Page 16 of In A Faraway Land

“Who?”

“We don’t know.”

“Elands.”

“It’s better not to tell you a damn thing. It’s better that you act as if you haven’t heard from me, you don’t know anything, and you have no idea where she is.”

“Pierre must be lying,” Wulf said.“Half of theWelfenlegionare from our Swiss Army days, and you hired them all. TheWelfenlegioncouldn’t be penetrated.”

Dieter wished it were true. “People can be bought, and half of them weren’t with us in the army. Rainer or Pierre would have offered them a lot of money. Even you can’t pay an entire staff enough to stop that from happening.”

“I had hoped that I inspired personal loyalty.”

“Anyone can be bought if the price is right.” Dieter’s own price was Flicka’s smile, or her tears, or her kiss. Everything about her was his weakness.

Wulfram averted his eyes and stared at the floor.

Theo stood and started closing the blinds around the room.

“Are you all right?” Wulfram asked. “Do you need anything? Money? Someone to stand over her while you take a piss so she won’t go runningabout?”

“No,Durchlaucht.I just set up an account to draw from Rogue Security. We’ll be all right.”

Wulfram straightened and clapped his hands on his knees. “So now what?”

“You never saw me,” Dieter said. “You don’t know anything new. Go back to Rae and don’t leave her alone with anyone. Carry a weapon at all times. Give her one, too.”

Wulf shook his head. “I have not been paranoid enough.I would have bet against that.”

Dieter laughed, but he didn’t mean it was funny. “I would have taken your money on that one.”

Once the blinds were all closed, Theo returned to his desk.

Wulfram said to Dieter, “I wish you could look at theWelfenlegion.You can look at anyone and know if they’re a threat. I’ve gotten too close to them. I couldn’t even offer a list of top three suspects.”

“I can’t do that. They all know me,” Dieter said. “I worked with them for years.”

“God, I feel exposed. I could take Rae for an extended holiday in Germany and lock her inSchloss Marienburg.”

“If I thought it would do any good, I would tell you to be on the first plane out of here.”

“But theWelfenlegionwould still be there.”

“Yeah,” Dieter said. “That’s the problem.”

“If you couldlookat them—”

“Pierre and the Monegasque Secret Service know that Flicka was seen with me. If I’m found, they’ll have a point to start looking for Flicka.”

“They have a location on her, anyway,” Theo pointed out. “Blanchard must have told them what he told her. They’ll know to look for her in Nevada.”

Wulfram stroked his face. “The divorce laws here are nearly as liberal as in Nevada. The prenuptialcontract may specify that Nevada is the preferred location, but it doesn’t rule out other venues. If you were seen here, it might throw them off her scent.”

Dieter shook his head. “If they thought she was here, they would assume you were helping her. You and Rae wouldn’t be safe.”

“If only you could look at theWelfenlegionwithout them seeing you.”

Dieter shrugged. “Like monitoring them oversecurity cameras? I don’t think just observing them would work. None of them would be so stupid as to look into a camera and confess, unprovoked, to being a mole in your operation, even if we told them it was a reality show about how royal families really live.”