Edge of Tomorrow (71 page)

He skewered a shrimp with a toothpick, dipped
it in sauce, and popped it in his mouth.

Sara said, “They’re spooky, aren’t they? Did
they listen to you?”

Hatch swallowed, took a sip of his Stoli, and
said, “Yes. ‘Listen’ is the operative word. I talked, they
listened. They wouldn’t even admit that they knew what the Mafia
was. They never said much of anything. We’ll have to wait and see
if any action is taken. If not, I’ll have to rethink the Lucchese
situation.”

Syd said, “No threats, or anything?”

“No. Plenty of armed guards outside the door,
but I was alone with the Don and his son.”

Syd laughed, “They really are stupid! They
didn’t know you could have tossed them both off the balcony and
grabbed a line from Shadow-4 and disappeared!”

Sara said, “Then Hatch would have had every
shooter in the Mafia looking for him forever! They know who he
is.”

Hatch added, “Not to mention that they had
three of you essentially hostage while I was up there. They knew I
wouldn’t do anything.”

Syd shrugged, “I guess you guys are right. It
sounds like it was a waste of time.”

• • •

After dinner, Hatch and Syd retired to
Hatch’s quarters and Syd fixed them each a brandy. She took off her
shoes, pulled her legs up on the couch, and borrowed Hatch’s Blue
Phone.

“I have to call my sister and tell her about
our engagement, Hatch. She’ll go bonkers!” exclaimed Syd. “She
always said I would be an old maid! I wonder how much I can tell
her about you. For that matter, I wonder if I should tell her about
the MOSSAD. I couldn’t tell her before because of security reasons,
but now that I’m not in it anymore, I feel like I should be
honest.”

Hatch kicked off his loafers and lit a
cigarette, then leaned back into the pillow on the couch.

“Make sure you don’t tell her any MOSSAD
secrets—especially not on the phone. Same for LRD. Everything else
should be fair game, I guess.”

“Show me again how to dial a regular number
on this thing.”

“Sure, let me walk you through it.”

Syd’s call was answered by a cheery voice in
San Francisco. “Law Offices of Steppe and Sanchez. How may I help
you?”

Syd recognized the voice as that of Carla
Sanchez, Karen’s law partner.

“Hey, Carla! This is Syd! What are you doing
answering the phone?” bubbled Syd.

“Hi, Syd! Long time no hear! Karen’s out of
town and our secretary just ran out on an errand for me. What’s
up?”

“I just wanted to chat with Karen. Haven’t
talked to her in awhile. Where is she?”

“Believe it or not, she’s in Holland—or
should I say the Netherlands? She’s arguing a case before the World
Court in The Hague. Where are you? Florida still?” asked Carla.

“I’m in Rome, actually. Italy, not New York,”
laughed Syd.

“Well! What about that! You’re in the same
time zone. I can give you the number at her hotel. What time is it
there?”

Syd looked at the bedside clock.

“It’s 8:46 P.M. here. Give me her number and
I’ll give her a buzz.”

After she wrote down the number she
said, “Thanks. Good talking to you, Carla.
Ciao!
”

• • •

Karen Steppe was 30 years old, 5 feet 6½
inches tall, and as blonde as Syd was dark-haired. Their mother had
been a blonde Norwegian, and Karen got a slug of her genes; whereas
Syd inherited her height and dark hair from her father, who had
been of German heritage with a smattering of gypsy blood. Karen had
been married right out of high school, but the marriage had lasted
only 8 months. After her divorce, she went back to her maiden name,
straightened herself up, went to college, and became a
world-renowned attorney specializing in international trade
agreements and treaties.

Syd took a sip of her brandy, lifted Hatch’s
cigarette out of the ashtray and took a puff, then said, “Karen is
in The Hague arguing before the World Court. I got her hotel
number. Do you mind if I call her there? How far is The Hague from
here?”

“It’s around 800 miles, I think. Not far
enough to matter. So she’s an international lawyer? Wonder what she
knows about treaties?” mused Hatch.

“Treaties are one of her specialties, I
think. Why do you ask?”

“I was wondering what she would think about
this Monterra situation. Is the treaty really enforceable after all
these years? Things like that.”

“That gives me a wonderful idea! What if I
ask her to stop by here on her way home? How much longer are we
going to be here?” exclaimed Syd, her face radiant.

“I don’t know. A few days more. I wanted to
visit Monterra before we leave. Find out her schedule and we’ll
work something out. I would like to meet your sister in any case.
If it helps, I can send the GS-V to pick her up. Save her a lot of
travel scheduling headaches.”

Syd was bubbling inside! She
did
want Karen to meet Hatch as soon
as possible! And she had not seen Karen since April when she had
returned from Israel.

• • •

Karen picked up on the second ring.

“Hello.”

“Karen! I’m glad I caught you!”

“Syd? How in hell did you track me down?
What’s wrong?” blurted Karen.

“Nothing’s wrong! Can’t a girl call her
sister? Carla gave me your number. I have some good news for you!
I’m engaged!”

“You’re shittin’ me! You don’t
even
know
a man!” exclaimed
Karen with a laugh. “What’s his name? Where’d you meet him? What
…”

“Slow down! Slow down!” interrupted Syd with
a laugh. “His name is Van Lincoln. I met …”

“Holy shit! This must be a prank! You
drunk?”

“No! You heard me right.
That
Van Lincoln!”

“You mean as in billionaire, Lincoln
Computers …”

They chatted excitedly for several more
minutes. Syd explained how she had met him at a restaurant in
Florida—leaving out the gory details for now. She would give the
details in person over a drink. She didn’t want to send Karen into
complete overload on the phone.

“So, now we’re in Rome, Italy. I want you to
come by here on your way back to San Francisco. When do you wrap up
there?” said Syd.

“Actually, I finished today. I got a
surprise: an early ruling! I leave for home tomorrow,” replied
Karen.

“Cancel that! Come here first! Hatch—that’s
Van’s nickname—said he’ll send his GS-V over to pick you up. We can
visit a couple of days, and you can meet my true love! You’ll just
adore him!”

“I don’t know, Syd,” answered Karen, then
after a long pause, continued, “Why the hell not? He’ll really send
a plane for me?”

“Yes,” said Syd, then she looked at Hatch
with raised eyebrows and mouthed, “The plane?”

He nodded, then smiled.

“What time?” Syd asked Hatch.

Hatch answered, “Tell her Janet will meet her
at Gate 2 at Amsterdam International Airport at 10 in the morning.
Janet will get her to our plane.”

Syd relayed the instructions to Karen and
hung up after a few more minutes of chatting.

“Thanks, Hatch!” said Syd as she leaned over
and kissed him. “You’re the greatest!”

“I know,” he laughed. “Hand me the phone.
I’ll call the GS-V crew and make the arrangements. They’ve got an
800 mile flight to make.”

“Is this a great imposition on them?”

“Not really. It’s less than a two hour
flight. They can do it tonight or in the morning. Depends on
whether they want to do Amsterdam or not. It has a great red light
district!”

“That
should
thrill Janet!” laughed Syd.

“Janet has no trouble getting what she
wants—anywhere!”

“Well, neither do I! I think my body has
repaired itself. Are you up for a little lovin’?” giggled Syd,
batting her eyelashes.

“Up? What a choice of words! Come here and
I’ll show you!”

• • •

The next morning, Hatch and Syd took the
Triple Eye chopper to the airport in Rome to meet the GS-V. Syd
wanted to take Karen to lunch in Rome so just the three of them
could have some time together before going back to the castle.
Hatch had agreed that it was a good idea. There were some things
about his life, and Syd’s life in Israel, that were best discussed
in private. Karen did not need a lot of strangers around when she
absorbed this information.

The GS-V taxied to its parking area at 12:30
P.M. Janet deplaned first, with Karen right behind her. Hatch
looked Karen over carefully, noting that she would never be
recognized as Syd’s sister. Whereas Syd was a classic beauty, Karen
was more a Meg Ryan type—a cute, pretty blonde. She wore an Ally
McBeal lawyer suit, dark gray with pinstripes, and a short skirt
which exposed most of her shapely legs as she came down the steps
to the tarmac. Syd ran to greet her and there was a lot of hugging
and kissing. In her heels, Karen was about Syd’s height in her
sandals.

Syd hugged Janet and thanked her, then led
Karen over to where Hatch was standing in the shade of an
awning.

“Sis, this is my future husband, Van Lincoln.
Call him Hatch,” gushed Syd.

“Wow!” said Karen. “I’ve seen your name
a lot, but never thought I’d actually meet you!
Very
pleased to meet you!”

“It is
my
extreme pleasure to finally meet you, Karen,”
replied Hatch as he took her hand. “Was the flight all
right?”

“Jeez! Are you kidding! I was sorry when we
had to land. Janet treated me like royalty!” replied Karen
enthusiastically. “She makes a wicked Bloody Mary! She offered me
Eggs Benedict, but I had already had breakfast. I’ve never heard of
Eggs Benedict on an airline flight before!”

Syd said, “How about some lunch before we go
to Hatch’s castle? We have a lot to talk about.”

“Castle? You live in a castle? So many
surprises! Sure, I could use some lunch. I went light on
Janet’s
hors d’oeuvres
.
Besides, I’ve never been in Rome. How about my bags?”

“Janet will have them transferred to
the chopper. After lunch, we’ll take the chopper to
Il Castello di Bragno
,” replied
Hatch. “I know a great sidewalk cafe that even Syd hasn’t been to.
I think you both will love it!”

Hatch waved to the driver of the Grand
Cherokee, and the driver started the engine and drove over to
them.

• • •

Twenty minutes later, the three of them
were settled in a sidewalk cafe under a green, white, and red
umbrella at
Luigi’s Cafe and
Pizzeria
in the old part of Rome. Hatch knew the
owner—Luigi Barone—from many previous meals here, so they were
getting special treatment. Their red wine and a basket of freshly
baked garlic bread twists were served immediately. Luigi told them
he would give them a sampler platter of his specialties. They
sipped wine, nibbled on hot bread, and made small talk. The
temperature was 86 degrees, so Karen took off her suit coat and
hung it on the back of her chair. She was wearing a white silk
blouse and Hatch saw the men at the next table ogling her legs and
her ample chest, as well as giving Syd the up and down. Karen was
as endowed as Syd on top, and her miniskirt revealed all of her
legs as she sat in the cafe chair. Her blonde hair was cut short,
and her light blue eyes sparkled when she laughed.

Syd said, “So, anyone special in your life
now, sis?”

“You mean besides Carla?” laughed Karen. “We
spend so much time together that most people think we’re a lesbian
couple! I’m just so busy. I guess that’s good—means we’re making
some money for a change. I date a couple of guys when I have time,
let them bop me when I’m horny. Nothing serious though,” laughed
Karen, her blue eyes flashing again. “So tell me about you two.
How’d the world’s richest man meet the school marm?”

Syd answered, “Well, it’s a complex story.
Before you meet the people at the castle, there are some things I
need to tell you about me and Hatch. They know most everything, so
you should, too. My story first. It started when mom and dad were
killed. But first, to protect you, I want to hire you as my
attorney and, also, as Hatch’s. Hatch dear, give her two
dollars—one for each of us. I want this discussion to be under
client/attorney privilege.”

“Christ! This I have to hear! Consider
yourselves covered,” replied Karen,
very
curious now.

Syd gave Karen a quick synopsis of her
vendetta against the Wrath of Allah terrorists, and ended with her
deadly rendezvous with Hatch at
The Blue
Grotto
.

“Jesus Christ, Syd! You should have told me!
I could have shared your pain with you! All that time … all alone!”
exclaimed Karen as she covered Syd’s hand with hers.

“I couldn’t involve you, Karen. You’re
an officer of the court! It’s not like I’ve done anything
illegal—not in this country anyway.
The
Blue Grotto
thing was ruled to be self defense by the
police, and most of the events in Israel are covered under Israel’s
Espionage Laws. I just want to make sure you don’t ever have to
repeat any of this. Besides, it just sort of happened, and I got in
deeper and deeper. Once I was in the MOSSAD, I was sworn to
secrecy, of course, so I couldn’t tell you anything then,”
explained Syd.

After a pause, Syd continued, “After awhile,
I really believed I was doing the world some good by ridding it of
those terrorist bastards!”

The three of them were silent for a moment,
just sipping wine. Hatch lit a cigarette, and then so did
Karen.

Syd continued, “Now, there are some things
about Hatch that you should know before we go to the castle. He is
more than just the richest man in the world.”