26

Stone blinked. “My return?”

“We’d like you to go back to Rome tomorrow morning. I’ve spoken with Marcel duBois, and he’s happy to have you and your girl as his guests in his apartment over his offices. If Dino and Viv want to go, there’s room for them, too. I understand he has quite an establishment there. The building has already been secured by Strategic Services, and people from our Rome station will take an interest, too.”

“Why do you want me back there?”

“Do you remember your conversation with Rick about the goat and the lion?”

“Ah, yes.”

“Your girl doesn’t have to share that experience. We’ll do our best to protect her, if she goes back to Rome, but if she leaves the duBois building, she’ll be a target for kidnapping, or worse.”

“I’ll speak to her about that.”

“When you fly to Ciampino tomorrow, flight-plan for a noon arrival. You’ll be met on the ramp and directed to a secure hangar that we maintain there.”

“Thank you, Lance.”

“The head of our Rome station is Jim Lugano, a bilingual Italian American and a good man. He’ll meet you at the hangar with a secure vehicle, and you can talk about dealing with Casselli on the way into the city.”

“Fine.”

“Your debacle at Lipp seems to have turned into something of an advantage—you were always lucky, Stone. Goodbye.”

“Goodbye.”

Marie came into the library with a tray of Dino’s croissants, butter, jam, and coffee, followed shortly by Hedy and Viv. Everybody said good morning, sat down, and dug into the pastries.

After breakfast, Dino stood up and beckoned to Viv. “We’re going to take a little walk,” he said. “We’ll talk more when we get back.” They left.

“I have a feeling we’ve been left alone for a talk,” Hedy said.

“Right. I have to go back to Rome tomorrow, and the best advice I can get is that you shouldn’t return to the city.”

She started to protest, but he held up a hand. “I’m moving into Marcel duBois’s apartment above his offices, and if you come you’ll be a virtual prisoner there. It’s thought by thoughtful people that in Rome you would be a target for kidnapping.”

Hedy made a gulping sound.

“Let me propose two alternatives: you can return to New York, or you can stay here, in this house, and paint. In either case, I’ll have the Rome apartment cleaned out and your things returned to New York, and I’ll take care of the rental charges there.”

She thought about it for a moment. “Well, if I can’t go with you, I think I’d prefer to stay in Paris and paint.”

“Casselli is tracking my phone, so tomorrow he’ll know that I’ve left Paris. Please wait until noon tomorrow, when I’ll be back in Rome, before you leave the house alone. I’ll ask Rick LaRose to have an eye kept on you, though you won’t be aware of it.”

She came over, sat in his lap, and kissed him. “Thank you,” she said.

—

Dino and Viv came back a few minutes later. “We’ve both talked with our offices, and we’re going back to Rome with you. Viv is going to work with Mike Freeman on security there, and the mayor is going to let me take a few days for consultation with the Rome police on coordinating their operation against Casselli. While we were out, Dante Fiore called. The Italian prime minister has appointed him as Massimo’s replacement. The announcement will be made this afternoon.”

“That’s good news.”

“He tells me that the killing of Massimo and the phone call from the president to the Italian PM have helped concentrate the minds of the government, and maybe even the legislature, when it comes to measures to deal with the Mafia there. That can only be a good thing.”

“How much do you know about how the Italians have been dealing with their Mafia?”

“Only what Massimo told me in a meeting in New York and in a few phone calls. These were about his plans, and not enough time has passed for them to have taken effect, so they’ll be starting from scratch with Dante, albeit with Massimo’s outline for his plans. Dante is going to ride in with us from the airport tomorrow, so he can tell us what his first moves are going to be.”

“The head of the Agency’s Rome station will be with us, too. His name is Jim Lugano, and I expect he already knows Dante.”

“Maybe you’ll get your tsunami after all,” Dino said.

27

Stone lined up on the runway at Ciampino and set the CJ3+ down gently. As he turned off the runway a cart turned into his path with a flashing sign on the back saying: “Follow Me.” Stone did so, and a lineman directed him to park in front of a large hangar. A large black Mercedes van pulled up to the airplane and waited. Stone saw two uniformed Italian policemen carrying automatic weapons standing guard at the van.

Stone, Dino, and Viv deplaned and retrieved their luggage from the airplane, then Stone locked it and got into the Mercedes with the others. The large compartment was set up as a conference table, and introductions were made. Jim Lugano was tall, thin, black-haired, and appeared to be in his early forties. He sported a dense mustache and was dressed in an obviously Italian suit. Dante Fiore was a solidly built six-footer with a thick neck and broad shoulders with short black hair. He pumped Stone’s hand and welcomed him back to Rome.

“I hope your visit will be more peaceful than your last,” he said. “And let me say, I’m glad your girlfriend chose to remain in Paris. We were not looking forward to protecting her while she painted in Rome.”

“You are very well informed,” Stone replied.

Dante took immediate control of their meeting. “I have spent two hours today meeting with the heads of half a dozen police divisions, and now each of them is back in his office, plotting with his staff to see how many ways they can harass the Casselli family and the others. Here are a few things we are already doing. One, vehicles identified as belonging to the families and their associates will be routinely followed and many of them stopped by the police for an examination of the vehicles and their documentation. Minor traffic and document infractions will be punished. Two, all known Mafia members with the rank of capo and above will be surveilled, with no attempt to hide our attentions. We want them to feel harassed. Warrants are being prepared to tap the telephones of those key men that are not already tapped, and noises will be made on the lines to let them know we’re listening. And, of course, you will be glad to know, Stone, that we have posted large notices in certain neighborhoods in Naples and Rome that a five-million-euro reward and a new passport and resettlement help is being offered to anyone with information that can put Casselli in prison.”

“Euros?” Stone asked. “Not dollars?”

“The euro is our currency.”

“Oh, never mind, Mr. duBois and I will find a way.”

Dino seemed to be suppressing a laugh.

“And we have placed uniformed policemen on the site of your hotel construction to protect it from criminal vandalism.”

“Why,” Stone asked, “are you going out of your way to let these people know they’re being surveilled?”

“Because they have such a sense of entitlement over many years that they believe themselves invulnerable to law enforcement. We want to show them that is no longer so, unsettle them and make them nervous, because when they are nervous they will make mistakes. Casselli, for instance, has already had two of his most trusted associates murdered since your luncheon with him. Unfortunately, one of them has turned out to be already helping us, but the other has been a thorn in our flesh for years. We expect that now anyone who Casselli has the slightest reason to doubt will meet with the same fate.