Page 56 of Flight of Dreams

Schulze sets a pair of crystal goblets on the counter. “I can respect a man of action.”

They both turn at the tapping sound on the smoking room door. Emilie stands on the other side, staring daggers at Max, waiting to be let out.

The bartender is smart enough to say nothing. Schulze escorts Emilie through one air lock and then the other. Her chin is lifted, her unwavering gaze directed at the corridor. She does not speak to Max or look at him. Once she has departed, Schulze steps back behind the bar and laughs. “Good luck. You may need more than one bottle of Armagnac to win her over.”

“Do you have more?”

“No.”

When Max returns to his cabin, Balla is waiting for him.

“I may have solved your problem,” the steward says.

His broad mouth is curved into an unfamiliar smile. The steward is pleased with himself. Max registers this first—it’s so unusual to see the man smile—before he can actually make sense of what Balla has just said. Max hears the words, but from a distance. He simply wants to deposit the Armagnac and goblets in his cabin and finish his shift.

“I’m sorry. What was that?”

“Emilie.”

“What now?”

“You want her to stay?”

“Of course I do.

“Let’s just say it will be very difficult for Emilie to follow through with her plans if she is no longer in possession of her papers.”

Max steps around Balla and unlocks his cabin door. He deposits the brandy and goblets next to the sink so he won’t break them over the steward’s head. He turns slowly. Fists clenched at his side. “What have you done?”

THE JOURNALIST

“Who else have you shown this tag to?” Leonhard asks. The chain lies wadded in the palm of his hand. He pokes it with his finger.

“Only the stewardess.”

He is surprised at this. “Why?”

Gertrud thinks for a moment, looking for a way to explain. “There’s something about her mind. She seems to remember everything. Names and places. Dates. Insignificant details. They say she’s fluent in seven languages. Can you imagine?”

“I know exactly what this is,” Leonhard says. “But I can’t tell you what half of it means. Much less who it belongs to. Why would you think that she could?”

“It was a hunch. Not to mention damned good timing. She showed up in the bar while I was puzzling through it all. And I was right. I know I was. She just wouldn’t tell me.”

“Don’t you think that was an unnecessary risk?”

“We have to do something, Leonhard. I don’t know what that American is up to. But it can’t be good.” She closes his fist around the chain. “This man has to be warned.”

“Who would you have me tell? We know nothing! Only the whisper of a threat.”

“Tell Captain Lehmann. You’re friends. He trusts you.”

“We will not speak a word of this to him. Not now.”

“So we just keep it to ourselves?”

“What exactly are we keeping, Liebchen? A rumor. My God, last I checked that was called discretion.”

“What if something happens to the man who owns that tag?”