It was midnight when Jack returned to his room and called Laura. After she told him that one of Paolo’s men had obtained a room on the second floor overlooking the front entrance to the hotel, Jack updated her. When he told her they would be stopping in Bianco to shop at Giuseppe’s cousin’s store, she relayed the information to Paolo.
“Okay,” she said, when she came back on the phone. “Bianco is about an hour-and-fifteen-minute drive from here. Paolo says the only place he thinks there would be boar-hunting is in the Aspromonte mountains. Translated, it means ‘rough mountains.’ On days when the roads are good, you can go from the sunshine of the coast and be skiing an hour later.”
“Good,” replied Jack. “Sounds like you’ll have a rough idea where I’m headed. Maybe suggest to Paolo he send a couple of his guys to Bianco to see where I go from there.”
“He’s already said he would, but now the bad news. From Bianco, once you get into the mountains, there are myriad back roads, rivers, and mountains with little traffic this time of year. It’s been a popular region for the Mafia to hide people they kidnapped or took prisoner. He’s not sure if they still use that area, but he knows there’s no way they could follow you without being seen. If the roads are bad, which they often are, you could be looking at a three- or four-hour drive once you leave Bianco, depending on where they take you.”
“Lovely,” Jack said.
“I hate these situations,” said Laura.
“Well, my good news is I think I impressed everyone at the table tonight. I don’t feel any bad vibes at all. Not even from Anton, who started off with a bit of a grudge.”
“Just a bit? After what you —”
“I think I smoothed it out. Just had to stroke his ego.”
Jack heard Paolo talking to Laura in the background, then Laura muttered, “Crap.”
“What now?” Jack asked.
“Once you’re in the mountains, you can’t use a cellphone in a lot of the areas — at least, not without driving for up to an hour to find a spot that works.”
“Like I said, I feel pretty good about the situation. I’ll tell the bad guys that I have to take care of business in Canada and will need to make a few calls. Eight in the morning in Vancouver is five in the afternoon here. So I’ll try to touch base around five.”
“And if we don’t hear from you, what then? We won’t have a clue where you are. Damn it, Jack, they could even shoot you and say it was a hunting accident. With Giuseppe’s connections he wouldn’t even be charged with —”
“I know. I thought of that, too.”
“Well?”
“Well what? It’s not like I have any choice. Same as Kerin when he tried to save me. He had no choice, either.”
* * *
At eight-thirty the next morning, Jack went into the restaurant for breakfast, hoping to catch Carina alone and remind her not to disclose the feelings she had for him until after he was hired. She was in the restaurant, but so was Roche.
Jack saw Carina smile at him, then grimace and discreetly nod toward Roche. It was evident she was hoping the two of them could be alone, too. It made him feel better that she did not display any obvious signs of affection toward him.
Shortly after Jack sat down, Wolfgang, Anton, and Giuseppe arrived. When breakfast was over, Jack, Roche, Anton, and Wolfgang checked out of the hotel. They said goodbye to Carina in the lobby and then Giuseppe drove them to Bianco.
It was two in the afternoon by the time they bought clothes at the store owned by Giuseppe’s cousin and groceries at another store. Then, just as Paolo had predicted, they headed into the Aspromonte mountains. Traffic on the mountain roads became scarce.
Forty-five minutes out of Bianco, they came to a small town called Sant’Agata del Bianco. On the outskirts of the town, Giuseppe pulled into a driveway of a home set amongst a grove of trees.
“My brother-in-law’s place,” he explained. “Wait here. I won’t be long. If you need to make any calls, do it now because once we get to my lodge, the phones won’t work.”
“I’ll have to make a call tomorrow night around five o’clock,” said Jack. “How far do we have to go yet?”
Giuseppe glanced up at the sky, then said, “If it doesn’t snow, we’ll be at my lodge in another hour. Sometimes you can get a signal about halfway there, but not always.”
Jack and Wolfgang both got out of the vehicle to use their phones, and Giuseppe went to the house, where he was greeted by a bearded man dressed in a wool lumberjack shirt, cargo pants, and green boots. He had two dogs with him, one a pit bull and the other a hound. The man eyed Jack briefly, then grabbed the dogs by their collars and disappeared back inside with Giuseppe.
A real hillbilly, Jack thought as he wandered back up the driveway to call Laura. Wolfgang was within listening range, but was busy talking on his own phone.
Jack decided not to chance whether or not Wolfgang could hear him, so he chose his words carefully. “Sorry to wake you,” he said when Laura answered. “Guess it’s early where you are.” He paused, then said, “Where am I? Passing through some little town in Italy called Sant’Agata del Bianco. It’s cold and windy. Feels like it’s gonna snow.”
“Okay for me to chat?” she asked.
“You bet.”
“Paolo says the team saw you heading out of Bianco but decided not to follow.”
“That’s great. I mean that.” Jack glanced at Wolfgang and saw him hang up and get back inside the truck.
“They also did a loose surveillance on Carina,” continued Laura. “She went to a jewellery store and bought a man’s ring. Gold with a blue sapphire. She ordered it engraved and went back a few minutes ago and picked it up.”
“I’m clear to talk now,” said Jack. “Any idea what was engraved on the ring?”
“Yes. It was in English and said New Beginnings.”
“Christ,” Jack muttered.
“I thought that might mean something to you.” When Jack didn’t respond, she said, “At least you know she’ll give a good assessment about you to the Russian.”
“Yes, but I hope to hell she doesn’t show him the ring. If she does, I may as well buy her one and have it engraved with the word collateral.”
“She’s going to be upset when you dump her.”
“I’ll use the ring as an excuse and say I feel like I’m being rushed into something.”
“Guess that’s nicer than telling her you’re married with two kids.”
“Anything on the Russian yet?” Jack asked to change the subject.
“Paolo looked into some flight manifests, but there are several Russians listed. I told him not to risk making inquiries as we’ll likely identify him when he arrives.”
“I agree. It’s not as though it’d make a difference at this point.” He glanced at the house and saw Giuseppe emerge with four rifle scabbards. “Gotta go. I’ll call you tomorrow around five o’clock. Hopefully by then I’ll have met him.”
“Don’t make any pig noises in the bush,” Laura said, then hung up.
Jack approached Giuseppe as he was putting the rifles into his vehicle. “There are five of us and only four rifles,” he noted.
“I have killed enough boar,” Giuseppe explained. “If someone wounds one and it comes at me, I’ve got this.” He flashed open his jacket to reveal a pistol stuck in his belt.
A minute later they drove out of Sant’Agata del Bianco, and fifteen minutes after that Giuseppe turned down a road consisting of two ruts that meandered in and around the mountainous slopes. Forty-five minutes later they came to a long, barren stretch where the road cut through a meadow. At the end of the meadow were some small, wooden buildings backing onto a densely forested area.
“Welcome to my lodge,” Giuseppe said as he drove up and parked in front of a larger building that had a wall of sheer rock on one side and a steep gully on the other that plummeted down to a raging river.
“I own 144 acres,” he added as they got out of the truck. He pointed toward the forest and said, “The boars are in there. If you go to the end of my property, the river on one side meets up with the mountain on the other. There’s no place for the boar to go at that point and they know it.”
“Sounds easy,” Roche said. “Chase them to the end where they can’t escape and shoot them.”
Giuseppe smiled. “You will find it’s not that easy. About eighty acres is forest. There is plenty of room for them to sneak past you.”
“So we may not be eating roast pork,” Wolfgang said. “Hope you brought enough food.”
Giuseppe shook his head. “If we are not successful by noon, I will return to my brother-in-law’s place. He has two dogs. One is what they call the bay dog. It tracks the scent and howls when it finds the boar. The other dog is known as the catch dog, and once the boar is found, it will clamp its jaws onto the boar’s face or ear and hold it until we arrive and kill it. I don’t like to use the dogs unless it is necessary. With them we could kill a boar within an hour, but using the dogs is …” He looked at Jack and asked, “What is the expression? Fishing in a barrel?”
“Shooting fish in a barrel,” Jack replied.
“Yes, thank you, that’s it. However, either way, we will not go hungry.” He then pointed to a building on the left and said, “That’s the bunkhouse. The other is the kitchen. There’s a shed behind the kitchen where I have two all-terrain quad bikes. When we do get our boar, you will appreciate not having to carry it out.”
“Looks like quite the setup,” Jack said.
Giuseppe nodded. “I have generators on the porch behind the kitchen with a line to the bunkhouse. They are good for ten hours of running time at fifty percent power. You will have light, heat, and water from a well for a hot shower. There are sleeping bags in the closets between the bunks. The bunkhouse isn’t locked, so everyone go make yourselves at home while I start the generators.”
“Not locked?” questioned Jack. “Don’t you worry about stuff being stolen? Especially your quads or your generators.”
Giuseppe looked taken back. “This is my land and my property. Everyone knows that. If anyone did such a thing … well, let me say they would not dare.” He slid his index finger across his throat.
In other words, you’re king in this neck of the woods. Jack went with the others to the bunkhouse while Giuseppe took a jerry can of gas out of his truck for the generators.
The bunkhouse had a door at the front with a small window adjacent to it. Inside were three double bunk beds down each side separated by a double closet between each bunk. At the far end of the bunkhouse, Jack noted, were shelves on one side and a bathroom on the other.
Jack laid claim to one of the beds nearest the bathroom, then decided to use the facility, which had a sink on the left, and toilet and shower stall on the right. A window above the toilet faced the kitchen, Jack discovered, and he could see Giuseppe pouring gas into a generator. Between the bunkhouse and the kitchen were benches placed around a firepit.
When Jack returned to his bunk, they suddenly heard the hum of the generator, and Wolfgang flicked on the lights.
It was five o’clock by the time everyone had stowed their clothes, put sleeping bags on the bunks, and gone next door. Jack entered the kitchen through the front door and saw that it was spacious, with windows on both sides and two picnic tables standing end to end down the middle of the room. In the back a counter extended partway out to separate the cooking area from the seating area. A rear door led onto a back porch.
“Welcome,” said Giuseppe as they entered. “Don’t worry about taking off your boots. It’s too cold for the ground to be muddy, so you’re not likely to track anything in. I have a vacuum in the shed if I need it.” He glanced out a window at the darkening sky. “Is there anyone here who has not fired a rifle before?”
“I was a sharpshooter in the military,” Wolfgang said.
All eyes turned to Jack. “I can handle a rifle,” he said, then looked at Roche and Anton.
Both admitted they’d never used one. “Only pistols,” Anton said.
Giuseppe nodded. “I was going to take you out and do some target practice, but it is getting dark. We will do it in the morning. It is light by eight o’clock, so if we have breakfast around seven, it will work out.”
Everyone took a seat at one of the tables. Giuseppe poured them each a glass of wine and set out a plate of black olives before making spaghetti. After they’d eaten, Giuseppe looked at Jack and said, “I have a chore for you. Being from Canada, I think you will know how to do it.”
“I’m listening,” said Jack.
“While I clean up, I would like you to go outside and start a fire in the pit. There is firewood on the back porch and matches on the counter.”
Jack nodded and Wolfgang went with him, while Roche and Anton remained to assist Giuseppe clean up in the kitchen. Jack found a hatchet and Wolfgang hauled several armloads of firewood over to the pit, where Jack used a chopping block to make kindling. The fire was well underway when the rest of the men joined them.
The evening went without incident. The men sat around the fire sipping wine until ten o’clock, when a light snow began falling.
“It is good,” said Giuseppe, holding his hand out to the snow. “We will not need the dogs tomorrow.”
* * *
Surveillance at the E’ Hotel indicated that Carina had gone to her room. Maurice, Yves, Otto, and Laura then snuck into the room on the second floor that one of Paolo’s men had booked, which overlooked the front entrance of the hotel.
At ten-forty-five Paolo received a call saying that a man with a Russian accent had deplaned from the ten-thirty flight and was renting a Jeep. He was described as clean-shaven with short black hair touched with grey at the temples. He was wearing a three-quarter-length fur coat.
Paolo shut the lights off in the hotel room and they waited.
Thirty minutes later a man driving a Jeep drove slowly past the entrance of the hotel, obviously looking for a place to park. Minutes later he walked into the hotel with a suitcase, unaware that he was being photographed from above.
“How about I slip down to the lobby on the pretext of asking for a wake-up call or perhaps to look at a map of the city?” Paolo suggested.
“Go for it,” Laura said.
Minutes later Paolo returned. “His name is Yakov Kadnikov. He’s built like a bear with a strong, thick neck.”
“A Russian bear,” Laura said musingly. “The killer was described as being stocky. How about his hands?”
“I’m not sure.” Paolo paused. “His skin is pale and the hair on his hands is black, but not as thick as I have seen on some men.”
“In daylight, against white skin, it may look more so,” Yves said.
“Did you get his room number?” Maurice asked.
“No, but I rode up with him in the elevator and he pushed the button for the fourth floor.” Paolo looked at Laura. “I will sleep here tonight and detail a surveillance team to be watching his Jeep by six o’clock tomorrow morning. Is there anything else you would like?”
Laura shook her head. “Let’s call it a night and regroup at eight in the morning.”
“This time in my room at the Grand Excelsior,” volunteered Maurice.
Everyone nodded in agreement. Otto and Laura left, taking the stairs to the lobby, where they checked to ensure it was clear before heading out on the five-minute walk back to their hotel. So as not to jeopardize future surveillance possibilities, Maurice and Yves gave them a ten-minute lead to eliminate any chance of their being seen together. They used the elevator.
* * *
The thing about elevators is that the empty shaft between floors does little to block the sound of the voices of people waiting at the elevator doors.
Hearing French spoken in Italy was not uncommon, and that alone did not arouse the interest of the Ringmaster. What did arouse interest, when the elevator stopped on the second floor and two men stepped in, was the abrupt silence that followed.
The Ringmaster watched as one of the men self-consciously scratched his droopy moustache. A moustache that twitches like a tarantula dancing on his lip.
When the elevator stopped in the lobby, Yakov smiled at Carina, gesturing with his hand. “After you.”