Chapter 27

 

A few minutes later, Elaine was crouched back on top of the building, racking her brain for some way to get Giorgio Cattoretti to come back outside. Although she hadn’t seen a gun on him, she was sure he had weapons inside the building. There had been plenty of them on site when she and Nick had been held here, and even if the place had been ransacked, which it apparently had, Cattoretti would never stay in such a location, alone, in the middle of a war-ravaged part of Africa, by himself, without being armed.

Elaine had considered trying to smoke him out by digging around the garbage in the back yard and finding enough dry paper and cardboard to catch aflame and drop through the vent. But of course then he would know that someone was on top of the building and he would be more than prepared to shoot when he came out.

She could not think of any way to make him come outside without him being on guard, but it was possible he might not come out again until morning. She had listened carefully through the vents but heard very little—it seemed he was camped out in the garage and maybe the small room where she had been strip-searched when she arrived.

The only reasons she could think of for Giorgio to come outside on his own were if he needed to make a call on his sat-phone, or to cook something on the makeshift grill in the back.

Elaine glanced at her watch—in ten short minutes the two hours would be up and Dmitry would start the SUV’s engine and come to investigate. Now she wished they had agreed for some signal that she would give to Dmitry to tell him to stay where he was, to give her more time...but she simply hadn’t thought of that.

She crept over to the edge of the roof and looked down at the homemade grill. Maybe Cattoretti had gone to the market to buy some food to cook...

At that moment, she heard the faint thump of the two heavy garage door deadbolts again.

He was coming outside.

Elaine rolled onto her back, staring up into the cloudy sky, the mist tickling her face, listening...

She heard the snaps of the padlocks.

Was he leaving again on the dirt bike?

She might only have this one chance.

Rolling over onto her stomach and carefully holding onto the rifle to make sure it didn’t scrape on the roof, she rose to her hands and knees, then crawled over to the front of the building, expecting to hear the sound of the dirt-bike starting up any second.

But she could only hear his footsteps squishing through the mud, coming around the side of the building, and then around to the back.

Her heart was pounding so hard her chest hurt.

There were no other sounds for a long few seconds.

Now she wondered if Giorgio could have heard her up on the roof and had come outside to investigate.

But why would he have locked the padlocks on the garage door?

Now there were twigs snapping. A few thumps, sacks being tossed on the ground? Several flicks of a cigarette lighter.

He was building a fire!

Elaine crept back across the roof, steering clear of the vent, and approached the rear edge. This time she did not bother with the mirror, because it was dark and there was no reason for Cattoretti to be looking up at the top of the building.

With her face almost touching the roof, she slowly moved her head forward, with more and more of the back of the property coming into view...the chain link fence, the scattered bricks, the indentation of the dirt where the empty oil barrel had lain...

The barrel!

It was still sitting up against the wall, where she’d left it.

Elaine’s pounding heart was in her throat now.

Would he notice that it had been moved?

As she continued to move her head forward, Cattoretti finally came into view. He was standing in front of the grill, his back partially turned to her, and was only visible from the shoulders down—the yellow tarp above obscured his head.

“It’s me,” he said.

Elaine flinched.

For a terrifying second she thought he was talking to her, but his head was cocked to the side and he was talking on a phone, watching the fire as it began to snap and smoke.

“No news to report, just checking in,” he said casually.

Elaine guessed that Raj Malik was on the other end of the line.

“No, not yet.” Another pause. “She has them, trust me—she went there herself with Ketchum.”

He was talking about the diamond mine, of course, and the GPS coordinates. If there had been any doubt in her mind about Giorgio and Raj working together, there was absolutely none now.

“I’ll be leaving for N’Djamena tomorrow morning,” Giorgio said. “I’ll take care of him after he meets up with you and gives you the goods.”

He was talking about Ketchum. The bastard. Apparently neither he nor Raj knew that Ketchum was already dead, but then again, how would they have known? Cattoretti had told her that Ketchum wouldn’t be touched, that he was a “nonissue,” just another one of his lies. Giorgio’s greed and deception knew no bounds. Of course the two men would not leave any witnesses.

She couldn’t believe she’d fallen for it. She was still too trusting, still too naïve. Would she ever change?

“What?” Cattoretti said. He glanced upwards, and Elaine quickly pulled her head back.

“No, no, no,” Giorgio said. “Would you stop worrying about that? Just take the goods to Antwerp like you always do and unload them. I’ll stop her well in advance, before you leave N’Djamena. She’ll have no choice but to leave the country with me!” He muttered something else and cut the call.

Elaine rolled over on her back again. The earthy fragrance of wood smoke filled her nostrils and the fire snapped below, sending a few orange sparks flickering upwards, swirling towards the clouds.

So Giorgio was planning on taking her to Croatia with him—that was his plan. She supposed that shouldn’t have been a surprise. Anger welled inside her again until she only saw red. This is it, she thought, gritting her teeth. This is the end of the road for you, Giorgio.

She cautiously rolled onto her stomach, then crawled a few steps back, out of his view, and rose to her knees, into a crouching position. It was time to kill the miserable human being who had caused her so much anguish, to put him in the ground, once and for all. Now, she had no doubt that Cattoretti had somehow arranged for Isabella to “coincidentally” be in this little building, at the same “black site” where she and Nick had been taken, and had carefully arranged for her to “help” Nick.

Elaine ran her forefinger over the cold trigger of the Kalashnikov, and she flashed back on a similar scene in the not too distant past, in Latvia, when Cattoretti had trapped her in a fire tower, with a pistol and only two bullets, and she’d nearly frozen to death. But this time around, the tables were turned. This time, she had a fully-loaded Kalashnikov in her hands and was only a few feet away. All she had to do was stand up, aim it at his chest, and fire off one round after another until he lay in the mud, riddled with bullets. At this close range she was sure to put one through his heart, and that would finally put an end to this...

She peered across the dark landscape, in the direction where Dmitry was sitting and waiting inside the SUV, and glanced at her watch.

Only two minutes before he came after her!

If she was going to act, she had to do it now. Her thoughts racing ahead, her mind flew through the logic, checking and double checking—killing Cattoretti was the perfect solution to all her problems. If he was dead, she could be sure that Raj would not find out that she had uncovered their scheme...Raj would travel to N’Djamena to pick up the diamonds—she had just heard Cattoretti tell him all was well and to go ahead. Dmitry could leave the package at the front desk as she and Luna had planned.

If Cattoretti stopped answering his sat-phone, would Raj get suspicious enough to abort? Or would Raj go ahead and carry the diamonds to Antwerp and allow Elaine and Luna a clean bust?

I have to take the risk, she thought, and she began to rise again.

At that second she heard the squishy sound of footsteps...Cattoretti was walking around in the mud...

She cautiously raised her head a little higher...he had left the grill and was moving out into the back yard...

She raised her head even more...and he came into view. He was standing where the barrel used to be, and glanced over to the far end of the back wall, where it was now.

Shit! Elaine thought, ducking.

“Hey!” he suddenly shouted, and there was the metallic click of a pistol being cocked.

He’d seen her!

“Whoever’s up there—I’m armed!” Cattoretti paused. “Laday musdis!” he said in a threatening tone.

Elaine squatted, stock still, back far enough on the roof so he couldn’t see her, aiming the rifle in his general direction.

“Come down from there,” he said. “Laday musdis!”

Elaine was afraid to breathe. He apparently thought it might just be a villager, nosing around for something to steal.

Now she heard him moving again, his squishy footsteps heading in the direction of the barrel.

He’s going to climb up here! she thought, backing away more. She almost tripped over the vent.

“You better come down,” he called out, “because I’m armed and coming up. Laday musdis!”

Now, the tone of his voice was less alarmed—Elaine could tell that he didn’t actually believe anyone was on the roof, that he probably assumed somebody must have used the barrel to climb up on top of the building to try to get inside during the past couple of days, whenever he had last noticed its position.

She heard him grunt slightly as he climbed up on top of the barrel. She knew that to get himself up onto the roof, he would have to place both hands over the edge—it had not been easy for her to get up here herself. And to do that, he would have to put the pistol in his waistband or pocket of his shorts. Then both his hands would be curled over the edge of the roof, exposed, for a few seconds.

Elaine heard the distant sound of an automobile engine, and she glanced at her watch again—it was now two minutes after the time Dmitry was supposed to come and investigate.

He was on his way!

One of Cattoretti’s hands appeared over the edge of the roof.

She waited for the other hand to appear...

Had he heard the sound of the SUV’s engine?

Then the other hand came up and gripped the edge.

Elaine quickly moved forward and stepped on both of his hands, leaning forward and putting as much of her weight on them as she could.

“Ow!” Cattoretti groaned, his voice cutting through the damp night air.

Elaine leaned forward even more, aiming the rifle down at his forehead.

He gazed up at her, his one eye wide and filled with terror. She knew that he could not identify her—her hood was pulled over her head, all her hair tucked inside. She was just some figure looming above him in a poncho.

Now the rumble of the SUV’s engine was loud and clear.

Cattoretti started to twist his head around to look, but Elaine stopped him with the rifle barrel against his neck. Her finger tightened on the trigger.

Cattoretti suddenly yanked his right hand out from under her boot, throwing her off balance, and grabbed hold of her ankle.

Elaine pulled the trigger.

The rifle banged out a round, but it went into the ground below.

The next thing she knew her butt slammed onto the roof and she was being dragged over the edge, kicking with her free leg.

She and Cattoretti both tumbled down into the mud.

Elaine landed partially on top of him, with him on his back.

Giorgio smashed the palm of his hand against the body of the rifle as she struggled to point it at his chest. His left fist whipped up and caught her in the chin. She saw stars.

Elaine tried to stay on top of him but they rolled over and over each other through the mud, through tin cans and broken glass and bricks, the rifle stuck in between them, both of them grunting and trying to get control of the weapon.

As they reached the grill and the fire underneath it, they came to a halt, and Elaine finally ended up on top of him. Just as she was about to force the gun barrel into his throat, she found a pistol shoved under her chin, jabbing into her neck, choking her. She grabbed his wrist and pulled the weapon away—another shot rang out. The bullet whizzed past her ear and struck the side of the building with a crack.

Elaine yanked the pistol from his hand and flung it into the fire—the logs snapped and a there was flash of sparks from the glowing embers. Elaine could hear the SUV getting closer, and she prayed that Dmitry could step in and help her.

Cattoretti elbowed her in the jaw, knocking her off him again, but this time she managed to push herself up and aim the gun at his face.

He slowly climbed to his feet. In the last few seconds of the struggle, her hood had fallen back, her blonde hair spilling down around her shoulder.

He stared at her face in the flickering orange glow of the firelight, his one eye wide.

“Elaine,” he muttered, stunned. “But..?”

She lowered the gun barrel until it was pointing at his heart and pressed it steadily forward into his chest, gasping for breath from the struggle.

“How could you?” she wheezed, her voice trembling with rage. “You put me and my husband in this place for weeks, torturing us and making us think we were going to die here?”

“Cara, calm down...”

“Don’t tell me to calm down!” she shrieked. “You’re a monster—you’re not even human!”

Cattoretti actually seemed scared, which was a rarity for him. His one eye swiveled down to the rifle’s trigger and then back up to her face.

“Love can drive a man to extremes, Elaine.”

“Love?” she said incredulously. “You want to take me with you to Croatia and keep me locked up like a pet! I heard what you told Raj on the phone!”

Cattoretti frowned at this, looking genuinely offended. “You misunderstood. I appreciate you more than any other man on earth. Cara, you and I are meant for each—”

“Shut up!” she said, pushing the gun barrel even harder into his chest. “You’re out of your mind!”

I have to end this, she thought. I should have killed him a long time ago—I should have done it the very first time I laid eyes on him at his ridiculous castle. I should have strangled him with my bare hands...

Off to the right, the SUV came to a halt. Elaine did not take her eyes off Giorgio’s face. In her peripheral vision, she saw Dmitry jump out and knew he would have the pistol in his hand.

“Stay back!” Elaine yelled.

“You won’t kill me,” Giorgio whispered, nodding down her trigger finger. “You can’t do it.”

“If you don’t think I’m capable of killing, you’re sorely mistaken.”

Cattoretti looked a little surprised by this. His one eye swiveled back and forth between hers. “Yes...I can see that you have killed now. But you can’t kill me.”

Elaine gritted her teeth, her finger tightening on the trigger.

“We both know I’m Ryan’s father,” Giorgio whispered.

Elaine’s mouth became unhinged.

For a couple of long seconds, she felt like he’d somehow managed to backhand her across the face.

He knew that?

How?

How could he possibly know?

With a tender smile, The Cat whispered, “We’re family.”

 

* * *

Elaine was so stunned, and so caught off guard, that for a few seconds she was unable to move a muscle.

Giorgio gently pushed the rifle barrel to the side and walked away, towards the corner of the building,

“Stop,” Elaine yelled, raising the rifle again. Over her shoulder she called, “Dmitry!” and she heard the Russian take off running toward her.

Cattoretti turned the corner and disappeared from view.

Elaine took off after him, Dmitry on her heels.

When she rounded the corner, he had almost reached the front of the building.

“Stop!” she called out again, aiming the rifle at him. When he didn’t comply, she lowered it a little and pulled the trigger.

Once, twice, three times.

The third round caught him in the calf just as he rounded the corner.

The Cat went down with a scream.

Elaine and Dmitry rushed up to him.

“God damn you!” he bellowed, rolling around in the mud, holding his leg. “Why did you do that?”

Keeping the rifle trained at his chest, Elaine said to Dmitry. “Use your belt to tie his hands behind his back.”

The big Russian yanked the belt from his own trousers. Cattoretti was in too much pain to give resistance, only grunting as Dmitry rolled him over onto his stomach and bound his hands together.

“My eye patch,” he gasped.

“Get the keys to the locks on the garage door,” Elaine said. “They’re in his pocket.”

Dmitry retrieved them and handed them to her.

“Get his sat-phone, too.”

“My eye patch,” Cattoretti gasped. “Put my eye patch back on me!”

Elaine searched the ground until she found the damn leather patch, and she plucked it out of the mud.

“Please, Elaine!”

“Put the damn thing on him,” Elaine muttered, avoiding looking at him and handing it to Dmitry.

The man was so vain about his appearance that it disgusted her.

 

* * *

A couple of minutes later, Elaine was inside the garage, searching it with her flashlight. Dmitry was outside, standing over Cattoretti with the AK-47.

Elaine found a sleeping bag, an open suitcase, a lantern, tie-wraps, and a few other odds and ends scattered about the concrete floor. She threw a couple of the tie-wraps out of the door to Dmitry and instructed him to replace the belt with them.

She moved straight to the suitcase and, holding the flashlight in her mouth, started searching it. She wanted the package of evidence that Cattoretti had sent to France and then so sneakily recovered—especially those fake Kimberley Certificates. She intended on keeping him on ice until she could deliver the diamonds to Raj. If Raj somehow did manage to figure out that something was wrong, and changed his mind about smuggling the diamonds out of Chad, it was still possible that she and Luna could build a case against him with the fake Kimberly Certificates.

For an unnerving few seconds, she thought Cattoretti hadn’t brought the package with him, but she finally found it at the very bottom of his suitcase, buried under some clothes. She pulled it out, relieved—it was the same envelope she’d taped up in at the hotel in Tangier, though it was now dirty and wrinkled.

The end of the envelope was dangling open. She quickly made sure the Kimberley Certificates were still inside, and then glanced around the garage again—they had to get the hell out of here. The gunfire might have attracted attention, and there were plenty of rebels in this region.

Elaine grabbed a few more items she thought might be important, including Cattoretti’s passports, wallet, and his tinted glasses, and spotted another rifle on the floor, an AK. She snatched it up and detached the banana-shaped magazine from the stock and peered into the end.

Full.

She snapped it back in place and slung the rifle over her shoulder.

You couldn’t have too many guns in this part of the world.