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Chapters (63)
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  2. Books by Stuart Woods
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  63. AUTHOR’S NOTE

Stone heaved a loud sigh. “When you find Casselli, I hope you’ll give me a few minutes alone with him.”

44

Casselli paced back and forth across his new living room. He had been faced with uncooperative victims before, but never one like Barrington. Normally, he could beat, shoot, or bomb a holdout into submission, but Barrington, in addition to being a hardhead, had the connections to make himself unavailable for mayhem or murder.

Finally, Casselli turned to a minion. “Bring the girl to me,” he said.

Moments later, Hedy was marched into the living room. “Ah, Miss Kiesler,” Casselli said. “I won’t detain you long.” He held up a finger, then pressed the redial button on his phone.

—

Stone answered the call on speaker, so everyone in the room could hear the conversation. “Yes?”

“You said you wished to speak to the girl,” Casselli said.

Before Stone could reply, he heard Hedy’s voice, shouting, “Wow, what a view! I can see almost as far as Capri!”

There were sounds of a scuffle.

“Did you hear that?” Casselli asked.

“Hear what?”

“The voice of your lover.”

“All I hear is you.”

“You still wish to speak with her?”

“Certainly.”

Hedy came on. “Don’t do what he wants, Stone!” she shouted. “If he hurts me, Arthur will destroy him!”

There were more sounds of struggle, then Casselli came back on. “There, did you hear that?”

“Yes, and I will follow her instructions to the letter,” Stone said. “You don’t know what you’ve gotten yourself into, Leo. She’s right about Arthur—he will destroy you.” Stone hung up.

“Who the hell is Arthur?” someone asked.

“Hedy’s stepfather, Arthur Steele.”

“Who is he?”

“He’s an insurance executive.”

“Does he have the means to destroy Casselli?”

“No, but Casselli doesn’t know that.”

Everyone burst out laughing.

—

Kill her!” Casselli screamed at his men. “Cut her into pieces, and send them to Barrington!”

“Yes, Don Leonardo,” one of them said, and the men began to drag her from the room.

“Wait a minute!” Hedy yelled.

Astonished, they stopped.

“What?” Casselli shouted.

“I want a priest.”

“Are you insane?” Casselli asked.

“I’m a good Catholic, I want to make my confession and have the last rites of the Church!”

“I’m not going to get you a priest!”

“Are you a Catholic?”

“Of course!”

“Then you can’t deny me a priest!” Hedy was not a Catholic, and she had no idea whether this was correct. “You will go directly to hell, no purgatory!”

Casselli stopped talking; his jaw worked, but no sound came out.

“And if you murder me, I will prepare the way for you to hell’s gates!” She groped for something else to say. “And Arthur is a friend of the Pope! He will ask him to excommunicate you immediately!” This was a bald-faced lie; Arthur was Jewish, and he had no acquaintances in the Vatican that she knew of.