Page 62 of The New Girl

“If you harm a hair on her head, I’m going to put a bullet in yours.”

“Like this?”

At once, the café’s sliding glass door shattered, and a superheated round split the air between Gabriel and Khalid and embedded in the wall.

“You have thirty minutes,” said the woman calmly. “Otherwise, the next one is for her.”

Gabriel and Khalid followed the other panicked patrons of Plein Sud into the busy avenue. The Renault was parked outside the neighboring shop. Gabriel dropped behind the wheel, started the engine, and raced along the walls of the ancient citadel. Khalid charted their course on his mobile phone. In truth, Gabriel didn’t need the help—the route to Saissac was clearly marked with signposts—but it gave Khalid something to do other than shout at Gabriel to drive faster.

It was a drive of nearly forty kilometers to Saissac alone. Gabriel covered the distance in about twenty minutes. They flashed through the town’s old center in a blur. In his peripheral vision he glimpsed a rampart overlooking a lowland, the ruins of a battlement, and a single café. The newer quarter of the town was to the northwest. There was an outpost of the gendarmerie and a traffic circle where for an instant Gabriel feared the Renault might overturn.

Beyond the circle, the town dwindled. For a mile or so the countryside was groomed and cultivated, but gradually it turned wild. The road narrowed, spanned a riverbed over a stone bridge, and narrowed again. Gabriel glanced at the dashboard clock. By his calculation they were already three or four minutes late. Then he checked the rearview mirror and saw a set of headlights. Somehow the lights were drawing nearer. He found his BlackBerry and dialed.

It was Keller who answered.

“Back off,” said Gabriel.

“Not a chance.”

“Tell Mikhail to pull over now.”

Gabriel overheard Keller reluctantly relay the instructions and watched a few seconds later as the car moved onto the verge. Then he severed the connection and returned the phone to his pocket. Khalid’s was suddenly ablaze with light. No name. No number.

“Put her on speaker.”

Khalid tapped the screen.

“You’re late,” said the woman.

“I think we’re almost there.”

“You are. And so are your men.”

“I told them to pull over. They won’t come any closer.”

“They’d better not.”

A sign appeared:département du tarn.

“I’m crossing the border,” said Gabriel.

“Keep going.”

They were in a tunnel of trees. When they emerged, Gabriel saw a line of sagging wire fencing along the right side of the road. The field beyond it was in darkness. Heavy cloud had rendered the night moonless.

“Slow down,” commanded the woman. “The break in the fence is just ahead.”

Gabriel eased off the throttle and turned through the breach. The track was unpaved, deeply rutted, and wet with a recent rain. Gabriel bumped along for what he thought was a hundred meters and braked.

“Keep going,” said the woman.

Gabriel crept forward, the car rocking like a boat rising and falling on swells.

“That’s far enough.”

Gabriel stopped.

“Switch off the engine and the headlamps.”