One Step to Danger

by John Gubert

  I caught him as I aimed and he went down screaming in pain. His screams continued for several minutes. Then he turned his own gun on himself. He put himself out of his own agony.

  Alberto looked at me grimly. “Never do that again. If he had been braver, he could have done us damage. He could have rolled down the slope again and holed us up. I don’t know why you did it. You must have had reason. But you must never do things like that again. It’s stupid.”

  I felt dumb at that. But I knew I had wanted him to suffer. And he had.

  The gunfire stopped for a moment and then the explosions started. One after another came and went. A roar of sheer power. A plume of smoke would be followed by the crash of masonry. “The scorched earth policy has begun,” said one of the men. “We need to stand by for departure.”

  “Cover both ways,” I called. “For all we know the Russians could have reinforcements coming.”

  We continued to do just that. The bombs continued in the distance. The flames shot into the air. They must have fired an ammunition dump for all of a sudden there was an enormous explosion.

  “That was more than anything we had,” said Alberto as if to confirm my thoughts.

  I looked over my shoulder as I heard a noise on the road outside. Alberto did too. “They’re our vans,” he said.

  We waited and saw men coming through the trees. “Our people,” said Alberto. He was acting as my minder and was afraid I might be nervous enough to shoot our own side.

  I counted. There were seven members of the Special Forces and we had seventeen members of the final team. I noticed they were carrying two of their comrades. I finished counting as one man said, “That’s all of us.”

  We had lost six men. In total eighteen were returning of the original twenty-four. Two were wounded and three more appeared to be walking wounded. I had lost two men out of my six.

  We retreated out of the grounds and got into our vans. They sped down the road and out through Uzes until they got to the staging post. We split there without a word. These were not people to dwell on sentimentalities.

  In the van they estimated that we had killed at last seventy of the Russians. They were uncertain how many there had been there in total. It had definitely been more than they expected.

  We returned to Geneva the same way as the previous day. Aldo was strangely quiet in the plane. I thanked Alberto. He had definitely save my life. Yet I was uneasy. I shouldn’t have been there. I was an amateur among professional soldiers. And I had a horrible suspicion that I knew why Di Maglio had sent me.

  As we drove up to the house, Di Maglio was waiting. Giovanni was by his side. Jacqui was nowhere to be seen.

  “Where’s Jacqui?” were my first words. I did not trust him and thought she may have been spirited away.

  “She’s still asleep. She should wake up soon but she was exhausted. The doctor also gave her some tranquillisers.”

  I breathed a sigh of relief. She was still here. Soon we could leave.

  “How did the other operations go?” asked Aldo.

  “Well,” replied Giovanni. “You may have had problems but we achieved our objective. And I expect that we will be able to make contact with the Russians soon. We should be able to strike up some sort of workable alliance.”

  I was staggered. “How can you make an alliance with those people?”

  “Easily,” he said. “The survivors won’t want outright war. At least they are not going to want it for the moment. In fact I doubt they’ll want it for the foreseeable future. We’ll negotiate a peace with them. We’ll make it worth their while. We couldn’t negotiate with Rastinov. He was too greedy.”

  “And what is my position?”

  “Let us negotiate over the next few days and then you will be free to go.”

  I went inside. Di Maglio followed me. Giovanni and Aldo talked quietly together behind him. I kept asking myself why he sent me. He was now talking of negotiating with the Russians. My initial thought had been wrong. I had assumed that he sent me so that I would need his protection against the Russians in the future. But that did not seem the case.

  I turned to him. “Why was I sent to Uzes the second time? The first I can understand. But the second was nonsensical.”

  He smiled an oily smile of incredible insincerity. “What do you mean? I thought you wanted to go.”

  “That’s bullshit. Even if I wanted to go, you would not let me unless you had a purpose.”

  “I really don’t know what you are talking about.”

  “You are saying you’ll strike a deal with the Russians. Once you do that, we won’t be in danger from them.”

  Giovanni intervened. “Given the success of the operations in Uzes and New Jersey, they will agree and we will have peace for many years. They will be pleased that we allow them to prosper. And the reaction gave a warning to the world of the danger of threatening the Di Maglio family. They will have taken note. Everyone is safer.”

  A thought then struck me. “What would happen if the authorities knew who had masterminded the attacks?”

  Giovanni again answered, “They will not try to find out. In reality they know. But they prefer scum like Rastinov to be off the streets. We acted on their behalf as well as in our own interests. Nothing will be done to find the attackers. There will be an official investigation. But there will be nothing else.”

  I then said, “Look I was little better than useless in the attack. Alberto saved me several times. I also endangered the lives of some of the people. I am not surprised. I was unsuited for that attack. And you knew it.”

  Di Maglio looked angry. His eyes were blazing. His face grew red. “We sent you in because it made you one of the family. You have been part of three of our operations. You went as our emissary to the Russians. You led the rescue for Jacqui. And you took part in the revenge raid. The first two, you could argue, were nothing to do with the family. But the revenge raid was. And you went past the point of no return in that raid. You are one of us.”

  “I am not. You don’t own me. I don’t owe you anything.”

  He exploded in fury. He was yelling now at the top of his voice. “You owe me your life. You owe me for getting you away from the police in Paris. You owe me for letting you stay with Jacqui. You fucking owe me and so don’t forget it.”

  I clenched my teeth. I had to keep my cool. “You’ve got it wrong. I am independent. I can’t shop you to the police without incriminating myself. That’s true. In any event I wouldn’t do that. In this case, what you did was right.”

  “You work for me now,” he yelled.

  “I work for nobody. I saved Aldo’s life. I asked you to help me save Jacqui’s. I helped you where I could. But I am not one of your family. And I never will be.”

  “Then you leave. And you leave on your own,” he snarled.

  “No, he doesn’t,” came a voice. We all swung round to look at Jacqui. Her hair was pulled back. Her face was pale. Her eyes were full of anger. Her cheeks flushed. Her breathing got heavier.

  She repeated, “No he doesn’t. You are not going to manipulate us. Or I will deliver the tape to the police. And you all will go with it.”

  “Oh fuck you both,” said Di Maglio. “I’ll just do to you what I should have let the Russians do.”

  Jacqui’s eyes went wide in shock, as she heard that threat. I moved forward. Two men jumped from the shadows in case I was going to attack Di Maglio.

  “The tape would be revealed then. You forget I have made arrangements to ensure that is done.”

  “With your little junkie friend?” he said. I stopped dead. How on earth did he know about her?

  “If you touch her or any of her family, you’re dead,” I said.

  Giovanni intervened. “Let’s cool it. This is stupid. Charles you are bound to us. But you don’t have to work for us. You have ties. We fought together. And you have ties through Jacqui.”

  He turned to Di Maglio. “We must stop threatening each other. Jacqui needs to leave. She
must be able to come back. We need to trust each other. This is the wrong way to go about it.”

  Jacqui leant against the doorframe. I suspected she was still weak from her drugs. I was about to go over to her, but Di Maglio beat me. “Sit down. Perhaps I got too angry. I said things I should not say. I want you and Charles with me.”

  “No,” said Jacqui. And she shook her head. “I am going with Charles. We need our own life. We are able to support ourselves.”

  “How?” he said. “Because you made some money in Hong Kong? That won’t support you.”

  “I think it may,” I said. “No,” he replied shaking his head. “Not in the way that Jacqui needs to live. You need to be more than a millionaire for that.”

  “But we are. And that’s many times over. Even billionaires.”

  He looked doubtful. Giovanni looked at me questioningly. Aldo looked surprised.

  “Look,” I said. “You fight in a world of drugs or prostitution and then moved into legitimate businesses. We work in the grey world of finance and will then move into the fully legitimate area. We have a few more moves to make in the grey area but they are low risk. The big risks have been taken and we are talking of having made billions.”

  Giovanni said, “What did you do?”

  I turned to him. “Give us three months and we will explain all to you. But my way of life is safer than yours. And I guess it is even more remunerative.”

  He nodded. Di Maglio said, “I don’t believe you.”

  I looked at him and smiled, “Give me the three months. If Jacqui and I are not worth a billion dollars at the end of it, then I will work for you. If we are worth a billion, we remain family but independent.”

  Aldo came in. “That sounds fair.” He was a good guy Aldo. He also had a soft spot for Jacqui. That helped.

  Giovanni nodded eagerly. Di Maglio considered the options. He nodded. He turned to Jacqui. “Do you agree?”

  She nodded. Then she said, “But you must give me your word of honour that you will do nothing to seek to stop us or worse.”

  He nodded. “I agree. If you can do better outside our business, all the better. We always need to diversify.”

  Giovanni said, “Both of you should stay for another week or so. By then we will know what is happening on the Russian front. Then you can go your own ways safely.”

  I nodded and put out my hand to Di Maglio. He hesitated, then took it. “I could get to like you, you bastard,” he said. “I can see why Jacqui does.”

  He kissed her on the head. They then left and we were alone again.

  Jacqui moved towards me. “You went on the main attack. You were the advance guard. You shouldn’t have gone. It was too dangerous.”

  “I did not really think. I guess in many ways I had no choice. The good thing is that I got back. And soon we can go.”

  She had stood up and was swaying a bit. I took her in my arms and held her fiercely for a few minutes.

  “Let’s go back to the room and get you to bed. Then you can eat there and in a couple of days you’ll be fine.”

  She let me lead her back to the room. She stayed there for two days. We then started to go for walks around the grounds. They were well guarded. We hardly saw the others. They were busy at work.

  I called my parents and my father said that he was close to action. I agreed that we would join them in a few days. They did not realise that we were just a few miles away. It was better to keep them and the Di Maglio family apart.

  I was surprised that they had based themselves in the President. It was a bit further up the Quai from the Bergues. But they said it offered easier communications than the more old fashioned hotel of my choice.

  It was six days from the attack on the Russians. Jacqui and I had been wandering in the grounds. As we walked back to the house, Giovanni joined us. “You can leave when you please,” he said. “We have drawn up terms with the Russians.”

  “What are they?” asked Jacqui.

  “We take half their supplies up to five hundred million dollars each year for the next three years. We’ve arranged the price and the quality.”

  “Will they keep to the terms?” she said.

  “Sure. They screwed up and could have been destroyed. We are too strong for them. All they want to do is generate cash so that they can buy up Russian industry. We allow them to do that and take out the downstream risks. We can sell as much of the shit as we can find. So we’ll make the same money as them in the end. Everyone wins.”

  “Including the kids who die?” I suggested.

  “That’s their choice,” came the callous reply. “They could die in a car crash or from tobacco just as easily.”

  There was no use debating. I did not want to get involved. Nor did Jacqui. I was relieved we could leave.

  The next morning we had a surprisingly friendly goodbye from Di Maglio. We headed to the President and my parents. The final stages of the scam could now begin.

  WAITING FOR THE STORM

  As the car dropped us outside the Hotel President, my parents were just returning. They had evidently been for a walk. They both looked fit and healthy. My mother had updated her wardrobe again in Geneva and was wearing slacks and a fur coat of the kind you can only buy in the German speaking areas of Europe.

  When they saw us they looked horrified. “My darlings,” said my mother, “What on earth have you been doing? You are both so pale and drawn. Jacqui, what has happened to you? You look unwell.”

  “We have had a tough time, perhaps we should explain. Let’s check in and then have a coffee together. We’ll unpack and then come over to your room.”

  My father said, “We are on the top floor. We have a suite there. See if they can do one for you.”

  In the end they could only do us a double room on the top floor. No suites were available except on the lower ones. We took the double as it gave a good view of the lake.

  I had ensured that both Jacqui and I were armed. I still was not totally certain that we were as safe as Di Maglio had alleged. I also suspected that we had a secret bodyguard. The two men who had driven us to the hotel were hardly chauffeuring types with their broad shoulders and athletic builds.

  We unpacked and headed over to my parents’ room. I stopped in front of the mirror as we went out. “You know, they are right,” I said to Jacqui. “You are pale and your eyes are tired. You have more make up than usual. Otherwise I think you’d look even more exhausted. I’m also pretty drawn. This is not a life style for us. I think financial racketeering suits us better.”

  She agreed and we went into my parents’ suite for the inevitable interrogation. Sitting in the comfortable sofas, we explained what had happened.

  My mother clutched my father’s hand as I explained about the kidnapping in Paris and my eventual escape to the Di Maglio compound.

  “It’s like a bad film,” my father said. “It’s a world I never thought existed. But, if we could tie in their cash and ours, we could take on the biggest in the land.”

  “No,” I said. “Be careful. That sort of money isn’t dirty, it’s foul.”

  Jacqui took up her story. She explained how she had been taken to the house near Uzes. She talked about the treatment she had been subjected to. She told of new horrors. She had been injected with a truth serum to get her to give away secrets that she did not know. She had been subject to electric shock torture when that did not work. Then she explained how she had realised she had miscarried as a result of that torture.

  “I suspected I might be pregnant just before the kidnapping. I was fairly certain a week or so later. Then I knew I’d lost it.”

  I put a protective arm around her as her voice choked. My mother came forward and knelt in front of her. “Don’t worry. You’re young enough to have as many children as you want. Just wait until all this is sorted out.” I knew her gentleness at this point meant much to Jacqui. My mother stroked her cheek and smiled at her. “Just consider it fate. It’s not your fault. They did not want you.
They wanted your father. And it wasn’t his fault. They are people who don’t play by the rules. But how did you get away?”

  I picked up the story and explained how we entered the grounds with Jacques and how we managed to get away with Jacqui. I then mentioned the attack on the house and its destruction.

  “My God, I saw the pictures on the television. They said it was gang warfare between major drug cartels,” said my father.

  “They were right. It was. In reality Jacqui’s incident was just a distraction.”

  “You should never have been there,” remarked Jacqui. “My father deceived me again.”

  “We have to put that behind us,” I said. “Unfortunately we need him. So we cannot reject the past. We cannot ban him from our life. But we have an agreement. He doesn’t realise we have already achieved the objective. We already have a billion. But we need to finish the work. And I wanted him at arm’s length for that period.”

  “I think you’re right,” said my father. “Three months will be plenty. That takes us almost to the spring. By then we will all be free and part of the establishment.”

  I changed the subject. “Where are you with United?”

  “I’ve expanded the target list of companies for the fund to thirty three. Originally I had selected fifteen to twenty but I’ve found a few more since then. I knew five of them already. They are Far East based stocks, all are oil exploration, but their prices have slumped as a result of the Asia crisis. So they came into play.”

  “How much have you put in?” I asked.

  “I’ve invested eighty million so far. That’s more than I planned. But I even managed to do it as the markets have drifted down. So our average prices are just a bit higher than the current market prices. I must be close to mopping up all available stock soon. I plan to carry on doing it slowly. I am spreading the orders around the market carefully. That slows one down.”