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“That would work. Happen to have an extra sitting around?”

Fine chuckled.

“Not quite,” he said. “But there is going to be a resupply of Sandman in Corsica that leaves out of here in three days.”

“The Corsicans who were recruited through the French Deuxième Bureau,” Canidy said.

“Right. They’ll take the Casabianca and go ashore on Corsica by rubber boat.”

Canidy looked at him.

“Try to pay attention, Stan,” he said, and with his hand that held his drink he pointed toward one o’clock. “Corsica is a chunk of rock in the water out in that direction

.”

He pointed to three o’clock.

“Sicily,” he went on, “is another chunk of rock in the water more or less out thataway.”

Fine chuckled again.

Fine said, “Any reason they couldn’t drop you there after dropping the team on Corsica?”

Canidy thought about that a long moment.

Fine went on: “And wait for you offshore on the bottom till you come out?”

Canidy looked at him, then his eyes brightened.

“Wait,” he said. “What about dropping me off on the way and picking me up on the way back? We plan for the pickup in the same place they drop me—just like how the teams do it—with a backup site.”

Fine nodded thoughtfully.

“That could make sense,” he said. “But…what if there are problems in Corsica before they get back to you…”

“Beggars can’t be choosers,” Canidy said, and shrugged. “I’ve been stranded before.”

Fine considered that.

“If that’s what you want, Dick, I don’t see why not.” He paused. “But then, I’m learning there’s a lot that I think is okay and someone is always more than happy to tell me otherwise.”

“One Colonel Owen?”

He nodded.

“And others…but they can be handled,” Fine said finally. “What about you—anything you need?”

“No, but thanks. I brought what I thought I’d need, including a nice new Johnson LMG.”

Fine’s eyebrows went up.

“Nice,” he said. “Where’d you get that?”

Canidy told him about how he and Fulmar each got one from Joe “Socks” Lanza.

“Amazing,” Fine said when he had finished. “But then again, I guess not. Not after you’ve seen all the shady characters running around this town.”

“That reminds me,” Canidy said. “I thought I saw a guy I knew in the market this afternoon—but he’s not supposed to be here.”