In light of Grant's remorseless move, Morrisey hoped by complying neither of them would be his next choice, and he lowered the gun slowly to the ground. Straightening back up, he held his breath as Grant pointed his gun at him. The move was quicker than he could follow. Mallory slammed an elbow into Grant's groin. The gun arm dropped, and his painful roar matched the roar of the weapon that sent a bullet ricocheting off the stone patio.

He swore and grabbed for Mallory's hair. Morrisey launched himself across the several feet separating them, and drove Grant over on top of Mallory, the three of them crashing down in a tangle of arms and legs. Mallory shrieked at the tug on her hair, her fingers scrabbling to free Grant's fingers. Grant was wincing in pain from landing on a piece of the broken deck chair.

Morrisey rolled over, his legs scissoring Grant while grabbing for the gun at the same time. Another shot exploded close to his ear and he clasped his head, turning away. Mallory freed herself from the grip on her hair, and struggled to her feet before landing a knee drop on Grant's chest. His eyes flew wide and a gasping grunt blew out of his mouth.

When he didn't move, she stood up, staring, stunned, at the broken piece of deck chair embedded in his side. Morrisey crawled over, relieving Grant of the gun, their eyes locking for a moment before blood bubble from Grant's mouth and his head rolled back.

"You okay?" He asked Mallory.

"Is he--"

"You'll have to speak up." He opened his mouth wide trying to clear his ear. Taking her arm, he turned her away and they walked inside the lodge.

« La police est en route. » The sudden appearance of the man startled them, and Morrisey aimed the gun, seeing the elderly man shrink down, hands quivering above his head. His plea in sputtering French reached Mallory, and she pushed Morrisey's arm down.

"It's okay. He's the lodge manager. He called the police."

"Won't that be wonderful when they find us here." He spotted the liquor decanter by the fireplace and walked over, helping himself to a large glass.

Mallory was talking to the lodge manager and patted him on the shoulder, smiling. "He saw everything, so we just tell it like it was and trust to luck."

"Luck. I think we've pretty much used up our ration." He yawned again, tiltilng his head. "You want one of these?" He held up his drink.

The arrival of the police prevented her answer, and they both turned to face the red-faced Captain, glowering at them, as his men fanned out behind him to begin documenting the damage.

"You'll find one tied up in the woods by the river and another in the river. Oh, and another one around the side of the lodge." Morrisey saluted the Captain with his glass and drank.

"Merci, Agent Morrisey, but we 'ave already apprehended more of zeh villains." The rough English dripped heavily with sarcasm.

"More?"

"The two that caught me originally," Mallory confessed. "They brought me to the ones on the patio."

"So we still might have been- and you failed to mention that?"

"I was about to . . ."

"Zeh lover's quarr-el can wait." The Captain smacked his leg with his hand. « Emmenez-les ! »

The two agents were hustled from the room and out to a waiting car. The driver listened to some instructions, then put the car in gear and drove away.

"Hey! Where are we going?" Morrisey leaned forward in the back.

"Pardon?"

He turned to Mallory. "You ask him."

There were a few argumentative exchanges and she sat back looking out the window.

"Well?"

"The airport. We are booked on a flight to England - it's being held."

                                                       ♟♟♟♟♟

The office was warm, and the two agents, having been immediately directed there, sat sullenly, watching Percy painfully, as he went through his ritual of preparing his tea in stony silence. A timid sip. A slow bat of the eyes, then a laser glare as he set the cup down.

"I wonder if either of you are aware of the humiliation, and the profound opprobrium your actions have brought upon our agency?" Stubby fingers laced together and tiny lips pursed.

"It certainly wasn't planned, sir." Mallory offered.

"I should hope not! Your reputations as the Muck and Mire of the intelligence community is already making us a laughingstock." A fist banged the table and the tea cup spilled.

"Martin!" Percy yelled, startling the agents.

Moments later, a harassed Martin repaired all the damage, replaced the tea and fled the room. Morrisey slumped down and crossed a leg over his knee.

"You have our report, sir, the timelines and the sequence of events of each party. There was very little we could have done to change any of it."

"There was very little you didn't do," Percy scowled. "The killing of the American Director of Intelligence for Europe!" He eyed the tea cup and decided against it for the moment. "The killing of an international criminal and several of his entourage, and the irreparable ire of the highest echelons of the Sûreté!" Percy's face became dangerously red, and his neck swelled inside the collar of his shirt.

Mallory stood and went to the desk, her hand grasping Percy's. "Sir, Sir, calm down, please. We know this has made things difficult," Percy's eyes bulged, "but it isn't s bad as you believe. Your agency uncovered a corrupt intelligence officer, ended one of the most notorious criminal gangs - The Guild, actually doing something the French Sûreté could not. They will be in your debt."

"My debt . . ." He expelled a long slow breath and sat back, colour and reaction normalizing.

"Read the report again carefully, sir. You'll see I'm right." She stepped back, signalling Morrisey to get up. "And now, with your permission, Agent Morrisey and I need to get cleaned up, and remove our things from the hotel."

Percy glanced up. "Hmmm . . . oh, yes, yes of course. Dismissed."

                                                        ♟♟♟♟♟

"Nice place. I was beginning to think you only lived in hotels." Morrisey wandered about the pleasant living space that Mallory occupied.

"It actually belongs to my sister. When she married, she leased it to me."

That Mallory had a sister was interesting. He wondered how much alike they might be. "Leased it to you? No family freebees?"

"Utilities, maintenance and taxes still have to be paid." She carried a bottle and two glasses to the sofa and flopped down with a big sigh.

"I appreciate your letting me crash here until Percy officially releases me from secondment."

"It won't be long." She poured two glasses of wine, passing him one. "That's one reason I suggested we stay together."

"Really."  He sipped, giving her a puzzled look.

"Ava contacted me. She has met up with her daughter, and they are making their new plans under the new identities."

"Good. I'm happy for her. Did you tell her about what happened?"

"Yes and she had something to tell me." She tasted her wine, eyes suggesting a surprise.

"Do I have to guess?"

"Before she left, she went to Felix's house to get her belongings and while she was there she broke into his private phone cupboard. She has his recordings, Morrisey - all of them." He stared at her, the ramifications racing through his mind like shooting stars. "She is putting them here in a post box in the UK. She said it was for all I had done for her. You realize, with Grant, Felix and Ivan out of the picture what those recordings could mean?"