ggg

"C'est une sorte d'astuce." That's the last they got out of the former prisoner after he leaned forward and had his cuffs removed. Telling him it wasn't a trick, talking over his head in English, Casino's obviously American accent; even Chief saying a few words in Navajo… nothing worked. They just had to get out of town and find a safe place to wait for another one of the times they'd arranged to contact Abreo.

Communication with the resistance had to be kept to a minimum. Any time they spent on the radio gave the German's a chance to track the signal to one or the other of them. So, the contact was brief, usually less than two minutes. If there was more to say they switched to another frequency… and as soon as they shut the radio down, they packed up and changed their location.

Once they found their spot they really didn't have long to wait. Garrison dialed in the frequency the resistance was supposed to be monitoring, Actor provided the electricity by working the crank, the unit was flipped on, the dials adjusted, and the message sent. "We've got him. He doesn't trust us." Garrison handed the man the microphone; he hadn't hooked up the headphones so they could all hear the expectant hissing sound emanating from the speaker.

The men in the car with him said they knew Guillaume Abreo, that they worked with him. "Qui est-ce?" he asked in a tentative voice. But it could be a trick, he thought. What if the Bosch just needed him to confirm that Guillaume was the leader by saying his name into the microphone? He'd managed to keep that from them, even though he'd given up other information. Once they knew, once they had that confirmation; they wouldn't need him any longer. If he said the name, they'd kill him. If they killed him, it might be better for everyone.

Garrison reached out and thumbed the button on the microphone three times. The man flinched but he didn't drop the mic. A moment of static sounded in the radio's speakers, then the voice that came back across the line was clear and so was the message he sent. "Trust them, Etalon. Answer their questions."

g

"Manette, my wife." Etalon's voice broke.

"Was she picked up with you?" the man to his right asked.

"No." The radio was already being packed away at his feet. The engine started and the large car was rolling towards the road again. "They arrested me in town… but they said they knew where she was, that they were watching her. They said if I didn't cooperate with them, they would pick her up. They said… they said they would bring her in and kill her in front of me. If I didn't help them…"

"Where is she?" This question came from the dark-haired man in the front seat wearing the German lieutenant's uniform.

"At home. On our farm, east of town."

"Come on. Wouldn't she just take off when you didn't show up?" and this one came from the driver.

Vachon shook his head. "No, If I was… was ever… called away… I made her agree that she was to stay away from the town. I thought she was safe alone on the farm, at least for a few days. If I didn't come back, I made her promise she would go to her cousins in the mountains."

"Did she know why you might be 'called away'?" the large man to his right spoke again.

"I didn't talk to her about that. I wanted to keep her safe from all of that…. I thought if she didn't know… Then she couldn't…."

"Alright. We've got to get to your farm and pick her up." The one who'd told him they knew Abreo said. "We should be able to work the same con on them as we did at the compound."

"But surely that man will have checked on the names I gave him…" The man to his right spoke over his head to the one on the other side of him, the one who was in charge.

"Then we'll have to trust that bureaucracy still works, and that he hasn't got his answers yet. Casino, take off!"

g

They'd already visited all the roadblocks so they knew how to avoid them. It only took about forty minutes to reach the road that led to the small acreage where Etalon Vachon lived with his wife Manette. Rather than just roll into the yard they pulled off into the trees and Chief slipped off to check the place out. It was all they could do to keep Etalon in the car.

It was another fifteen minutes before the scout returned. "No sign anyone's watchin' the place…. Quiet. Not sure anyone's there."

"She must be there!"

The only way they kept Vachon from scrambling over Actor was by closing the doors and driving on towards the house. Once there, it was all the conman could do to get out, and get out of the way.

"Manette! Où êtes-vous? Manette!" Etalon rushed into the house. They could hear him as he made his way through it and out the back door. "Mon dieu, où vous ont-ils emmené?" He made a run for the barn next. "Manette! Où êtes-vous? S'ils vous ont fait du mal Je vais les tuer!"

Garrison was in no shape to run the frightened man down, that job fell to Actor. The other three entered the house to search for any clue as to what may have happened to his wife. Chief pointed out that there were tire tracks in the yard in front of the house that they didn't make. There was no sign of a struggle in front so they split up. Garrison went back into the bedroom. Chief found the stairs to the upper floor, Casino started off for the kitchen at the back of the place.

"Jeeze, they can probably hear that guy clear down by the road! What's he yellin' about, anyway?"

"What'd you be yellin' about, Pappy?"

Casino started opening cupboards, not really knowing what he was looking for. He guessed he'd be yelling for his wife to come out from wherever she was hiding… and he'd be yelling curses and threats against whoever might have hurt her… just like the guy out in the barn was.

It had gone quiet outside by the time they came together again in the front room of the house. Casino threw himself in one of the chairs because Garrison looked like he ought to be sitting down. The Warden followed suit. Chief took his usual spot near the window that had the best view of the track they'd used to get in here.

"You guys turn anything?"

"Nothin' upstairs. Don't think they go up there much. Pretty dusty." And nothing had disturbed that layer of dust that he could see.

"There was a suitcase in the closet." Garrison said, but they could have more than one. "There might be some things missing from the dresser." Or they could just be in the wash, he thought. They heard the hinges on the door at the back of the house creak and he pushed himself carefully back up onto his feet. "He'll have to take a look around for himself before we know…"

g

Actor had started working on him outside. By the time he'd guided him back into the house the worried husband was ready to make a systematic search of the house. He accompanied Vachon, taking note of the things the man said might be missing, things that may have been moved. The search of the downstairs rooms was thorough. Due to the helpful layer of dust, upstairs took less time, but it was still nearly an hour before they were all gathered together again in the kitchen.

Casino, taking a page out of Goniff's book, rummaged through the cabinets and in the cooling shelves of the kitchen. Since they never knew where their next meal would come from, or when, he was all for taking advantage. He'd come across a pie, some hard cheese and a chunk of smoked ham. Vachon didn't want any part of the food, but he told them where to look, and Chief went out to retrieve an earthenware jug of milk from the spring behind the house. The safecracker cut a piece of pie off with his fork and transferred it to his mouth… He decided the other dame was a better cook and ignored the pastry after that, concentrating instead on the meat and cheese. Goat's milk, he thought with disgust as he took a swig. Beer would be better.