Foreign Influence_ A Thriller - Brad Thor [63]
Harvath fished the cord from his pack and plugged the computer into the outlet. “Done,” he said as peered down at the Quai du Mont Blanc. “I don’t see the van. Where’s Peio?”
“He’ll be there shortly. Now, I want you to log on to the system, open a browser window, and surf over to any site you like. I’ll take it from there.”
Harvath did as he was instructed. After entering his room number and agreeing to the charges, he plugged in the URL for the midget and dwarf wrestling federation.
“Very funny,” said the Troll, who was remotely monitoring the laptop.
Glancing back out the window, Harvath saw the van pull up. “Peio’s here.”
“Good,” replied Nicholas. “Turn up the TV and leave the Do Not Disturb sign on the doorknob.”
“I’ll talk to you from the van.”
Harvath stood up from the desk and closed the windows. Slinging his pack over his shoulder, he grabbed his Coke and his almonds and headed downstairs.
Peio was finishing up a conversation with Nicholas when he climbed into the van and shut the door.
“So where to?” asked Harvath as the priest ended the call and pulled away from the hotel.
“Nicholas wants us to stay in the area. Once he pinpoints Tsui’s location, you’re going to have to move fast.”
Harvath studied the man. “You do miss the lifestyle, don’t you?”
“Maybe a little,” he admitted.
“Are you hungry?” he asked, motioning to several small grocery bags on the floor behind them. “I didn’t know how long we’d be out.”
“I’m okay for now. Thank you.”
A couple of blocks from the hotel a parking space opened up and Peio pulled in. He put the van in park, but left the engine running.
Rolling down the window, he pulled out a pack of cigarettes and offered one to Harvath, who declined. The priest removed one from the pack, pulled out his lighter, and lit up.
He took a deep drag and out of respect for his nonsmoking passenger, blew the smoke out the window. “I gave it up for Lent last year,” he said. “Put on twenty pounds almost overnight.”
“Those things will kill you,” replied Harvath with a grin as he took a sip of his Coke.
Peio smiled back. “My wife used to bother me all the time about my smoking. I quit once, for her.”
“Didn’t take?”
“I became so difficult to be around she begged me to take it back up again.”
Harvath laughed.
“Are you married?”
“No.”
The priest was silent for a moment. “Assuming I am correct in what you do for a living, it must be difficult finding the right woman; someone who understands the demands of your job.”
“To be honest, Father, I found the right woman. She knows me better than anyone else in the world. She has no problem with what I do for a living. She not only supports me, she encourages me. She’s an exceptional person in that regard.”
“Why do I detect a but?”
Peio didn’t miss much. Harvath imagined he’d probably been a pretty good intelligence operative. “My personal life isn’t that interesting, Father.”
“Everyone’s personal life is interesting, Scot. Yours I find particularly interesting. Tell me why you are hesitant. Were your parents divorced?”
Harvath laughed again. “No. In fact, just the opposite. They were made for each other. After my father died, my mother never remarried.”
“I’m sorry,” said the priest. “Is that your concern about marriage? Are you afraid something may happen to you and that you would leave this … I’m sorry, what is this woman’s name?”
“Tracy.”
“Are you afraid that if something happened to you that you would leave Tracy alone?”
“I certainly wouldn’t want to die, but if that happened, Tracy is an incredibly resilient woman.”
Peio looked at him. “So this is about having children.”
Harvath couldn’t believe it. The man had put his finger right on it. At least he had until he added, “You’re afraid that the same thing that happened to you could happen to your children. If you died, you’d be doing exactly the same thing to them that your father did to you.”
“Something like that.”
“It’s nothing to be ashamed about. Obviously, your father’s passing had a very profound