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Since no one other than Illya might expect me to be going to Yverdon-les-Bains, I didn’t worry too much about being followed after I made it to the plane without any tail. UNCLE had never heard of Alvaro Martínez.
Once I was through Swiss Customs, I switched to my Richard Miller persona since it was easier to ask strange questions as a clueless American tourist. Illya always said clueless American was the disguise I did best, the little smart aleck. I found a decent hotel near the middle of town and started looking for a Coq-something.
It took the better part of the day, but in the late evening, I found a small bar called Coq d’Or. It wasn’t quite a dive, but looked like it was heading that way. There were a fair amount of customers though and the food was good. I sat in a dark corner near the back and kept my attention ostensibly on my plate and my newspaper.
It was almost eleven thirty and I was about to give up and try elsewhere, when Illya strolled in. I quickly lowered my head to look more closely at the newspaper on the table beside my glass. Holding it in front of my face would be too obvious.
I couldn’t be sure if Illya spotted me or not. He looked my way and hesitated just a second, then scanned the rest of the tables as if looking for an empty seat. He finally sat at a table near me, ordered a Falkenbräu and drank slowly while covertly scanning the other patrons.
At closing time, he paid and left, turning right as he went out the door. I followed two minutes later and turned left, then left again toward the alley behind the bar. Illya was waiting near the mouth of the alley as expected.
“I told you not to try to find me. Are you trying to get me killed or is English now one of the many languages you don’t understand?”
“I followed you because I knew you would need my help, as always, you ungrateful, pigheaded, jackass.”
“How did you find me anyway? I thought I changed identities enough to throw even you off my track.”
“I didn’t follow you. I found a couple scraps of the paper you tried to destroy and figured out that you were headed here, so I just came and waited for you. You aren’t the only one with a brain you know.”
“I’ll admit you did pretty well for someone who couldn’t get ‘Famous French Emperor’ in the Sunday crossword.”
“Look Illya, I promise to let you call the shots, but I need to know what is so important that you quit UNCLE and came haring over here. What is our mission?”
“I’m here to rescue my daughter. I’m still not sure who has her and if it is a friend or if I’m being lured into a trap.”
“Your daughter! How did you get a daughter? When did you get a daughter?”
“Yes, my daughter. I got her in the usual way; I would expect you of all people to be familiar with the procedure. She was born about ten years ago.”
“Once we have her safe, we are going to have a very long talk about this. Right now, I’m here; tell me what you want me to do.”
“Since you are here, I would welcome the backup, but only if you agree that, if something goes wrong, you will get my daughter to safety, never mind me. She is the priority. Understand?”
“If it goes sideways, my primary mission is to get the girl to safety before trying to rescue you. Got it. I don’t like it, but the mission always comes first. But back to not telling me about her…”
“I didn’t tell you because I didn’t know she existed until Friday. Right now what is important is that I am meeting a contact at 11:35 tomorrow evening. It will be at the Coq d’Or and all I have is a recognition sign. The contact should take me to her or tell me where to find her. We will have to play it by ear.”
“So I should play tourist tomorrow, visit the Coq d’Or for another drink around 10:30 or 11:00, then after you make contact, follow you very discreetly and stay out of sight unless there is trouble. If there is trouble and I can’t rescue both of you, I take her to safety. That’s the plan?”
“That is the plan.”
“If I can’t get you out; what should I do with her? Is there other family?”
“No other family and not an orphanage. Perhaps your family, Aunt Amy? What would you do if it were your daughter?”
“I guess, well, Aunt Amy is getting up there, but she would be willing and would give her an excellent, if eccentric education. My sisters are younger, but… the only one I’d let raise a child of mine is Kitty and since she’s a teaching nun all she could do would be to get her into a good Catholic school. You’re right, Aunt Amy would be the best choice.”
“Very well, if I do not survive, take her to your Aunt Amy. I do not anticipate any danger to her once I am dead, but I would feel better if I knew you were watching over her.”