BooksBarbecue
Back The Frenchman
Chapters (76)
  1. COVER PAGE
  2. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
  3. DEDICATION
  4. AMIN
  5. PARIS
  6. … TWO YEARS LATER
  7. CHAPTER ONE
  8. CHAPTER TWO
  9. CHAPTER THREE
  10. CHAPTER FOUR
  11. CHAPTER FIVE
  12. CHAPTER SIX
  13. CHAPTER SEVEN
  14. CHAPTER EIGHT
  15. CHAPTER NINE
  16. CHAPTER TEN
  17. CHAPTER ELEVEN
  18. CHAPTER TWELVE
  19. CHAPTER THIRTEEN
  20. CHAPTER FOURTEEN
  21. CHAPTER FIFTEEN
  22. CHAPTER SIXTEEN
  23. CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
  24. CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
  25. CHAPTER NINETEEN
  26. CHAPTER TWENTY
  27. CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
  28. CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
  29. CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
  30. CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
  31. CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
  32. CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
  33. CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
  34. CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
  35. CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
  36. CHAPTER THIRTY
  37. CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
  38. CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
  39. CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
  40. CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
  41. CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
  42. CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
  43. CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
  44. CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
  45. CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
  46. CHAPTER FORTY
  47. CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
  48. CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
  49. CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
  50. CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
  51. CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
  52. CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
  53. CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
  54. CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
  55. CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
  56. CHAPTER FIFTY
  57. CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE
  58. CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO
  59. CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE
  60. CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR
  61. CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE
  62. CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX
  63. CHAPTER FIFTY-SEVEN
  64. CHAPTER FIFTY-EIGHT
  65. CHAPTER FIFTY-NINE
  66. CHAPTER SIXTY
  67. CHAPTER SIXTY-ONE
  68. CHAPTER SIXTY-TWO
  69. CHAPTER SIXTY-THREE
  70. CHAPTER SIXTY-FOUR
  71. CHAPTER SIXTY-FIVE
  72. CHAPTER SIXTY-SIX
  73. CHAPTER SIXTY-SEVEN
  74. CHAPTER SIXTY-EIGHT
  75. CHAPTER SIXTY-NINE
  76. EPILOGUE

As he started scrubbing Oliver’s legs, a terrible dread welled up in him as he felt the tiny, perfect knee of his son. Amin had a son; he’d shown de Payns photos of the boy, flipping through them on his phone as only a doting parent could do, showing twenty-five pictures when four would have sufficed. Holding his own son’s leg in his hand, guilt washed through him like a tidal wave. His chest constricted and he felt himself struggling for breath as he fought against the mental image of Amin’s son and wife being tortured with a power drill. He leaned back from the bath, hitting his head on the cabinet, and he was aware of Patrick calling out, ‘Mum!’

Footsteps, and Romy’s face hovered above him, framed with wisps of blonde hair.

‘You okay, honey?’ she asked, calm but concerned, her cool hand strong on his jaw.

De Payns shook his head almost imperceptibly.

‘Really bad?’ she asked in a whisper, and de Payns nodded, tears forming in his eyes.

‘Fuck,’ she murmured, and helped him to his feet.

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He jumped off the Metro at Jussieu, beside the university campus, and found a bar set back from the main tourist strip. It was a low-slung student dive which could do with a clean. He found a table in the unpopulated far corner, and ordered a Scotch. The conversation with Romy could have been handled better, but after his small breakdown there was nothing else he wanted to do but drink until he felt numb.

The middle-aged barmaid brought him the glass and he drained it, relishing the burn in his throat and the hit of smoky flavour. He asked for another, and a beer, and was feeling almost good by the time he headed for the exit. Fishing a pack of Marlboros from his windbreaker, he lit one and observed the street—crowds of students going to restaurants, leaving bars. He walked a block and a half west and found another local bar, this one with an Irish theme, and stood at the end of the mahogany counter. He drank three shots of Jameson and washed it down with a tap beer, trying to find a way through his predicament. How guilty should he feel about the death of Amin’s family? And if Javed could fall prey to the ISI, what did that mean for Oliver or Patrick? What about Romy? Who could save them, if not de Payns?