“Elyssa, can you remember the names of places you left the boxes if I gave you a map? If we go there, Radar is trained to find electronics. You won’t need to remember the exact spot. We can get to them and destroy them.”
Together, they worked on the list. As she came up with a location, Xander pinned it on his off-grid GPS app.
He pulled the file folder of Elyssa’s photos out of his backpack and looked at the numbers on them. “These were taken by a man tracking Orest’s movements. If he took a picture of each one where you placed them, on his phone, he’d have the GPS coordinates. His phone is locked, and we can’t get in. But if that’s what these photos are, then you’re missing one box.”
“I am?”
She looked back at the list of tourist attractions in Normandy.
“Not the cemeteries?”
“No.” She scowled.
“Not the church with the parachutist?”
“No sacred places,” Elyssa insisted.
“What about the chateau?”
Elyssa stilled. “Orest had decided that he wanted an apartment outside of Paris, not too far away. He wanted someplace easy to get to, but a sleepy place near the ocean where he could walk and have his thoughts.”
“And where did he get the apartment?”
“At the chateau, Orest had an apartment in what was a side building. The nobleman built the building as a hospital for his men, and his descendants later converted it into lovely apartments. Orest also got a storage room in the turret of the castle. It’s actually a bedroom that nomadic tech workers rent if they want to spend a month in Normandy. But that was so he could store some trunks that he had delivered to him.”
“You saw the trunks?” Xander asked.
“I saw them from a distance. Workers brought them.”
“In a truck?” Xander was obviously trying to contain his excitement.
“Van.”
“How many?” he asked.
“Vans? Just the one. How many trunks? I saw three, but I was simply walking by and not paying close attention. But that is odd, isn’t it? Orest’s apartment was on the first floor of the hospital. He had the trunks put in the castle turret, which is up four flights of narrow, rounded stairs. It’s a lot even for me. I did it once to see what was up there, and that was it. I don’t know that Orest could get up those stairs. But he said that he would have his assistant help him access the boxes when he traveled.” The rugby side of her personality steadied Elyssa as she felt a surge of determination to conquer the field. “That’s what we’re looking for, isn’t it?”
“I think so. We need to get to the chateau near Sainte-Mère-Église.” He reached for his phone, and as he turned it over, it buzzed.
Swiping it open, they read:
Adele –Xander?
Xander– Shit.
Adele– The ferry’s loaded. They’re under way now.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Xander.
Monday
Seine River, France
Xander had their captain heading them to a town that was on the road to Sainte-Mère-Église.
As Elyssa curled up to nap with Radar, Xander went up on the deck to get an encrypted satellite connection back to his team.