League of Night and Fog Page 23

  "Between the sons of Hider's private assassins and the disappearance of

  Cardinal Pavelic? I'm not sure there is a connection, not a direct one anyhow. Seth and Icicle didn't abduct the cardinal--otherwise they wouldn't be looking for him. They want answers the same as we do. Why, though? Why are they so interested? What would make the sons of Nazi executioners--and remember their fathers were enemies--want to join forces to find a missing cardinal? Prom the start, we overlooked the obvious. The cardinal's the key to this. But we were thinking of him only as a figurehead, a Church luminary, not as a man. Who was he? We hardly know anything about him." Drew turned the ignition key and steered toward the road. At once he saw a Renault go by, driven by a man speeding down the pass toward Zurich. Behind the Renault, another car, a Volkswagen Golf, followed closely. In it, a woman stared at the car ahead with intensity, as if the worst thing that could happen would be for her to lose sight of the Renault. Drew was positive he'd never seen them before, yet he felt a puzzling kinship. He pulled onto the road and drove behind them down the pass, but wherever they were headed, he and Arlene were going toward Zurich's airport and the next flight back to Rome.

  Saul found a space in a crowded parking lot near Zurich's railway station. The skin of his face felt taut from exhaustion. I tried to do too much, he thought. I should have rested longer at the cave.

  Mustering strength, he stepped from the Renault and locked it. The drizzle persisted. He glanced at the Renault's closed trunk, which he'd discovered contained automatic weapons and plastic explosives as well as three sets of passports, credit cards, and drivers' licenses providing alternate identities for the men who'd used this car. They wouldn't have risked bringing that stuff through Swiss customs, Saul thought. They got everything after they entered the country. Which means they weren't alone; they had contacts, an organization to back them up. They must have thought we wouldn't be suspicious and run. Otherwise they'd have come after us sooner. Their mistake. Erika pulled up in the Volkswagen.

  He got in beside her. "A couple of times, you wavered on the road," she said. "Your eyes look dull. Your skin's pale. Are you sick?" His raw throat made him cough. "Let's not worry about it till I make a phone call."

  "After that, this Jewish lady's going to pamper you."

  "I'll hold you to that promise." Saul smiled. "Drive toward the lake."

  He could have used a telephone in the train station, but by habit, he avoided all phones in public transport terminals--security agencies frequently tapped them. Hallway along the Bahnhofstrasse, he pointed toward a phone booth. "It's as safe as any, I suppose." Erika stopped at the curb. "Keep circling the block," he said, then darted from the

  Volkswagen. He picked up the receiver, inserting Swiss coins. A gruff voice answered in German. "Zurich Flower Shop."

  "This is a priority order. Put me through to your international dispatcher."

  "Have you dealt with us before? To expedite delivery, I'll need an account number."

  "My account was listed under a name."

  "What is it?"

  "Romulus." The German voice hesitated only briefly. "I'll check your invoice file and see if the dispatcher's available."

  "Tell him I've found a flower shop I don't think he knows about"

  "I'm sure he'll be interested--if I can reach him."

  "I'm sure you can." Saul studied his watch. Forty seconds later, another voice--speaking English--came on the line. "What kind of flowers did you wish to send?"

  "Roses. I'm calling from a Zurich phone booth. I want to send the order to the Black Bread Bakery in Vienna. My friend there was nicknamed Pockmark. This is the number in the booth." Saul dictated it

  "I don't have an alternate phone. Tell Pockmark to call as soon as possible. Tell him I want to discuss the favor he wanted."

  "This might take a while." Saul knew they would use the number he'd given them to locate this phone and verily by sight that he was who he claimed to be. "I understand. Just make sure Pockmark calls me." Saul hung up and glanced out the rain-streaked window of the booth. He saw

  Erika drive the Volkswagen past him and gestured reassuringly to her.

  He waited. Through the phone booth's window, now misted by his breath, he saw Erika drive past several more times. Ten minutes later, the phone rang. He grabbed for it A German voice again, but this one sounded as if its accent had been learned in New England. "I'm calling about some flowers you want to send to me."

  "Your accent's terrible. Pockmark."

  "And you're as discourteous as ever. You agreed not to get in touch with us." 'I want to discuss my near-accident in Vienna."

  Pockmaric spoke quickly. "We had nothing to do with that."

  "I know. I found out who was involved. You'll be surprised. Do we talk about it now or switch to another phone?" The line became silent.

  "Romulus?"

  "I'm listening."

  "You're sure I'll be surprised?"

  "Utterly fascinated."

  "How would you like to rent a hotel room? Our treat."

  "Which hotel?"

  "By now, the flower shop should have found the booth you're using."

  "A man's been standing outside for the past five minutes. He looks cold in the rain."

  "I'll try to get back to you by tonight." The phone went dead. Saul stepped from the booth. A grayhaired man stood close to a building, trying to avoid the rain. "You like flowers?" Saul asked.

  "Roses."

  "Know any good hotels?"

  "Oh, indeed!" the man said. Erika drove around the corner.

  "Ouch! It's too hot!"

  "We have to sweat the cold out of you."

  "I liked it better the way you got me warm last night."

  "How'd you guess my backup plan? Now take off the rest of your clothes and get in the tub." He stripped and sank slowly into the steaming water. She scrubbed his back. He couldn't help smiling when she toweled him dry. "Now about that backup plan of yours." She shook her head. "We'll have company soon." He made a face. "Besides, you need your strength," she said. "You have to eat." It was evening. They'd already called for room service. By the time Saul dressed--there'd been clothes in various sizes in the hotel room's closet--they heard a knock on the door. Saul confirmed that the knock was from room service. He opened the door. Tie waiter who wheeled a cart into the room had a pockmarked face. "I hope you don't mind," Pockmark said and closed the door. "I ordered for three. I haven't had anything since breakfast."

  "It's all on the company's tab," Saul said. "Exactly. And all of us hope what you're offering is worth our hospitality."

  "I wouldn't have called if I didn't think it was worth more than that"

  Five minutes earlier, Saul had been hungry. Now he barely glanced at the dishes on the cart. "And this must be Erika," Pockmark said. "I've never had the pleasure." He shook hands with her and poured three cups of coffee. Neither Saul nor Erika picked theirs up. Pockmark tasted his. "So. Let's review the situation. Rules were established. We ignored your violation of the exile we agreed upon. In exchange, you promised us a favor. But to get the maximum effect from your favor, we wanted you to keep a distance from us... and from every other network.

  You had to appear to be disaffiliated. Would you say that your call this afternoon was in keeping with that promise? We constantly monitor our communication system, on guard against eavesdroppers. But no safeguards are foolproof. It's possible other networks know about your call. You identified yourself by your cryptonym. There's a chance... slim but of concern... that unfriendly ears overheard. You've jeopardized the nature of the favor we wanted from you."

  "I think I've already done you the favor." Pockmark sipped again.

  "That's hard to imagine."

  "By gaining information you don't have."

  "So you said on the phone. Be specific. What kind of information?"

  "Are you wired?"

  "Our conversation is completely one-to-one."

  "Of course. But are you wired?" Po
ckmark shrugged. "I suppose the next thing you'll search me." He pulled a small tape recorder from a pocket of his white jacket and set it on a bedside table. Even from a distance, Saul could see the tiny reels turning. "That's the whole of it?" Saul asked. "No radio transmitter?" He stepped toward the cart.

  "All right," Pockmark said. "Just leave it alone. You'll screw up the transmission." He gently lifted the white linen on the cart, revealing a microphone and a power unit on a shelf underneath. "Happy now?"

  "I want this official. I want your directors to know. I want to avoid misunderstandings."

  "More than anything, believe me, we want to understand."

  "Three men tried to kill me."

  "Yes. In Vienna. I was there, remember."

  "Not just in Vienna." Pockmark lowered his cup in surprise. "Here in

  Switzerland," Saul said. "In the mountains. South of Zurich. I assume the same three men. This time I discouraged them." Too bad for them."

  "I've got their rings."

  "Say that again?"

  "Rings. You can have them if we reach an agreement. They're my favor to the network. In exchange for fulfillment of our bargain." Pockmark blinked. "Wait just a second. Let me understand this. You're saying you'll show us some rings, and that fulfills your obligation?"

  "Along with automatic weapons, plastic explosives, and bogus CDs. You're going to love it. There's a network no one knows about." Pockmark laughed. "Don't be absurd."

  "Fine. Then shut off your tape recorder, wheel your cart out, and give us five minutes to get away."

  "Five minutes? You'd never make it. But just because I said 'absurd' doesn't mean I won't listen."

  "More than that, you have to agree. I give you the rings. I tell you where to find the car the men drove. Maybe you find this other network, maybe you don't. But our agreement has to be fulfilled. I don't want shadows behind me." Pockmark hesitated. "I'll need to discuss this with

  ..." The phone rang. Saul had expected the call, but Pockmark jerked in surprise. "That'll be our faithful listeners," Saul said. "Let's find out what our ratings are."

  Pockmark picked up the phone. He listened, nodding as if eager to please. "Yes, sir. Of course. If that's what you want, sir." He set down the phone. "All right then, Romulus, damn you. Tell us what you have. If it checks out, if it's as new as you claim, you've done your favor. I emphasize the if. Don't try to jerk us around. And remember, we could have used chemicals to get the same information."

  "But chemicals only get answers from questions, and you don't know what questions to ask." Saul was aware of Erika sitting on the bed, one of the gunmen's pistols beneath a blanket on her lap. "Besides, I've got too much to lose."

  "The rings." Pockmark thrust out his hand. Saul took them from his pocket and dropped them into Pockmark's hand. "A sword and cross?"

  "Religion and violence," Saul said. "There's a clasp on the side of each ring. Tilt the ruby up." Pockmark lifted the stone. His eyes narrowed when he saw the yellow capsule. "Poison?"

  "Ever seen a ring like that?"

  "Sure. every day."

  "Like hell. The men who wore these rings were extremely well trained killers." Pockmark shook his head. "But that's not enough to fulfill your obligation. It still doesn't prove they belonged to a new network."

  "Did I say it was new? Look at the design on those rings. Medieval. I think the network's very old."

  "But nobody's ever heard of it? Ridiculous."

  "I'll give you the chance to find out." Saul wrote down the license number he'd memorized and handed the note to Pockmark. "Their car's a black Renault Last year's model. It's at the parking lot near the railway station. You'll find the automatic weapons, plastic explosives, and bogus IDs. And maybe fingerprints, though I doubt it. These men were fond of gloves. But to rent a car, they had to leave a paper trail."

  "With bogus IDs, the paper trail won't take us far." Saul hadn't expected to lose control. "Quit being deliberately stupid. To rent a car, they had to use a credit card. Even if the card's made out to an alias, somebody has to pay the bill. The money has to come from somewhere." 'Take it easy."

  "I didn't promise answers! I told you what I said I would! Do we have a deal or not? Is our bargain finished? Tell your bosses to make a decision! Put it on the record! Abide by it! / want to find Erika's father and see my son again?" 9

  One floor down, in a room directly under Saul's, Gallagher sat at a long narrow table, watching the reels turn on a tape recorder connected to a radio receiver. The Agency station chief for Austria, he glanced down the table toward his counterpart, a short man with soft pale manicured hands, the station chief for Switzerland. Gallagher's suit was rumpled from his hurried flight with Pockmark from Vienna. Strictly speaking, he didn't have authority here. But Romulus had insisted on dealing with the Vienna bakery, not (he Zurich flower shop, and the bargain for a favor from Romulus had been made in Vienna, so that involved Gallagher regardless of whether his counterpart objected to his being here, though

  Zurich in fact didn't seem to mind at all. "What do you think?"

  Gallagher asked, pretending deference to his host.

  Zurich assumed a look of grave deliberation. "It's out of our power really. Langley will have to make the decision."

  "Based partly on our recommendation," Gallagher said. "What do you think?"

  "I'd like to see those rings and look at the car."

  "That's not the deal Romulus offered. He wants a decision before you check out the car."

  "He hardly has much say in the matter, does he? What recourse does he have if his information leads us nowhere and we tell him he still owes us the favor?" Gallagher grimaced, appalled by Zurich's attitude.

  "You've never worked with Romulus, have you?"

  "No. But so what? I know all I have to about him. He's a troublemaker."

  "He's a man of character, In Vienna, he made his bargain with us in good faith. I fully expect he'd have done us the favor."

  "Would have? Past tense?" Zurich looked puzzled. "Because now he expects good faith from us, and if we jerk him around, he'll refuse to cooperate." Zurich spread his hands. "Then we punish him and use him as an example of what happens to troublemakers. Honestly, I don't see the problem." Gallagher wanted to slam his hands on the table. Instead he managed to keep his voice calm. "Let me explain. I have worked with

  Romulus, and I know how he thinks. He's shrewd. I take for granted he hasn't told us everything. He'll have kept some important detail in reserve, as a further negotiation tactic."

  "So we pretend to agree until he tells us everything."

  "And what happens when word gets out that we didn't show good faith? The repercussions would be disastrous. Freelance operatives wouldn't deal with us. We have to say yes or no to Romulus. Maybe isn't good enough.

  Besides, we need him." 'To gain the extra information you mink he hasn't told us?" Zurich asked. "Unlike you, I doubt that information exists."

  Again Gallagher mustered patience. "Listen. Romulus got into this because his wife's father is missing. They want to find out what happened to him. Now they claim they found a network no one's heard of.

  Assuming the network does exist, it's related to what happened to the missing father. Everything Romulus knows about the one is pertinent to what we want to know about the other. We have to encourage him, not fight with him. As long as he keeps searching for his wife's father, he'll be doing the favor we wanted from him." Zurich surprised

  Gallagher. He agreed. "Yes, the search for the father is by extension a search for the unknown network. I see that now, and it does make sense to encourage Romulus. But there's a further implication. We want him to do a favor for us. But if we investigate the possibility of this other network, if this other network has something to do with the missing father, we'll be helping Romulus in his search. We'll be doing a favor for him." Zurich's eyes twinkled. "He's as shrewd as you said he was.

  He's found a way to turn the situation around, to manipulate us i
nto backing him up." As Zurich started to make his phone call to Langley,

  Gallagher picked up another phone and dialed the number in the room directly above. "Put Romulus on... This is Gallagher. I'm in the hotel. I've been listening with interest. We're asking Langley to accept the bargain you're offering. Understand, all we can do is recommend. Langley has the final say."

  "Of course."

  "But this is a good-faith gesture," Gallagher said. "I promise I'll do everything I can to back you up. I need something more from you, though. You haven't told us everything. I'm sure of it. Give me something extra, something to help tilt the balance with Langley."