"I meant that." "I know you did. If I thought otherwise I'd be on the telephone to one of the best counterfeiters in Rome." "Why are we in Rome? Will you tell me now?" Bray did not answer for a moment; then he nodded. "Why not? To find what's left of a family named ScozzL" "Is it one of the names my grandmother gave youT' "The first. They were from Rome." "They're still from Rome," said Antonia, as if commenting on the weather.
"At least a branch of the family, and not far outside of Rome." Amazed, Scofield looked at her. "How do you know?" "The Red Brigades. They kidnapped a nephew of the Scozzi-Paravacinis from an estate near Tivoli. His index finger was cut off and sent to the family along with the ransom demand." Scofield remembered the newspaper stories; the young man had been released, but Bray did not recall the name Scozzi, only Paravacini. However, he recalled something else: no ransom had ever been paid. The negotiations had been intense, a young life in balance. But there'd been a breakdown, a defection, a nephew released by a frightened kidnapper, several Brigatisti subsequently killed, led into an ambush by the defector.
Had the Red Brigades been taught a lesson by one of their unseen sponsors?
"Were you involved?" he asked. "In any way" "No. I was at the camp in Medicina." "Did you overhear anything?" "A great deal. The talk was mainly about traitors and how to kill them in brutal ways to make examples of them. The leaders always talked like that.
With the Scozzi-Paravacini kidnapping it was very important to them. The traitor had been bribed by the Fascists." "What do you mean by 'Fascists'?" "A banker who represented the Scozzis years ago. The Paravacini interests authorized payment" "How did he reach him?" "With a large sum of money there are ways. Nobody really knows." Bray got up from the bed. "I won't ask you how you're feeling, but are you up to getting out of here?" "Of course," she replied, wincing as she swung her long legs over the side of the bed. The pain struck her; a sharp intake of breath followed. She remained still for a moment; Scofield held her shoulders.
Again he could not help himself; he touched her face. "The forty-eight.
hours are over," he said softly. "I'll cable Taleniekov in Helsinki." "What does that mean?" "It means you're alive and well and living in Rome. Come on, I'll help you dress." She brought her fingers up to his hand. "If you had suggested that yesterday I am not sure what I'd have said." "What do you say now?" "Help me." 0
There was an expensive restaurant on the Via Frascati owned by the three Crispi brothers, the oldest of whom ran the establishment with the perceptions of an accomplished thief and the eyes of a hungry jackal, both masked by a cherubic face, and a sweeping ebullience. Most who inhabited the velvet lairs of Rome's dolce vita adored Crispi, for hemas always understanding and discreet, the discretion more valuable than the sympathy.
Messages left with him were passed between men and their mistresses, wives and their lovers, the makers and the made. He was a rock in the sea of frivolity, and the frivolous children of all ages loved him.
Scofield used him. Five years ago when NATO's problems had reached into Italy, Bray had put his clamp on Crispi. The restaurateur had been a willing drone.
Crispi was one of the men Bray had wanted to see before Antonia had told him about the Scozzi-Paravacinis; now it was imperative. If anyone in Rome could shed light on an aristocratic family like the Scozzi-Paravacinis, it was the effusive crown prince of foolishness that was Crispi. They would have lunch at the restaurant on the Via Frascati.
An early lunch for Rome, considered Scofield, putting down his coffee and looking at his watch. It was barely noon, the sun outside the window warming the sitting room of the hotel suite, the sounds of traffic floating up from the Via Veneto below. The doctor had called the Excelsior and made the arrangements shortly past midnight, explaining confidentially to the manager that a wealthy patient was in sudden need of quarters-confiden- tially. Bray and Antonia had been met at the delivery entrance and taken up the service elevator to a suite on the eighth floor.
He had ordered a bottle of brandy and poured three successive drinks for Antonia. The