Prince of Fire

a trot. Gabriel started to draw the Barak but stopped himself. At the top of the steps was another apartment building. If Gabriel missed Khaled, the errant round would almost certainly plunge into the building. He could hear voices through his earpiece: Dina asking Yaakov what was going on; Yaakov telling Dina about the car that had blocked their way and the flight of steps that had forced them to separate.
    “Can you see him?”
    “No.”
    “How long has he been out of sight?”
    “A few seconds.”
    “Where’s Khaled going? Why is he walking so far? Where’s his protection? I don’t like it. I’m going to tell him to back off.”
    “Leave him to it.”
    Khaled gained the top and disappeared from sight. Gabriel took the steps two at a time and arrived no more than ten seconds after Khaled had. Confronting him was a V-shaped intersection of two streets. One of them, the one to Gabriel’s right, ran up the hill directly toward the front of the church. It was empty of cars or pedestrians. Gabriel hurried to his left and looked up the second street. There was no sign of Khaled here either, only a pair of red taillights, receding rapidly into the distance.
    “E XCUSE ME , MONSIEUR , are you lost?”
    Gabriel turned and raised the visor of his helmet. She was standing at the head of the stairs, young, no more than thirty, with large brown eyes and short dark hair. She had spoken to him in French. Gabriel responded in the same language.
    “No, I’m not lost.”
    “Perhaps you’re looking for someone?”
    And why are you, an attractive woman, speaking to a strange man wearing a motorcycle helmet? He took a step toward her. She held her ground, but Gabriel detected a trace of apprehension in her dark gaze.
    “No, I’m not looking for anyone.”
    “Are you sure? I could have sworn you were looking for someone.” She tilted her head slightly to one side. “Perhaps you’re looking for your wife.”
    Gabriel felt as though the back of his neck was ablaze. He looked at the woman’s face more carefully and realized he’d seen it before. She was the woman who’d come to the apartment with Khaled. His right hand tightened its grip on the Barak pistol.
    “Her name is Leah, isn’t it? She lives in a psychiatric hospital in the south of England—at least she used to. The Stratford Clinic, wasn’t that the name of it? She was registered under the name of Lee Martinson.”
    Gabriel lunged forward and seized the woman by the throat.
    “What have you done to her? Where is she?”
    “We have her,” the woman gasped, “but I don’t know where she is.”
    Gabriel pushed her backward, toward the top of the steps.
    “Where is she?” He repeated the question in Arabic. “Answer me! Don’t speak to me in French. Speak to me in your real language. Speak to me in Arabic.”
    “I’m telling you the truth.”
    “So you can speak Arabic. Where is she? Answer me, or you’re going down.”
    He pushed her a fraction of an inch closer to the edge. Her hand reached back for the handrail but found only air. Gabriel shook her once violently.
    “If you kill me, you’ll destroy yourself—and your wife. I’m your only hope.”
    “And if I do as you say?”
    “You’ll save her life.”
    “What about mine?”
    She left the question unanswered.
    “Tell the rest of your team to back off. Tell them to leave Marseilles immediately. Otherwise we’ll tell the French that you’re here, and that will only make the situation worse.”
    He looked over her shoulder and saw Yaakov coming slowly up the steps toward him. Gabriel, with his left hand, signaled for him to stop. Just then Dina came on the air: “Let her go, Gabriel. We’ll find Leah. Don’t play it Khaled’s way.”
    Gabriel looked back into the girl’s eyes. “And if I tell them to back off?”
    “I’ll take you to her.”
    Gabriel shook her again. “So you do know where she is?”
    “No, we’ll be told where to go. One destination at a time, very small steps. If we miss one deadline, your wife dies. If your agents try to follow us, your wife dies. If you kill me, your wife dies. If you do exactly what we say, she’ll live.”
    “And what happens to me?”
    “Hasn’t she suffered enough? Save your wife, Allon. Come with me, and do exactly as I say. It’s your only chance.”
    He looked down the steps and saw Yaakov shaking his head. Dina was whispering in his ear. “Please, Gabriel, tell her no.”
    He looked into her eyes. Shamron had trained