An Alfa Romeo Alfetta stood in the drive in front of the closed garage door.
‘Why didn’t you just ring ahead and tell them we were coming?’ Sabrina said sarcastically beside him.
‘What do you mean?’
‘Whoever’s in there will have seen the car the moment we pulled up. Why didn’t you park at the end of the street? At least then we would have had the option of using either the front or the back of the house to gain entry. Now we’ve lost the element of surprise.’
‘There is no back.’
‘How do you know?’ she asked suspiciously.
‘I’ve used this house before when I was stationed here. It backs on to the house directly behind it. The only way in from the street is through the front door. The only other way out is through the garage. So you see, we don’t have any option. We have to use the front door.’
‘And get shot before we’re halfway up the garden path?’
‘A bit melodramatic, don’t you think?’ He got out of the car and made a sweeping gesture with his arm. ‘This is suburbia. Anything suspicious and the police would be here in a flash. And that would mean the discovery of the safe house. So what use would it be? No, if they’re going to spring a trap it will be inside the house, away from prying eyes.’
‘What do you suggest we do?’
‘Use the front door, what else? I have my skeleton keys with me, one of them is sure to fit the lock. If Ubrino is in there his only way out will be through the garage. You wait out here in case he shows.’
‘Why don’t I go in and you wait out here?’
‘I know the house, Sabrina. It’s got several places where someone could hide in an emergency. You don’t know where they are.’
‘Then we go in together.’ She noticed the uncertainty in his eyes. ‘Let me put it another way for you. Either I go in with you or else I call Paluzzi and have his men go in with me. The choice is yours.’
‘Some choice.’ He opened the gate and looked at the garage.
‘He couldn’t get out there anyway.’
‘Why not?’
‘The car’s parked against the garage door. He’d have to use the front door.’
They approached the front door cautiously, their hands holding the guns in their pockets. The door was ajar. They exchanged wary glances.
Calvieri ran his fingers lightly down the jamb to check for any booby-trapped wires. Nothing. He eased the door open with his fingertips. The hallway was deserted. She took the Beretta from her pocket and slipped past him into the hallway. He closed the door behind them and followed her. She pointed to the first door on the left. He nodded and took the Heckler & Koch P9 from his pocket, his eye continually darting towards the other closed doors leading off from the hallway. She pressed herself against the wall and indicated that he should do the same on the other side of the door.
‘I’ll go in first,’ she whispered.
He nodded reluctantly.
She curled her fingers around the handle then shoved open the door and dived low into the room, fanning it with her Beretta. There was only one man in the room. He was seated in an armchair facing the door. It wasn’t Ubrino. He was a heavyset man in his forties with black hair slicked back from a craggy face.
She got up on to one knee, the Beretta aimed at his chest.
‘On your feet, very slowly. And keep your hands where I can see them.’
He looked past her and smiled when Calvieri appeared in the doorway.
‘I’m impressed, Tony. Your new bodyguard?’
Calvieri lowered his gun.
‘I might have guessed. What are you doing here, Luigi?’
‘You know him?’ Sabrina asked.
‘Unfortunately, yes. Luigi Rocca, one of Zocchi’s more repulsive puppets.’
‘I’d mind my tongue if I were you, Tony. My men don’t take too kindly to me being insulted by someone like you. Look behind you.’
Calvieri looked round slowly, his nerves taut. Two men had emerged from the opposite room. Both were armed with AK-74 assault rifles.
‘Drop the gun, Tony.’ Rocca looked at Sabrina. ‘You too, bella.’
Calvieri let the P9 fall from his fingers. One of the men retrieved it.
Sabrina stared at the two Kalashnikovs pointing at her and reluctantly tossed her gun on to the floor. The same man picked it up.
‘You never answered my question, Luigi,’ Calvieri said, coming into the room.
‘I will, in time. Aren’t you going to introduce me to your beautiful companion?’
‘Her name’s Sabrina Trestelli. She’s a graduate of Trento University.’
‘Beauty and brains. Pity you chose to join the wrong cell, bella.’ Rocca beckoned the two men forward. ‘Entertain the lady while I talk to Signore Calvieri.’
‘Whatever you have to say to me can be said in front of her,’ Calvieri said, looking round as the two men approached her.
The first man grabbed her arm. She brought her knee up sharply into his groin. He shrieked in pain and crumpled to the floor.
‘Touch me and I’ll break your arm,’ she snarled menacingly at the second man.
He looked hesitantly to Rocca for instructions.
‘Leave her,’ Rocca said, then gestured dismissively at the man gasping on the floor.
‘Take him away. Wait outside for me. I’ll call if I need you.’
The man helped his colleague from the room and closed the door behind them.
Rocca got to his feet and crossed to a side table. They both refused his offer of a drink. He poured himself a whisky, then resumed his seat and pointed to the couch behind them. Obediently they both sat down.
‘This has gone far enough, Luigi. What do you want?’
‘Answers,’ Rocca replied, and took a sip of whisky.
‘Answers to what?’ Calvieri demanded.
Rocca ran his palm over his greasy hair.
‘I’m in charge now that Signore Zocchi and Ubrino are allegedly indisposed. I use the word ‘allegedly’ because the city’s been rife with rumours, counter-rumours and accusations ever since the break-in at the Neo-Chem plant on Sunday night. I have to reassure my Brigatisti, Tony, that’s why I lured you out here. I need answers, and I need them quickly.’
‘Then I suggest you make an appointment to see Signore Pisani and discuss your problems with him.’
‘Credit me with some intelligence, Tony. Pisani’s dying. He’s nothing more than a figurehead now. You’ve been running the show for the past few months, not him.’
‘Who told you that? Zocchi?’ Calvieri could see he was right by the look in Rocca’s eyes. ‘I thought as much. And you’re the one complaining about rumours? Signore Pisani is dying, we all know that, but to say that he doesn’t play an active part in the running of the Red Brigades any more is complete nonsense. Who do you think sent me to Rome to find Ubrino? I certainly didn’t send myself. I’m here on his specific instructions. Signore Pisani will tell us when he wants to stand down. But until then he is still our leader. So that’s one rumour quashed already.’
‘What about the rumour that Zocchi’s dead?’ Rocca said, then drank down the rest of his whisky. ‘That’s why the prison’s been sealed off.’
‘The prison’s been sealed off because of an outbreak of acute conjunctivitis. I know for a fact that Signore Pisani spoke with one of the doctors who went to treat the prisoners. He saw Zocchi. That was yesterday afternoon. It’s possible that Zocchi could have been killed since then, we’ve no way of confirming or denying that. But look at it logically. If something had happened to him, I think the committee would have heard about it by now.’