Chapter 18

"It's gone," Caradoc said. He pulled the van's back door shut, closing out the dark blue night sky and the light emanating from the burning of the motel. "These guys are more organised than I thought."

"What if your friends in Paris don't help us?" Estok asked. He was leaned over Oberon, holding an IV drip bag above his head.

"They'll help us."

"Doc has a point," Jonas said, turning onto the road. "Antoine defected on V-day and he didn't die. He can't be the only agent of yours they saved, can he?"

"Everyone else was accounted for," Caradoc said. "The only missing person that day was Antoine."

"Not if they became a mole right after."

"We'll ask Charlemagne. He'll know."

"You sure they're not following us?" Estok ask, casting a wary glance through the small windows in the back of the van. "I mean, they do have a helicopter…"

"They won't."

"How do you even know that?"

"Because they've got Holly and Val. They know we'll go to them."

"Then don't," Jonas said. "It's simple: they want you to do something, you do the exact opposite."

"I can't just leave her to die."

"Your girlfriend told me you've been a Kingsman for eleven years. You should be used to sacrifice by now. If you told me the entire truth in that gone-to-hell motel room then they won't say shit."

Caradoc opened his mouth to say something, then closed it. He shifted from one buttock onto the other in his swivel chair, and switched on the computer. As it booted, he looked down at Oberon, who had a slight smile on his face. Lucky you, he thought.

"You people are fucking insane," Estok said after a long while.

"We're not insane; we know exactly what we're doing," Caradoc said, opening his email and scrolling through the list that appeared onscreen.

"Really? You do? What are we doing right now, then?"

"Getting to Charlemagne. I'm going to send an email."

"And you didn't do this earlier?" Jonas asked. "You said you couldn't contact them because of sleeping beauty over here."

"That's because it's not secure. They've somehow got access to our database and they can see everything. I'm assuming that's how you knew Val was one of us, Jonas. But now they've found us on the border, it's not going to take a genius to figure out we're heading for Paris."

"Wait a minute," Estok said. "If they have access to your database, how do we know the French team aren't all dead by now? Wouldn't they know where your headquarters are?"

"Jeez, doc, you're on fire today," Jonas said.

Caradoc rubbed his stubbled chin. "I-I don't know. You might be right, and I can send this email, but...what if they have an incomplete database?"

"That would make a lot of sense," the doctor said. "Which is why they targeted only you. They only have that intelligence on you, and none of the other teams."

"This is too much." Caradoc rubbed his temples. "We're in too fucking deep. I'm going to send an email anyway, just to be sure."

"What about Valerie?" Jonas asked. "Are we rescuing her or not?"

"As much as I want to, we can't. They probably know we have trackers and they'll be waiting. We just have to push on."

"What if-"

"What if she dies?" Caradoc chuckled. "She's too good for that. And she's not the half-blind one. Val will make it. It's Holly I'm worried about."

She's strong," Estok said. "I can see it in her eyes. Kind of like my wife, actually."

"You're married?" Jonas asked.

"Met her in high school, stuck together through university. These days we don't see each other a lot, but a VOIP suffices."

"What does she do?"

"Forensics. We both started out as vets, but...circumstances forced us on a different path. Or paths, since I'm a surgeon. Everything's fine, though. It's not like I haven't gone a week without calling her before."

"If they find out you're with us they'll go for her," Caradoc said. "Tell her to get to safety, will you?"

"I sent her a message. She'll know what to do." Estok passed the glucose solution bag into his other hand.

Caradoc finished typing his email to Charlemagne, and hit send on the screen. A message box popped up to inform him that it had been delivered. He turned off the screen. "It's done. Wanna talk about something less depressing?"

"Like what?" Jonas asked.

"...pets?"

"I've a pet," Estok volunteered. "A ferret, actually. He's very cute."

"Got any pictures?"

"Not on me right now."

Caradoc nodded. "I've a corgi. When you enter Kingsman, they get you to pick a dog and it's your friend for life. Then they tell you to shoot it."

"And you didn't shoot yours?" Jonas asked.

"I did. Saving the world is more important than one dog. But then again it was a blank, so win-win."

"I'd never be able to do it," Estok said.

"You're a vet, so of course not. I've never had a pet before. There was a dog in the alley next to where I lived, but I was scared my father would kill it if I brought it in."

"We all have something," Estok said. "When I was in university there was a serial killer on the loose."

"Never heard of it. Where'd you go to, doc?"

"You wouldn't know it. Pretty distant. Eventually I started carrying a gun around the campus. Illegal there, but a fine or prison is a lot better than getting your organs harvested."

"Amen to that. Did you ever find out who it was?"

"Just some student. He's dead now."

"Next you're going to tell me you killed him yourself."

"No comment."

"That still doesn't explain how you can climb like monkey and assert like a soldier," Caradoc said. "Don't doctors get cooped up in hospitals all the time? Like, no proper work schedule?"

"We have hobbies too."

"Oh yeah? And what's the chance that your hobby includes both mountain climbing and target practice?"

"You don't trust me."

"Yes. Surprisingly, I trust Jonas more than you. And you're not helping me with the trust thing very much."

"The past is the past. Can't we move on?"

"Not if it'll come back to bite you later." Caradoc exhaled. "Soon there'll be nowhere to run, and you'll have to face it. Why not now?"

"Because I'm not ready," the doctor whispered. "Now, I'll appreciate it if we talked about something else. Whatever happened to 'not depressing'?"

"Actually, uh…" Jonas reached out behind him, phone in hand. "I've got Scrabble on this so why don't you two waste a few hours? Then we'll switch."

"Waste of battery," Caradoc said, but took the phone anyway.

"We're not going to be using it much. Plus, I'd appreciate the two of you not killing each other on the way to France."

"Makes sense." Caradoc tapped the app icon, the application expanding to cover the screen. "So doc, you wanna go first?"

"Hello, Mr. Hendricksen," Tahal said. The Arab's face filled up most the screen in front of Garth. "How is the boat trip?"

"None of your business. Diana ordered radio silence, didn't she? The heck are you doing?"

"That's no way to talk to your superior."

"You're not my superior. We're all equal, remember?"

"Not explicitly, no. But when we look at the performances each member is assigned I think we can see a correlation."

Garth snorted. "Just get to the point."

"About that...I might be able to get you back on those two. Yes, I do know what Miss Vex has said, but aren't we all equal?"

"Damn right."

"Is Antoine with you? I've a better job for you two than guarding Doctor Fischer."

"I'm all ears."

"Good. Listen carefully."

"Heads up," Caradoc said, gently pressing his foot down on the brakes.

"What is it?" Jonas asked, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

The blue-and-red lights of police cars flickered across his face as he squinted along the road. "A roadblock. We're almost at the border."

"They might have out photos," Jonas said. "David! Hey!"

The doctor yawned, and stretched his arms. "Are we in Paris yet?"

"No," Caradoc said. "But the police are in our way. We've got to ditch this car." He looked out the side window, at the trees on the side of the road.

"Don't even think about it," Jonas said. "The moment you turn off the road they're going to start shooting."

"What do you suggest, then?"

"Go straight through it. I've got a passport."

"I don't have it on me," Caradoc said. "David?"

Estok shook his head. "It's at home."

"Then sneak out the back," Jonas said. "I'll get Oberon to the first hospital I see, and I'll see you...I don't know where I'll see you. All I know is they probably have your photo."

"Let me drive," Estok said.

"You'd just get arrested. And two heads are better than one," Caradoc said. "Plus, I need someone to spot for me." He tapped his glass eye.

"We'll meet at the Notre Dame," the doctor said. "Shouldn't be too hard to find."

"Fine by me. Now get out. Wait…" Jonas picked up his phone and turned it on. "Battery at seven percent; should be fine for a while. What's your number?"

Caradoc rattled off the digits, and then pulled the a small silver box out from under the computer monitor. "I'll see you on the other side?"

"Does it have to be that dramatic?"

"You ruin all the fun sometimes." He twisted into the shotgun seat as Jonas replaced him as the driver, and opened the back doors. The air outside was chilly - not as cold as the Phoenix compound in the Alps, but it made the hairs on his arms stand up.

The moon shone full and bright and yellow in the sky, and under it, the lush green plains on the border of Belgium and France.

"Ready, doc?"

"Not my first time."

Caradoc considered inquiring further, but dropped it and bent low, moving off the road and out of the cover of their van. They slowly crept across the grass, up a steep slope, and stopped on the crest of a hill. A bridge was stretched between their hill and another, making a tunnel underneath which separated the two countries.

Unceremoniously, Caradoc jogged down the hill, still keeping low, and entered France. He crept behind the bushes pressing himself against the ones to his right until he reached the road.

A house was on the other side of the road, and a police officer stood near the door, a cigarette in his hand. He let another puff into the air, and then went back to playing on his mobile phone.

"Huh, thought there'd be a lot more officers," Estok said.

"There are a lot of ways into France from Belgium. And it is in the middle of the fucking night, so they're probably spread thin."

"Still, that guy is a terrible police officer."

"It's not very often we're this lucky, so be thankful for once."

"I am thankful. There's a truck there."

"It's right next to him."

"There's a big rock right next to me."

Caradoc smiled. "You're full of surprises, doc. Let's see how good you are." He lifted both knees off the ground, winked at Estok and ran for the car.