The Last of the Stanfields(79)
“The girl’s gone insane! Completely mad!”
Germain hit the brakes and pulled over to the side of the road. He raised his hands in surrender, shaking with fear and anger. “Germaine was right all along. I stick out my neck to help you damn foreigners, and this is how I’m repaid? Well, off with you. Run along. What are you waiting for? Take your damn bike and go!”
“You have any idea how to drive this thing?” Hanna asked Robert, who was still frozen in shock.
“Sure, at least . . . I think I can. Driving trucks was part of my training in England.”
Hanna turned back to the farmer. “You can get out now,” she ordered. When Germain hesitated, Hanna slipped her finger onto the trigger to let him know she meant business.
“I lost my father yesterday after being double-crossed by a rat just like you, so believe me when I say nothing would make me happier right now than blowing your brains out on the side of the road. You’ve got ten seconds to get the hell out.”
Germain cursed under his breath and scrambled out of the truck. Robert quickly took his seat. As the Berliet lumbered away down the road, they could hear Germain shouting after them. “My truck! You goddamn thieves! Come back here with my truck!”
“Head that way,” Hanna told Robert, pointing up a winding side road to their left. “And keep the headlights off.”
“What in the world are you thinking? The guy was offering us help and you just—”
“That guy’s help would’ve got us killed, believe me. He’s a collaborator. Honestly, for a secret agent on a mission, your observational skills could use some work. The farm had nothing but wheat and pigs, not a hen or cow in sight. Just how do you think he bought this truck or got his hands on something as vital as a pass to move about freely? If the man’s working the black market, just who do you think he’s selling to?”
“How the hell did you put all that together?”
“I’ve been hiding out a lot longer than you. Survival is a question of staying sharp and always observing. You’ll understand soon enough. We stay on the road until dawn. German convoys are easiest to spot by night. During the day, by the time you see them it’s already too late. At daybreak, we’ll have to switch to that bike of yours. How fast can you go?”
“Forty-five, fifty kilometers an hour, at best.”
Hanna grabbed Robert’s wrist and checked the time.
“That gives us enough time to cover at least a hundred and fifty kilometers, which should put us pretty close to the border. I can’t believe they left you your watch.”
“Who?”
“Who? The bastards who took you captive, that’s who. Someday you’ll have to tell me how you managed to get out of there alive.”
“Oh, I see,” Robert said, darkening. “Next, you’ll be telling me to run along. What the hell are you insinuating?”
“Not a thing, not a single thing. I was asking sincerely. I’m just interested in hearing what happened to you.”
“We got snagged by militiamen who drove us out to a house. Titon and I were separated. They beat us like dogs, trying to get us to talk. Obviously, I didn’t say a word, or else I wouldn’t have gotten all these pretty little souvenirs.” Robert slid up his sleeve to show a series of cigarette burns on his forearm.
“When they figured out I was American, they thought I’d make a nice little gift for the Germans. They threw me in the back of a car. I passed out, so they didn’t even bother with a guard, just the driver. When I woke up, we were driving on a country road. I was close enough to grab the guy by the throat. I told him if he didn’t stop the car, I’d snap his fucking neck. And that’s just what he did.”
“And then what did you do?”
“I snapped his fucking neck.”
“Well . . . good riddance. One less bastard in the world. You’re making me regret letting off that farmer so easily. Not to mention he’ll go running straight to that checkpoint and tell them everything. All right, let’s focus on the task at hand. Enough talk,” Hanna ordered.
As they drove through the night in silence, one part of Robert’s story was gnawing at Hanna. How in the world did he manage to recover the tandem? But, of course, it wasn’t the only tandem in the world. And in any event, Hanna needed his help and wasn’t going to risk offending the one man who could take her to America and save her life.
They got lost several times along the way, and even drove straight by Aurignac without realizing. As Hanna searched around for a map, she stumbled upon a pass issued by the militia, thus confirming her suspicions about Germain. She eventually found an old map among the truck’s papers and used it to guide their way, flicking on the small light in the truck from time to time as they drove. She wasn’t familiar with any of the names of the tiny villages they passed, but knew they would be fine as long as they kept heading south and didn’t run into anyone along the way.
The truck reached Saint-Girons around three in the morning. As they entered the village, they caught sight of a German sidecar parked by the side of the road. Luckily, the men on guard were so groggy and slow moving that by the time they made it outside, all they saw were brake lights fading in the distance. And besides, the soldiers would have most likely assumed that only an authorized convoy would be prowling around so late at night.