Foreign Affairs

They got out of the car and were met by the two young men from the car behind them. “You think this is it?” one of them asked.

“It fits the description,” Stone replied. He pointed at a sign nearby, which said: CASSELLI COSTRUZIONE. “And the ownership is right.”

“We should call for backup,” the young man said.

“There are probably one or two people guarding her,” Stone said. “There are four of us, and you have automatic weapons.”

“We should let the Naples police handle this.”

“Casselli probably owns the Naples police. Call Lugano.”

The man produced a phone and pressed a button. “Jim,” he said, “we’re in Naples with Barrington and Bacchetti. We may have found the building.” He listened for a moment. “It fits the description, it’s enclosed, and there are lights on at the top floor. Barrington thinks it would be lightly guarded. He wants to go in. What do you want us to do?” He handed the phone to Stone.

“Yes, Jim?”

“This is highly irregular, but it has a good chance of producing results.”

“I agree on both counts.”

“The Agency can’t take responsibility for the girl’s life.”

“That is my responsibility.”

“As long as you understand that.”

“I understand it.”

“My guys go in first.”

“You won’t get an argument from me on that.”

“Not that you and Dino haven’t been through a door or two, but it must have been a while.”

“Right on both counts.”

“But my guys have the better weapons.”

“Dino and I will back them up.” He looked at Dino.

Dino nodded. “We’ll back them up.”

“Call me when it’s over, and I’ll deal with the local police.”

“I’ll do that.” He handed the phone back to the young man, who listened for instructions, then hung up.

“Whenever you’re ready,” Stone said.

“Let’s pull the cars up to the elevator and point them at the street.”

“Good idea.”

They moved the cars, and Stone got his spare magazines from the glove compartment and pocketed them; Dino checked his weapon.

The two young men removed two Heckler & Koch machine guns and do

“Shoot first and ask questions later,” Stone said. “And don’t shoot at any females, unless they’re pointing weapons at you.”

“You have any idea how this elevator works?”

“I expect you press the up button,” Stone replied.

The elevator was not locked, and the four men got on, the younger ones first, so they’d be the first out through the door facing the building.

“It’s going to make a lot of noise,” Dino said, “so they might be ready for us.”

The young man pressed the button, and the elevator started up. It was slow, and as Dino had predicted, noisy. They squeaked and rattled their way up the building. Stone reckoned it was twenty-five or thirty stories, but he forgot to count.

Before he had expected it, the elevator came to a sudden stop. The young man held up a hand, then pointed. “We’ve got some cover,” he said. A few steps from the elevator there was a stack of what looked like bags of cement or plaster.

“So have they,” Stone said. “Let’s go.”

The young man opened the door and ran to the stack, sheltering behind it, and was closely followed by his companion, Stone, and Dino.

They stopped and listened. From somewhere behind the stack, music was playing.

The young man stood up straight, peered over the stack, and ducked back behind it, shaking his head.

Stone stood up and looked. A dozen feet beyond the stack was another stack.

“Let’s get over there,” he said.

The two young men led the way to the next stack, then the leader had another look. This time he didn’t duck back but walked around the stack and stopped.

His companion followed, and so did Stone and Dino. They were standing on a floor that was empty of anything, except the two stacks of bags.

“Let’s check it out,” Dino said.

The four men spread out and began searching the floor, while the music got louder. The floor was dimly lit by a dozen hanging lightbulbs scattered around the ceiling. In the middle of the floor were two sawhorses with a plank laid across them. On the plank rested a radio, plugged into one of the wires from the ceiling.

Stone turned it off. “Wrong building,” he said.

34

It was late when they got back to Marcel’s apartment, and Stone went straight to bed without di

He joined Dino and Viv at breakfast.

“You look tired,” Viv said.

“Tired and hungry.” He ate a large breakfast, had two cups of strong Italian coffee, and felt better. The butler told them that Marcel had gone downstairs to his office for a meeting.

Jim Lugano showed up not long after breakfast. “I thought you’d like to know that our survey of buildings in Naples got the same results you did by driving around. The building you entered was our best hope.”

“I think you should do a survey of buildings under construction by Casselli Costruzione,” Stone said.

“I’ve no idea how many there are,” Jim replied. “I’d never heard of the company until yesterday.”

“That’s probably because Casselli isn’t building in Rome, for whatever reason. Maybe the Italians can do a computer search on building permits with his company’s name on them.”

“Good idea,” Jim said. “I’ll call Dante in a minute and ask him to do that. In the meantime I wanted you to know that I heard from Langley . . .”

“You mean, Lance?”

“From Langley. Your request is getting serious consideration. They seem to be trying to build a national security case, instead of just one of law enforcement. That’s not really what we do.”

“I understand. I should think that international organized crime would constitute a threat to national security.”

“I’ve made that case to the powers that be,” Jim said. “We’ll hear from them in due course.”

“That sounds like a long wait.”

“Not necessarily—we can move quickly.”

“I hope you’re right.”

“In the meantime, we’ve had a nibble on your offer of a reward for Casselli.”

“Oh?”

“Oddly enough, it’s from a German citizen who is visiting Rome.”

“Does Casselli have business dealings in Germany?”

“It’s the European Union—much easier than in the past to do business in different countries.”

“Who is he?”

“His name is Frederic Klaucke.” Jim spelled it for him. “He’s in the chocolate business: an importer.”

“Do we have any indication that Casselli has an interest in chocolate?”

“Casselli is interested in money: if chocolate looked profitable, and if he could find a way to make an illegal bundle in it, he’d be interested.”

“Okay, what now?”

“Herr Klaucke is in a car downstairs. Shall I ask him up?”

“Let’s not invite him into our secure location,” Stone said. “Is there somewhere else we could meet him?”

“In one of our vans downstairs in the courtyard?”

“That sounds good. What has he told you so far?”

“Almost nothing. He’s had some business dealings with Casselli, that’s all he’ll say. He wants to speak directly to the person offering the reward.”

“Do you think he wants to get at me?”

“No. My sense is, he knows something. It might not be what we want to know, but it can’t hurt to listen to him.”

“Tell me what you know about the man.”

“He’s tall, probably six-two or -three, in his fifties, mostly bald, seems to be well-educated, dresses well.”

“Where in Germany is he from?”