Chapter 24

 

The initial “dinner date” was the first in a number of similar meetings that took place over the next few weeks between Giorgio Cattoretti and Raj Malik.

There were no six hundred euro bottles of wine served at the subsequent sit-downs, however. These clandestine get-togethers were held in dive bars far beyond the city limits of Lyon, the two men sitting across from each other in darkened booths or corner tables, usually with raucous French pop music playing in the background, masking their discussion. They both settled for cheap French beer.

For obvious reasons, Raj insisted that Giorgio come fully disguised, and Giorgio rather enjoyed this, showing up for the meetings in a variety of get-ups, sometimes wearing a wig and fake facial hair, limping through the door on a cane and speaking to the bartenders in English with a thick Italian or German accent.

Giorgio himself took no chances at the first couple of meetings, requiring that Raj drive to a certain location, and then, after making sure he was alone and not being followed, calling Raj’s cell phone and routing him to the desired rendezvous spot.

Raj was resentful and belligerent at first. He kept making the mistake of thinking that Giorgio was bluffing with the nondescript “package of evidence” that he threatened to send the Director of the Secret Service in Washington, D.C., a package that would completely expose Raj and his diamond smuggling activity and surely send him to jail. But when Giorgio showed Raj the three Kimberly certificates that he’d managed to get hold of, that Raj had undoubtedly either forged himself or paid someone to forge, the man changed his tune considerably.

As they talked more, Raj finally began to open up. It became abundantly clear that he actually needed Giorgio’s help, or at least somebody’s help. The poor man was a wreck—his face suffered from nervous tics and there were dark circles under his eyes. Giorgio suspected he hadn’t slept well in a long time. Raj admitted that he was under intense financial pressure. He told Giorgio that Stanley Ketchum was overcharging him to dig the raw stones out of the mine and transport them to Chad. While pink diamonds were the most valuable type, the diamond market in general was cyclical and pink prices were currently on a downswing. Furthermore, at the beginning of the operation, Ketchum had boasted about how rich the mine was, and how many millions of carats of raw pink diamonds it could produce. Yet Ketchum refused to carry any more of the stones out than he had on his very first run, claiming that trying to smuggle more across the vast, “Wild West” stretches of Sudan and Chad was just too risky.

All of which meant that Raj’s financial take was slowly shrinking, and his entire family, and extended family, depended on him.

Although Raj never came out and said it, it was obvious to Giorgio that he was at his wit’s end and felt hopelessly trapped in his relationship with Stanley Ketchum.

By the third meeting, Raj seemed to at least accept the possibility that he and Giorgio could work together in a scheme to better harness the total value of the diamond mine. There was little doubt that the profit from his and Ketchum’s small and amateurishly inefficient smuggling operation was trivial compared to the amount of raw gemstones that could be harvested from the mine, if done professionally, on a large scale.

Raj wholeheartedly agreed with that.

Giorgio said reassuringly, “Look, Raj, I don’t want to blackmail you—that was just to get your attention. It’s much better for both of us if we’re allies, if we work with each other for our common interests, rather than being enemies. That’s so...jejune. And what’s the point of it? There’s real synergy here between us, don’t you see? We both bring a lot to the table—it’s a win-win partnership all the way down the line.”

Raj considered this, and, after a long sip of his beer, he said, “So what exactly do you have in mind, Giorgio?”

Raj calling him by his first name pleased him. They were getting closer.

Giorgio put forth his plan, telling Raj he had been working on the idea for months: the two of them would be fifty-fifty partners in a diamond cutting factory that would be set up in Croatia, where he would be safe from extradition to any other country, including Italy and the United States, and he would do it completely at his own expense. “The mine itself will be turned over to folks who have the financial clout to set up a large scale mining operation.”

“Which ‘folks’?” Raj asked warily.

Giorgio took a deep breath—he was sure that Raj would not like it. “I’ve already cut a tentative deal with the Sudanese government. We turn the mine over to them, and we get twenty percent of the total output, forever, at a steep discount.” He smiled. “The amount of revenue we’ll generate will make the money you and Ketchum have been getting look like pocket change.”

To Giorgio’s surprise, Raj did not seem upset by this, but looked impressed. “That’s a great plan, Giorgio, and one that I have considered myself. But there’s one minor detail that blows it completely out of the water.”

“What detail is that?”

“I have no idea where the mine is.”

“What?” Giorgio gasped.

“Only Stanley Ketchum knows. He’s the one who found it.”

Giorgio sat there with his mouth open, stunned.

“Are you joking?”

“No. Don’t you think I would have gotten rid of that son-of-a-bitch already if I knew where it was?”

This news threw a wrench in Giorgio’s plan, to say the least. No, it threw in a whole toolbox full of wrenches! For some reason, he had simply assumed that both Raj and Ketchum knew the location of the mine.

“You’re seriously telling me you have no idea where it is?”

“All I know,” Raj went on, “is that it’s located in the Darfur area of Sudan, at the base of the Marrah Mountains.”

“Jesus Christ,” Giorgio muttered, feeling sick.

“Yeah,” Raj said dejectedly. “The bastard has me by the balls.”

“I don’t understand—how did Ketchum manage to find the mine in the first place?”

Raj laughed. “You think he would tell me? He just came to me out of the blue, needing someone to fence the diamonds for him, and I jumped at the chance. We’ve known each other since college, and he trusts me. Maybe he discovered the mine by accident while he was on some mission over there. Then again, he’s got a degree in geology, he knows about kimberlite tubes and all that stuff—maybe he found it himself.”

Before Giorgio could open his mouth again, Raj motioned to him with his glass and said, “And don’t think we can trick him into showing us where it is, or follow him there, or any crap like that. I’ve tried, believe me. He’s ex-CIA, knows every trick in the book.”

“How did you try?”

“I only made one attempt, near the beginning. I sent a guy to N’Djamena to follow him.”

“And?”

Raj just shook his head, glumly looking at his beer glass.

“Who did you send?”

“A mercenary. Top-drawer operative, former Delta Force, highly educated—the best.” Raj took a sip of his beer, looking sick—he was getting a little drunk. “Name was Ritchie, wore a big gold ring on his index finger with a snake coiled around it.”

“So? What happened?”

“A week after I sent him to Chad, he just disappeared—poof!—right off the radar screen, all contact lost.” Raj slowly shook his head. “Poor bastard, God bless his soul. A few days later, the receptionist calls my office and says there’s an envelope waiting for me down in the lobby, with my name on it, found near the front gate. This is frickin’ Interpol Headquarters, mind you! I go downstairs and pick it up, take it to my office, close the door, and open it. Inside was a sealed plastic bag with his ring in it, that coiled snake staring me right in the face.” Raj shuddered at the memory.

“I don’t understand—what made you think he was dead?”

“The ring was still on his finger!”

 

* * *

Before the next meeting with Raj, Giorgio racked his brain for some clever way to find the diamond mine’s location. This was just too good an opportunity to let pass, and he had done far too much planning to abandon the project now. Five million carats of raw pink diamonds translated into half a billion dollars of polished rocks, for god’s sake! If he could solve this one problem, of finding the mine’s location, he would be set for life, not only rich, with a steady source of income, but protected from the law as well.

But this problem of finding the mine was damn tough to solve. Trying to get such information out of an ex-CIA agent who was highly motivated to keep it absolutely secret was truly a challenge.

Giorgio vetoed every possible solution he came up with, but he also kept reminding himself that any formidable problem like this was also an opportunity. He knew from experience that whenever he encountered an obstacle that appeared to be a brick wall, if he thought long and hard enough about it, there was always some way over, under, or around that obstacle. And in his experience, successfully solving such formidable problems usually generated even more opportunities.

It was definitely time for some extreme out-of-the-box thinking.

Giorgio mulled the problem over for hours, which turned into days, and then an entire week, obsessing over it. He was so focused on it, and consumed by it, he hardly left his hotel room in Lyon.

When he continued to come up empty in terms of original ideas, he finally asked himself: what other problems do I have to solve that might tie into this one? The biggest problem he had—that of having to live the rest of his life in hiding—already had a solution. It would be automatically solved by getting his hands on the mine and then setting up the diamond cutting factory in Croatia.

But that damn location of the mine! It was the only thing that stood in his way. How could he find it?

Think, he told himself. What other challenges do I have? What else do I want in my life that’s missing?

Elaine Brogan.

Her name popped into his head, and he wrote it down on his legal pad, in his stylish, flamboyant script, and he gazed at it, an empty feeling in the pit of his stomach. He had all but given up on Elaine...he had tried everything under the sun to snag her, including putting out a contract on her husband.

Giorgio leaned back on the two rear legs of the guest chair, gazing first down at her name, and then out the window, at the view of the Rhône River.

The answer burst into his conscious mind with such force that he flinched in his chair and almost toppled over backwards.

He sat perfectly still, while details rushed at him, one after another, some in clusters, as the whole solution began to take form.

He quickly pulled his phone out of his pocket.

“It’s me,” he said, the instant Raj answered. “We need to meet again ASAP.”

 

* * *

The following evening Giorgio and Raj met at yet another dive bar, this one located in the village of Rillieux-la-Pape.

Giorgio wore a grey wig and used theatrical makeup to make him appear at least eighty years old. To compliment the elderly look, he also carried along a quick-breakdown aluminum walker which could fit in the trunk of the taxi he took to the bar. The walker was mainly for Raj’s amusement—the man seemed to get a kick out of his various disguises, and it lightened the mood.

Giorgio slowly made his way into the bar’s entrance and into the dimly lit space, wobbling precariously as he repeatedly lifted the walker and set it forward to take each shaky step. The rundown establishment was occupied by a scattering of ill-clothed riffraff, mostly in their twenties. They all stared and snickered as Giorgio traversed the main room at a pace that would make a snail look speedy.

Raj did not even recognize him until he rounded the bar and clomped up to the booth.

“Dear god,” Raj said, and burst out laughing, looking down at the walker. “Where’s your colostomy bag?”

“Back at the hotel,” Giorgio grunted, letting go of the walker and sliding into the booth. “It fits better with another outfit.”

Raj chuckled. There was already a beer on the table, waiting for him, but Giorgio was too excited to take a sip. “I want you to give me a complete brain dump on Stanley Ketchum.”

Raj’s jovial attitude faded. “Why?”

“Because I have some ideas about how we might trick him into giving us the location of the mine.”

With a sigh, Raj said, “I told you, Giorgio, there’s no way—”

“Humor me, will you?”

With reluctance, Raj began reciting what he knew about Stanley Ketchum, starting with the fact that the two of them were old acquaintances and had met when they were both on the track team at Princeton. Ketchum was a loner and a bit nerdy and had majored in geology. Raj filled in lots of other personal details, some of which Giorgio already knew. “We were never close friends and barely stayed in touch, not until he contacted me about helping him unload the rocks.”

“What about girls?” Giorgio asked.

Raj chuckled. “I’m afraid Stan was never a big hit with the ladies. I told you, except for being a track star, he was a geek. The hot chicks never pay any attention to track stars.” Raj said this sadly, as if speaking from personal experience.

“And now?”

“I’m not sure. Look, the man is very secretive with me. I know he picks up a hooker now and then in N’Djamena—I saw him with one a couple of times.” Raj paused, eyeing Cattoretti warily. “Giorgio, if you’re thinking of a honey trap, forget it. That would never work with him, he’s way too sharp for that, he’s constantly on guard, I’m sure of it.”

“No doubt he is. But think it through with me, Raj. What if Stan met a woman who totally knocked his socks off on every possible level? Not just some sexy honey trap bimbo—I’m talking about a proverbial ten from every possible angle. A natural beauty who’s also extremely intelligent, self-confident, charming, open-minded, elegant, creative, adventurous...”

Raj chuckled. “When you find her, give me her number, will you?”

“You already have her number.”

Raj frowned. “Pardon me?”

“I’m talking about Elaine Brogan.”

“Elaine...?” Raj eyed Giorgio suspiciously. Then he started laughing.

“Did I say something funny?”

“What is it with you and her, Giorgio? Are you obsessed with that woman?”

“Not at all,” Giorgio said, a little defensively. “She’s just the right person for this job. The perfect person. Ideal.”

“Come on!” Of course Raj knew that he had kidnapped Tony and blackmailed her into coming and having dinner with him, though Giorgio wasn’t sure how much Elaine had shared about what had gone on. Raj narrowed his eyes. “I’d like to know exactly what happened between you during the times you two were alone.”

“What difference does it make?”

“It makes a lot of difference! She works for me, damn it!”

“She’s a loyal employee of yours, is she?”

“Well, yes, as a matter of fact she is.”

“Are you sure about that?”

Raj frowned. “What exactly are you getting at?”

Giorgio pulled out his phone and a pair of earbuds. “Let me show you just how loyal Elaine Brogan is.”

 

* * *

A moment later, Raj was staring at the cellphone screen in a stunned silence, watching a video that Giorgio had made the night that Elaine had set him free on the train in France, the video had been filmed from an unconventional angle, shot from above—Giorgio’s hand was holding the phone flat against the boxcar’s roof so the camera lens extended just over the edge.

The clip showed Elaine Brogan and Nick LaGrange in the middle of a heated argument, screaming at each other over the din of the moving train and roaring wind. The only thing visible were the tops of their heads.

We can say he did it! Elaine shouted at her husband.

Who did what? Nick shouted back.

Cattoretti cut himself loose! Elaine screamed. It fits his M.O., and nobody can prove otherwise.

The image on the phone’s screen dipped as Elaine suddenly started climbing up the boxcar ladder.

Giorgio told Raj as an aside, “I was laid down completely flat on the roof of the boxcar at that moment, so she couldn’t see me.” He nodded to the screen. “See there? She’s looking towards the front of the train, searching for the mercenaries you sent after me—by then they had been dropped onto the roof by helicopter.”

Giorgio watched Raj’s reaction, but the man only glanced up for a second before his attention was drawn back down to the video.

Now Elaine was climbing down between the two boxcars, and started arguing with Nick again.

You can’t do this, Nick yelled at her.

I can do whatever the hell I want, Nick! I will not have the man secretly taken to some black site and tortured just for the sake of Raj’s career! It’s out of the question.

Raj flinched at the mention of his name.

Now the camera bobbed up and down, showing nothing but the top of the boxcar, jittery and out of focus.

“I scrambled back to the very rear of the car,” Giorgio explained, “so they wouldn’t know that I filmed them.”

When the camera settled down again, it showed a view of the main part of the train slowly moving away. Elaine and Nick were squatting on top of what had become the last boxcar, watching the detached car fade away into the night.

The video ended.

Raj looked up at Giorgio again, his face blotched with rage. He was silent for at least thirty seconds.

“You paid her to let you go, didn’t you?” he finally said.

“I did no such thing,” Giorgio said.

“Yes you did. You gave her some of the ransom money you got for the paintings. Don’t lie to me, Giorgio.”

“I’m telling you I did no such thing,” Giorgio said firmly. “She let me go for the reasons you heard her say yourself.”

Raj didn’t look convinced.

“You think I could fake this video?” Giorgio offered him the phone. “You want to watch it again?”

 

* * *

Giorgio convinced Raj that the video was real and that Elaine was not the loyal employee that Raj thought she was. And, therefore, there was no good reason not to send her after Stanley Ketchum.

“So what’s your idea?” Raj finally grumbled.

Giorgio spent half an hour laying out the elaborate scheme he’d hatched. He explained that Raj would take Elaine and Nick into custody for setting an internationally wanted criminal free—him—and send them to a black site for interrogation. Then, Giorgio would come out of the blue to “rescue” her. He would tell her that Raj was as crooked as the day is long, a diamond smuggler. Giorgio would use her hatred for Raj, and her desire for revenge, to motivate her to go find the diamond mine.

When Giorgio finished, Raj just sat there, stroking his mustache.

“The fake black site won’t be that difficult or expensive to set up,” Giorgio went on, thinking that maybe Raj needed more convincing. “I’m willing to handle the whole thing myself, at my expense. All we need is a little building with a couple of rooms and a garage—the rest will all be smoke and mirrors.” He motioned to Raj. “If you can supply a couple of your mercenary friends to pose as guards, we have it covered. I have a contact in Kiev who can stage my ‘rescue mission,’ make it look authentic.”

“Sounds good,” Raj said. “A very well thought out plan, Giorgio. I’m truly impressed.”

Giorgio hadn’t expected this reaction, and he beamed at the compliments. “Thank you, Raj.”

“Do you think I’m an imbecile, Giorgio?”

The Cat’s self-satisfied smile vanished. “No, of course I don’t—”

“That’s a perfect plan for you and Elaine to gain control of the mine and cut me and Ketchum out of the picture!”

Giorgio had anticipated this. “Well, I suppose that would be possible, theoretically. But practically, that would never happen.”

“And why not?”

“Because I need you, Raj.” Giorgio reached over and touched the man’s shoulder. “I need you on my side, long-term, for life.”

Raj eyed him doubtfully. “Is that so?”

“It’s not even a negotiable point. I’m dead serious about going straight and running this diamond cutting factory, but the situation in Croatia might change. They could join the European Union, for example. Then they’ll have an extradition treaty with EU countries, including Italy, which is just an inch away from having one with the United States. At that point, the Secret Service will come after me—you know they will. Without you there, on my side, to protect me, I’ll be vulnerable.”

“There’s nothing I can do if Washington decides to come after you, Giorgio.”

“Oh yes there is, Raj, and you know it. You can run interference, you can warn me. And you can discourage them from trying in the first place.”

Raj considered this—he knew Giorgio was right. “And what happens to Elaine Brogan after she finds the diamond mine for us?”

Giorgio looked down at the table. “Well, it’s possible she might choose to live with me in Croatia...”

Raj cackled. “‘Choose’ to live with you in Croatia? Are you kidding me?”

Giorgio did not smile.

“Man, you are obsessed with her. She is a fine-looking female specimen, I have to admit...”

“It’s not that,” Giorgio said irritably. He was annoyed by Raj reducing his attraction to Elaine to something tawdry and superficial. “We have a great deal in common.”

“Such as...?”

“Crime is in her blood, Raj. It’s in her DNA. Her father was a criminal, I’m sure you know that.”

Raj frowned, thinking. “Yes...if I remember right, he was just a petty thief, a burglar or something like that?”

“He was a construction worker, pilfered raw materials from building sites.”

“Ah, yes. It’s in her file.”

Giorgio spun his beer glass reflectively, gazing at the rising bubbles. “Ironically, that’s part of the reason she’s such a class act. Her father used the money to foot the bill for her education—she went to a high class private school when she was a kid.” Giorgio smiled warmly. “Elaine’s dear old dad was a thief with a big old heart. A man very much like me. She’ll come around, believe me.”

“Uh-huh,” Raj said skeptically. “If you’re as fond of Elaine as you say you are, why would you send her on such a dangerous assignment? There’s a good chance she’ll get killed.”

Raj was right, of course, but Giorgio had already resolved this issue to his own satisfaction. As far as he was concerned, this was his one and last chance to snag Elaine for himself. He had pined over the woman for so long that he had decided that if this didn’t work out, it would be better for him if she were dead. That way he wouldn’t have to worry about her anymore.

But of course Giorgio would not share that with Raj. He simply said, “It’s not that dangerous, Raj. She’ll be with Ketchum the whole time, and he’s been doing this for five years, he has it down pat, he can protect her from the rebels.”

Raj didn’t respond. Giorgio could not tell if he bought the explanation or not. He just sat there studying Giorgio for a long moment, stroking his mustache, as if he now saw his criminal-partner in a new light. As a romantic, perhaps.

“Ten million euros,” he said flatly.

Giorgio frowned. “Excuse me?”

“Ten million euros, Giorgio. That’s how much Elaine Brogan is going to cost you.”

Giorgio’s mouth dropped open. “Are you out of your—”

“Do you think I’m just going to give Elaine to you? She may not be that loyal to the Secret Service, but she’s one of our best people. One of my best people. Her eye for detecting fake currency, combined with all the anti-counterfeiting technology that’s in her head, is worth that much cash, and more. And you know it.”

Giorgio sat there, his blood coming to a boil. Raj was trying to take advantage of his genuine, heartfelt affection for Elaine. It was all he could to do stop himself from leaping over and grabbing the sneaky bastard by the hair and smashing his head against the table a few times.

But then Giorgio asked himself: Wouldn’t I do the same thing if I were in his position?

Giorgio sat back in the booth, secretly taking a couple of deep breaths to calm himself, trying not to show how pissed off he was. That was bad negotiation. He decided to view the money Raj was asking for in a different light, as merely a sweetener for the whole deal. He had come too far down this path, spent too much time planning out all the details, to quibble over a few million now. The diamond-cutting factory he would build would generate so much money that a few million more on the front end was merely pocket change.

Besides, Raj was right. Elaine Brogan was worth every penny he was asking.

For an instant, Giorgio enjoyed a heady fantasy he often indulged in, one of Elaine and him living together in a magnificent villa in Croatia, flying around the world and committing spectacular crimes together...but then he remembered that he was supposed to be going straight.

“Five million,” Giorgio said.

“Eight,” Raj snapped back. Now there was a trace of a smile on the man’s lips.

“Seven,” Giorgio said.

Raj thrust out his hand. “Meet you in the middle—seven and a half.”

Giorgio glanced down at his tawny hand, then grasped it and shook it heartily.

“So you’re one hundred percent on board now?” Giorgio asked.

“I am. But I have to tell you, Giorgio, as a friend—I don’t think you can just lock up a woman like Elaine in your mansion in Croatia and expect her to stay there with you. The feeling has to be mutual.” Raj paused and added, “Not to mention that she’s already got a husband, and two kids. Minor detail.”

“Oh, believe me, Raj, when this caper is finished, Elaine Brogan will be chomping at the bit, as you Americans say, to stay with me. And only me. In fact, she’ll be overjoyed, thanking God that she has been granted the opportunity.”

“Is that so?” Raj said doubtfully.

“Absolutely. You see, after she fools Ketchum into giving us the GPS coordinates for the mine, she will ‘discover’ that you have learned of her shenanigans, and that you know that she’s intent on having you arrested for diamond smuggling. Of course you will immediately cease all such smuggling activity, which will make your arrest impossible. At the same time, I will make sure she also ‘discovers’ that you’ve dispatched a small army of mercenaries to track her down and kill her.”

The Cat smiled in a way that had given him his nickname. “Naturally, the only safe place for Elaine to hide will be in Croatia, with me, the man who rescued her from the horrific black site, and the only man who can truly protect her.”

“And her kids?”

Giorgio spread his arms benevolently. “Of course Elaine’s delightful two children will be welcome to join us in Croatia. And Tony, too.”

“Jesus Christ,” Raj said, throwing back his head, laughing. “That’s the most wicked, dastardly plan I’ve ever heard in my life.”

“Thank you,” Giorgio said, bowing his head modestly.

Raj raised his hand and the two men high-fived each other.