Free Luciano's Luck by Jack Higgins Page B

how it happened.' 'I know,' she said. 'Get your soup and sit down,' and she turned and went after Luciano. 'It's been a long time,' he said. 'The summer of 'thirty-five. How old were you, sixteen?' 'And you,' she said. 'You don't change.' 'So you've kept up with what happened to me?' 'Oh, yes, I know all about the great Lucky Luciano whose answer to everything is still violence. And where did it get you? Thirty years in prison.' 'On a bum rap and I'm out now, aren't I?' 'You were my hero that summer when you visited my grandfather, you know that? Robin Hood and Richard the Lionheart rolled into one. When we walked in Palermo and people stopped to kiss your hand, I thought it was a mark of respect. But I was wrong. It was only that they were afraid.' 'What about Don Antonio. You ever hear from him?' 'No.' It seemed colder than ever in the chapel and Luciano leaned against the end of a pew as he looked down at her. 'You still love him, don't you, and that tears you apart because you should hate him.' 'Very clever,' she said. 'Listen, when I was in Sing-Sing, a psychiatrist gave me all those fancy tests and told me I was below average intelligence. Wrote it on the report. Said I should learn a trade.' She was unable to stop the slightest of smiles from touching her lips. 'That's better,' he said. 'You laughed a lot that summer. That's what I remember best. Your smile.' She shook her head. 'Oh, Mr Luciano, what's to become of you?' 77 'Look,' he said. 'I'm not making any excuses. I could say Tenth Street was no place for any kid to grow up, but I won't. I made a conscious choice. When people talk to me about the war, I say what war? I've been at war all my life, but I engage in a combat that's nothing to do with civilians.' 'Gangsters,' she said. 'Dope-peddlars, thieves, murderers.' 'I know,' he said. 'It sounds more like the Old Testament every minute.' 'You don't need to tell me,' she said. 'The world can't be innocent with Man in it.' 'And what the hell is that pearl of wisdom supposed to mean?' he demanded. 'What do you want me to do, drain the cup? All right, I'll tell you how it is.' He walked to the altar rail and turned. 'We're fundamentally alone. Nothing lasts.' 'God,' she said. 'There is always God.' 'Well, if he exists, your God, I wish to hell he'd make up his mind. He's big on how and when. Not so hot on why.' 'Have you learned nothing?' she said. 'Has life taught you nothing?' 'Oh, yes,' he said. 'I've learned to kill with a smile. I'll probably die with one. But those soldiers who are going to die in the Cammarata, will they be smiling, do you think?' She stood staring at him for a long moment then turned and walked out. Sister Katherine was at her desk in the office when there was a knock at the door. Maria entered. She stood there, hands folded, obviously deeply troubled. 'Sit down, my child,' Sister Katherine told her. Maria said, 'Sister, has Colonel Carter told you why he has come here?' 'Yes,' Sister Katherine said. 'As much as he needed to.' 78 Maria went round the desk and dropped on her knees. 'Sister, you know my story, you know why I came here.' 'Of course,' Ratherine said. 'You came seeking refuge. Instead you found God, is that not true?' 'Sister, my bible tells me that we must love one another, but when I think of my grandfather, I know only hate.' She gripped the older woman's hands tightly. 'I am afraid of the violence I feel in myself. They would return me to everything I renounced, turned my back on. I will not do it,' she added forcibly. Sister Katherine smiled. 'Such arrogance. You did not choose God, Maria. He chose you. For you, as his servant, there is no such thing as choice. You must do what is right. You may do no other.' Maria stayed there for a long moment, head bowed, then she looked up. 'Which means I must go to Sicily.' Sister Katherine nodded. 'Having no choice means there is no choice in the matter. A parodox, but true. What Colonel Carter has asked you to consider, this mission to