Just then a car pulled away from the curb near the Hotel Lyon Bastille. Gabriel, taking no chances, went in nose first. The girl slipped the Tanfolgio into her handbag and swung the handbag over her shoulder.

“Open the trunk.”

“Why?”

“Just do as I say. Look at the clock. We haven’t much time.”

Gabriel pulled the trunk-release lever, and the hatch opened with a dull thump. The girl snatched the key from the ignition and dropped it into the bag along with the gun and the satellite phone. Then she opened her door and climbed out. She walked back to the trunk and motioned for Gabriel to join her. He looked down. Inside was a large rectangular suitcase, black nylon, with wheels and a collapsible handle.

“Take it.”

“No.”

“If you don’t take it, your wife dies.”

“I’m not going to take a bomb into the Gare de Lyon.”

“You’re entering a train station. It’s best to look like a traveler. Take the bag.”

He reached down and looked for the zipper. Locked.

“Just take it.”

In the tool well was a chrome-plated tire iron.

“What are you doing? Do you want your wife to die?”

Two sharp blows, and the lock snapped open. He unzipped the main compartment: balls of packing paper. Next he tried the outer compartments. Empty.

“Are you satisfied? Look at the clock. Take the bag.”

Gabriel lifted the bag out and placed it on the pavement. The girl had already started walking away. He extended the handle of the bag and closed the trunk, then set out after her. At the corner of the rue de Lyon they turned left. The station, set on a slight promontory, loomed before them.

“I don’t have a ticket.”

“I have a ticket for you.”

“Where are we going? Berlin? Geneva? Amsterdam?”

“Just walk.”

As they neared the corner of the boulevard Diderot, Gabriel saw police officers patrolling the perimeter of the station on foot and blue emergency lights flickering in the traffic circle.

“They’ve been warned,” he said. “We’re walking straight into a security alert.”

“We’ll be fine.”

“I don’t have a passport.”

“You don’t need it.”

“What if we’re stopped?”

“I have it. If a policeman asks you for identification, just look at me, and I’ll take care of it.”

“You’re the reason we’ll be stopped.”