Chasing Cezanne (35 page)

Camilla flinched as that dreadful man emptied a fresh clip of ammunition at the gate. She was on the verge of a serious migraine, she could tell. “Rudi! Rudi! Stop him! This is Cap Ferrat, for God's sake!”

Holtz ignored her, watching Paradou test the lock with another kick. The Frenchman shook his head. “Do you want to try ramming it with the car?”

Holtz chewed his lip, staring through the bars, trying to accept that it was too late. Denoyer was probably calling the police by now, and there was only one way out: the way they had come. It was time to leave; he couldn't risk getting trapped. And he realized he wasn't going to get hold of the painting—not here, at any rate. But Pine would go back to New York, and once he was in New York … A movement in the distance through the tops of the trees made Holtz squint into the sun. He saw a small shape move across the dark mirror of the sea, leaving a long white gash on the surface that led in a straight line from below the house. He stepped away from the gate. “Forget it,” he said. “Take me to the airport.”

None of them drew breath until the water-ski boat, low in the water with five on board, was two hundred yards offshore. Lucy relaxed her grip on Andre's hand. “I hate to tell you,” she said, “but I get seasick unless I'm distracted.”

Andre looked at her and smiled. He had never seen a less sickly-looking face in his life. “Would the thought of another week in Paris take your mind off it?”

“It would help.” She reached up to wipe the spray from his face. “Two weeks would definitely do it.”

Denoyer eased the throttle back to idling speed and turned to look at his house. “Outrageous,” he said again. “Guns! Gangsters on Cap Ferrat!
Scandaleux
. I can tell you one thing, Monsieur Pine. We go straight to the police in Saint-Jean, and after this, there will be no further dealings with Holtz.” He smiled at Cyrus, who was shielding both canvases with his jacket. “Naturally, I would be much happier if there were one less forgery in the world.”

“Indeed,” said Cyrus. “Absolutely. See your point entirely. Nico?”

The Dutchman sighed. He leaned over to Cyrus and selected a canvas. He brought it close to his face, kissed it, and, with a backward jerk of his arm that threatened to capsize the boat, flung it over his shoulder. It landed flat and bobbed gently on the surface, the Woman with Melons staring up at the sky as water washed across her face.

“I hope to God that was the right one,” said Cyrus. But he said it to himself.

BOOKS
BY
P
ETER
M
AYLE
 

“Peter Mayle [is] something of a wonder … chronicling the scene around him in irresistible prose.”

—
Time

A DOG'S LIFE

A Dog's Life
, enhanced by the splendidly whimsical drawings of Edward Koren, is the irresistible memoir of Boy, Peter Mayle's adopted dog of uncertain origins and dubious hunting skills, who has clearly inherited Mr. Mayle's gift for pedigree prose and biting wit.

Fiction/Pets/0-679-76267-1

HOTEL PASTIS

In this novel of romance, adventure, and tongue-in-cheek suspense, Simon Shaw has decided to chuck it all and transform an abandoned police station in the Lubéron into the small but world-class Hotel Pastis, only to discover the hard way that an inept band of bank robbers have chosen the neighboring village for their next heist.

Fiction/0-679-75111-4

TOUJOURS PROVENCE

Taking up where his much-loved
A Year in Provence
left off, Peter Mayle offers the reader another funny, beautifully (and deliciously) evocative tour of life in Provence. This is an enchanting portrait of a place whose characters are full of the wit, charm, and tales only those who live there could possess.

Travel/0-679-73604-2

A YEAR IN PROVENCE

In this witty and warm-hearted account that was a major national bestseller, Peter Mayle tells what it is like to realize a long-cherished dream and actually move into a two-hundred-year-old farmhouse in the French countryside.
A Year in Provence
transports us into all the earthy pleasures of Provençal life and lets us live vicariously at a tempo governed by seasons, not by days.

Travel/0-679-73114-8

Available at your local bookstore, or call toll-free to order:
1-800-793-2665 (credit cards only).