The Holcroft Covenant (8 page)

“Do you remember anything about them?”

“You’re damned right I do! One of them in particular. You could pick him out in a crowd at the Garden! He had—”

There was a loud, sharp report over the line.

A
gunshot!

It was followed by a crash. The telephone in the lobby had been dropped!

Noel slammed down the receiver and ran to the door, yanking it open with such force that it crashed into a framed sketch on the wall, smashing the glass. There was no time to consider the elevator. He raced down the stairs, his mind a blank, afraid to think, concentrating only on speed and balance, hoping to God he would not trip on the steps. He reached the landing and bolted through the lobby door.

He stared in shock. The worst had happened. Jack the doorman was arched back over the chair, blood pouring out of his neck. He had been shot in the throat.

He had interfered. He had been about to identify one of the men of Wolfsschanze and he had been killed for it.

Baldwin, Manfredi … an innocent doorman. Dead.

… 
all those who interfere will be stopped.… Any who stand in your way, who try to dissuade you, who try to deceive you … will be eliminated
.

… 
As you and yours will be should you hesitate. Or fail
.

Manfredi had asked him if he really had a choice. He did not any longer.

He was surrounded by death.

Althene Holcroft sat behind the desk in her study and glared at the words of the letter she held in her hand. Her chiseled, angular features—the high cheekbones, the aquiline nose, the wide-set eyes beneath arched, defined brows—were as taut, as rigid, as her posture in the chair. Her thin, aristocratic lips were tight; her breathing was steady, but each breath was too controlled, too deep, for normalcy. She read Heinrich Clausen’s letter as one studying a statistical report that contradicted information previously held to be incontrovertible.

Across the room, Noel stood by a curving window that looked out on the rolling lawn and gardens behind the Bedford Hills house. A number of shrubs were covered with burlap; the air was cold, and the morning frost produced intermittent patches of light gray on the green grass.

Holcroft turned from the scene outside and looked at his mother, trying desperately to conceal his fear, to control the occasional trembling that came upon him when he thought about last night. He could not allow the terror he felt to be seen by his mother. He wondered what thoughts were going through her head, what memories were triggered by the sight of the handwritten words in blue ink put down by a man she once had loved, then had grown to despise. Whatever she was thinking, it would remain private until she chose to speak. Althene communicated only that which she cared to convey deliberately.

She seemed to sense his gaze and raised her eyes to his, but only briefly. She returned to the letter, allowing a briefer moment to brush away a stray lock that had fallen from the gray hair that framed her face. Noel wandered aimlessly toward the desk, glancing at the bookcases and photographs on the wall. The room reflected the owner, he mused. Graceful, even elegant; but, withal,
there was a pervading sense of activity. The photographs showed men and women on horses at the hunt, in sailboats in rough weather, on skis in mountain snow. There was no denying it: There was an undercurrent of masculinity in this very feminine room. It was his mother’s study, her sanctuary where she repaired for private moments of consideration. But it could have belonged to a man.

He sat down in the leather chair in front of the desk and lighted a cigarette with a gold Colibri, a parting gift from a young lady who had moved out of his apartment a month ago. His hand trembled again; he gripped the lighter as tightly as he could.

“That’s a dreadful habit,” said Althene, her eyes remaining on the letter. “I thought you were going to give it up.”

“I have. A number of times.”

“Mark Twain said that. At least be original.”

Holcroft shifted his position in the chair, feeling awkward. “You’ve read it several times now. What do you think?”

“I don’t
know
what to think,” said Althene, placing the letter on the desk in front of her. “He wrote it; it’s his handwriting, his way of expressing himself. Arrogant even in remorse.”

“You agree it’s remorse then?”

“It would appear so. On the surface, at any rate. I’d want to know a great deal more. I have a number of questions about this extraordinary financial undertaking. It’s beyond anything conceivable.”

“Questions lead to other questions, mother. The men in Geneva don’t want that.”

“Does it matter what they want? As I understand you, although you’re being elliptical, they’re asking you to give up a minimum of six months of your life and probably a good deal more.”

Again, Noel felt awkward. He had decided not to show her the document from La Grande Banque. If she was adamant about seeing it, he could always produce it. If she was not, it was better that way; the less she knew, the better. He had to keep her from the men of Wolfsschanze. He had not the slightest doubt Althene would interfere.

“I’m not holding back any of the essentials,” he said.

“I didn’t say you were. I said you were elliptical. You refer to a man in Geneva you won’t identify; you speak of conditions you only half describe, the oldest children of two families you won’t name. You’re leaving out a great deal.”

“For your own good.”

“That’s condescending and, considering this letter, very insulting.”

“I didn’t mean to be either.” Holcroft leaned forward. “No one wants that bank account even remotely connected with you. You’ve read that letter; you know what’s involved. Thousands and thousands of people, hundreds of millions of dollars. There’s no way to tell who might hold
you
responsible. You were the wife who told him the truth; you left him because he refused to accept it. When he finally realized that what you said
was
true, he did what he did. There may be men still alive who would kill you for that. I won’t let you be put in that position.”

“I see.” Althene drew out the phrase, then repeated it as she rose from her chair and walked slowly across the room to the bay window. “Are you sure that’s the concern the men in Geneva expressed?”

“They—he—implied it, yes.”

“I suspect it was not the only concern.”

“No.”

“Shall I speculate on another?”

Noel stiffened. It was not that he underestimated his mother’s perceptions—he rarely did that—but, as always, he was annoyed when she verbalized them before he had the chance to state them himself.

“I think it’s obvious,” he said.

“Do you?” Althene turned from the window and looked at him.

“It’s in the letter. If the sources of that account were made public, there’d be legal problems. Claims would be made against it in the international courts.”

“Yes.” His mother looked away. “It’s obvious, then. I’m amazed you were allowed to tell me anything.”

Noel leaned back in the chair apprehensively, disturbed at Althene’s words. “Why? Would you really do something?”

“It’s a temptation,” she answered, still gazing outside. “I don’t think one ever loses the desire to strike
back, to lash out at someone or something that’s caused great pain. Even if that hurt changed your life for the better. God knows mine—ours—was changed. From a hell to a level of happiness I’d given up looking for.”

“Dad?” asked Noel.

Althene turned. “Yes. He risked more than you’ll ever know protecting us. I’d been the fool of the world and he accepted the fool—and the fool’s child. He gave us more than love; he gave us our lives again. He asked only love in return.”

“You’ve given him that.”

“I’ll give it till I die. Richard Holcroft is the man I once thought Clausen was. I was so wrong, so terribly wrong.… The fact that Heinrich has been dead these many years doesn’t seem to matter; the loathing won’t go away. I do want to strike back.”

Noel kept his voice calm. He had to lead his mother away from her thoughts; the survivors of Wolfsschanze would not let her live. “You’d be striking back at the man you remember, not the man who wrote that letter. Maybe what you saw in him at first was really there. At the end, it came back to him.”

“That would be comforting, wouldn’t it?”

“I think it’s true. The man who wrote that letter wasn’t lying. He was in pain.”

“He deserved pain, he caused so much; he was the most ruthless man I ever met. But on the surface, so different, so filled with purpose. And—oh,
God
—what that purpose turned out to be!”

“He changed, mother,” interrupted Holcroft. “You were a part of that change. At the end of his life he wanted only to help undo what he’d done. He says it: ‘Amends must be made.’ Think what he did—what the three of them did—to bring that about.”

“I can’t dismiss it; I know that. Any more than I can dismiss the words. I can almost hear him say them, but it’s a very young man talking. A young man filled with purpose, a very young, wild girl at his side.” Althene paused, then spoke again, clearly. “Why did you show me the letter? Why did you bring it all back?”

“Because I’ve decided to go ahead. That means closing the office, traveling around a lot, eventually working out of Switzerland for a number of months. As the man in
Geneva said, you wouldn’t have accepted all that without asking a lot of questions. He was afraid you’d learn something damaging and do something rash.”

“At
your
expense?” asked Althene.

“I guess so. He thought it was a possibility. He said those memories of yours were strong. ‘Indelibly printed’ were his words.”

“Indelibly,” agreed Althene.

“His point was that there were no legal solutions; that it was better to use the money the way it was intended to be used. To make those amends.”

“It’s possible he was right. If it can be done. God knows it’s overdue. Whatever Heinrich touched, very little of value and truth was the result.” Althene paused, her face suddenly strained. “You were the one exception. Perhaps this is the other.”

Noel got out of the chair and went to his mother. He took her by the shoulders and drew her to him. “That man in Geneva said you were incredible. You are.”

Althene pulled back. “He said that? ‘Incredible’?”

“Yes.”

“Ernst Manfredi,” she whispered.

“You
know
him?” asked Holcroft.

“It’s a name that goes back many years. He’s still alive then.”

Noel did not answer her question. “How did you know it was he?”

“A summer afternoon in Berlin. He was there. He helped us get out. You and I. He got us on the plane, gave me money. Dear
God
.…” Althene disengaged herself from her son’s arms and walked across the room, toward the desk. “He called me ‘incredible’ then, that afternoon. He said they would hunt me, find me. Find us. He said he would do what he could. He told me what to do, what to say. An unimpressive little Swiss banker was a giant that afternoon. My God, after all these years …”

Noel watched his mother, his astonishment complete. “Why didn’t he say anything? Why didn’t he
tell
me?”

Althene turned, facing her son but not looking at him. She was staring beyond him, seeing things he could not see. “I think he wanted me to find out for myself. This way. He was not a man to call in old debts indiscriminately.” She sighed. “I won’t pretend the questions
are put to rest. I promise nothing. If I decide to take any action, I’ll give you ample warning. But for the time being I won’t interfere.”

“That’s kind of open ended, isn’t it?”

“It’s the best you’ll get. Those memories are, indeed, indelibly printed.”

“But for now you’ll do nothing?”

“You have my word. It’s not lightly given, nor will it be lightly taken back.”

“What would change it?”

“If you disappeared, for one thing.”

“I’ll stay in touch.”

Althene Holcroft watched her son walk out of the room. Her face—so tense, so rigid, only moments ago—was relaxed. Her thin lips formed a smile; her wide eyes were reflective, in them a look of quiet satisfaction and strength.

She reached for the telephone on her desk, pressed the single button
O
, and seconds later spoke.

“Overseas operator, please. I’d like to place a call to Geneva, Switzerland.”

He needed a professionally acceptable reason to close up Holcroft, Incorporated. Questions of substance could not be asked. The survivors of Wolfsschanze were killers for whom questions were too easily construed as interference. He had to disappear legitimately.… But one did
not
disappear legitimately: One found plausible explanations that gave the appearance of legitimacy.

The
appearance
of legitimacy.

Sam Buonoventura.

Not that Sam wasn’t legitimate: He was. He was one of the best construction engineers in the business. But Sam had followed the sun so long he had blind spots. He was a fifty-year-old professional drifter, a City College graduate from Tremont Avenue, in the Bronx, who had found a life of instant gratification in the warmer climes.

A brief tour of duty in the Army Corps of Engineers had convinced Buonoventura that there was a sweeter, more generous world beyond the borders of the United States, preferably south of the Keys. All one had to be was good—good in a job that was part of a larger job in
which a great deal of money was invested. And during the fifties and sixties, the construction explosion in Latin America and the Caribbean was such that it might have been created for someone like Sam. He built a reputation among corporations and governments as the building tyrant who got things done in the field.

Once having studied blueprints, labor pools, and budgets, if Sam told his employers that a hotel or an airport or a dam would be operational within a given period of time, he was rarely in error beyond four percent. He was also an architect’s dream, which meant that he did not consider himself an architect.

Noel had worked with Buonoventura on two jobs outside the country, the first in Costa Rica, where if it had not been for Sam, Holcroft would have lost his life. The engineer had insisted that the well-groomed, courteous architect from the classy side of Manhattan learn to use a handgun, not just a hunting rifle from Abercrombie & Fitch. They were building a postal complex in the back country, and it was a far cry from the cocktail lounges of the Plaza and the Waldorf, and from San José. The architect had thought the weekend exercise ridiculous, but courtesy demanded compliance. Courtesy, and Buonoventura’s booming voice.