it.
'Why?'
'Because if you don't they'll be swarming all over you in—'
dummy2
Audley looked at his wristwatch again '—just under six minutes.'
'By which time you will be very dead.'
'I will have you to keep me company soon enough.'
Ruelle's lips twisted. 'Signore—the Fascists couldn't catch me and the Nazis couldn't catch me either. And they knew the score. Your fucking baby cops are still wet behind the ears. If they knew the way I operate they'd be here already—'
'You mean your kennel has a back door to it?'
Ruelle gaped. 'Eh?'
'Yes, there's an old acquaintance of yours out there, Ruelle,'
said Audley conversationally. 'His name's Raffaele Montuori.
He was a major when you last met him, but he's come a long way since then. He's a general now.'
'George—' Korbel hissed, '—Montuori is—'
'—I know what he is—shut up!'
'And he hasn't forgotten you,' continued Audley. 'In fact he wants you so badly his balls ache. And he's just hoping you'll put a bullet in me so he can come and take you—so badly he's had this place sewn up tight for the last fifteen hours just in case you made a run for it.'
'George—'
'Maybe you heard on the radio about the Naples jailbreak,'
said Audley remorselessly, shaking his head slowly. 'But of course that was just for your benefit, so he could block this dummy2
place off properly . . . just in case you still might know what the real score is.'
In the moment of silence which followed, Boselli heard the distant sound of an engine. He looked down quickly at his watch: the helicopter was one minute early.
Audley had heard too. He leaned forward across the table.
'I'm the only thing that stands between you and Montuori, Ruelle—you talk with me or you take your chance with him.
He doesn't want to talk.'
The engine was louder now.
'And you've got ninety seconds to start listening to me.'
The room darkened again as Guido Prezzolini appeared in the doorway. 'There's a plane coming up the valley from the west—this way, chief!'
'Not a plane,' said Audley. 'A helicopter. The plane has already been over. The first pass will be just to pinpoint the target. There are armoured personnel carriers on the road, rocket launchers. For all I know he's got Alpini on the mountain behind you. You're getting the V.I.P. treatment today.'
Korbel stretched across the table and snatched the handkerchief from Audley's hand. Then, as the sound of the engine increased to the point where Boselli could identify the distinctive racket of the rotor, he disappeared quickly through a doorway just behind him. There was a thumping noise and then a tinkle of broken glass: whatever the state of dummy2
Ruelle's nerves, his partner was ready to talk.
The roar of the helicopter reached a crescendo as the machine clattered low over the farmhouse, and then diminished quickly as it passed over the shoulder of the mountain beyond. Korbel slipped back quickly into the room again.
'Go back and watch, Guido,' ordered Ruelle. 'Let me know the moment anyone starts up the track.'
This time Prezzolini's reaction was not so quick. He looked at Ruelle half mutinously before grunting and slouching back into the yard.
'What are you offering?' said Korbel.
'First—I want to see my wife.'
'She's not been hurt.'
'Then she can tell me that herself.'
Korbel nodded. 'Very well.'
Audley and Ruelle stared at each other silently for half a minute after Korbel had ducked back through the doorway again.
At length Ruelle spoke. 'How did they get on to this place?'
Audley shrugged. 'They haven't told me. Maybe they kept tabs on your friend with the gun. They're not so wet behind the ears as you think, anyway—not with Montuori behind them. And they had you spotted, as I've said.'
