Free Bloody Passage (v5) by Jack Higgins Page B

exceptional woman." He opened the door and we followed him in.
    Angelo Carter was seated at a dressing table dialing a phone number. A cigarette dangled from the corner of his mouth. Barzini gave him a light and Carter started to speak in rapid and fluent Italian to some girl called Rosanna, telling her that he'd be calling just after midnight.
    "His mother was Italian, which explains the Angelo," Barzini said. "Father, American."
    Angelo slammed down the receiver, reached for a bottle of Scotch and poured about three fingers into a tumbler. Barzini said, "So you're going to do the second show?"
    "Only because I owe you," Angelo said. "But, after that, finish. Final and definite." He swallowed half his whisky and looked across at Langley and me. "What's this supposed to be? Open night?"
    "I'd like you to meet a good friend of mine, Major Grant," Barzini said. "You've got a lot in common."
    "No, I haven't," Angelo said firmly. "Not with any major I ever heard of."
    "You were both in Vietnam."
    Angelo was about to finish the rest of his whisky. Instead he paused and eyed me speculatively. "You were in Nam? What outfit?"
    "Special Services Executive," I told him.
    "Jesus!" He turned to Barzini. "That's the military branch of the Mafia. You're in bad company, Aldo."
    "Angelo was in the Green Berets," Barzini said. "I always understood they cut a neat throat, isn't that so, Oliver?"
    "So they say." I lit a cigarette and said to Angelo, "A long way from the Mekon."
    "Don't rub it in, friend," he said. "I did a drag act in a troop show when I was in a Saigon military hospital, just for laughs. It was supposed to be a one-night stand and here I am, three years later, the toast of Europe." He shook his head. "No, Aldo, I'll do your second show for you, but after that, you'll never see me in skirts again."
    He tossed back the rest of his whisky and Barzini picked up the bottle and poured him another. "That's a pity, Angelo, because I've got a new contract for you and the terms are really quite excellent."
    "They always are," Angelo told him sourly.
    "Twenty thousand dollars," Barzini said. "Only one performance required."
    Angelo grinned. "You've got to be joking. What do I have to do? Kill somebody?"
    "Very probably."
    There was a longish silence. Angelo stopped smiling, glanced at Langley and me and back to Barzini. "This is for real?"
    "Of course."
    Angelo said rapidly in Italian, "Who are these guys? What goes on?"
    "A waste of time," Barzini replied. "They both speak Italian."
    "Look, we're not asking you to rob a bank," I put in. "Just help get someone out of a Libyan prison."
    Angelo jumped up and made a cutting gesture with one hand. He nodded towards Barzini. "Him I trust, you two I don't know. Outside."
    I responded to Barzini's slight nod by opening the door and leading the way out. Langley was annoyed and showed it. "If I had my way ..."
    "Which you don't," I said. "So your opinion's of no interest."
    He walked away angrily and I leaned against the wall beside the door and waited, listening to the murmur of voices inside. I don't think it even occurred to me that Angelo would say no, and not just because of my faith in Barzini's powers of persuasion. The boy was ripe for change, it was as simple as that. Like me, he'd been in the Hole for too long. It was unlikely that he'd turn down any kind of a chance to break out.
    The door opened suddenly and Barzini said, "Come in."
    Angelo was standing by the dressing table and he was still not wearing the wig. There was a moment's silence and then he raised his glass. "I must be crazy, but here's to crime."
    An enormous feeling of relief surged through me, but before I could say anything Barzini glanced at his watch. "We'll have to be moving if we're to get to the other side of Misilmeri on time." He turned to Angelo, "Meet us at my place in the Via San Marco when you've done your second show."
    "Nothing doing," Angelo told him. "I've got a date with a very willing lady."
    "She'll