‘What’s Ross’s information?’ Frost asked.
Silk smiled his evil smile.
‘So I tell you, but remember, once you know, you are in, and you stay in... right?’
‘You are repeating yourself,’ Frost said impatiently. ‘What’s the information?’
Silk studied him for a long moment.
‘It can’t be repeated too often. I want you to understand that once you know this information, you are with us, and there is no way out for you except a slug in your head... right?’
The two men studied each other. Silk’s one eye looked lethal. Frost became aware he was sweating slightly.
Five million!
In a quiet, steady voice, he said, ‘What information?’
Silk continued to stare at him.
‘Sure you want to know?’ he asked in his deadly voice.
‘Cut the crap, Silk!’ Frost snapped. ‘Go haunt someone else’s house. You don’t haunt mine!’
Silk smiled, then turned to Umney.
‘Yes, go ahead, Ross. He’s with us... tell him.’
‘I got at Grandi’s accountant: a guy named Guiseppe Vessi,’ Umney said. ‘He has a kink for young boys, and he has a wife with money. There was no problem to twist his arm. All the rich Italians are doing a tax evasion gimmick. For years, Grandi has been syphoning off some of his big profits into a numbered account in Switzerland. Vessi has been in charge of the operation. Right now, so Vessi tells me, the money hidden in Switzerland is around thirty million dollars. So I leaned on Vessi, and we came up with a deal. He gets ten million, and we get twenty million, and there is nothing Grandi can do about it. We have photocopies of all the Swiss transactions. If Grandi even considers turning on the heat when his daughter is snatched, with these photocopies given to the Italian tax creeps, he could go away in jail for fifteen years, and Grandi knows this. So, there is no problem, once we get the girl. We four — Lu, Mitch, you and I sign a document which will make us shareholders of five million each, and Grandi transfers the numbered account to us. We are all protected. There’s no problem, and Vessi gets the balance.’
‘But will Grandi transfer this account to us?’ Frost asked, a little bewildered by what he had heard.
‘He either does and gets his daughter back, or he doesn’t, and goes to jail for fifteen years. Can you imagine a man as rich as Grandi going to jail?’ Umney asked, grinning.
‘I told you, Mike, this is a sweet snatch,’ Silk said. ‘No cops: no trouble, but we have to get the girl. Now you tell us how.’
‘I’d like to look at this document you’re talking about, transferring the account to us,’ Frost said.
‘You don’t take chances, do you?’ Silk smiled evilly. ‘Show him, Ross.’
Umney got up, crossed to a bureau, opened a drawer and returned with a sheet of paper which he gave Frost.
Frost studied what was written on the paper. At the bottom of the paper was space for Grandi’s signature. He read again, then nodded.
‘Yeah, I guess this buttons it up,’ he said, and handed the paper back to Umney. ‘Right. I’m satisfied. Now I’ll take one problem at a time. Next Saturday night is D-day. If you don’t want it that fast, we’ll have to wait another month. Here’s why: Marcia tells me she has a regular date with Amando every first Saturday of the month which is next Saturday. He arrives here around nine, takes a drink, performs and leaves. According to her this is a routine thing. You give her one of your pills and Amando is fixed. I forgot to ask you: do these pills dissolve fast and have they a taste?’
‘Fast, and no taste,’ Silk said.
‘Okay, Amando takes the drink, and is knocked out by three in the morning. How do you like it so far?’
Silk nodded.
‘No problem,’ he said.
‘Marvin and I always have dinner together,’ Frost went on. ‘We always have a couple of cans of beer so there is no problem slipping him a pill. I go on night duty on Sunday, so on this Saturday night, I tell him I’m tired and am going to bed. So he settles down to watch the monitors and around two in the morning, he is knocked out. So I’ve taken care of Amando and Marvin,’ Frost paused, looking at Silk. ‘You still with me?’
‘You’ve fixed Amando and Marvin,’ Silk said. ‘Now, how about the dogs? How about the fence? How about doping the girl?’
‘The girl won’t need to be doped. She will fix the dogs and the fence,’ Frost said.
Goble broke in angrily, ‘Look, Lu, this guy is either conning us or else he’s crazy in the head!’
Frost looked at him.
‘I’m not taking any more from you, Fatso,’ he said evenly. ‘Flap with your mouth once more and I’ll flatten you!’
‘Shut up, Mitch!’ Silk snarled. ‘Keep out of this!’ He turned to Frost. ‘I’m listening... keep talking.’
‘Grandi arrived at the villa this morning. He talked with me,’ Frost then went on to give a detailed account of his interview with Grandi. ‘So, I have got Amando and Suka off my back,’ he concluded, ‘and this is important. It means the guardroom is free of unexpected visitors. Now, here is the big news. Grandi and Amando took off this afternoon, and the girl came to my cabin. She is a real nut case. Can you guess what she begged me to do?’ He paused, looking at the three men, then lowering his voice, he went on, ‘She begged me to kill her father so she could be free.’
There was a heavy silence in the room, broken only by the sound of the air conditioner. Silk crossed and re-crossed his legs. Umney ran his fingers through his thick hair. Goble made a soft grunting noise.
‘Probably, you three don’t realise what it means to a girl of Gina’s temperament to be shut up behind a lethal fence,’ Frost said into the silence. ‘This girl has hot pants. Her only out is for her father to die. She knows that. She knows as long as he lives, she will remain behind bars.’ Frost paused to light another cigarette while the three men, sitting forward, stared at him, listening. ‘Now I’ll tell you something else. Grandi is kinky. I’m telling you what she told me, and she was pretty convincing. He has a thing for her — and I mean a thing — or should I spell it out? She knows. She’s screwed around, and she knows men. When the Rome newspapers highlighted her way of life, Grandi put her behind bars. If he couldn’t have her, no one else would. Are you getting the photo?’
‘Keep talking,’ Silk said. ‘I’m with you so far.’
‘As you assured me the ransom is guaranteed, I’ve based my thinking on this assurance. From what she told me, Gina will do anything, including having her father murdered, to get free. She and I have a date on Wednesday when Grandi will be out of the way. I intend to ask her how she would like to be kidnapped. In her neurotic state, I bet she will jump at the idea. I will explain I have three good friends who are willing to help her get her freedom, but we need her cooperation. She has direct access from the villa to the guardroom. All she has to do, I will tell her, is to enter the guardroom at 03.00 Sunday morning where she will find Marvin drugged. I will tell her the buttons to press and get the dogs out of the way to neutralise the fence. Then all she has to do is walk down to the harbour where you three will be waiting in a boat, and you will take her to a place of safety. I’m sure I can talk her into this, and you three don’t even have to enter the grounds of the estate.’ Frost looked inquiringly at Silk. ‘Like it so far?’
‘I like it so far. Keep talking.’
‘Where will you keep her?’
‘Here... where else? She can have Marcia’s room.’
‘That’s fine. So we have the girl without trouble. The following morning I go to the guardroom to relieve Marvin, find him drugged, call Suka, find Amando drugged, and Gina missing. I find in the guardroom a sealed envelope on which is written: this is the ransom note to be handed to Grandi. No cops or else... So I take charge. I call Grandi. Suka will know where he will be. By the time Grandi arrives, Marvin and Amando will be back on their feet, but I will be very much in charge. Grandi reads the ransom note and sees he is stuck. He pays up or goes to jail. You give him a day to sweat it out, then you telephone, and with luck, he agrees to meet one of you. I’ll be right on the scene to check he doesn’t try anything smart. He knows I’ve handled a kidnap before when I was with the Feds so he will consult me. So he takes me along with him to complete the deal. You get the signed document and hand over the girl, then you fade from the scene. That leaves Gina, Grandi and me. She will tell her father to go screw himself. I will tell him he can’t legally hold her, so Gina goes off. I couldn’t care less where she goes, but the deal will be that she goes. I go back to the villa with Grandi. Once he realises he has lost his daughter, he will close up the villa and pay Marvin and me off. So I take a fast plane to Switzerland, collect my share of the loot and live happily ever after.’ Frost smiled at Silk. ‘What do you think?’