Edge of Tomorrow (82 page)

Near the end of the meal, a sergeant in the
Royal Guards reported to Rossini that the Count di Cressi had
unexpectedly died in the hospital. No one knew, of course, that
Joey Plato had slipped undetected into his room and held a pillow
over his face.

This news surprised Hatch, since he had been
told that the count would survive. He could smell the long hand of
Tessitore quieting a possible leak. He was sure an autopsy would
prove it.

• • •

Karen had had a busy morning in the office
provided her by the Minister of Justice, Dante di Dorno. Bruno
stayed close by, watching her work. She prepared a document for the
World Court indicating that she was now the Attorney of Record for
the Principality of Monterra, then faxed it to them. She also asked
for a delay so she could become familiar with the case. She sent a
fax to her partner Carla Sanchez with all of the particulars of
what was going on. She made notes on a yellow legal pad for about
an hour, organizing her thoughts, and making an action list.
Because of the time difference, she could not talk to her
researcher until later in the day, so she faxed some instructions
to her. She wrapped things up at 11:30 A.M. so she and Bruno could
join the others for lunch.

• • •

Hatch felt that it was time to get out of
Monterra. He hated to leave Karen on her own—with Bruno protecting
her, of course—but he wanted to go take care of the Judy Beecher
situation. Also, he felt that if trouble was directed at him
personally, he could handle it better on his own turf. The medieval
laws of Monterra were not entirely to his liking.

Karen said, “Hatch, I do business all over
the world by myself. This time I’ll have Bruno to watch over me.
I’ll be fine. I have the entire Royal Guard at my disposal!
Eventually, I’ll have to go to The Hague. Does Bruno follow me
there, too?” She had a small wicked smile.

Syd said, “He’d better! You’re not to go
anywhere without him until this is over!”

“If you say so, sis! I’m not complaining.
What about you, Bruno? You have a say in this,” laughed Karen.

“You do not get out of my sight,
signorina
! Besides, it beats hanging
around Florida in the peak of summer,” answered Bruno, really
wanting to say that being with Karen was all he could think
about.

“Then, that’s settled. We’ll plan on leaving
in the morning. Tonight we’ll have a fabulous dinner, and some more
dancing. Do you think you could join us, Charles? I’m sure Sara
would appreciate a dancing partner,” smiled Hatch.

Captain Rossini was both thrilled and
saddened—thrilled to be invited to the dinner, but saddened that
Sara would be leaving. Maybe he could at least have one more
glorious night with her!

• • •

Karen and Bruno watched the GS-V lift off
into the clear blue sky on Tuesday morning, heading for Rome. Then
they went to the car Hatch had rented for them and Bruno helped
Karen into the passenger seat. On their way back to the hotel they
were silent for awhile.

Finally Bruno said, “Well, it’s just you and
me, babe. I guess you’re going to miss Syd, eh?”

“Yeah. I was just getting used to her being
around. But she’s a different Syd than I used to know. Strong, and
sure of herself,” replied Karen as she put her hand on Bruno’s
thigh.

“She is that.”

“Well, I can’t do any more work until this
evening when I can talk to San Francisco. Why don’t you take me to
that nude beach Sara was talking about?” laughed Karen.

“You’re kidding, right? Why would I want to
do that?”

“I thought men liked to go look at all those
bouncing boobs!”

“That’s true, I guess, but I don’t feel like
letting all those guys look at yours,” he chortled. “Besides, I
don’t know how safe it is.”

“Don’t go getting possessive! And how
dangerous could it be? Nobody will be able to carry a concealed
weapon,” she laughed. “We’ll be lost in a sea of naked flesh!”

“You wouldn’t want the Royal Attorney to be
recognized at a topless beach, would you?”

“Recognized? Who will be looking at
faces?”

“OK, if you insist. Let’s go pack a picnic
lunch and get some sun. I still don’t know why you want to do
this.”

“Just so I can say I did. Experience it, you
know. If you hadn’t already seen me naked, you’d be all for this!
Anyway, I may chicken out when we get there,” giggled Karen.

• • •

Hatch, Syd, and Sara were back at the castle
by 2:00 P.M. They went to the medical facility in Colonel Coffer’s
compound to check on Judy Beecher. She had her hospital bed raised
and was sipping juice through a bent straw.

“Well,” said Hatch with a smile, “you look a
little better today! Get some rest?”

“Yes. It’s quite comfortable here. Where am
I?” she sighed.

“One of my safe houses, just north of
Rome.”

“I’ve been so doped up, maybe you could give
me a run down on what happened,” said Judy.

Hatch did so, starting with the shootout
where Syd helped her out, and ending with the CIA attempt to
terminate her.

“Well, well. First of all, thanks, Syd. I
guess we wouldn’t be having this chat except for what you did.”

“I think they would have killed me, too, if I
hadn’t acted quickly,” smiled Syd.

Judy went on, “I guess I’m retired now, eh?
But once I’m well, I have a few bloody hits of my own to carry out!
Those bastards!”

Hatch said, “You had best think of getting
well first, Judy. Plus, since they’ve been watching me, they might
guess that you’re here, so I want to move you to a safer place for
rehab. How do you like the South Seas?”

“I don’t know. You mean like Tahiti?”

“Good guess. I own an island down there. Not
in my name, so no one will ever find it. I’ll get you new ID
papers, and in a day or two—if you’re up to it—we’ll move you
there. You speak French?” replied Hatch.

“Of course. You still sound like a Company
man. You are more powerful than I thought. Can I choose my new
name?” laughed Judy.

“Sure, as long as it won’t give any clues as
to whom you really are.”

“I’ve always liked Samantha. Make it Samantha
Smart,” she smiled.

“Done. Now, get some rest. I’ll make all the
arrangements.”

• • •

On the way back to the castle, Syd said, “I
didn’t know you owned an island!”

“I forgot to mention it, I guess. It’s south
of Tahiti. I was thinking we could go there for our honeymoon. It’s
a tropical paradise!” chuckled Hatch. “It’s called Bora
Tiki—actually owned on paper by Monsieur Jacques Jabert, another of
my aliases.”

“Jabert? Wasn’t he the bad guy
in
Les Miserables
?” laughed
Syd.

Hatch chortled, “Yes. That’s where I got the
idea.”

• • •

That evening during cocktails in the small
dining room, Hatch told Carmelo what he wanted to do with Judy
Beecher. First, he was to get her documents proving that she was
Samantha Smart, a British citizen. Then, when she was able to
travel, she was to be sedated and flown to their base in the
Bahamas in Shadow-4, accompanied at all times by Coffer’s medic,
Mary Simms. The two were to drive to Nassau and catch a plane to
Atlanta, and then on to Tahiti. They would be met in Tahiti and
taken by chopper to Bora Tiki. Jacques Jabert owned a local
helicopter service there. Mary Simms was then free to return to
Rome—when Judy was medically sound—since Hatch had a family on the
island who acted as year-round caretakers of his villa there.
Carmelo agreed to take care of everything.

“Then,” said Hatch, “there’s one more thing I
need to do before going back to Miami. I need to send Tessitore a
major message! I would just as soon kill the son-of-a-bitch, but
he’s Bruno’s grandfather, so that wouldn’t sit well with me. So …
tomorrow morning here’s what we’re going to do.”

He explained his plan to the group, which
included Colonel Coffer. Coffer said things would be ready at 10:00
A.M. tomorrow. Hatch then called his GS-V crew and arranged for a
takeoff time to Miami of 2:00 P.M. the next day.

Business over with for the moment, Hatch
turned to Syd and Sara and said, “So what would you gals like to do
on your last night in Italy?”

Syd said, “I don’t know about Sara, but I’m
partied out. I had way too much excitement in Monterra. I’d just as
soon hang out here, have one of Gina’s luscious dinners, and hit
the sack early—read, or something.”

Sara laughed, “My preference would be another
night with Charlie! But since that’s out, I’ll just go on down to
the compound and eat with the Liberators—play strip poker later.
Mary’s tired of being the only woman in the game!”

Hatch said, “OK. We’ll take it easy tonight.
Suits me.”

• • •

Wednesday morning at 9:55 A.M., Syd,
Sara, and Hatch were in the Computer/Comm room. Coffer and his crew
were in Shadow-4 hovering above Tessitore’s castle,
Cremora
. Sara was at a computer work
station and was connected to the targeting display on Shadow-4. She
wore a headset, and was in communication with Colonel
Coffer.

Hatch said to Sara, “Have them target the
radar station on top of the castle, Sara.”

“Roger.”

She talked to Coffer, then enabled the large
screen on the far wall so the target screen could be seen by all.
The cross hairs were on the rotating radar dish. Using a number he
got from Bruno, Hatch punched numbers on his Blue Phone. It took a
few moments before he was connected to Don Tessitore.

The Don and Evio were in the room where they
had received Hatch, and were on a speaker phone. They were both
curious as to why he was so insistent on talking to them.

“Signore
Lincoln. What can we do for you?” asked the nervous
Don.

“I suppose you are both disappointed that I’m
still alive,” said Hatch with sarcasm.

“Signore
, I do
not know …” began the Don.

“Cut the crap, Tessitore! I know about
Count di Cressi’s feeble attempt to kill me! And that you silenced
him! I don’t know why you did what you did, but if you think I had
anything to do with your problems at
Casino Barone
, you’re very mistaken! One of your
goons was stupid enough to shoot a CIA agent, so the CIA took
retribution. Which one of you morons gave that order?”

Evio said, “CIA? I …”

“Just shut up! If it wasn’t for your
relationship to Bruno, I would have already eliminated you two.
Now, I’ll let the CIA do it. They’ll have a fleet of top-notch
assassins after you now. Your days are numbered. In the meantime,
however, I’m going to demonstrate to you a sample of the power I
can bring against you any time I wish.”

He turned to Sara and held up one finger. She
nodded and spoke quietly to Coffer. A lock-on symbol appeared on
the large-screen display over the rotating radar target.

Hatch continued, “I am now going to destroy
the radar station on the roof of your castle. Please note, the
target could just as easily be the room you’re currently in.”

He motioned to Sara. Four seconds later, a
missile from Shadow-4 smashed into the radar station. The explosion
destroyed it, and shrapnel cut down several men who were sitting
nearby with handheld SAM launchers. This set off an alarm system
which wailed throughout the castle.

The Don and his son were panicked, but did
not know what to do. Hatch’s voice came through their speaker.

“That will be it for today, assholes!
Remember, I can turn your castle into rubble, with you in it!
Don’t
ever
fuck with me
again!”

Hatch hung up and smiled. “That felt
good!”

Sara said, “We can still hose the parapets
with .50 calibers. There are a lot of assholes running around up
there.”

“Let’s leave it to the CIA for now, Sara. I
think Bruno’s mother may still be in there somewhere. Let’s all get
packed and say our goodbyes. We takeoff for Florida at two,”
replied Hatch.

• • •

On Wednesday, August 29, at 2:31 P.M., as the
GS-V climbed through 35,000 feet on its way to its cruising
altitude of 46,000 feet, Janet started preparing a late lunch for
her three passengers. She had planned cold chunks of lobster on
lettuce leaves with a light dill/mayo sauce as the first course,
served with a delicate white wine. After that, they would have a
choice of sandwiches and soups.

They spent a lazy afternoon napping, reading,
and chatting about leaving Bruno and Karen in Monterra. After
dinner, Syd was looking forward to christening the new private
bedroom that Hatch had added at the rear of the aircraft. She
smiled as she remembered them doing it in the restroom on the trip
over. That seemed like so long ago.

• • •

Later, as she snuggled in Hatch’s arms, she
said, “Do you want to have children?”

“Of course!” he replied. “Why do you
ask?”

“We’ve just never discussed it.”

“Don’t you?”

“Oh, yes! The sooner the better! My
biological clock is ticking away.”

“Well, we could get started right away!” he
laughed as he caressed her breasts.

“No way, mister! I’m not walking down the
aisle pregnant! Let’s plan the wedding for right after my teaching
semester. Say, February?” exclaimed Syd.

“Not sooner?” he asked as he nibbled her
ear.

“No. I’ll teach this semester because I
committed to it. I’ll tell them that will be it. Then we’ll get
married and have some kids!” she said as she threw her leg over
him.

“What about your career?” he asked.

“You and our kids will be my career. I’ve
been taking notes for years for a book I want to write. I can work
on that if I have any spare time.”