Cold Lonely Courage (Madeleine toche Series Book 2) by Soren Petrek Read Free Book Online Page B

needed items in town.
    Madeleine put down her new suitcase and looked around her. The jostling crowd rang with the shouts of “Bon Voyage!” and farewells from the departing and their well-wishers. The passengers were laden with bags and warm coats for the voyage.
    It had been difficult to leave Alize and the Basques for the next stage of her journey. Most of the passengers seemed to be traveling with loved ones or friends.
    Waiting to board, Madeleine watched the crowd and tried to guess why they were traveling; perhaps the portly man with the untrimmed moustache and soup-stained tie was returning to his wife who would cluck at the state of his clothes. The gray headed fellow looking in his paper case might be an importer of tea, worried about the effect of the war on his business. Madeleine listened to the chorus of languages that rose on the gentle breeze blowing off the water, hinting of the summer to come.
    She noticed a tall man. His looks and clothing suggested that he was French. His suit hung carelessly on his slender frame. He leaned against a railing, watching the crowd. Madeleine saw that he had no companions and wasn’t speaking with any of the other people nearby. He noticed her looking at him and she glanced away. He smiled politely and lit a cigarette, casually tossing his spent match onto the dock. Madeleine noticed that she wasn’t the only person interested in him. Two young men, standing at opposite ends of the crowd were also watching him, but were making an effort not to seem so. One man leaned against a ticket booth, his hat tilted forward on his head as he read a newspaper. The other chatted with a young couple next to him, diverting his attention to the tall Frenchman with his eyes every few minutes. Neither man looked at Madeleine, clearly intent on the Frenchman. There was something military about the set of their shoulders that the stained jacket and trim tweed suit could not conceal. Caps pulled over their heads could not hide military haircuts. I wonder who they are? Madeleine thought. And I wonder who he is? The three of them certainly aren’t friends. The Frenchman doesn’t seem to notice that they’re watching. She tried not to stare, but kept an eye on the little drama.
    All at once, the stewards removed the chain blocking the gangway to the boat and the crowd surged forward. Stewards moved the passengers along efficiently as people began to board. Madeleine held out her ticket to a brusque young man, who punched it and gestured for her to step up onto the gangway and to enter the boat. With a last glance around, Madeleine made her way to the ship. Once on board, she found a sign indicating that the second class cabins were on the deck below her. Finding the stairwell, she went down.
    Robert DuPont watched as the pretty girl moved ahead of him in the line waiting to board the Valencia. Behind him he felt the eyes of the two thugs who had appeared shortly after he bought his ticket a few hours earlier. He had hoped that the two of them were there to make sure he left, but clearly they had other ideas in mind as they took their places in line behind him. DuPont was surprised to see that the young women had noticed the Germans watching him. The way her sharp eyes examined his watchers had not escaped him, and that intrigued his interest in her. He decided to contrive a way to meet her.
    Madeleine stepped into the salon located on the top deck towards the bow of the Valencia. The windows were open, allowing the breeze off the sea to blow through. On the deck, tables and chairs were placed to allow the passengers to relax. The deck was crowded inside and out, with people celebrating the start of their journey in the afternoon sunshine. Madeleine walked around the busy tables and found a seat at a counter that ran the length of the salon on the port side and looked directly over the railing out to sea. She positioned herself so that she could both watch the people inside and also allow her to