there.”
“No doubt. Incidentally, I saw the report on the other two bodies. The guy who posed as a TV man was Parnell Rath. Two convictions for manslaughter and suspected in five homicides. He only got out of the pen three weeks ago. The one on the roof was a goofy guy he palled around with. They checked out the room Rath lived in and found a thousand bucks in small bills stashed under the window sill. Nobody’s talking on this and don’t you do either.”
“You know me.”
“Sure, that’s what I’m afraid of. You pulled a cutie by locating Turos’ photo. It eases some of the pressure on our relationship, but I wouldn’t push too hard if I were you.”
“I have no choice.”
“Then a word to the wise ... nobody, but nobody, is going to get near Teish again, that’s how well they have him covered.”
I laughed at him and said, “Want to bet?” and hung up while he was still firing a question at me. One of his old axioms was that the aggressor always had the advantage. I said so long to Harry, ignoring his wistful expression and went back to the elevator.
Lily Tornay’s room was three floors below. I got out there, rapped on her door and identified myself when she asked who it was. This time she didn’t bother hiding a gun under a towel. She couldn’t have. It was all she had on. Her hair was wet and her neck and shoulders pink from the shower and she smelled deliciously soapy. “I’ll wait outside if you want me to.”
“Don’t be funny,” she snapped, not liking the grin I was giving her.
I closed the door and stepped inside. Like all dames she couldn’t keep a hotel room neat to save her hide. Clothes were scattered all over the place and her Beretta was lying right in the middle of the pillow. At the foot of the bed she had a suitcase open and partially packed. “Going someplace?”
“I have orders to return. Since your latest escapade there seems little need for me to remain here.”
“News travels fast.”
She came over with a drink and handed it to me, the ice clinking against the glass. “My time here wasn’t exactly wasted. I had an opportunity to inquire further into your background.”
“And what did you find out?”
“The probable answers to several puzzling questions Interpol has fretted over. Your Martin Grady has facets to his organizations we didn’t realize.”
I didn’t commit myself with any answer at all.
She took a sip of her drink and put it down beside her. “I do have one thing you might be interested in hearing.”
“Oh?”
“We have two men in Selachin. A few hours ago they found the body of a man who was a local explosives expert. He had been shot in the head with a .38-caliber bullet of American origin. Besides Tedesco there has been another American operating in that area and he is suspected of the killing.”
I still didn’t say anything.
“Peter Moore, his name is,” she continued. “If the dead man started the landslide that killed the technicians your country had there, he revenged them well.”
“Honey,” I said slowly, “did it ever occur to you that maybe the Soviets knocked him off so he couldn’t talk? Thirty-eights aren’t hard to come by and they’d have a lovely excuse for murder if they knew Pete was stalking them as well and looking for Tedesco.”
Lily picked up the glass again, studied it, then took another small sip. “Possibly. But I think we’ll know for sure before long.”
My hand froze around the glass halfway to my mouth. “Why?”
She smiled enigmatically like the Mona Lisa. “Because our people have located Tedesco’s hiding place and are laying a trap for the other one.”
“Damn, he’s alive!”
“It seems that way.”
I couldn’t stop the pure feeling of pleasure that went through me. My mouth stretched in a grin and I started to laugh. It took a good thirty seconds before I could stop.
“Does it seem that funny?” she asked me.
“Hell yes, sweetie. Those guys can make any trap backfire
“No doubt. Incidentally, I saw the report on the other two bodies. The guy who posed as a TV man was Parnell Rath. Two convictions for manslaughter and suspected in five homicides. He only got out of the pen three weeks ago. The one on the roof was a goofy guy he palled around with. They checked out the room Rath lived in and found a thousand bucks in small bills stashed under the window sill. Nobody’s talking on this and don’t you do either.”
“You know me.”
“Sure, that’s what I’m afraid of. You pulled a cutie by locating Turos’ photo. It eases some of the pressure on our relationship, but I wouldn’t push too hard if I were you.”
“I have no choice.”
“Then a word to the wise ... nobody, but nobody, is going to get near Teish again, that’s how well they have him covered.”
I laughed at him and said, “Want to bet?” and hung up while he was still firing a question at me. One of his old axioms was that the aggressor always had the advantage. I said so long to Harry, ignoring his wistful expression and went back to the elevator.
Lily Tornay’s room was three floors below. I got out there, rapped on her door and identified myself when she asked who it was. This time she didn’t bother hiding a gun under a towel. She couldn’t have. It was all she had on. Her hair was wet and her neck and shoulders pink from the shower and she smelled deliciously soapy. “I’ll wait outside if you want me to.”
“Don’t be funny,” she snapped, not liking the grin I was giving her.
I closed the door and stepped inside. Like all dames she couldn’t keep a hotel room neat to save her hide. Clothes were scattered all over the place and her Beretta was lying right in the middle of the pillow. At the foot of the bed she had a suitcase open and partially packed. “Going someplace?”
“I have orders to return. Since your latest escapade there seems little need for me to remain here.”
“News travels fast.”
She came over with a drink and handed it to me, the ice clinking against the glass. “My time here wasn’t exactly wasted. I had an opportunity to inquire further into your background.”
“And what did you find out?”
“The probable answers to several puzzling questions Interpol has fretted over. Your Martin Grady has facets to his organizations we didn’t realize.”
I didn’t commit myself with any answer at all.
She took a sip of her drink and put it down beside her. “I do have one thing you might be interested in hearing.”
“Oh?”
“We have two men in Selachin. A few hours ago they found the body of a man who was a local explosives expert. He had been shot in the head with a .38-caliber bullet of American origin. Besides Tedesco there has been another American operating in that area and he is suspected of the killing.”
I still didn’t say anything.
“Peter Moore, his name is,” she continued. “If the dead man started the landslide that killed the technicians your country had there, he revenged them well.”
“Honey,” I said slowly, “did it ever occur to you that maybe the Soviets knocked him off so he couldn’t talk? Thirty-eights aren’t hard to come by and they’d have a lovely excuse for murder if they knew Pete was stalking them as well and looking for Tedesco.”
Lily picked up the glass again, studied it, then took another small sip. “Possibly. But I think we’ll know for sure before long.”
My hand froze around the glass halfway to my mouth. “Why?”
She smiled enigmatically like the Mona Lisa. “Because our people have located Tedesco’s hiding place and are laying a trap for the other one.”
“Damn, he’s alive!”
“It seems that way.”
I couldn’t stop the pure feeling of pleasure that went through me. My mouth stretched in a grin and I started to laugh. It took a good thirty seconds before I could stop.
“Does it seem that funny?” she asked me.
“Hell yes, sweetie. Those guys can make any trap backfire
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