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“Right. Sooner, if your chosen task doesn’t pan out.”
“Can you give me a name at Interpol?”
“Yes, Pierre Dumont. He’s a good man. I was able to help him out on a project in India. I’ll call him now and ask him to contact you right away.”
“Good. What’s right away?”
“I’ll put a priority on it. You are in a hurry.”
“Damn right. I’m not only curious, I realize this could be another blind alley and I desperately don’t want it to be. Besides, I think I might actually have a chance of getting something done at last. That’s more than we’ve been able to do so far.”
“True. But you’re obviously trying to make up for it. Give me a progress report when you get a chance.”
“I will. Thanks, Lynch.”
“My pleasure. I like to see you this eager. I know how frustrated you’ve been. I think you’ll be happy with Dumont.”
***
Kendra received a phone call an hour and fifteen minutes later.
“Pierre Dumont, Mademoiselle Michaels. I understand we’re going to work together. My friend Lynch was most determined that we should locate this mystery man. You have nothing to worry about. I’m really superb as you’ll see by examining my credentials. I’m texting them to you now.”
His enthusiasm, coupled with that charming French accent, startled her. “That’s not necessary. If you’ve been recommended by Lynch, I’m sure you’re very competent.”
“More than competent. And I believe trust is essential in a relationship. I’ve taken the trouble to access your dossier and I think we’ll be a magnificent team. You appear to be not only unique but completely engaging. I’m a lucky man.”
That was even more peculiar than his first words to her. She pulled up his text. Good God, he looked like a movie star or maybe that French president. How had he become a policeman with Interpol? Ignore everything but that Lynch had said he was good at his job. He wouldn’t have steered her wrong. “I’ll feel lucky myself if you can help me track down any of Jackie Gabert’s companions while she was visiting Europe. We believe the man we’re looking for has the first name Milo and we have no other info about him. We have no nationality and have no idea in what country they might have met. Lynch got his DHS contacts to send us the itinerary for the first two trips Jackie took abroad. Pretty common destinations for a college kid. London, Paris, Berlin, Rome, Madrid, Athens, Amsterdam. Berlin and Amsterdam were the only two cities she visited during both trips. However, she took three other trips before she graduated college. I haven’t examined those tours yet, so I won’t vouch for the repetition factor. I thought we should concentrate first on her trips to the countries where she made repetitive visits. In case the man she was meeting was a foreign national or worked in a particular country.”
“Good place to start. By all means, send me everything,” Pierre said. “We’ll begin with hotels and youth hostels and go on to tour groups. I’ll text you not only the contacts of the places she supposedly stayed, but also comparable hotels in case she changed her mind after she reached a city. I’ll get on it right away.” He hesitated. “How much can you help?”
“You mean how many languages do I speak?” She hated to admit it. “I can only do London, Madrid, and Rome. But anything else you need me to check on, I’ll find a way.”
“No problem. I really prefer to have my local contacts do the initial work anyway. Just leave it in my hands and I’ll bring you in at the end for analysis. That’s what Lynch said was your strong point. While my strong point is digging and probing. If I dig up all the facts and you put them together, then we’ll still do a splendid job.”
She wasn’t happy about that. “As I said, if you need me, I’ll find a way.”
“I’m sure you will. But let me get started with weeding out the unimportant. You do Rome and Madrid. I should be able to get back to you by tomorrow sometime with the rest. Satisfactory?”
“I have an idea any work you do will be more than satisfactory.”
“I have the same idea. Wonderful being on the same page, isn’t it? I’ll be in touch.”
He ended the call.
She sat there a moment, scowling down at her phone. Then she dialed Lynch. “I just hung up from Pierre Dumont and he’s everything you said he was. He said we might wrap this up by tomorrow sometime.”
“That sounds reasonable. Then why do you sound unhappy?”
“Because I can only help with Madrid and Rome and I’m feeling useless. I should speak more languages.”
“I’m afraid it’s a little late for that at the moment.”
“I should have learned them before this.”
“You would have, if they were absolutely necessary.”
“They’re necessary now. I was counting on being totally involved in finding Milo.” She was silent a moment. “How many languages do you speak?”
