Page 50 of At Midnight

Bump Pass

Raphael Mirabaud

All that covert training finally paid off.

Raphael was walking down the sunny sidewalk from Geneva Trust to a different coffee shop than the one on their ground floor, one that served American-sized lattes. He hadn’t been sleeping well lately and needed a bit more caffeine to get through the afternoon.

Geneva was enduring a cold snap, anda bitter breeze blew down the bright street, ruffling the winter evergreens that hung over the sides of the planters suspended from the lamp posts. The crowd hurried to wherever they were going to escape the cutting wind.

Four “bodyguards” flanked Raphael as he walked. He knew the Russian guards were there. They knew that he knew they were there. Everybody knew that if he made a run for it, theywould grab him and maybe shoot him dead on the streets of Switzerland.

The crowd trickled between Raphael and his entourage. He stuck his hands in his coat pockets because he hadn’t taken his gloves, but his coat flapped open in front. Chilly air dodged inside and passed through his suit jacket and shirt. He tucked his chin to his chest and walked more quickly toward the coffee shop, just threedoors down.

The crowd thickened, and more people wove between Raphael and his four handlers.

One man—a guy notable only for being as tall as Raphael—bumped shoulders with him and continued past.

Raphael looked back. Perhaps he’d lived in America too long and needed to apologize for everything.

When he did, the other man was also looking back, and the man’s ice blue eyes bore into his.

MagnusJensen, one of Rogue Security’s operators and the man of few words and no questions,turned away and continued walking.

Something rattled in the inside pocket of Raphael’s coat.

In another of his pockets, an envelope was missing.

He knew better than to take the new envelope out and examine the contents until he was safely back at his desk at Geneva Trust. He shrugged his shoulders to changethe shape of his coat to hide it.

Magnus had always been a master of the bump pass, and he’d executed that one perfectly.