“Aldo!” Volpe cried.
Vinelli’s hand swept up clutching the Browning, and Chavasse fired through the rain hat and shot him between the eyes. Vinelli dropped the weapon, bounced against the rail and fell on his face.
“Damn you to hell!” Volpe cried, pulling the Walther from his pocket.
There was the muted crack of a silenced AK assault rifle from the rail above, the first shot spinning him round, the second shattering his spine. There was a step on the companionway and two men came down in reefer coats and knitted caps, both holding AKs.
Chavasse said, “You left it a little late.”
“Oh, I had every confidence in you, my friend, and as I now know you like a brother, even your trick with the Colt in the rain hat was familiar to me.” Rossi shrugged. “If you hadn’t got Aldo, my man would have.”
“So what happens now?”
“My boys will dump them out there, victims of another Mafia feud.” He smiled bleakly. “Does it give you a problem or can we still deal on London and Eastern Europe?”
“I don’t see why not.”
“Good. Then be on your way. If you look over the rail you will notice a Lincoln has pulled in behind the Mercedes. Your bags have been packed and you are booked out of the Plaza.”
“To where?”
“My chauffeur will take you to Westhampton Airport on Long Island where I keep a private Gulfstream that will have you on your way to London before you know it. Good-bye, my friend. This never happened.”
“Oh, yes, it did,” Chavasse said, turned and walked away.
AS THE GULFSTREAM CLIMBED OUT OVER the Atlantic, Chavasse sat in solitary splendor and asked the steward for a large Irish whisky, which he drank quickly.
He thought of Enrico Noci, Francesca, Guilio Orsini and Mario Volpe, asleep with the fishes. A long time ago, most of it, a hell of a long time ago, but was anything ever finished? Truly finished? He closed his eyes and leaned back.
Jack Higgins
Jack Higgins was a soldier and then a teacher before becoming a full-time writer. The Eagle Has Landed turned him into an international bestselling author and his novels have since sold over 250 million copies and been translated into fifty-five languages. Many of them have also been made into successful films.
