seconds before. "You gave him money?"
"A great deal. He said rd reach a point in the road when I could see the
farm below. Someone would be waiting for me by the gate, wave me down with
a flashlight. There was nobody I could see, no one at the gate. But then
the weather's rotten, so I came down."
Gripping his steaming glass of tea, Kohoutek turned and walked across the
room to a table against the wall. There was a telephone on it; he put down
the glass, picked up the phone, and dialed.
"If you're calling Handelman-"
"I do not call Handelman," the Czech-Moravian broke in. "I never call
Handelman. I call a man who calls another; he phones the German."
"You mean the Rabbi?"
Kohoutek raised his head and looked at Havelock. "Yes, the Rabbi," he said
without comment.
Well,'whoever . . . there won't be any answer at his apartment. Thats all
I wanted to tell you."
"Why not?"
THE PARsiFAL MosATc357
'He told me he was on his way to Boston. He's lecturing at someplace called
Brandese or Brandeis."
"Jew school," said the bull, then talked into the phone. "This is Janos.
Call New York. The name you will give is Havlf6ek, have you got that?
HavRek. I want an explanation." He hung up, grabbed his tea, and started
back toward the fireplace. "Put that awayl" he commanded the guard in the
leather jacket who was rubbing the Llama against his sleeve. "Stand in the
hall." The man walked away as Kohoutek approached the fire.' sitting down
opposite Michael in a rustic-looking rocking chair. "Now we wait, Mikhail
Havlf6ek. It won't be long, a few minutes, ten-fifteen perbaps."
"I can~t be responsible if he's not home," said Havelock shrugging. "I
wouldn't be here if we didn't have an agreement. I wouldi* know your name
or where to find you if he hadn~t told me. How could Ir
"We'll see."
"Where~s the woman?"
"Here. We have several buildings," answered the man from the Carpathians as
he sipped his tea and rocked slowly back and forth. "She's upset, of
course. It is not quite what she expected, but she will understand, they
all do. We are their only hope."
"How upset?"
Kohoutek squinted. "You are interested?"
"Only professionally. rve got to take her out and I don7t want trouble."
"We shall see."
"Is she all right?" asked Michael, controlling his anxiety.
"Like some others-the educated ones-she lost her reason for a while."
Kohoutek grinned, then coughed an ugly laugh as he drank his tea. "We
explained the regulations, and she told us they were not acceptable. Can
you imagine? Not acceptablel" The bull roared, then his voice dropped. "She
will be watched carefully, and before she is sent outside she will
understand. As they all understand."
"You dont have to worry. fm taking her."
"You say that~"
.1 pad."
Kohoutek leaned forward, stopping the motion of the chair. "How much?'
358 ROBERT LUDLUM
It was the question the Czech-Morvian had wanted to ask several minutes
ago, but Carpathian progress was serpentine. Michael knew he was on a
tightrope; there would be no answer in New York. He was about to negotiate,
and both men knew it.
"Wouldn't you rather hear it from Handelman? If he!s home."
"Perhaps I would rather hear it from you, phteli."
"How do you know you can trust me?"
"How do I know I can trust the Rabbi? How do you know you can trust him?"
"Why shouldn~t I? I found you, found this place. Not in the way I would
have preferred, but I'm here."
"You must represent influential interests," said Kohoutek, veering quickly,
as was the custom of mountain men in negotiations.
"So influential I don1 carry identification. But then you know that."
The aging lion began rocking again. "Such influence, however, always
carries money."
"Enough."
"How much did you pay Handelman?" All movement stopped as the question was
asked.
"Twenty thousand dollars American."
"Twenty ... ?" Kohouteles weathered face lost some of Its color and his
deep-set eyes squinted through the slits of flesh. "A considerable sum,
pfiteli."
"He said it was reasonable." Havelock crossed his legs, his damp trousers
warmed by the flre. "We were prepared for it .
. Are you prepared to learn why he did not reach me?"
'With the complicated arrangements you have for contacting one another, I'm
not surprised. He was on his way to Boston, and if someone was not by a
phone--?'
"Someone is always by a phone; he is a cripple. And you were on your way to
a trap that would have cost you your life.-
Michael uncrossed his legs, his eyes riveted on Kohoutek. "The trip
lights?"
"You spoke of dogs; we have dogs. They only attack on command, but an
intruder does not know that. They circle him, barking viciously. What would
you have done?"
THE PARsiFAL MosAic359
'Used my gun, of course."
"And for that you would have been shot."
Both men were silent Finally, Havelock spoke. "And the Rabbi has twenty
thousand dollars you don7t know about and I can't tell you because fin
dead.",
"Now you see."
"He'd do that to you-for twenty thousand dollarsr
The mountain bull again started to rock Ins chair. 'Mere could be other
considerations. I've had minor troubles herenothing we cannot control-but
this is a depressed area. Certain jealousies arise when you have a
successful farm. Handelman might care to replace me, have a reason to re-
place me."
"I don7t understand."
"I would have a corpse on my hands, a corpse who might have made a
telephone call while he was alive. He could have told someone where he was
going."
"You shot an intruder, a man with a gun, who probably used his gun. You
were defending your property, no one would blame you."
"No one," agreed Kohoutek, still rocking. "But it would be enough. The
Moravian is a troublemaker, we cannot afford him. Cut him off."
"From what?"
The mountain man sipped his tea. "You spent twenty thousand dollars. Are
you prepared to pay more?"
"I might be persuaded. We want the woman; shes worked with our enemies."
"Who is 'we?"
"That I won't tell you. It wouldn~t mean anything to you if I did.... Cut
you off from what?'
Kohoutek shrugged his heavy shoulders. 'This is only the first step for
these people-like the Corescu woman."
".rhaes not her name."
"I'm certain it's not, but that's no concern of mine. Like the others,
shell be pacified, work out of here for a month or two, then be sent
elsewhere. The South, Southwest-the northern Midwest, wherever we place
her." The bull grinned. "The papers are always about to arrive-just another
month, one more congressman to pay, a senator to reach. After a while,
they're like goats."
"Even goats can rebeV
360 RoBERT LuDLum
"To what end? Their own? To be sent back to t
he place where they came from?
To a firing squad, or a gulag, or garrote in an alleyway? You must
understand, these are panIcked people. Ies a fantastic businessf"
"Do the papers ever arriveP"
"Oh, yes, frequently. Especially for the talented, the productive. The
payments go on for years."
"I'd think there!d be risks. Someone who refuses, someone who threatens you
with exposure!'
Men we provide another paper, pfiteli. A death certifiWe."
"My turn to ask. Who is 'we'?"
"My turn to answer. I will not tell you."
"But the Rabbi wants to cut you out of this fantastic business."
"It's possible." The telephone rang, its bell abrasive. Kohoutek got out of
the rocking chair and walked rapidly across the room. "Perhaps we shall
learn now," he said, placing his tea on the table, and picking up the phone
in the middle of the second bell. "Yes?'
Havelock involuntarily held his breath; there were so many probabilities.
A curious university athlete whose responsibility was the well-being of his
tenants, who might have walked out into the hallway. A graduate student
with an appointment. So many accidents . .
"Keep trying," said the Carpathian.
Michael breathed again.
Kohoutek came back to the chair, leaving his tea on the table. "There is no
answer on Handelman's phone."
"He's in Boston."
"How much could you be persuaded to pay?"
"I don't carry large sums with me," replied Havelock, estimating the amount
of cash in his suitcase. It was close to six thousand dollars-money he had
taken out of Paris.
"You had twenty large sums for the Rabbi."
"It was prearranged. I could give you a down payment. Five thousand."
"Down payment on whatP"
"IT be frank," said Michael, leaning forward on the deacon's bench. "The
woman's worth thirty-five thousand to us; that was the sum allocated. I've
spent twenty."
"With five, that leaves ten," said the bull.
THE PARSIFAL MosAIC 361
"Ies in New York. You can have it tomorrow, but rve got to see the woman
tonight. I've got to take her tonight."
And be on a plane with my ten thousand dollars?"
"Why should I do that? Ws a budget item and I don't concern myself with
finances. Also, I suspect you can collect
fair amount from Handelman. A thief caught stealing from
thief. You've got him now; you could cut him out."
Kohoutek laughed his bull of a laugh. "You are from the mountains, Cechul
But what guarantees do I have?'
"Send your best man with us. I have no gun; tell him to keep his at my
head."
"Through an airport? I am not a goat]"
'Well drive."
"Why tonight?"
"They expect her in the early morning. rm to bring her to a man at the
comer of Sixty-seoond Street and York Avenue, at the entrance of the East
River Drive. He has the remainIng money. He~s to take her to Kennedy
Airport, where arrangements have been made on an Aeroflot flight. Your man
can make sure; she doesn't get into the car until the money is paid. What
more do you want?"
Kohoutek rocked, his squint returning. "The Rabbi is a thief. Is the Gech
as wellF'
"Where's the hole? Can7t you trust your best man?"
"I am the best. Suppose it was me?"
"Why not?"
"Donel We shall travel together, the woman in the back seat with me. One
gun at her head, the other at yours. Two guns, pfitelil Where is the five
thousand dollars?"
"In my car up on the road. Send someone with me, but I get it myself;'he
stays outside. That's the condition or we have no negotiation."
"You Communists are all so suspicious."
"We learned it in the mountains.-
'Cechul"
"Where's the woman?"
"In a back building. She refused to eat before, threw the tray at our
Cuban. But then, sVs educated; it is not always a favorable thing, although
it brings a higher price later. First, she must be broken; perhaps the
Cuban has already begun. He?s a hot-tempered macho with balls that clank on
the floor. Her type of woman is his favorite."
362 RoiBERT LUDLUM
Michael smiled; it was the most difficult smile he had rendered in his
life. "Are the rooms wired?"
"What for? Where are they going? What plans can they hatch alone? Besides,
to install and service such items could raise gossip. The alarms on the
road are enough trouble; a man comes from Cleveland to look after them."
"I want to see her. Then I want to get out of here."
"Why not? When I see five thousand dollars." Kohoutek stopped rocking and
turned to his left, shouting in English. "Youl Take our guest up in the
truck to his automobile. Have him drive and keep your gun on his headl"
Sixteen minutes later, Havelock counted out the money into the Moravian's
hands.
"Go to the woman, phteli," said Kokoutek.
He walked across the fenced-in compound to the left of the silo, the man
with the Spanish Llama behind him.
"Over there, to your right," said the guard.
There was a barn at the edge of the woods, but it was more than a barn.
There were lights in several windows above the ground level; it was a
second floor. And silhouetted in those lights were straight black lines;
they were bars. Whoever was behind those windows could not get out. It was
a barracks. Ein Konzentrationslager.
Michael could feel the welcome pressure of the leather !cabbard at the base
of his spine; the scaling knife was still In place. He knew he could, take
the guard and the Llama-a slip in the snow, a skid over iced grass and the
man in the leather jacket was a dead man-but not yet. It would come later,
when Jenna understood, when-and if-he could convince her. And if he could
not, both of them would die. One losing his life, the other in a hell that
would kill her.
Listen to mel Listen to nw, for we are aU that's left of sanityl What
happened to us? What did they do to us?
"Knock on the door," said the man behind.
Havelock rapped on the wood. A voice with a Latin accent answered.
"Yes? What is it?"
"Open up, Mr. JCs orders. This is Ryan. Hurryl"
The door was opened two or three inches by a stocky man In a bolero and
dungarees. He stared first at MichaeL then saw the guard and opened the
door completely.
THE PARwAL MosAic 363
"Nobody called," he said.
"We thought you might be busy," said the man behind Havelock a snide laugh
in his voice.
"With what? Two pigs and a crazy woman?"
"She's the one we want to see. He wants to see."
"He better have a pene made like rock, I tell you no Bel I looked in ten
minutes ago; shes asleep. I don't think she slept for a couple of days
maybe."
"Then he can jump her," said the guard, pushing Michael through the door.
They climbed the stairs and entered a narrow corridor with doors on both
sides. Steel doors with slits in the center, sliding panels for peering
inside.
We are in our movable prison. Where was it? Prague?
Trieste? ... Barcelona?
"She's in this room," said the Latin, stopping at the third door. "You want
to lookP"
"Just open the door," said Havelock. "And wait downstairs."
.Oia~
"Mr. ICs orders," broke in the leather-jacketed guard. "Do what the man
says."
The Cuban took a key from his belt, unlocked the cell door, and stood
aside.
"Get out of here," said Michael.
The two men walked up the corridor.
Havelock opened the door.
The small room was dark, and the dark light of night grudgingly spilled
through the window, the white flakes bouncing off the glass and the bars.
He could see her on the bed, more cot than bed. Fully dressed, she was
.1ying face down, her blond hair cascading over her shoulders, one arm
hanging down limp, the hand touching the floor. She lay on top of the
covers, her clothes disheveled, the position of her body and the sound of
her deep breathing proof of exhaustion. Watching her, he ached, pain
pressing his chest for the pain she had endured, so much of it because of
him. Trust had fled, instincts rejected, love repulsed; he had been no less
an animal than the animals who had done this to her
. he was ashamed. And flUed with love.
He could see the outline of a floor lamp next to the bed; lighted, it would
shine down on her. A cold fear went
364 RoBERT LuDLum
through him and his throat tightened. He had faced risks before, but never
a danger like this, never a moment that meant so much to him. If be lost
it-lost her, the bond between them shattered irremediably-nothing would
matter except the death of liars. He was profoundly aware that he would
willingly give up years of life for the moment to be frozen, not to have to
turn on the light-simply to call out her name softly, as he had called it a
hundred times a hundred, and have her hand fall into his, her face come
against his. But the waiting, too, was self-inflicted torture; what were the
words? Between the acting of a dreadful thing and the first motion, aU the
interim is like a phantasma or a hideous dream. It would end or it would
begin when he turned on the lamp. He walked silently to the bed.
An arm shot up in the darkness. Pale skin flashing in the dim light, a hand
plunged into his abdomen. He felt the impact of a sharp pointed object-not
Robert Ludlum - The Parcifal Mosaic.txt Page 46