Edge of Tomorrow (70 page)

That was exactly what Hatch had wanted to
avoid! He had a bad feeling now. Syd would be essentially a hostage
while he was with the Don.

Damn! That ties my hands for sure! An
emergency quick exit out the balcony to Shadow-4 is out of the
question now!

“Are you sure, dear? You can take a taxi back
to the chopper and wait there,” pleaded Hatch.

Syd spun and walked toward the car without a
word. Antony caught up with her and opened the rear door, and she
slid in.

Shit! She can be obstinate
at times!
thought Hatch.

Hatch joined her in the back seat, and as the
car pulled away from the curb, Syd said, “I can visit with Bruno
and Blancha. They’re still there, aren’t they?”

“I hadn’t thought of that,” admitted Hatch,
still not happy.

Syd looked sideways at him and whispered, “Is
this how it feels when you’re taken for a ride by the mob?”

He looked at her and smiled, “I don’t know.
Maybe.”

The black Mercedes took A19 east, and after
about 20 miles, it exited and went north toward the sea.
Ultimately, the car turned into an asphalt-paved road, and after a
quarter of a mile, arrived at an iron gate with a guard booth. The
guard gave them a cursory look, then the large gate began to slide
slowly to the left. The driver took them up a long, winding road,
and at the top they stopped in front of the castle’s main entrance.
Like his own castle, Hatch knew there were many other doors one
could use to gain access to the castle.

The castle stood on a rocky spur and
followed the contours of the cliff. It wrapped around the land on
several levels. It was originally constructed in the
11
^th
century, and was modified
off and on until the 17
^th
century. The influence of the Moors was clearly
evident.

Antony opened the car door for them and led
them into the castle’s giant foyer. The driver departed with the
Mercedes and disappeared around the bend in the road. The large
room had 30 foot ceilings, and about ten feet up there was a
balcony containing two men peering down on them.

Hatch thought,
This place is really guarded! You can’t get in or out of here
if they don’t want you to!

They were led through a large door into
a room that was laid out as a library. It was furnished with a
mixture of massive antiques, many of them early
17
^th
century English, others
obviously Moorish.

The escort said, “You can wait here. I
will tell your friends that you have arrived. I will notify the Don
that you are here,
Signore
Lincoln.”

Antony then exited through a different door,
leaving Hatch and Syd alone in the room that smelled of old woods,
polish, and leather. Hatch put his finger to his lips, then waved
his hand around. Syd nodded, also realizing that the place was most
certainly bugged.

She went to one wall that had oil paintings
hanging between the bookcases and said, “This place is awesome!
Look! These paintings are all originals.”

They talked about inane things until Antony
returned with Blancha and Bruno.

Blancha said, “Thank you, Antony. Would you
see if my mother would join us? Hello, Syd. Hatch.”

Antony led Hatch away as Syd, Blancha, and
Bruno began chatting. Blancha pulled a long, thin tapestry.

“Let’s get some refreshments,” she said as if
she knew her way around already.

Antony led Hatch down a long, wide hall
and stopped in front of an antique tapestry that hung on the wall.
He pulled it aside and pushed a button, and a door slid open,
revealing an elevator. They went up three or four floors—Hatch was
not sure which—then exited into a room where two armed men stood
guard. One had a
lupo
—an
ugly, short-barreled shotgun—slung on a strap over his right
shoulder. His right hand rested on it.

Antony turned to Hatch and spoke.
“We’ll have to search you, of course,
signore
.”

“Go ahead. I expected as much. You must think
I’m very foolish if you think I came here armed,” mused Hatch with
a crooked smile.

Antony picked up a basket and handed it to
Hatch.

“Empty your pockets into this, please,” he
asked politely.

Hatch did so, then Antony patted him
down.

“Whoa there, Antony! I only let women touch
me down there!” said Hatch.

“Sorry,
signore
. It is necessary.”

Antony ran a metal detector over Hatch’s body
next, then a device that detected “bugs.”

“Now, put your watch in the basket, too,”
ordered Antony.

“My
watch
? My watch is certainly no threat!”
exclaimed Hatch.

“Humor me. I do not want to smash it.”

Hatch removed it and threw it in the
basket.

Shit! There goes what little backup I had!
These guys didn’t fall off a turnip truck! I guess I’m on my
own!

Antony opened the thick door and
motioned for Hatch to enter. “The Don awaits you,
signore
.”

• • •

The room was large—at least 20 by 30—and
furnished much like the room downstairs, except it had fewer
bookcases. There were windows in two walls, indicating it was a
corner room. Double doors opened onto a balcony. Hatch assumed that
was the one Bruno had stepped out on, which meant Shadow-4 was
hovering quietly out there somewhere if he needed it.

Don Tessitore sat in a motorized wheelchair
in front of a massive, hand-carved coffee table. He had on a blue
pinstriped suit, a white shirt, and a striped tie. Even though he
was thin and frail, the suit fit him perfectly—he obviously had a
good Italian tailor and spared no expense on his sartorial
splendor. The man standing next to him was dressed more casually in
black slacks and a gray polo shirt.

“Please enter,
Signore
Lincoln. It is a pleasure to meet such
an important man. This is my son, Evio,” said the Don in a low,
raspy voice. An oxygen bottle was attached to his wheelchair, but
was not currently in use.

Hatch approached the two and shook hands with
both of them. The Don’s grip was firmer than Hatch expected it to
be.

Hatch said, “Thank you for seeing
me,
Signore
Tessitore. I know
you are a very busy—and private—man.”

“Probably not as busy as a man of your
stature. You have quite a business empire. I understand you are
also a very private man,” rasped the Don. “Please sit.”

He waved at a massive, leather-covered chair
across the table from him.

“We need some refreshments, Evio. I have a
very good red wine from my own vineyards.”

Hatch replied, “That would be
fine,
signore
.”

Evio went to a large sideboard and poured
three glasses of ruby red wine. He handed one to Hatch, one to his
father, then sat in a chair next to the wheelchair.

“Good health,” Evio said, speaking for the
first time.

The three raised their glasses and each took
a sip.

The Don spoke again, the amenities
behind them. “What possible business could a man like you have with
me,
signore
? You have piqued
my curiosity. My daughter and grandson said they did not know what
your business with me was.”

“That is true,
signore
, they don’t.”

“I am merely a poor, mostly retired
businessman with a few grape vineyards. My son looks after my
vineyards, and other affairs, for me now. That is why I asked him
to be here. He knows more about my businesses than I do.”

And emus can fly, you old asshole!

Hatch stroked his beard and took a sip of his
wine.

“Excellent wine!” Hatch said, meaning it.
“Let’s not beat around the bush, Don Tessitore. I know who you are
and what you do, and I suspect you checked me out before allowing
this meeting. Whatever you found out, it won’t give you a clue as
to why I’m here. I also know you won’t admit to anything, or commit
to anything, so just hear me out. You needn’t say anything at all.
You know, I’m sure, that one of my companies is Intelligence
International, Inc., the largest intelligence company in the world.
We routinely buy intelligence data …”

He went on to describe the incident where
Gino was killed by Lucchese’s thugs, the Carfagno letter, and the
ultimate attack on Hatch’s castle.

The Don looked at his son and raised an
eyebrow. Evio turned to Hatch and said, “Those bodies found in
Rome? You must have a good security team.”

“The best! However, I’m afraid these attacks
may not have come to an end,” replied Hatch as he sipped his wine
again. “Lucchese thinks the people in my castle are Mafia, and the
press did nothing to dispel the notion that the bodies I dumped in
Rome were killed by the Mafia, as you no doubt know. I thought you
should know Lucchese is very upset, and he may attack other Mafia
compounds—that is, if any exist. He will be extremely sorry if he
tries my place again. No one knows about the attack on my castle,
of course, except Lucchese and his people. And now you two.”

The Don sipped his wine, then took a whiff of
oxygen.

He looked at Hatch and said, “You are
assuming that I care about any of this?”

Hatch was tired of the Don’s games, but he
decided he had no choice except to play along for another few
minutes, so he said, “Let me go on, just in case I can say
something that may interest you.”

He told them about the contents of the
Carfagno letter and how Lucchese planned to try and take over the
throne of Monterra. That got their attention for some reason. Hatch
could tell by their eyes. Evio looked at his father and frowned.
Hatch also pointed out that there was a possibility of problems
between the Libyans and the Italians, which could get the United
Nations involved, and possibly the U.S.—which implied the CIA and
its meddling.

“So,” Hatch concluded, “I intend to go
to Monterra and see what I can do to solve this problem, but under
no circumstances will I allow Lucchese to gum up the works. I had
hoped I would find help here for that problem. I guess I was wrong.
Thank you for your time,
signori
.”

Hatch stood and buttoned his jacket and
walked to the door. He turned and stared at the two.

“What you do now is up to you,” Hatch said
with steely eyes. “Just don’t get in my way!”

He opened the door and exited the room.

• • •

Don Tessitore said in Italian to his son,
“Evio, do you think he knows of our … involvement with the casinos
in Monterra?”

“It’s hard to say. He went out of his way to
make sure we knew Lucchese is going to try and insert himself into
the Monterran monarchy. That, of course, we cannot allow. How does
he know that? I really don’t want him nosing around in Monterra and
stirring things up.”

“I agree. We must maintain the status quo in
Monterra at all costs. That means keeping Italy and Libya out of
there, too. Now how do we do that?”

Evio thought a moment, then replied, “I will
call our man in the government office in Rome and see what he
knows. I will also keep a close eye on Lincoln in Monterra so we
will know immediately if he is on to anything. He is an unusual
man. Most people, if they were attacked as he was, would have
called the police. Instead, he chose to dump the bodies in Rome,
laying the blame on us. Case closed. Strange indeed.”

“Keep a close eye on him,” said the Don.

“Yes, I will. What about Lucchese?”

The Don sipped his wine, then replied, “He
has been allowed to stay in business only because I have been
focused on other things. We definitely don’t want him anywhere near
Monterra. Eliminate him immediately.”

“Yes, sir. Consider it done. This man Lincoln
is very powerful and can be dangerous. I would not want to go up
against him. Perhaps he should join Lucchese, eh?” mused Evio.

The Don took a whiff of oxygen. “He is a
friend of my daughter and grandson. Perhaps he knows nothing more.
Let me think on it. Keep me informed, Evio.”

“Yes, father,” Evio said as he reached for
the secure phone to issue orders.

• • •

Back down in the library, Hatch visited with
Bruno and Blancha for a moment, and met Bruno’s grandmother, Elene
Tessitore. He thought she was a nice old lady, and wondered how she
had endured the years as the wife of a Mafia Don. Blancha told
Hatch that she was going to spend a few more days with her family
and would find her own way back to the U. S. Bruno told his mother
he had to get back to work and would leave with Hatch and Syd.
Hatch knew that was not true—he would give Bruno as much time off
as he wanted—but didn’t argue with Bruno’s decision. He sensed that
Bruno was uncomfortable here.

Antony and the Mercedes driver took the
three of them back to the airport in Palermo where the Triple Eye
chopper awaited them. They didn’t discuss what happened in Hatch’s
meeting until they were back in the small dining room at
Castello di Bragno
.

When they were settled with drinks,
and
hors d’oeuvres
provided
by Gina, Syd could wait no longer.

“Well, what happened?” she blurted.

Coffer chipped in, “My question exactly! We
never picked up any voice transmissions! I was tempted to crash the
party!”

Hatch held his hands up and laughed, “Hold
on! Hold on! They made me empty my pockets and took my watch. Those
guys are well-versed in the new technology, I would guess. They
also swept me with a metal detector and an electronic bug
finder.”