“Excuse me, I have to make a call.” Jack left the agent and Carina in one room in the villa while he went to another room to call Laura.
“I’m clear to talk,” he said when Laura answered. “What’s up?”
“Nothing life-threatening, but I thought you should hear. The number you gave us for Roche is good. He’s using it.”
“What did you get?”
“When they hooked up, there was a call in progress. Roche was talking to a Russian. We caught the tail end of it. Right after that, Roche made three more calls. All short. Ones to Anton and Wolfgang telling them to go to Reggio tomorrow and call him when they arrived. The third call was to someone named Giuseppe, saying it was a go and to make hotel arrangements.”
“That’s all he said?” asked Jack. “Make hotel arrangements? Not for how many people or which hotel?”
“No, it’s obvious he had spoken to all of them in earlier calls that we missed. We’ve got a copy of the recording. Thought you might want to hear the one involving the Russian.”
Jack glanced in the other room at the agent, who was directing Carina’s attention to the ocean view. “Go ahead, let me hear it.” Seconds later Jack heard the conversation.
“… is business. I won’t arrive until ten-thirty the next night,” said a man in English with a heavy Russian accent.
“Too bad,” replied Roche.
“It is what it is. You and the rest can have fun while you wait. Kill a pig for me.”
Jack felt himself tense. Are they talking about me?
“We will eat it Friday when I get there,” the Russian went on.
“I’ve never gone boar-hunting before,” said Roche, “but Wolfgang says he has been to Giuseppe’s before. He said it is easy.”
Jack grinned when he realized what they were talking about and continued to listen.
“It is. They don’t shoot back. Not like the pigs in Chechnya.”
A chuckle from Roche.
“So this Mister Jack Smith … you think she is in love with him?” the Russian asked. “What did she say?”
“You should have heard her,” replied Roche. “She sounded like a schoolgirl in love for the first time.” He then changed his voice to mimic a girl. “He is so wonderful. He is so smart. He is so nice. He is so sophisticated.”
“They have only been together one week,” the Russian said.
“I know. I wonder if he feels the same about her,” Roche said musingly.
“She’s beautiful. How could he not?” the Russian growled.
“You sound angry,” Roche noted.
The Russian was silent for a moment, then said, “Who is this man that she would fall in love with him so fast? What do we know about him, other than he makes things disappear. Everyone else has family — good collateral should something go wrong. Jack Smith appears to be a lone wolf. I don’t like it.” His tone was harsh. “Has he clouded her judgment?”
“I don’t know.”
“She said he was sophisticated. Is that in regard to art?”
“I don’t know.”
“I don’t know, I don’t know,” the Russian mocked.
“But I don’t.”
“I will speak to her when I arrive.” The Russian sounded matter-of-fact.
“The question will be, do we trust him or not?” stated Roche. “If we are to open up to him and tell him things …”
“I will talk to her and see what she says.”
Jack heard a click and then Laura came back on the line. “When I first heard about the pig bit, I —”
“Me, too, but I think it’s legit,” Jack said. “I don’t like what they said about Carina.”
“No, but still, it sounds like everything is coming together.”
“Connect with our liaison officer in Rome,” Jack said, “and tomorrow you and the rest of the team fly to Reggio to be there in advance. Sounds like lots of bad guys will be there, so make sure things are prepared. I don’t mind if surveillance is done at the airport to confirm that Roche shows up, but after that, leave it to me. I’ll contact you after I check in at the hotel. If they spot surveillance following us to the hotel, the gig will be up. In the meantime, I’ll be safe enough with Carina on my own.”
“I agree with you there,” replied Laura. “I knew you could charm the pants off her. Figuratively speaking, of course.”
“Don’t even go there,” Jack muttered. “Her trusting me is no longer a problem. The problem will be whether the Russian trusts her. You heard what he said … and how he said it.”
“I can’t see how you could have played it any differently.”
“Yeah, well, anyway, I did my research before coming to Malta. There’s a museum of fine arts here. I think I better go there with her tomorrow. At least it will give her something to tell the Russian.”
“You’re taking a chance.”
“Once in the museum, I’ll sidetrack her if she starts to get technical.”
“How will you …? Never mind. I think I know.”
“Yeah, as if I wasn’t a big enough jerk already.” With that, Jack hung up.
Carina stopped talking to the real estate agent when Jack returned. “Everything okay?” she asked.
“It will be okay,” he said smoothly, “but I have to straighten out a consulting problem back in Canada. With the time difference it is only morning there, which means I’m going to be on the phone half the night.” He paused, shaking his head, then looked at Carina. “You should have dinner without me tonight. I’ll be ordering a sandwich or something from room service. I’ll need to work without distraction.”
Carina looked crestfallen.
“I can certainly take you back now,” offered the real estate agent. “Then we can start again tomorrow.”
“I’m sorry —” Jack met his gaze “— but I’ve seen enough of Malta to know I am not interested in purchasing property here.”
“Oh … I am sorry to hear that,” replied the agent.
Jack looked at Carina and said, “I would like to take tomorrow off and spend the whole day with you, if that’s okay? I have some ideas in mind to make it a day I hope you’ll enjoy.”
Carina perked up. “I would love that!” she said. Then she kissed him on the mouth.
Jack held the kiss long enough to display interest, then glanced at the agent and said, “Perhaps we should be going.”
* * *
That evening Jack stayed in his room after promising Carina he would meet her for breakfast at ten the next morning. He spent the time on the Internet studying the various pieces of art on display in the Museum of Fine Arts in Malta. The more he studied, the more he realized how little he knew about art.
At midnight he went to bed, but sleep eluded him for another couple of hours. He thought about Natasha and Mike and Steve and wished he could call home, but did not want the phone record on his hotel bill. He didn’t use his own phone, either, because it would be too risky in the event it fell into the wrong hands.
Then he thought about Carina, and the Russian’s words played over in his mind. Has he clouded her judgment? Everyone else has family — good collateral should something go wrong. One word in particular bothered him. Collateral. How long before they look at Carina as my collateral?
He sighed deeply. Gain the Ringmaster’s confidence fast and cut Carina loose immediately. Make it sound like I don’t give a rat’s ass about her.