James Chase - Mission to Siena

They intend to get all your money and then murder you. I can help you escape, but you must give me your word that you will pay me two hundred and fifty thousand dollars when you are free.”

“That’s fair enough,” Don said. “You won’t get the money unless I am free so I’ll give you my word. It’s a promise!”

“You mean that?”

“I’ve told you — it’s a promise. How are you going to get me out?”

“I’m working on a plan now. All the doors here are electrically controlled. The passages can be flooded. There’s a control room that is guarded night and day. Before you can hope to get out of here you will have to overpower the man in charge. It’ll be easier to escape during the night. Everyone will be asleep except Carlos who is in charge of the control room at night.”

Don grimaced.

“You mean I’ll have to overpower him?”

Lorelli nodded.

“Can you get me a gun?” Don asked.

“I think so. I’ll try.”

“Do more than try. Without a gun, I don’t think I’m going to have a great deal of success with Carlos. What about this?”

He tapped the bracelet around his ankle.

“I could get you a file.”

“I’d rather have a hair-pin,” Don said and grinned. “Have you got one?”

Her hand went up to her red-gold hair and she found a hairpin which she gave to him. Then she got to her feet.

“I’ll come again,” she said. “I’ll try to get a gun for you, but it won’t be easy. If I have to I’ll let you have mine.” She looked down at him. “I’m trusting you to give me the money when I get you out.”

“I’m not out yet,” Don said, “but if I do get out, you’ll have the money. Don’t fool yourself, will you? The police want you. There’s nothing I can do about that.”

“I’m not worrying about them.”

“Where is the control room?”

“Opposite Englemann’s surgery. You’ve been there, haven’t you?”

“Yes. Try to get the gun. Carlos will take a lot of stopping.”

“I’ll do what I can.”

She went away quickly, and after a moment or so, Don lost sight of her torch down the tunnel.

He decided the occasion justified a cigarette and he lit one, drawing the smoke deep into his lungs. He felt his future now was a lot more secure. He didn’t waste time to wonder what lay behind Lorelli’s sudden desire to get away. That was something he could think about later. He settled down to work on the lock with the hair-pin she had given him. It took him a half an hour of patient fiddling before the lock turned, and the bracelet dropped off his ankle. It was a snap lock, and he-could fasten the bracelet back on to his ankle again in a matter of seconds. He was about to stand up and savour his freedom when he spotted a light coming down the tunnel and he hurriedly replaced the bracelet and slid the hair-pin under his watch strap.

Dr Englemann came out of the shadows. He lurched slightly as he walked and his lined bitter face was pallid. As he came into the light, Don could see the sweat beads on his forehead.

“Hello,” Don said, “What do you want?”

Englemann looked down at him, his deep-set eyes glittering.

“There seems a possibility, Mr Micklem,” he said, his words slurred, “that you may be placed at my disposal for a certain experiment. Of course the matter isn’t entirely settled, but it would help me if you wouldn’t object to a few preliminary tests some time this evening. I would like a specimen of your blood and your pulse rate. I would also like to examine your eyes.”

“Sorry to disappoint you,” Don said curtly, “but I object strongly. It is only fair to warn you that if you come within reach of me I shall take great pleasure in strangling you.”

Englemann’s face hardened, but he took a step back. “I am anxious not to lose time. My experiment is of the utmost importance, but if you won’t co-operate, then I must wait until I have permission to force you to co-operate.”

“You’re going to have a long wait. I intend to pay the ransom.”

“I think not,” Englemann said. “I told il signor Alsconi that you are merely trying to gain time. I know your type. You are not the kind of man who can be forced to do something against your will.”

“Then you had better tell Alsconi you have made a mistake,” Don said. “I’m not at all anxious to be a subject of one of your experiments.”

“Signor Alsconi did tell you what I am attempting to do?” Englemann said. His hands moved unsteadily to his coat lapels and anchored there. “You realize the importance of the experiment?”

“He told me,” Don said. “He also mentioned that you would probably be tight when you did the operation and it would be certain to fail.”

Englemann looked at him; his eyes seemed to catch fire. “I shall take great pleasure in having you on the operating table, Mr Micklem,” he said. “I don’t think I shall have to wait very long.”

He turned and walked away, steadying himself, his hand on the wall of the tunnel.

Don watched him go. He was annoyed to find his heart was thumping and his mouth had turned dry.

Willie sat under the shady tree where he could watch the entrance to the Trioni villa. He was in such a state of nerves and excitement that sweat ran down his face as if a sponge of water had been squeezed over him.

He felt something should be done immediately about Lorelli’s treachery. His first inclination was to bolt back to Felix and tell him what he had overheard, but Felix had told him to watch the villa until Jacopo relieved him, and this put him in a quandary. Felix expected his orders to be obeyed, and if Willie deserted his post, he could run into trouble. He reluctantly decided to wait for Jacopo and then report to Felix.

Then into Willie’s cunning and easily frightened mind, there dropped an unpleasant thought: Lorelli was Felix’s girl.

How was Felix going to react when he heard she was selling them out? Suppose he didn’t believe what Willie had to tell him? Felix had a reputation of being quick with his fists, and often, before he struck a blow, he had been known to slip on a leather glove, covered with brass studs. Willie had seen a man’s teeth broken by a punch from that glove, and he flinched at the recollection. But surely, he reasoned, Felix wouldn’t be such a mug as not to believe him? He wouldn’t want two million pounds to walk out on him and the cops to walk in. Surely he couldn’t be so besotted with Lorelli that he would let her get away with this? But he would have to be careful how he broke the news to Felix. Maybe he had better keep his gun handy. If Felix looked like starting trouble, he would show him the gun.

But what was he personally going to get out of this? Willie asked himself. Would it be a smarter idea to put the bite on Lorelli? He could keep track of her until she got the money, then move in and demand half: a hundred and twenty-five thousand bucks. His face lit up at the thought. But after thinking this idea over, he realized that he hadn’t the nerve to go through with it. Alsconi would go after Lorelli, and he would eventually catch her. Willie knew enough of Alsconi’s methods not to know how long his arm was. No one had quit the organization and got away with it. If he took money from Lorelli he would be putting himself in bad with Alsconi, and he wasn’t all that soft in the head.

After wrestling with the problem for some minutes, he came to the conclusion that the safest way to play the hand was to tell Felix, and rely on Felix to do the right thing by him. He’d ask Felix to get him a bonus: that was the least he deserved.

It was a pity about Lorelli. She was almost certain to be handed over to Englemann. Willie grimaced at the thought. But it was her own funeral. She was asking for trouble, and she would certainly get it.