was heard on the deserted back road
fronting the golf club, and MacKenzie
waited behind the pillar.
As Sam walked haltingly up the drive,
Hawkins decided not to tell him about
the immobilized patrols. It would
-only worry the ex-major; better to
let him think Dellacroce was true to
his word: he was alone on fairway six.
"Goddamn! Hello, Sam!"
Devereaux threw himself to the
ground, hugging the gravel for dear
life. And then he looked up; MacKenzie
took out a small but powerful pencil
light from his pocket and flicked it
on.
The ex-major was certainly angry His
face was kind of pinched and puffed,
as if it might explode right out of
his skin.
"You unprincipled son of a bitch!"
Sam whispered, tiny and fear
intermeshed. "You lowlife! You're the
most devious, despicable form of
subhuman that ever lived! What the
hell have you done, you bustards"
"Now, now' that's no way to talk.
Come on, get up; you look silly down
there all splayed out. . ." MacKenzie
reached for Devereaux's hand.
"Don't touch me, you slug worm!
Fucking Mongolian sheep is too good
for you! I should have let Lin Shoo
pry out your fingernails, one by one,
for four thousand fucking years! Don't
touch me!" Sam staggered to his feet.
"Look, Major
"Don't call me that! I don't own a
serial number and I don't want to be
addressed ever by anything remotely
military! I'm a lawyer; but I'm not
your goddamned lawyer! Where the hell
are we? How many 'torpedoes' have us
covered with guns?"
MacKenzie grinned. "There's nobody
boy. Just Dellacroce standing out on
the fairway like a nice uncle at a
backyard pasta party."
"I don't believe youl Do you know
what that gorilla told me on the
phone' when I said I wouldn't come out
here? 94
That goddamned hood told me my health
would take a sudden turn worsel That's
what he told mel"
'Oh, don't pay any attention to that
sort of thing. Those fat slobs always
talk tough."
"Horseshit!" Devereaux peered into
the darkness. '~at maniac said if I
was late he'd send a basket of fruit
to the hospital tomorrow! And if I
tried to leave town, some goon called
Meat would find me before the week was
upl"
The Hawk shook his head. "Meat's
pretty good, but I think you could
take him. I'd put my money on you,
boy."
"I don't want to take him or
anybody! And don't put any money on
me! You're never going to see me
again! I just wanted to get this over
with. I want to meet this Dellacroce;
tell him the whole thing's a crazy
mistaket I had some typing done for
you, and that's alll"
"Now listen to me, son. You're
overreacting.. There's nothing to
worry about at all." Hawkins started
walking across the lawn. Devereaux
kept pace, his head snapping in the
direction of every noise. "Mr.
Dellacroce will be exceedingly
cooperative. And there'll be no more
tough talk, you'll see."
"What was that?" There was a squishing
sound.
"Relax, All you? I think you stepped
on some dog turd. Do me a favor. Don't
start explaining anything untill I
talk with Dellaeroce, okay? It won't
take me more than three or four
minutes."
"No! Absolutely no! I don't care to
have.a promising legal career cut
short in the middle of a fairway at
some Cosa Nostra golf courser These
people don't play gamest They use
bullets, and chains, and heavy cementl
And riversl What was that?" There was
a fluttering of wings in the dark
trees.
"We alarmed a bird. Let's put it
this way. If you just keep your mouth
shut until I'm finished, 111 pay you
another ten thousand. Free and clear.
How about thatP"
"You're a lunatic! No, again.
Because I can't spend it displacing
roots in a Boston cemetery! You could
offer ten million, the answer's still
nol"
'~at's not out of the question
"For Christ's sake, have yourself
committed before somebody else doesl"
95
"Then I'm afraid I'll have to put it
this way. You either shut up until my
business with Mr. Dellacroce is
finished, or tomorrow morning I call
the FBI and tell them there's an
ex-major walking around peddling
raw-file intelligence documents
he-illegally removed from the G-two
archives."
"Oh, no you don't! Because I'll tell
the truth. I'll tell them how you
blackmailed me, then conned me, then
blackmailed me again. You'd get a
lighter prison sentence in PekingI"
"It surely does get complicated,
doesn't it? I mean you'd be reopening
the Brokemichael business. How would
it look? A man violates the espionage
laws because he doesn't hke spending
a little extra time in the service of
his country. In a cushy job, not even
combat. Pretty weak blackmail, I'd
say."
"You unprtuc~pled "
"I know, I know," said the Hawk
wearily. "You keep repeating yourself.
What you've got to understand is that
it doesn't make a whole lot of
difference to me. As you said, I've
been shafted. How much more shafting
can they do?"
Hawkins kept walking. Devereaux
followed reluctantly, his eyes darting
everywhere, his nerves obviously
frayed; a series of whispered. squeaks
emerged from his throat until he found
the words. "Have you no decency, sir?
No sense of compassion? No love of
your fellow man within your heart?"
"I surely do," said the Hawk. They
cut across the third tee onto fairway
six. "Now keep that eloquent tongue of
yours inactive for a while. It you
don't like the way things go, then
speak your piece. Can I be fairer than
that?" ~
The overcast sky was thinning out;
intermittently the moon shone through.
And a hundred yards ahead they could
see the squat figure of Angelo
Dellacroce, his hands still clasped
behind his back, the lighted stub of
a cigar still in his mouth. ~
"He must have ashes all over his
front," said Hawkins quietly. Then
louder, "Mr. Dellacroce?"
There was a grunt from the obese
body in front of them. MacKenzie
flicked on his pencil light and held
it over his own head, spilling the
light on his longish steel-gray hair,
96
throwing shadows down across his
precisely barbered Van Dyke.
"You're making us a target!" whispered
Sam.
"Who's going to shoot?"
They approached the Italian; Mac
extended his hand. Dellacroce made no
move to accept it. Hawkins spoke
quietly. "Even when I accepted gook
surrenders I got a handshake. Sort of
separates us from the animals."
Reluctantly Dellacroce Dulled his
hand from behind his back and the two
shook. '~1 ain't no gook and this
ain't no surrender," said the raspy
voice.
"Course it isn't," answered
MacKenzie brightly. "It's the
beginning of a profitable association.
By the way, this is my attorney and
good friend, Sam Devereaux "
"Mac!"
"Shut up and shake hands," said
Hawkins sotto Face. "Goddamn, boys. I
said shake hands!"
With even greater reluctance, the
two hands inched toward each other,
touched briefly and separated as
though the owners feared infection.
"That's better," said the Hawk
enthusiastically. "Now we can talk."
And MacKenzie did. He started by
listing the illegal activities~oth
foreign and domesti~of Angelo
Dellacroce. It took him two minutes.
"Now, Mr. Dellacroce, the reason the
authorities can't catch up with you is
that they don't have access to a
single financial clearinghouse that
ties in specifically with all these
here sundry enterprises. I realize it
will sound strange to you, sir, but I
believe I have that acesss. There's a
bank in Geneva, Switzerland; the first
three numbers-on the account happen to
be seven, one, five. In this account
is something over sixty-two million
dollars "
"Basta! Basta!"
" and the deposits were made
directly from such locales as I've
suggested. Now I guess you've studied
the new Swiss laws relative to such
accounts. They're tricky because fraud
in one country may not constitute
fraud in Geneva. But goddamn, would
you believe there's now a way for
Interpol to subpoena the records of
those accounts? All the international
police have to do is submit a
97 ,
copy of a payment to a specific
account that's been made by a
convicted narcotics dealer. And it
surely is wondrous good fortune on my
part to have in my possession Xeroxed
copies of quite a few such payments "
"Basta! You shut up!" Dellacroce
roared. "Fingers! Manny! Carlo! Dino!
Get out here! Now!"
There were only the sounds of the
night in reply.
"There's no one there. At least no
one that can hear you," said the Hawk
softly.
'What!? Fingers! Figlio delta
prwtftuta! Get out herel"
Nothing.
"Now, you and I, Mr. Dellacroce, will
step away from my friend and attorney,
here, so we can talk real private
like." MacKenzie touched the Italian's
arm, which was instantly yanked away.
"Meat! Augie! Rocco! You hear me,
boys? Get out here!"
"They're sleeping, too, sir," said
Hawkins kindly. "They won't wake up
for a couple of hours."
Dellacroce whipped his head toward
Mac. "You got cops here? How many cops
you got?" The questions overlapped.
"Nobody. Iust me and my good friend
and attorney "
"How many? Alone you couldn't!"
"Alone, I did," answered the Hawk.
"My best boys!"
"I'd hate like hell to see your
support troops." MacKenzie chuckled.
"Now it's time for our private talk."
The Hawk led Dellacroce thirty feet
away. He talked quietly for exactly
four minutes and thirty seconds.
At which point a rasping,
ear-splitting scream shattered the
stillness of fairway six.
"Mannnnucagggiii'!"
And Angelo Dellacroce fainted right
there on the manicured grass.
MacKenzie bent over the man and
gently slapped him back into
consciousness.
They talked once more with the Hawk
holding the obese Italian's neck as
though he were a medical corpsman.
The scream came again.
"Mannnnuaauggggiii'!"
And Dellacroce fainted again. 98
So the Hawk revived him again.
And they talked for two minutes more.
"Mannnnnnuaggggiiii'!"
This time MacKenzie lowered the
man's head on the grass of fairway six
and got up. The moon had broken
through the night clouds, revealing a
stunned Sam staring at the sight of
the fallen Dellacroce. This was it,
thought the Hawk, as he walked slowly
toward Devereaux. There was no point
in procrastinating any longer. Sam
would have to be told. There was no
other way.
"Well, Sam," began Mac with quiet
confidence in the intermittent
moonlight on fairway six, "it's a
pretty good start. Mr. Dellacroce was
eager to subscribe to the full amount
reserved for him. The Shepherd Company
has its first ten million dollars."
Devereaux's knees buckled. The Hawk
rushed forward and caught him before
he hit the ground. The ground was not
hard but MacKenzie wanted Sam to know
he cared; it was always a good idea to
let one's superior-adjutant know the
commander was concerned for his
well-being. "Goddamn, son, you've got
to stop this kind of thing! You're
behaving no better than Mr.
Dellacroce! Now that's just not
proper; you're cut from a finer
tunicl"
Sam's eyes were swimming around and
around in the moonlight on fairway
six. The words that emerged from his
trembling lips were by and large
incoherent, but several phrases were
repeated often enough to be under-
stood. "Secretary-treasurert.~h, my
God, I'm a sec'atarytreasurerl Ten
million dollars' worth of cement! I'm
in ten million dollars' worth of shit!
I'll he sunk in concrete pajamas! I'm
dead!"
"Now, now, stop your wailin'. You're
a big lawyer, fella; you shouldn't act
like this."
"I should never have met you, you
squirrelly bastard! That's the only
shouldn't of my lifer Oh, my God! That
killer passed out!"
"So did you. Almost. I caught you "
"Shhh! Let's get out of here! I'll
send him a
letter I'll get some
Bellevue stationery I'll certify you
a lunatic! It was all a lousy joker"
"Oh, Mr. Dellacroce knows better than
that, boy." Hawkins 99
patted Devereaux's cheek-with his
right hand while, with his left, he
kept an iron grip on the base of Sam's
skull inhibiting any movement above
the waist. "Dellacroce's a very
religious man, most of these Italian
fellas are; doesn't make any
difference what they do for a living.
That's separate. He knows I told him
the truth."
"What the hell are you talking about?
What's religion got to do with
anything? Get off my neck!"
"Religion helps a man recognize the
truth. He may not like it; his religion
may not like it, or even admit it is
the truth, but because he's
contemplated, the religious man can
separate what's real from what's
horseshit. You follow me?"
"Not for a goddamned second! My neck
hurtsl"
"Sorry. I'll ease up, but it's time
we talk." MacKenzie removed his hand.
Instantly Devereaux bolted, but the.
Hawk merely rolled with him, pinning
him back to the earth. "I said we've
got to talk, boy. You're a reasonable
person; you can see the logic in
that."
"The problem," whispered Sam,
straining on the ground, "is that
you're not reasonable or logical! Do you
know what you've done? Guys like
that " He gestured with his head;
somehow, he could not use his hands.
Robert Ludlum - Road To Gandolfo.txt Page 14