'I agree,' Lopez said. 'But I can't do any more. The rest is up to you.'
'Christ,' Luke said. 'So I'm on my own.'
'No, you're not,' said Billie. 'You're not on your own.'
.
1 A. M.
The new fuel is based on a nerve gas and is very dangerous. It is delivered to Cape Canaveral on a special train equipped with nitrogen to blanket it if any escapes. A drop on the skin will be absorbed into the bloodstream instantly and will be fatal. The technicians say: 'If you smell fish, run like hell.'
Billie drove fast, handling the Thunderbird's three-speed manual gear change with confidence. Luke watched in admiration. They sped through the quiet streets of Georgetown, crossed the creek to downtown Washington, and headed for the Carlton.
Luke felt energized. He knew who his enemy was, he had a friend at his side, and he understood what he had to do. He was mystified by what had happened to him, but he was determined to unravel the mystery, and impatient to get on with it Billie parked around the corner from the entrance. I'll go first,' she said. 'If there's anyone suspicious in the lobby, I'll come right out again. When you see me take my coat off, you'll know it's all clear.'
Luke was not comfortable with this plan. 'What if Anthony's there?'
'He won't shoot me.' She got out of the car.
Luke contemplated arguing with her and decided against it She was probably right. He presumed that Anthony had thoroughly searched his hotel room, and had destroyed anything he thought might be a clue to the secret he so badly wanted to keep. But Anthony also needed to maintain a semblance of normality, to support the fiction that Luke had lost his memory after a drinking bout. So Luke expected to find most of his own stuff. That would help him reorient himself. And there might be a clue that Anthony had overlooked.
They approached the hotel separately, Luke remaining on the opposite side of the street He watched Billie go in, enjoying her jaunty walk and the swing of Her coat He could see through the glass doors into the lobby. A porter approached her immediately, suspicious of a glamorous woman arriving alone so late at night He saw her speak, and guessed she was saying: 'I'm Mrs. Lucas, my husband will be along in a moment' Then she took off her coat Luke crossed the road and entered the hotel.
For the porter's benefit he said: 'I want to make, a call before we go upstairs, honey.' There was an internal phone on the reception desk, but he did not want the porter to hear his conversation. Next to the reception desk was a little lobby that had a payphone in an enclosed booth with a seat Luke went inside. Billie followed him and closed the door. They were very close together. He put a dime in the slot and called the hotel. He angled the handset so that Billie could hear. Tense though he was, he found it deliciously exciting to be so near to Billie.
'Sheraton-Carlton, good morning.'
It was morning, he realized - Thursday morning. He had been awake for twenty hours. But he did not feel sleepy. He was too tense. 'Room five-thirty, please.'
The operator hesitated. 'Sir, it's past one o'clock -is this an emergency?'
'Dr Lucas asked me to call no matter how late.'
'Very good.'
There was a pause, then a ringing tone. Luke felt very conscious of Billie's warm body in a purple silk dress. He had to resist the urge to put his arm around her small, neat shoulders and hug her to him.
After four rings, he was ready to believe that the room was empty - then the phone was picked up. So Anthony, or one of his men, was lying in wait That was a nuisance; but Luke felt better knowing where the enemy was deployed.
A voice said: 'Hello?' The tone was uncertain. It was not Anthony, but it might have been Pete.
Luke put on a tipsy voice. 'Hey, Ronnie, this is Tim. We're all waitin' for ya!'
The man grunted with irritation. 'Drunk/ he muttered, as if speaking to someone else. You got the wrong room, buddy.'
'Oh, gee, I'm sorry, I hope I didn't wake-' Luke broke off as the phone was hung up.
'Someone there,' Billie said.
'Maybe more than one.'
'I know how to get them out.' She grinned. 'I did it in Lisbon, during the war. Come on.'
They left the phone booth. Luke noticed Billie discreetly pick up a book of matches from -an ashtray by the elevator. The porter took them up to the fifth floor.
They found Room 530 and went quietly past it Billie opened an unmarked door to reveal a linen closet 'Perfect,' she said in a low voice. 'Is there a fire alarm nearby?'
Luke looked around and saw an alarm of the type that could be set off by breaking a pane of glass with the little hammer hanging next to it 'Right there,' he said.
'Good.' In the closet, sheets and blankets stood in neat stacks on slatted wooden shelves. Billie unfolded a blanket and dropped it on the floor. She did the same with several more until she had a pile of loose fabric. Luke guessed what she was going to do, and his conjecture was confirmed when she took a breakfast order from a doorknob and lit it with a match. As it flared up, she put the flame to a pile of blankets. 'This is why you should never smoke in bed,' she said.
As the flames blazed up, Billie piled on additional bed linen. Her face was flushed with heat and excitement, and she looked more alluring than ever. Soon there was a roaring bonfire. Smoke poured out of the closet and began to fill the corridor.
'Time to sound the alarm,' she said. 'We don't want anyone to get hurt'
'Right,' Luke said, and again the phrase came into his mind: They're not collaborators. But now he understood it In the Resistance, blowing up factories and warehouses, he must have worried constantly about innocent French people getting injured.
He grasped the little hammer that hung on a chain next-to the fire alarm. He broke the glass with a light tap and pressed the large red button inside. A moment later, a loud ringing shattered the silence of the corridor.
Luke and Billie retreated along the corridor, moving away from the elevator, until they could only just see the door of Luke's suite through the smoke.
The door nearest them opened and a woman in a nightdress came out. She saw the smoke, screamed, and ran for the stairs. From another door, a man in shirtsleeves emerged with a pencil in his hand, obviously having been working late; then a young couple wrapped in sheets appeared, looking as if they had been interrupted making love; then a bleary-eyed man in rumpled pink pyjamas. A few moments later, the corridor was full of people coughing and fumbling through the smoke toward the stairwell.
The door to Room 530 opened slowly.
Luke saw a tall man step into the corridor. Peering through the murk, Luke thought he had a large wine- coloured birthmark on his cheek: Pete. He drew back to avoid being recognized. The figure hesitated, then seemed to make a decision and joined the rush for the stairs. Two more men came out and followed him.
'All clear.' Luke said.
Luke and Billie entered the suite, and Luke closed the door to keep the smoke out. He took off his coat 'Oh, my God,' said Billie. 'It's the same room.'
She stared around, wide-eyed. 'I can't believe it,' she said. Her voice was hushed, and he could hardly hear her. 'This is the very suite.'
He stood still, watching. She was in the grip of a strong emotion. 'What happened here?' he asked her at last She shook her head wonderingly. 'It's hard to imagine that you don't remember.' She walked around. 'There was a grand-piano in that corner,' she said. 'Imagine - a piano in a hotel room!' She looked into the bathroom. 'And a phone in here, I had never seen a phone in a bathroom.'
Luke waited, Her face showed sadness, and something else he could not quite make out 'You stayed here in the war,' she said at last Then, in a rush, she added: 'We made love here.'
He looked into the bedroom. 'On that bed, I guess.'
'Not just on the bed.' She giggled, then became solemn again. 'How young we were.'
The thought of making love to this enchanting woman was unbearably exciting. 'My God, I wish I could remember,' he said, and his voice sounded thick with desire. , To his surprise, she blushed.
He turned aside and picked up the phone. He dialed the operator. He wanted to make sure the fire did not
