Edge of Tomorrow (77 page)

She said, “Hello, Ms. Steppe. Mr. Lincoln. I
was just on my way to the Ladies’ Room when I saw you two. I
thought I would just say ‘hello.’ I see you are winning again, Mr.
Lincoln.”

Hatch laughed, “It seems that when you can
afford to lose, you never do.”

She replied, “Ah, yes. The rich get richer.
Well, nice seeing you again. Ta-ta!”

Hatch nudged Syd lightly with his elbow. She
stood up.

“I think I’ll go freshen up, too, Hatch,”
said Syd sweetly. “Do you mind if I walk along with you, Lady
Morley?”

“Not at all, my dear. Come along.”

Syd finally realized that Judy Beecher was
trying to get a message to Hatch, and the Baccarat table was too
crowded to have a conversation without being overheard. Syd could
set something up with her in the Ladies’ Room. When they got there,
they found it crowded with a dozen or so women. Judy shrugged and
nodded to the door and they went back into the casino. Syd followed
her to the escalator and they both went down to the first floor and
outside to the deck overlooking the water. The deck was made of
concrete, was about 20 feet wide, and had an iron railing on the
water side. Further down, boats could tie up and their occupants
could come to the casino and gamble. Several varieties of potted
palms were spotted every few yards along the walk.

Judy said, “I need to talk to Hatcher again,
but I’m afraid I’m being watched.”

Syd said, “Tell me what you want to do, and
I’ll set something up. Or tell me what he needs to know. I’m
trustworthy.”

Judy opened her purse and took out a gold
cigarette case and opened it.

“Do you smoke? I’m going to light up one so
it will seem as if I stepped outside for a cigarette,” said
Judy.

“Sure, I’ll join you. Make it look
better.”

• • •

They both lit one of the English
cigarettes and Judy continued, “First, tell him the place is
crawling with SISDE agents, as well as at least one more team of
Company agents. Team of four, I think. More importantly, I
think—since I know of his visit to Don Tessitore—is the fact
that
Casino Barone
is being
used as a laundry by a bunch of wise guys. We weren’t looking for
that, but we’ve been here a while, and finally picked up on it. I
sent the information—including pictures and fingerprints—up my
chain of command, but who knows what will happen with
that.”

Syd blew smoke and asked, “Wise guys?”

“Don’t you watch mob movies? They’re
Mafia. What I’m worried about is that they may have spotted one—or
more—of
us.
If they have,
that could cause a distraction for us,” said Judy as she puffed on
her cigarette.

“Why would Hatch—Mr. Lincoln—need to know
about this?” queried Syd, starting to feel uneasy.

“I don’t know. He’s the one involved with the
bloody Mafia for some reason.”

They both saw the man at the same time. He
appeared from behind a clump of small fan palms. The semiautomatic
in his hand had a silencer attached and he was pointing it right at
them from 20 feet away. Lady Morley dropped her cigarette and her
right hand went quickly into the large, beaded handbag that hung
from a strap over her shoulder. She moved with great swiftness to
her right, bumping into Syd, causing Syd to fall to her knees. The
silent lead slug hit Lady Morley in her left shoulder just as she
pulled her own Glock 9mm from her handbag. She took the slug with a
grunt, then aimed and fired, hitting her assailant in the chest.
Since her gun had no silencer, the sound of her shot echoed down
the concrete walkway.

Syd was back on her feet as the second gunman
appeared. Judy Beecher was starting to sag when the new attacker’s
silenced slug hit her in the right chest. Syd’s brain had been
locked in stunned mode for a second, but when she saw Judy’s gun
start to fall from her hand, she grabbed it deftly, dropped to one
knee, and the pistol roared again. Her shot hit the man in the left
eye and knocked him over the railing into the water.

Syd turned and saw Judy Beecher flat on her
back with bloody bubbles forming on the corners of her mouth. She
could see that Judy was still alive—barely.

Syd gasped, “Hang on, Lady Morley! I’ll get
you some help!”

Lady Morley gasped, “Those shots will bring
help, but it will be too late! Put that gun back in my hand and get
out of here! No use you being involved.”

“No! You’re going to make it! Do you carry
any ID connecting you to the CIA?”

“Of course not,” coughed Judy Beecher.

“Good!”

Syd wiped the gun clean of prints using the
bottom of her cocktail dress and tossed it over the railing into
the ocean. The wound in Judy’s left shoulder was bleeding badly, so
Syd rustled through her purse and found a Tampax. She ripped it
open and stuffed it into the wound. It seemed to stem the flow of
blood for the moment.

“Here’s the story. We just got caught in
somebody’s crossfire! We don’t know who they are. Ah, here comes
some help!” exclaimed Syd, but Lady Morley did not hear her. “Over
here! We need a doctor and an ambulance!”

People flooded out of the casino and there
was confusion everywhere. Hatch arrived and put his arm around Syd,
and Captain Rossini was barking orders. The Monterran equivalent of
paramedics arrived, and a few minutes later, Lady Morley was
whisked away.

Captain Rossini came over to Syd and Hatch.
He was not in uniform since he had worn a white dinner jacket for
his date with Sara. Syd saw Sara checking out the body that had not
fallen into the water. Bruno stood very close to Karen and was
surveying the crowd.

Rossini asked, “Can you tell me what
happened, Syd?”

Syd swallowed hard and said, “It happened so
fast, Charles! Lady Morley and I came out for some air and a
cigarette. In fact, Hatch, could I have one now, please?”

Hatch got out his flat, silver cigarette case
and extracted a cigarette for each of them. Syd hated lying to
Rossini, but she figured she had no choice at this point. After she
and Hatch lit up, she continued.

“Three men appeared all of a sudden—two over
there, and one over there. A gun fight started and Lady Morley
pushed me down on the concrete.”

They looked at Syd’s knees. Her pantyhose
were ripped over her knees, and one knee was abraded and
bloody.

Syd went on, “Lady Morley was hit. The man on
my right ran away after killing the other two.”

Rossini said, “Two? I only see one body.”

“The other one fell over the railing into the
water,” replied Syd. “I need a drink, Charles. Can we go inside,
please?”

“Certainly, Syd.”

Sara joined them and asked Rossini, “How’s
Lady Morley?”

Rossini replied, “Close to death when they
took her to the hospital. She still had a pulse, but she was
bleeding internally. I’ll check with the hospital later. Let’s go
inside while my people cordon off this crime scene.”

• • •

Lady Morley’s escort, Dave Wilson,
mingled with the crowd right after the incident. He looked intently
at the body on the concrete. It was one of the wise guys they had
spotted at
Casino Barone
.
After accompanying Lady Morley to the hospital, he slipped away to
call Langley.

• • •

After going over the incident again for a
person whom Rossini identified as his Chief Investigator, Syd said
she wanted to go to her quarters and change her pantyhose and tend
to her knee.

Hatch went with her to her suite and found
some antiseptic in the bathroom. Syd stripped off her pantyhose and
threw them in a wastebasket and sat on the couch as Hatch knelt
before her and cleaned her knee.

“Poor Judy!” exclaimed Syd, then she told
Hatch what Judy had told her, and what had really happened out
there.

Hatch poured them both a brandy and sat next
to her on the couch.

He said, “So, she didn’t know which specific
organized crime group was laundering the money? Hmm. I wonder if
they’re Tessitore’s thugs?”

“She used the name Mafia,” said Syd as she
got up and went to get some new pantyhose. “That’s all I know.”

“Well,
we
don’t have to worry about shutting them down.
The CIA will take care of that—and quickly. They do not tolerate
the shooting of one of their own,” mused Hatch. “I’m sorry I put
you in the middle of that, dear. I nearly got you killed
again!”

“I got lucky! Did I do the right thing in
protecting Judy’s real identity?”

“Oh, yes! That was quick thinking under fire!
Now the Company can take care of things very discretely. They are
very good at that sort of thing. This way, I may not have to tell
the Prince about his tainted casino.”

Syd got redressed and said, “I still have
some butterflies, but I think we should join the others now. How
much of this should I tell Karen?”

“Let’s keep it between us for now. I want to
check on Judy’s status, too.”

There was a soft tap on the door. Hatch moved
to a position that would put him behind the door when it was
opened, then motioned to Syd to open it. Syd opened the door
without undoing the chain and saw that it was Dave Wilson, Lady
Morley’s supposed escort.

“Hello, Mr. Wilson,” she said for Hatch’s
benefit. He nodded for her to let him in.

She closed the door, undid the chain, and let
Dave Wilson enter the room. When she closed the door, he jumped
when he saw Hatch on his right, very close now.

Hatch said, “Ms. Steppe is very jittery right
now, so keep your hands in sight and don’t make any sudden
moves.”

That suited Wilson all right, since he was
not here to intimidate Syd, just to get information.

“Don’t get jumpy,” he said. “I’m just here
for information. I have some containment to do. Lady Morley had a
pistol in her purse, and when the purse arrived at the hospital,
there was no gun. Any comments?”

Syd replied, “You were at the hospital? How
is she doing?”

“She may not make it. She lost a lot of
blood. Thanks for your concern,” he answered, clearly very
upset.

Hatch took over at that point, since he knew
Syd would not know how to proceed.

“I’ll tell you what, Wilson. We’ll
trade info. You saw that dead man. Was he one of those involved in
the
Casino Barone
thing?”

Dave Wilson looked at Hatch and
considered his options. Lincoln obviously knew about the money
laundering at
Casino Barone
,
and he knew now—if not before—that Lady Morley and Dave Wilson were
not exactly who they seemed to be. How much more Lincoln knew he
could only guess. But he had to find Morley’s gun.

“Yes,” he finally answered, but offering no
more information.

Hatch said, “Lady Morley’s gun was wiped
clean and tossed in the ocean.”

“So Lady Morley shot the man?”

“Yes. There were two men. Ms. Steppe here
shot the other man with Lady Morley’s gun, then ditched it. The
other man went into the water. The local authorities will be
retrieving the body,” answered Hatch.

“Well, I won’t ask why you got rid of the
gun, Ms. Steppe, but thank you. Also, for shooting the other
shooter. He would have finished her off for sure,” said Wilson.

“And
me,”
added Syd. “I had no choice.”

“A word of advice. Stay away
from
Casino Barone
for a few
days. It will not be a safe place to be,” added Wilson, then he was
gone. He knew that the midnight plane arriving from Rome would be
carrying enough agents to scour this island of all the wise guys,
whatever their affiliation. The decree had come directly from
Langley.

• • •

Syd and Hatch rejoined Bruno, Karen, and Sara
at the bar in the casino. Bruno had his gun in its holster on his
left hip, and Sara had hers in her handbag. They were not going to
take any more chances. Karen was more concerned about the close
call Syd had endured. Hatch had been able to tell Sara and Bruno
privately what had happened out there, and about Wilson’s visit to
Syd’s suite. Bruno was told to redouble his watch over Karen.

Captain Rossini approached their table
and sat down next to Sara, then said, “I just got a report from the
hospital. Lady Morley will recover, they tell me. Bloody awful
incident! Things like that are rare in Monterra. We have very
strict laws and swift justice! Thirty days in the ancient dungeons
of the old prison built by the French in 1412—
Chateau de Blois
—causes any criminal to rethink
things. They are dank, dark, and damp.”

Sara let her left hand rest innocently on
Rossini’s thigh under the table. He covered it with his hand.

Sara said sweetly, “Maybe you could show me
your dungeons sometimes, Charlie.”

He squeezed her hand under the table and
thought of other things he wanted to show her.

“Any time, Sara,” he said instead. “The place
is quite historic. There’s even an original old torture rack
there.”

Even though the casino was teeming with
gamblers again, Hatch decided that he had had enough gambling for
the night, so he and Syd said they were going upstairs. Bruno left
to sweep the rooms again before anyone retired.

• • •

Syd, of course, was really staying in Hatch’s
suite with him. He produced a silenced Sig Pro from the false
bottom in his briefcase and put it on the end table in easy reach
from the bed. Syd was still hyped up on adrenalin, and had an itch
that only sex with Hatch would scratch. He agreed to scratch it for
her, with enthusiasm!

• • •

Captain Rossini escorted Sara to her suite
and she asked him in to check under her bed and in her closets for
bogeymen.