The Evening News (16 page)

He read aloud,
“
'Any one may so arrange his affairs that his taxes shall
be as low as possible; he is not bound to choose that pattern which will
best pay the Treasury; there is not even a patriotic duty to increase
one's taxes. '
“

"I can understand why people envy you
,”
Vivien said
.”
Are there others
in TV who do the same
?
”

"You'd be surprised how many. The tax advantages are a reason Canadians
like to work overseas for American networks
.”

Though he didn't mention them, there were other reasons,
including U.S. network pay scales, which were substantially higher. But even more important, to work for an American network was to have made the prestigious "big time
”
and be on the exciting center stage of world affairs
.
For their part, the U.S. networks were delighted to have Canadian
correspondents, who came to them well trained by CBC and CTV. They had
learned also that American viewers liked a Canadian accent; it was a
contributing reason for the popularity of many news figures-Peter
Jennings, Robert MacNeil, Morley Safer, Allen Pizzey, Barrie Dunsmore
,
Peter Kent, John Blackstone, Hilary Bowker, Harry Partridge, others .
. .
Continuing to prowl through the apartment, Partridge saw on a sideboard
the tickets for the Mozart concert the next day. He knew he would enjoy
it and was grateful once more to Vivien for remembering his tastes
.
He was grateful too for the three weeks of vacation-restful idleness, as
he thought of it-that lay ahead.

Jessica went household shopping every Thursday morning and she intended to follow her usual routine today. When Angus learned this, he volunteered to accompany her. Nicky, who was home because of a school holiday, asked to go as well so he could be with his grandfather
.
Jessica asked doubtfully, "Don't you have some music to practice
?
”

"Yes, Mom. But I can do it later. I'll have time
.”

Knowing that Nicky was conscientious about practicing, sometimes for as
long as six hours a day, Jessica raised no objection
.
The three of them left the Park Avenue house in Jessica's Volvo station
wagon shortly bef
ore I I A.M., about an hour and
a quarter after Crawford's departure. It was a beautiful morning, the trees rich with fall colors and sunlight glistening off Long Island Sound
.
The Sloanes' day maid, Florence, was in the house at the time and
,
through a window, watched the trio leave. She also saw a car parked on
a side street start up and follow in the same direction as the Volvo. At
the time she gave no thought to the second vehicle
.
Jessica's first stop was, as usual, the Grand Union supermarket on
Chatsworth Avenue. She parked the Volvo in the store lot, then
,
accompanied by Angus and Nicky, went inside
,
The Colombians, Julio and Carlos, in the Chevrolet Celebrity which had
trailed the station wagon from a discreet distance, observed their
movements. Carlos, who had already reported the departure from the house
,
now made another cellular phone call, announcing that "the three packages
are in container number one
.”

This time Julio was driving, and he did not turn into the store parking
lot, instead making observations from the street outside. Following
instructions given earlier by Miguel, Carlos now left the Chevy and moved
on foot to a position near the store. Unlike other days when he had been
casually dressed, today he was wearing a neat brown suit and tie
.
When Carlos was in place, Julio drove the Chevrolet away, in case it had
been noticed, to the safe seclusion of the Hackensack operating center.

When the first of the two phone messages reached Miguel, he was in the
Nissan passenger van, parked near the New Haven Railroad's Larchmont
station. The van was inconspicuous, surrounded by other parked vehicles
left by New York commuters. With Miguel were Luis, Rafael and Baudelio
,
though all four occupants were mostly out of sight because of dark, thin
plastic sheets covering the side and rear windows. Luis, because of his
specialized driving skills, was at the wheel
.
When it became known that three people had left the house, Rafael
exclaimed, "Damn!
That means the viejo's along. He'll be in our goddamn
way
.”

"Then we'll 'off' the old fart
,”
Luis said. He touched a bulge in his suede
jacket
.”
One bullet will do
.”

Miguel snapped, "You'll follow the orders you have. Do nothing else without
my say-so
.”

He was aware that Rafael and Luis were perpetually aggressive
,
like smoldering fires likely to burst into angry flame. Rafael, heavily
built, had been a professional boxer for a while and bore visible fight
scars. Luis had been in the Colombian army-a harsh, rough schooling. There
could be a time when the belligerence of both men would be useful, but
until then it needed to be curbed
.
Miguel was already considering the complication of the third person. Their
long-standing plan had involved, at this point, only the Sloane woman and
the boy. All along, theynot Crawford Sloane-had been the Sendero
Luminoso/Medellin objective. The two were to be seized and held as hostages
for as yet unspecified demands
.
But now the question was how to handle the old man? Killing him, as Luis
suggested, would be easy, but that could create other problems. Most
probably Miguel would not make up his mind until the crucial moment, which
was coming soon
.
One thing was fortunate. The woman and the boy were now together. The
several weeks of careful surveillance had shown that the woman always
shopped on Thursday mornings. Miguel had also known that the boy had a
school holiday today. Carlos, posing on the telephone as a parent, had
obtained that information from the Chatsworth Avenue grammar school, which
Nicholas attended. What had remained in doubt was how to corral the woman
and the boy together. Now, without knowing it, they had solved that problem
for him
.
When the second message from Carlos came, indicating that all three Sloanes
were inside the supermarket, Miguel nodded to Luis
.”
Okay. Roll
!”

Luis put the Nissan van in gear. The next stop, just a halfdozen blocks
away, would be the store parking lot
.
While they were moving, Miguel turned his head to look at Baudelio, the
American in the Medellin group, who continued to be a source of worry
.
Baudelio-the name had be
en chosen for him and, like the
others, it was an alias-was in his mid-fifties but looked twenty years older. Gaunt, lantern-jawed, with a sallow skin and a droopy gray mustache he seldom trimmed, he had the appearance of a walking ghost. He had once been a medical doctor, a specialist in anesthesiology practicing in Boston, and a drunk. When left to his own devices he was still a drunk, but no longer a doctor, at least officially. A decade earlier Baudelio's license to practice medicine had been r
evoked for life because while in
an alcoholic haze he had overanesthetized a pa surgery. There had been similar lapses before and colleagues had covered for him, but in this instance it cost the patient's life and could not be overlooked
.
There had been no future for him in the United States, no family ties, no
children. Even his wife had left him several years before. He had visited
Colombia several times and, for want of a better place, decided to go
there. After a while he found he could use his considerable medical skills
for shady, sometimes criminal purposes, without arousing any questions. He
was in no position to be particular and took whatever came his way. Amid
it all he managed, by reading medical journals, to stay up to date in his
specialty. This last was why he had been chosen for this assignment by the
Medellin cartel, for whom he had worked before
.
All of this background had been made known to Miguel in advance, with a
warning that while the assignment lasted Baudelio was to be deprived of any
alcohol. Antabuse pills would be used to enforce the prohibition, one pill
to be taken by the ex-doctor every day. The effect of Antabuse was that
anyone drinking liquor afterward became violently ill, a fact of which
Baudelio was well aware
.
Since it was common practice among alcoholics to spit out the pill secretly
if they wanted to cheat, Miguel was cautioned to be sure the Antabuse was
always swallowed. While Miguel carried out the instructions, they did not
please him. In the comparatively short time available he had a multitude
of responsibilities and acting as a "wet nurse
”
was one he could have done
without
.
Also in light of Baudelio's weakness, Miguel decided not to
trust him with a firearm. Thus he was the only one in the group not armed
.
Now, regarding Baudelio warily, Miguel asked, "Are you ready? Do you
understand everything that is to be done
?
”

The ex-doctor nodded. Briefly a vestige of professional pride returned to
him. Looking Miguel directly in the eye, he said, "I know precisely what is
necessary. When the moment comes, you may rely on me, and concentrate on
what you have to do yourself
.”

Not entirely reassured, Miguel turned away. The Grand Union supermarket was
now directly ahead
.
Carlos saw the Nissan passenger van arrive. The parking lot was not crowded
and the Nissan entered a conveniently vacant slot alongside Jessica's Volvo
station wagon. When Carlos had observed this, he turned into the store.

Jessica gestured to her partly filled shopping cart and told Angus, "If
there's something you especially like, just drop it in.,
,
Nicky said, "Gramps likes caviar
.”

"I should have remembered that
,”
Jessica said
.”
Let's get some
.”

They moved to the gourmet section to discover it was featuring a special
caviar assortment. Angus, inspecting prices, said, "It's awfully
expensive
.”

Jessica said softly, "Have you any idea how much that son of yours earns
?
”

The old man smiled; he kept his voice low too
.”
Well, I did read somewhere
it was close to three million dollars a year
.”

"Close is right
.”

Jessica laughed; being with Angus always made her feel
good
.”
Let's blow some of it
.”

She pointed to a seven-ounce can of beluga
caviar in a locked display case, priced at $199.95
.”
We'll have some of
this with drinks before dinner tonight
.”

It was at that moment that Jessica noticed a young man, slightly built and
well dressed, approaching another woman shopper nearby. He appeared to ask
a question. The woman shook her head. The young man approached a second
shopper.
Again an apparent question and a negative reply. Mildly curious, Jessica watched the young man as he approached her
.”
Excuse me, ma'am
,”
Carlos said
.”
I'm trying to locate someone
.”

He had
been aware of Jessica all the time but deliberately had not gone to her
first, instead positioning himself so that she could see him speaking with
the other people
.
Jessica noticed a Spanish accent, though that was not unusual in New York
.
She also thought the speaker had cold, hard eyes, but that was none of her
business. All she said was, "Oh
?
”