Алистер Маклин - Red Alert

Karos followed Graham’s eyes.

‘Don’t worry about Boudien. He’s been my personal bodyguard for the past five years. He’s an Algerian. He doesn’t say much, but when he does speak, people tend to listen to him.’

‘I’m not surprised,’ Graham replied, then drank a mouthful of the cordial the butler had brought for him.

‘Well, gentlemen, what can I do for you? I must say I’m a little intrigued as to why the State Department should send someone out here to see me. I have no business interests in your country, Mr. Graham.’

‘It’s got nothing to do with my country. What can you tell us about Vittore Dragotti?’

Graham and Paluzzi watched Karos closely, hoping to see a flicker of recognition in his eyes. There was nothing. Not that it surprised them. Karos was very much the professional.

Karos took a sip of his iced tea then shook his head.

‘Sorry, I can’t say I know the name.’

Paluzzi then put into action the plan they had devised on the plane. He took the bank statements from his jacket pocket and extended them towards Karos.

‘These were found in Dragotti’s wall safe. Four of the payments have been traced to you. Perhaps you can explain that?’

Frowning, Karos took the statements from Paluzzi and laid them out neatly on the table in front of him. He removed a pair of reading glasses from his pocket and slipped them on. Having studied the entries Paluzzi had marked in red, he looked up and shrugged.

‘It’s certainly a mystery to me. I’ve never done any business with him. Am I allowed to know what he does, or where he works?’

‘He’s the sales manager at Neo-Chem Industries in Rome,’ Paluzzi said.

‘Neo-Chem? That’s the pharmaceutical company.’ Karos smiled faintly. ‘We’re hardly in the same line of business, are we? All I can suggest is that one of my associates has been doing some business with him–’

‘You can cut the act, Karos,’ Paluzzi snapped. ‘I know for a fact that no payment is authorized without your signature. If one of your associates had been doing business with him, you’d have known about it.’

‘Come on, Fabio, stop treating the guy with kid gloves,’ Graham said, bringing the next bit of the plan into play. ‘Why waste time? Tell him that Dragotti’s confessed.’

‘Let me handle it my way, okay?’ Paluzzi retorted.

Graham turned to Karos.

‘Let’s cut the crap. We’ve already seen Dragotti this morning. He agreed to cooperate with us in return for a shorter sentence. He’s admitted being the middleman between you and Wiseman. How do you think we got hold of those bank statements?’

A drop of sweat ran down the side of Karos’s face. He wiped it away quickly then looked round at the approaching Boudien who had been alerted by the raised voices. He shook his head and waved him away.

‘We’ve got the confession all neatly documented back in Rome,’ Graham said. ‘It’s enough to put you away for twenty years.’

‘I’ll make a deal with you,’ Karos said, once Boudien had disappeared into the lift.

‘You’re in no position to make deals, Karos,’ Graham retorted.

‘I can’t go to jail, I’ve got too many enemies there.’

‘You should have thought about that before you got involved,’ Graham said.

Karos crossed to the railing and looked across the Khalikiopoulos Lagoon.

‘I’ll take you to Ubrino. In return you give me a twelve-hour head start once the vial’s been recovered. It’s a small price to pay with so much at stake.’

Graham looked at Paluzzi. ‘What do you think?’

Paluzzi stared at his empty glass and finally nodded. He looked at Karos.

‘It’s a deal. When can you take us to him?’

‘Tonight. I’m meeting him outside Sant’Ivo in Rome at eight o’clock.’

‘And he’ll have the vial with him?’ Paluzzi asked, making notes on the pad he had taken from his pocket.

‘I can only presume so. He was told never to let it out of his sight.’

‘You know this place?’ Graham asked Paluzzi.

Paluzzi nodded.

‘It’s a church near the Pantheon.’

‘Why are you meeting him there?’

Karos shrugged. ‘He was the one who called the meeting. He just said it was important and for me to meet him there.’

Graham eyed Karos suspiciously, then pointed a finger of warning at him.

‘You’d better be on the level because if you’re leading us on a wild-goose chase you’ll be in jail so quickly your feet won’t touch the ground.’

‘Why should I deceive you? I’ve got nothing to gain by it. Not now.’

‘Who are you working for?’ Paluzzi asked, breaking the silence.

‘I’m not working for anybody, I’m working with Lino Zocchi, head of the Rome cell of the Red Brigades.’

‘Why did he come to you?’ Paluzzi asked.

‘Because he knew the committee wouldn’t sanction the operation. And he needed money to finance it. I had the capital.’

‘How much was Wiseman paid altogether?’ Graham asked.

‘A hundred thousand dollars. Chicken feed, really, when you think about what he created. That virus is priceless. Priceless.’

‘Whose idea was the sleeping gas?’ Paluzzi asked.

‘Zocchi’s. It was a diversion, nothing more.’

‘So Ubrino knows he’s got the virus?’ Paluzzi said.

‘Of course he does. As I said, the sleeping gas was just a red herring.’

‘What are you going to get out of this?’ Paluzzi asked.

‘Twenty million pounds sterling.’

Graham whistled softly. ‘Did Zocchi say how he intended to get the money?’

Karos shook his head, then noticed the forty-foot white Gazelle helicopter crossing the lagoon towards the house.

‘Are you going to admire the scenery all day?’ Graham snapped.

Karos turned to him.

‘No, he never said. I just presumed it would be some kind of deal which included his release as well as a sum of money in return for the vial.’

Graham’s eyes flickered past Karos. The helicopter was closing in fast.

Too fast. Then he saw the two 30 mm cannons mounted on either side of the fuselage. There wasn’t even time to shout a warning. He lashed out sideways, knocking Paluzzi and his chair backwards into the swimming pool. He flung himself into the water as the machine-guns opened fire.

Karos’s body jerked grotesquely and blood spurted from the bullet holes in his immaculate white jacket. He stumbled against the railing, then disappeared over the side. The pilot raked the terrace for another few seconds then banked the helicopter sharply to the left and headed back towards the capital, Corfu.

Graham and Paluzzi held their breath underwater for another ten seconds after the firing had stopped, then swam across the pool to the safety of the steps, where they surfaced, gasping for air. Graham was the first out of the pool and he ran straight to the railing. Paluzzi was close behind him. Karos lay sprawled on the rocks eighty feet below them, his white jacket startling against the grey of the stone. Paluzzi cursed furiously in Italian, then wiped his hand over his face. There was blood on his fingers.

Graham noticed his frown and gestured to his bleeding lip.

‘I didn’t exactly have time to choose my spot.’

Paluzzi patted Graham lightly on the arm.

‘I owe you my life.’

‘Forget it,’ Graham replied, stripping off his wet shirt. ‘You don’t owe me anything.’

Boudien emerged from the lift followed by two guards. Both were armed with Spectre submachine-guns. They ran to the railing and peered down at Karos on the rocks below. The two guards, glancing repeatedly at Graham and Paluzzi, spoke softly to Boudien.

‘They think we set him up,’ Paluzzi said, interpreting the Greek for Graham.