“Did he say five million?” Lumaga whispered to Marcus.
“I guess he slept on it and bumped his offer,” Marcus said. “He does shit like this.”
Mickey continued, “I’m speaking directly to the people who took my family. Think about it. You can spend weeks and months hiding from the authorities, trying to squeeze a few more euros out of me, or take a huge pile of cash now. Think about it and call this number.” He took a paper from his pocket and read it out.
“He just gave the number of my Carabinieri station,” Lumaga exclaimed. “I didn’t give him permission. Is he going to hire more people for me to answer the phones?”
“Like I said, Roberto,” Marcus said, “he does shit like this.”
*
Years of middle-of-the-night, duty-officer wakeups had trained Marcus to get alert rapidly. Six years removed from the Agency, he could still come-to fast, and when Mickey opened his door at four in the morning, his feet hit the floor before Mickey uttered the first word.
“I’ve got to scramble the plane,” Mickey said.
“What’s going on?”
“Freja’s had a stroke. They just called. She was too ill to come with me and too worried to be alone. I’m fucking cursed.”
Marcus couldn’t say what he was thinking. You didn’t tell your billionaire boss that not everything was about him.
“You want me to stay or come?” he said instead.
“You stay. Keep me up to date with every detail. If this wraps up fast, fine. The office in Rome has the ransom ready. If it drags on, give me a written summary every week.”
“Will do. I’ll call the pilots and your driver. I’ll move to the hotel in the morning.”
“I want you at the house. Stay until they’re found. Alive or dead.”
Mickey delivered the last words without emotion. He’s a tough son of a bitch, Marcus thought. He told Mickey he’d be able to perform his usual corporate duties remotely.
“No, I want you on this exclusively,” Mickey said. “I’ll have Mayhew pick up the slack.”
Mayhew was Marcus’s second-in-command in security. He was an ambitious prick who’d be giddy at the news.
“He’ll do an excellent job,” Marcus said.
*
Lumaga came by the house early that morning and was pleasantly surprised to hear of Mickey’s departure, but he said, “He drops a bomb on us then leaves. We’ve already had a hundred calls claiming the ransom. It’s a madhouse.”
“I’m sorry,” Marcus said. “There was nothing I could do. Nothing that’s credible, I suppose.”
Lumaga said, “Not one. All of them crazy people or opportunists. Okay, look, the calls will drop off. With Andreason gone, maybe we’ll be able to work in peace,” he said.
“There’s something vitally important you can do for me,” Marcus said.
“Of course, anything.”
“See if you can make this coffee machine work.”
Over cigarettes and coffee on the patio, Lumaga said, “You probably haven’t seen the mess up on the road.”
“Mess?”
“Satellite trucks from every important TV channel in the country, camera crews trying to climb the fence, photographers with lenses so long they can see a mosquito on the moon. They’re multiplying like rabbits. Andreason’s reward was fuel to the fire. We’ve had to bring in the municipal police to keep order and prevent an invasion of the property. And I can tell you, Marcus, this is only the beginning. So, would you like to come with me to Reggio Calabria to see what a Carabinieri station looks like?”
“Sure.”
“I’ll show you our war room.”
“I’ll bet it’s very impressive.”
“Impressive, no, but you’ll like it because I permit smoking.”
*
To: M. Andreason
From: M. Handler
Re: Investigation Summary—Week 1
To date there have been no contacts from any individuals or groups claiming to be holding Jesper and the family. In Major Lumaga’s experience, ’Ndrangheta kidnappers usually deliver their demands within the first few days. Going a full week without a call to family or a media outlet is unusual, especially in light of your large ransom offer.
The forensic analysis of the villa is complete. All of the fingerprints are attributable to family members and the housekeepers. The kidnappers likely wore gloves. There were a number of human hairs recovered, but they all match those on hairbrushes and combs belonging to Jesper, Elena, Victoria, and Elizabeth.
Lumaga and his people have been working their informants in Calabria and have been liaising with colleagues in Rome, Naples, and Sicily about any leads emanating from other organized crime groups. So far, nothing to report.
Armando Cutrì has been completely cooperative with the Carabinieri. They have been reviewing his case files going back a decade to see if anyone had a motive. So far, nothing to report.
Lumaga has subjected the gardener and the housekeepers, Giuseppe and Noemi Pennestrì, to detailed background checks and polygraph testing. Nothing of interest has come of these investigations. Their banks have agreed to notify the Carabinieri if any unusual deposits are made into their accounts.
On our end, I have been reaching out to intelligence services in the US, UK, Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Turkey, Israel, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Philippines, and South Korea to see if there has been any chatter from Russia, Iran, China, North Korea, etc. about the crime. So far, nothing to report.
I am also having Jesper’s emails, letters, texts, and social media messages going back a decade analyzed, looking for anyone with a motive to do him harm. Ditto for any disgruntled past Andreason employees. This effort is being run out of Chicago.
Two of the most popular crime shows in Italy have begun nightly coverage, this in addition to extensive newspaper and magazine coverage.
*
To: M. Andreason
From: M. Handler
Re: Investigation Summary—Week 2
There was a potential lead from Palermo, Sicily. A local police informant reported overhearing a conversation between two known Mafiosi
