Edge of Tomorrow

by Wolf Wootan

  When he finished, he noticed that the music on the piano was a Strauss waltz, so he looked at the orchestra and nodded. They began playing the waltz and Hatch nodded to the regular piano player to take over for him. He walked over to Syd and began dancing the waltz with her, and the stunned crowd started talking again, and several couples joined them on the dance floor. The stressful moments were gone.

  • • •

  Captain Rossini had wiped the blood off his sword and put it away. When he returned to the ballroom, Hatch was just finishing playing, then the waltz started. He went to Sara and took her hand.

  “May I have this waltz, signorina?” he asked her.

  “Delighted, signore,” she replied as they whirled onto the dance floor.

  “Signore Lincoln is a very unusual man, isn’t he?” mused Rossini.

  “More than you know, Charlie.”

  “Before the little interruption by the infamous count, I was really enjoying my evening with you, Sara,” he remarked as he whirled her to the left. “I wish they could get off this waltz thing so I could hold you closer.”

  “My thought, too, Charlie. Pretty difficult in this fucking dress, though! I’ve had enough of this long-line bra and all the layers of underskirts. Why don’t we slip away to my suite and you can help me out of this crap!” laughed Sara. “Wouldn’t you like a little encore? We won’t be as eager and nervous as we were last night. We can take it slower tonight.”

  “You were not nervous—just me! I can’t really leave the ball until the Prince retires, but I will be happy to escort you to your suite then,” he leered. “I hope the Prince retires soon! I can’t wait to see your gorgeous body again!”

  Sara smiled at him and whispered, “Well, my tits are nearly popping out of this dress! That will have to tide you over till later!”

  “That’s what has been driving me crazy all night! They just make things worse!”

  • • •

  The Prince said his goodnights and thank-yous at 12:30 P.M., and then he and Princess Anna left the ballroom. At that point, Bruno told Hatch that he was going to the hotel to sweep the suites again and Karen said she would go with him.

  When Bruno went to his suite to get his equipment, Karen said, “Tell me what you’re doing, I’d like to learn.”

  When Bruno was through, he called Hatch and told him they were still clean, and everyone who wanted to could come up to bed. He and Karen went to her suite.

  “Help me out of this thing, please, Bruno. I need to collapse now! I’ve never been so scared in my life!” exclaimed Karen.

  Bruno helped her strip down to her panties—she even took off her long, constricting bra—and she flopped down on the couch with the brandy he had fixed her.

  “Was this just another day on the range for you cowboys? I’m still trembling!” blurted Karen as she lit a cigarette with shaky hands.

  “No, Karen. This was a very unusual day. I’ve never seen anything like that myself! Ever!”

  And she didn’t even know about the events earlier with Judy Beecher!

  He had stripped off his costume as well, and sat down next to her in his underwear. He put his arm around her and stroked her bare breast as she leaned against him. She was trembling.

  “Just relax, baby. I’ll keep you safe. Here, let me hold you.”

  • • •

  In Hatch’s suite, there was a similar scene—Hatch in his underwear, Syd in hers—and they were both smoking. Hatch told Syd all the details of the Lady Morley incident, and then called Colonel Coffer to make sure she had arrived safely at the castle. She was settled in, Coffer informed him, and she was still alive. He had brought in one of their doctors from Rome who kept things confidential, and he had put her back on a drip bag. She was sleeping comfortably.

  “As soon as she’s stronger, I want to move her to some place safer—somewhere the CIA doesn’t know about. I’m sure they’re watching the castle,” Hatch told Syd.

  To himself he thought, As soon as I get back to the U.S., I’m going to deal with Gramble once and for all! His time has finally come, Kat!

  Syd said, “I’m glad you got Lady Morley—Judy—out of there in time! I can’t believe they tried to kill her! I don’t understand the CIA. Why are you doing this for her anyway?”

  “The attack on her has something to do with me. It’s something I’ll take care of once and for all when we get home. Now, I want your thoughts on the duel,” said Hatch.

  “My thoughts are still the same. You should not have done it! You scared me shitless!” exclaimed Syd.

  “That’s not what I mean. The whole thing was fishy. The count had always stopped on first blood before. Why did he press on?”

  “He’s an egotistical prick, that’s why. Charles said he had never lost before!”

  “I thought that at first, too. But he tried to kill me when my back was turned. There’s no honor in that. Then, when I pulled my blade out of him, he said something about being dead anyway, and that I had formidable enemies.”

  “But who?”

  “Good question. Not the CIA. Judy would have warned me. Besides, that’s not their style. That leaves …”

  “Tessitore,” said Syd. “That son-of-a-bitch!”

  • • •

  James Gramble called agent Doug Cannon into his office at 10:00 A.M. Monday morning for a briefing on the Monterra situation. He only nodded when Cannon told him about the termination of several Mafia thugs in retaliation for the shooting of Judy Beecher. He began fuming, however, when he heard that the attempt on her life—a sanction he had ordered personally—went awry. It had been reported originally that she was dead. Now he was told that she had disappeared, and their agent was dead!

  “Damn it, Cannon! How could that happen? Wasn’t she shot full of holes?” snapped Gramble.

  Cannon replied, “She had to have had help.”

  “I’ll bet Lincoln is involved in this somehow! Do you know where his fucking jet was?”

  Cannon looked in a file on his lap, then said, “It flew to Rome on Sunday at 6:16 P.M. Monterra time. It returned to Monterra at 5:02 A.M. this morning, Monterra time.”

  “Shit! I’ll bet he flew her to that fucking castle he has over there! Do we have anyone watching that?” snarled Gramble, his right eye beginning to twitch.

  “Not at the moment. We moved them to Monterra for the operation there. I can move someone back,” grumbled Cannon, not comfortable with this conversation.

  “Too late! Watch his plane closely. He’ll move her again, then we can pick up the trail,” said Gramble.

  Cannon was glad Beecher had gotten away. He had always liked her. He did not have a clue as to why Gramble had sanctioned her. Cannon could also not figure out why Lincoln was considered an enemy. He left the meeting sweating, glad that it was over.

  • • •

  The longer Gramble thought about Lincoln, the more enraged he became.

  “The time has come!” he mumbled to himself. “It’s time to risk it! I have to get rid of him!”

  He turned to his computer, then entered his data access code and password. He called up the file which tracked international assassins. He scrolled through it for a moment, then stopped on the one he was looking for. He picked up his secure phone and dialed a number in St. Petersburg, Russia.

  • • •

  Joey Plato had been sent to Monterra by Evio Tessitore to find out what happened to their people at the Casino Barone, and to report on how the death of Van Lincoln went. He had found only one of their people—a blackjack dealer who had been able to slip into the ocean and swim two miles to a deserted beach. The dealer told Joey that he had overheard two of the team that had attacked them speaking American. He was certain they were not from another crime family—his guess was CIA. The woman snooping around whom they had tried to kill must have been CIA. Joey also learned that Count di Cressi was in the hospital, and Van Lincoln was still very much alive.

  At 10:00 A.M. on Monday, he called in
his report to Evio Tessitore and the Don. They were not pleased.

  The Don said, over a secure speaker phone, “Make sure the count dies of his wounds, Joey. We can’t have him talking to anyone. Then, you and that dealer get out of there. We need to stay out of Monterra for awhile.”

  After they hung up on Joey Plato, the Don said to his son, “Do you think, Evio, that Lincoln had anything to do with the CIA attack on Casino Barone?”

  “No way to know. I’m more worried that he will find out we were behind di Cressi. He could hire an endless number of mercenaries to harass us. We don’t need the aggravation, or the spotlight,” replied Evio. “I still think he should be eliminated.”

  • • •

  Monday morning, Captain Rossini slipped out of Sara’s suite at 5:00 A.M. and returned to his quarters in the Royal Guard compound. He had not wanted to be seen leaving her suite, and thus possibly compromise her. He would have rather stayed and had another round of exciting sex with her, but he knew how to show propriety. He had never met a woman who had such a voracious appetite for sex—incredible sex!

  In his office at 10:00 A.M., he received reports on the disappearance of several employees from Casino Barone, the disappearance of Lady Morley from the hospital, and the dead fake nurse.

  One of the reasons that Monterra had so little crime could be attributed in part to the large network of informants Rossini maintained. Any hint of a pending crime was often snuffed out quickly. Rossini was not hampered by the same rules that American policemen were forced to follow. The captain of a fishing boat had reported hearing a helicopter in the middle of the night. Another informant had actually seen two dark-clad men force one of the employees of the casino into a car and speed away.

  Rossini had been investigating Casino Barone for some time, and had actually deported two dealers caught cheating several weeks ago, but had not yet built a strong enough case for a major money laundering conspiracy. He also knew of the CIA presence in Monterra. With all this new information, it did not take him long to come to the conclusion that there was such a conspiracy, and for some reason not clear to him at the moment, the CIA had snuffed it out. The shooting and disappearance of Lady Morley still baffled him—unless she was also CIA. That made some sense to him, but then Syd’s story of how the shooting happened did not make a lot of sense.

  Rossini had gained great respect for Hatch because of the way he had handled himself during the duel with Count di Cressi, even though Hatch had never been in a duel before. Also, since Karen Steppe was the attorney for the Prince, Rossini decided he would share his information with Hatch and his group and see what kind of reactions he got from them. Not that it much mattered. He was happy that the CIA had solved a problem for him, and was only slightly interested in what happened to Lady Morley. He was more interested in impressing Sara with his investigating powers.

  He was surprised when he called Hatch’s room and caught him there. He told Hatch he had some information for him, so Hatch asked him to join his group for lunch at noon at the Marina Patio Tavern. Rossini looked forward to rubbing knees with Sara.

  • • •

  Rossini related his information while they ate lunch. Hatch was glad to get the information about the alleged CIA sweep of the money laundering guys, and he silently agreed that the CIA was responsible. He did not share his own view with Rossini that Tessitore had paid the count to kill him.

  Near the end of the meal, a sergeant in the Royal Guards reported to Rossini that the Count di Cressi had unexpectedly died in the hospital. No one knew, of course, that Joey Plato had slipped undetected into his room and held a pillow over his face.

  This news surprised Hatch, since he had been told that the count would survive. He could smell the long hand of Tessitore quieting a possible leak. He was sure an autopsy would prove it.

  • • •

  Karen had had a busy morning in the office provided her by the Minister of Justice, Dante di Dorno. Bruno stayed close by, watching her work. She prepared a document for the World Court indicating that she was now the Attorney of Record for the Principality of Monterra, then faxed it to them. She also asked for a delay so she could become familiar with the case. She sent a fax to her partner Carla Sanchez with all of the particulars of what was going on. She made notes on a yellow legal pad for about an hour, organizing her thoughts, and making an action list. Because of the time difference, she could not talk to her researcher until later in the day, so she faxed some instructions to her. She wrapped things up at 11:30 A.M. so she and Bruno could join the others for lunch.

  • • •

  Hatch felt that it was time to get out of Monterra. He hated to leave Karen on her own—with Bruno protecting her, of course—but he wanted to go take care of the Judy Beecher situation. Also, he felt that if trouble was directed at him personally, he could handle it better on his own turf. The medieval laws of Monterra were not entirely to his liking.

  Karen said, “Hatch, I do business all over the world by myself. This time I’ll have Bruno to watch over me. I’ll be fine. I have the entire Royal Guard at my disposal! Eventually, I’ll have to go to The Hague. Does Bruno follow me there, too?” She had a small wicked smile.

  Syd said, “He’d better! You’re not to go anywhere without him until this is over!”

  “If you say so, sis! I’m not complaining. What about you, Bruno? You have a say in this,” laughed Karen.

  “You do not get out of my sight, signorina! Besides, it beats hanging around Florida in the peak of summer,” answered Bruno, really wanting to say that being with Karen was all he could think about.

  “Then, that’s settled. We’ll plan on leaving in the morning. Tonight we’ll have a fabulous dinner, and some more dancing. Do you think you could join us, Charles? I’m sure Sara would appreciate a dancing partner,” smiled Hatch.

  Captain Rossini was both thrilled and saddened—thrilled to be invited to the dinner, but saddened that Sara would be leaving. Maybe he could at least have one more glorious night with her!

  • • •

  Karen and Bruno watched the GS-V lift off into the clear blue sky on Tuesday morning, heading for Rome. Then they went to the car Hatch had rented for them and Bruno helped Karen into the passenger seat. On their way back to the hotel they were silent for awhile.

  Finally Bruno said, “Well, it’s just you and me, babe. I guess you’re going to miss Syd, eh?”

  “Yeah. I was just getting used to her being around. But she’s a different Syd than I used to know. Strong, and sure of herself,” replied Karen as she put her hand on Bruno’s thigh.

  “She is that.”

  “Well, I can’t do any more work until this evening when I can talk to San Francisco. Why don’t you take me to that nude beach Sara was talking about?” laughed Karen.

  “You’re kidding, right? Why would I want to do that?”

  “I thought men liked to go look at all those bouncing boobs!”

  “That’s true, I guess, but I don’t feel like letting all those guys look at yours,” he chortled. “Besides, I don’t know how safe it is.”

  “Don’t go getting possessive! And how dangerous could it be? Nobody will be able to carry a concealed weapon,” she laughed. “We’ll be lost in a sea of naked flesh!”

  “You wouldn’t want the Royal Attorney to be recognized at a topless beach, would you?”

  “Recognized? Who will be looking at faces?”

  “OK, if you insist. Let’s go pack a picnic lunch and get some sun. I still don’t know why you want to do this.”

  “Just so I can say I did. Experience it, you know. If you hadn’t already seen me naked, you’d be all for this! Anyway, I may chicken out when we get there,” giggled Karen.

  • • •

  Hatch, Syd, and Sara were back at the castle by 2:00 P.M. They went to the medical facility in Colonel Coffer’s compound to check on Judy Beecher. She had her hospital bed raised and was sipping juice through a bent straw.

  “
Well,” said Hatch with a smile, “you look a little better today! Get some rest?”

  “Yes. It’s quite comfortable here. Where am I?” she sighed.

  “One of my safe houses, just north of Rome.”

  “I’ve been so doped up, maybe you could give me a run down on what happened,” said Judy.

  Hatch did so, starting with the shootout where Syd helped her out, and ending with the CIA attempt to terminate her.

  “Well, well. First of all, thanks, Syd. I guess we wouldn’t be having this chat except for what you did.”

  “I think they would have killed me, too, if I hadn’t acted quickly,” smiled Syd.

  Judy went on, “I guess I’m retired now, eh? But once I’m well, I have a few bloody hits of my own to carry out! Those bastards!”

  Hatch said, “You had best think of getting well first, Judy. Plus, since they’ve been watching me, they might guess that you’re here, so I want to move you to a safer place for rehab. How do you like the South Seas?”

  “I don’t know. You mean like Tahiti?”

  “Good guess. I own an island down there. Not in my name, so no one will ever find it. I’ll get you new ID papers, and in a day or two—if you’re up to it—we’ll move you there. You speak French?” replied Hatch.

  “Of course. You still sound like a Company man. You are more powerful than I thought. Can I choose my new name?” laughed Judy.

  “Sure, as long as it won’t give any clues as to whom you really are.”

  “I’ve always liked Samantha. Make it Samantha Smart,” she smiled.

  “Done. Now, get some rest. I’ll make all the arrangements.”

  • • •

  On the way back to the castle, Syd said, “I didn’t know you owned an island!”

  “I forgot to mention it, I guess. It’s south of Tahiti. I was thinking we could go there for our honeymoon. It’s a tropical paradise!” chuckled Hatch. “It’s called Bora Tiki—actually owned on paper by Monsieur Jacques Jabert, another of my aliases.”

  “Jabert? Wasn’t he the bad guy in Les Miserables?” laughed Syd.