Claude had his breath back. He yelled at René, “You arrogant moron! You swore there was no one hiding in this godforsaken shack! You swore no one was outside, hiding in the trees. I told you before we took her it had to be a trap, the flash drive was too important to the CIA for them to just hand it over to you, but you laughed at me, said no one would beat you, the incomparable René Delos! You’re more of a fool than your sadistic brother.” He broke off and began coughing, as he frantically rubbed his throat.

René’s face was white with pain, but he was so furious he managed to pull himself into a sitting position. He waved his fist at Claude and yelled in French, “You were the one waiting outside? It was you to see, not me.”

Savich said, “I imagine both of you gentlemen will have countless years to discuss who’s more at fault here. As you’ve learned from firsthand experience, my agents are very good. Now, Claude, if you are unwilling to tell us your last name, I suspect you will be in Interpol’s facial recognition database.” He looked dispassionately down at René. “So you are René Delos, and your brother is Henri. I strongly doubt he will be pleased with you when the French police arrive at his house.”

Olivia pulled René’s cell phone from the inside of his coat pocket, waved it at him. “Dillon, look what I have. A magic phone. Because René believed he would walk away with the flash drive in his pocket, leaving us dead, he had no hesitation about calling his bro to brag how easy it was to drag me into the van. I’m sure everything we need is right here on his cell. Let me see.” She scrolled to the most recent call. “Ah, here it is. A French number. Your brother’s number, René?”

René raised furious eyes to Savich’s face. “You are a dead man. I will enjoy killing you, after I slit her throat.”

Savich went down on his haunches, studied René’s white face. He said, his voice matter-of-fact, “Seems to me, monsieur, given your current condition, you should admire my guile, tell me what a worthy adversary I am. And then you will want to make other plans.” He smiled over at Olivia. “She fooled you, you never had a doubt, did you?”

The boathouse door pushed open and four CAU agents—Ruth, Ollie, Davis, and Lucy—filed in, bundled to their ears in winter gear, the dull brown shades blending in nicely with the surroundings outside. Ruth said, “Hello, everyone. Olivia, good to see you again. I saw what you did to our boy here from Indiana. I like your moves. Well done.”