The Ghost

it off.
    “Don’t answer it,” warned Rycart. “It’ll lead them straight to us.”
    I looked at the incoming number. “It’s Amelia Bly,” I said. “It could be important.”
    “Amelia Bly,” repeated Rycart, his voice a blend of awe and lust. “I haven’t seen her for a while.” He hesitated; it was obvious he was desperate to know what she wanted. “If they’re monitoring you, they’ll be able to fix your location to within a hundred yards, and this hotel is the only building where you’re likely to be.”
    The phone continued to throb in my outstretched palm. “Well, to hell with you,” I said. “I’m not taking my orders from you.”
    I pressed the green button. “Hi,” I said. “Amelia.”
    “Good evening,” she said, her voice as crisp as a matron’s uniform. “I have Adam for you.”
    I mouthed, “It’s Adam Lang,” at Rycart and waved my hand at him to warn him against saying anything. An instant later the familiar, classless voice filled my ear.
    “I was just speaking to Ruth,” he said. “She tells me you’re in New York.”
    “That’s right.”
    “So am I. Whereabouts are you?”
    “I’m not sure exactly where I am, Adam.” I made a helpless gesture at Rycart. “I haven’t checked in anywhere yet.”
    “We’re at the Waldorf,” said Lang. “Why don’t you come over?”
    “Hold on a second, Adam.” I pressed Mute.
    “You,” said Rycart, “are a fucking idiot.”
    “He wants me to go over and see him at the Waldorf.”
    Rycart sucked in his cheeks, appraising the options. “You should go,” he said.
    “What if it’s a trap?”
    “It’s a risk, but it’ll look odd if you don’t go. He’ll get suspicious. Tell him yes, quickly, and then hang up.”
    I pressed Mute again.
    “Hi, Adam,” I said, trying to keep the tension out of my voice. “That’s great. I’ll be right over.”
    Rycart passed his finger across his throat.
    “What brings you to New York, in any case?” asked Lang. “I thought you had plenty to occupy you at the house.”
    “I wanted to see John Maddox.”
    “Right. And how was he?”
    “Fine. Listen, I’ve got to go now.”
    Rycart’s throat slashing was becoming ever more urgent.
    “We’ve had a great couple of days,” continued Lang, as if he hadn’t heard me. “The Americans have been fantastic. You know, it’s in the tough times that you find out who your real friends are.”
    Was it my imagination, or did he freight those words with extra emphasis for my benefit?
    “Great. I’ll be with you as fast as I can, Adam.”
    I ended the call. My hand was shaking.
    “Well done,” said Rycart. He was on his feet, retrieving his coat from the bed. “We have about ten minutes to get out of here. Get your stuff together.”
    Mechanically, I began gathering up the photographs. I put them back in the case and fastened it while Rycart went into the bathroom and peed noisily.
    “How did he sound?” called Rycart.
    “Cheerful.”
    He flushed the lavatory and emerged buttoning his fly. “Well, we’ll just have to do something about that, won’t we?”
    The elevator down to the lobby was crammed with members of the Church of Latter-Day Online Traders, or whoever the hell they were. It stopped at every floor. Rycart grew more and more nervous.
    “We mustn’t be seen together,” he muttered as we stepped out at the ground floor. “You hang back. We’ll meet you in the car park.”
    He quickened his pace, drawing ahead of me. Frank was already on his feet—presumably he had been listening and knew of our intentions—and the two of them set off without a word: the dapper, silver Rycart and his taciturn and swarthy sidekick. What a double act, I thought. I bent and pretended to tie my shoelace, then took my time crossing the lobby, deliberately circling the groups of chattering guests, keeping my head down. There was something now so ludicrous about this whole situation that, as I joined the crush at the door waiting to get out, I actually found myself smiling. It was like a Feydeau farce: each new scene more far-fetched than the last, yet each, when you examined it, a logical development of its predecessor. Yes, that was what this was: a farce! I stood in line until my turn came, and that was when I saw Emmett, or at least that’s when I thought I saw Emmett, and suddenly I wasn’t smiling anymore.
    The hotel had one of these big revolving doors, with compartments that hold five or six people at a time, all of