The Last Patriot

The briefcase nailed the man square in the temple. His hands dropped from his face and he sat there for what was only a second or two, but what for Harvath felt like an eternity, before he slowly keeled over to his right and collapsed into the center of the street, unconscious.

Harvath struggled to roll out from underneath the man, but as he did, he was greeted by a new vision just as terrible. Whistles was coming right at him with a pipe in his left hand.

Sitting up with the briefcase clasped to his chest, Harvath tried to stand, but his legs wouldn’t obey. Trying to get Big Bird off of him had been like doing a million squat thrusts and his legs were like rubber. The best he could manage was a feeble scoot on his ass toward the other side of the street.

When his back hit a parked car, he knew that was as far as he was going to go. Even if Whistles was only half the fighter Big Bird was, Harvath was a dead man.

If only he had brought a weapon with him. A knife, pepper spray, anything would have been better than nothing at this point.

When Whistles saw that Harvath couldn’t stand, he smiled. His mouth was filled with bad teeth and though he knew it was impossible, Harvath almost thought he could smell the man’s rancid breath from across the street.

There was no doubting the giant’s intentions as he drew back his pipe and ran forward into the street.

The situation was close to hopeless, but Harvath refused to go down without a fight-even a half-assed one.

As he drew back one of his legs to deliver a kick to the man’s knee, there was a scream from off to his left and two flashlights rushed toward him.

At first, Harvath thought it was the police. The f word floated to the forefront of his mind, but evaporated in a haze of tire smoke and a squeal of brake pads as the trunk of Moussa’s taxicab slammed into Whistles.

The young Algerian had the rear passenger door open and was yelling for Harvath to get in before the giant’s body even hit the ground.

Harvath staggered inside and collapsed on the rear seat, his briefcase still clasped in his right hand.

Moussa reached back and after closing the door, sped down the street and into the night.

CHAPTER 42

As they drove back to Paris, Moussa asked nothing more than where Harvath wanted to be taken. The man probably had a lot of questions, but to his credit he kept his questions to himself and allowed Harvath to close his eyes and rest.

Per his passenger’s instructions, Moussa headed his cab for the Ile Saint-Louis. They came in via the Pont Marie and maneuvered through the tiny streets down the Rue Boutarel to the Quai d’Orléans. From there, Harvath had a clear view across the Seine to the péniche that functioned as the Sargasso safe house. He asked Moussa to pull over.

Handing two thousand euros over the seat, Harvath said, “This should cover the repairs to your taxi.” He then reached for the door handle. “Good-bye, Moussa. Thanks for your help.”

The young Algerian turned to say something, but his passenger had already exited the cab.

Harvath walked down to the water, slid the Don Quixote into a plastic bag he found in a trash can, and then ditched the briefcase. Being careful to remain in the shadows, he watched the barge for the next twenty minutes.

During that time, he did a lot of thinking. Foremost in his mind was the question of who the people were on Anthony Nichols’ tail and how they had tracked Harvath to the Bilal Mosque. He planned on making it one of the first questions he asked the professor once he returned to the boat.

When Harvath was convinced that everything appeared okay, he crossed the river by the Pont de la Tournelle and observed the barge for several more minutes from the other side before finally descending to the quai.

Harvath slipped inside the wheel house and quietly descended the stairs. He found René Bertrand right where he’d left him, tied to the dining room chair. His head was slumped forward and he appeared to be either asleep or passed out. Nichols was in the galley with his back turned and Harvath caught him by surprise.

“You scared the life out of me,” he said as he turned around, his hand clasped to his chest. “Did you get it?”

Harvath held up the plastic bag. “How’s Tracy?” he asked.

Nichols drew a deep breath and set the mug he was filling with hot water onto the counter. “She’s gone.”

“Gone? What do you mean she’s gone?” demanded Harvath as he abandoned the galley and headed toward his stateroom.

Flipping on the lights, his eyes were drawn to the empty bed. He pushed open the bathroom door only to find it empty as well. “How long?” he asked as he heard Nichols pad into the room behind him.

“At least an hour,” he responded.

“Did she say where she was going?”

“She said she needed to see a doctor and that you would understand.”

Harvath set down the book and then opened the false panel and removed the box containing the pistol.

Nichols sensed what Harvath was thinking and added, “She also said she didn’t want you coming after her.”