Page 107 of Stuart Woods' Golden Hour

“Sounds lovely.”

At Ristorante Cumberland, Teddy andVesna were shown to a table in the ground-floor dining room.

“Your waiter will be right with you,” said the man who had escorted them.

They each glanced around the portion of the dining room they could see.

“I don’t see them,” Teddy said.

“Neither do I.”

Teddy opened his phone and looked at the restaurant’s website. “There are more tables up a floor, including an outdoor patio.”

“I’ll ask if we can be—”

Teddy cut her off by raising his palm just high enough for her to see. He had the view of the entryway, through which Dieter Wenz had just walked in.

The man spoke to the host, who nodded, then led him up the stairs to the second level.

“Dieter Wenz is here.”

She tensed. “If he sees me, he’ll come over.”

“It’s okay. He went upstairs and never looked this way.”

“Still, I should leave.”

“I agree. Take the duffel back to the safe house. I’ll be there soon.”

He picked up the bag with the items they’d purchased from Otto, removed one of the audio bugs, then handed the bag to her.

“Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do,” she said.

“So, everything’s fair game?”

“More or less.”

After she left, a waiter approached the table, looking confused. In German, he asked if something was wrong.

Though Teddy could have answered in kind, he said, “I’m sorry. Do you speak English?”

“Sorry, yes. Your friend, will she be back?”

“Unfortunately, no. She didn’t feel well. Upset stomach.”

“Ah. Would you like to order now?”

“I don’t want to take up a whole table by myself.” Teddy set twenty euros on the table. “For your trouble.”

The waiter smiled sympathetically. “I hope you can return when your friend is feeling better.”

“Thank you.” Teddy stood. “Could you directly me to the toilet?”

“Of course. It is upstairs and to the right. You cannot miss it.”

“Thanks again.”

When Teddy reached the top of the stairs, he proceeded directly to the men’s room and locked himself inside one of the private toilet stalls. He synced the bug to a special app on his phone, then clicked the setting that would send whatever the bug picked up to a secure cloud server, allowing him to listen to the file at any time.

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