me again, with his left hand this time, evening up the bruises. "Do not speak so to her," he said. Kathie got up and left the room. Paul went after her. Hans and Fritz pointed their guns at me. A key turned in the door behind me and Big Nose stepped in. "No one," he said. Hawk stepped in right behind him with two shotgun sh.e.l.ls in his teeth and, firing past his ear with a cutdown shotgun, blew most of Fritz's head off. I dove behind a lounge chair. Hans fired at Hawk and hit Big Nose in the middle of the forehead. Hawk fired the second barrel at Hans as Big Nose was going down. It folded him over and he was dead by the time he fell. Hawk broke open the shotgun. The spent sh.e.l.ls popped in the air. Hawk took the fresh sh.e.l.ls from his mouth and slid them into the breech and snapped the shotgun closed by the time the spent sh.e.l.ls. .h.i.t the floor. I was on my feet. "Through there," I said, and pointed toward the door where Kathie and Paul had left the room. Hawk reached it while I dug my gun out of Big Nose's belt. "Door's locked," Hawk said. I kicked it open and Hawk went through in a low crouch, the shotgun held in his right hand, and I went behind him. It was a bedroom and bath with sliding doors that opened onto a courtyard. The doors were open. Paul and Kathie were gone. "G.o.dd.a.m.n," Hawk said. "Let's get the h.e.l.l out of here," I said. We did.

16.

The next morning we looked in the Danish papers. There was a front-page picture of Kathie's apartment and a shot of bodies being wheeled out on stretchers on page two. But neither Hawk nor I could read Danish so there wasn't much to learn. I clipped the story anyway, in case 1 found a translator. Hans and Fritz looked pretty much like two of the people on my list. Hawk and I looked at the Identikit sketches and agreed that they were. "You doing pretty good," Hawk said. "That's six."

"You didn't waste a lot of time when you came through the door."

"Like halt or I'll shoot, that jive?"