Bloody Passage - Jack Higgins [24]
"All right," I said. "Getting there is no problem. We can go in by boat with the kind of front that would be acceptable to anybody."
"And the prison?"
"Something else again."
I described it in detail and when I'd finished, he frowned. "It sounds like Fort Knox to me. And you say you've got a way in?"
"I think so. The cliffs on the seaward side are about one hundred and fifty feet high. Supposedly impregnable. Because of that they never have more than two guards on the ramparts."
"Are you trying to say you think they could be climbed?"
"If someone on the ramparts was in place to throw down a line at the right moment and pull up a climbing rope. And I'll need a number two. Preferably the sort of guy who's at home on a rock face."
"But you've still got to get somebody inside to be on the ramparts at the right time," Langley said. "I mean, it's just not on. They don't even let civilians into the bloody place to work."
"Oh, yes, they do," I turned to Barzini. "Every Friday night a local operator named Zingari, who's now working for us, sends in a couple of truckloads of women to amuse the troops, special dispensation of Colonel Masmoudi who always has first choice and never fails to pick less than two according to Zingari."
Barzini seemed amused. "And you're suggesting that your inside operator should be a woman? Someone who would gain access by passing herself off as a whore?"
"No great trick in that. Zingari, as I said, is working for us and he told me himself he's always having to bring fresh girls in from Tripoli."
Langley laughed wildly. "For God's sake, Grant, you're living in cloud cuckoo land. Do you realize what you're asking for? A woman able to pass as a whore, willing to act as one if the going gets rough, capable of disposing of two armed sentries on the north wall."
I said, "It would take an exceptional woman, I grant you, but it's the only way, believe me. The one flaw in their security. The only one."
Barzini laughed harshly. "I like it and it's just crazy enough to work, but as you say, one would need an exceptional woman."
"And I suppose you just happen to have one in mind?" Langley said sourly.
Barzini sighed heavily. "No faith, that's the trouble with you young people today." He turned to me. "There's a girl called Angel Carter appearing at the Tabu this week. That's a beach club on the way to Romagnolo. A new business interest of mine. First show seven-thirty. I'll introduce you tonight. You'll find her rather unusual."
"Fine," I said. "I'll buy that, but what about my other requirement?"
"Someone who's good on a cliff face?" he said. "A climber who's also willing to cut throats? An unusual combination." He hesitated. "Did I ever tell you about my nephew, Nino, my brother's boy?"
"I don't think so."
"The original wild one. They sent him to university, but he got thrown out. Did his military service in the Alps with a mountain regiment, then came home and killed a man in a quarrel over some stupid girl."
"What happened?"
"He took to the maquis. Lived as a bandit in the Cammarata mountains for almost three years. I finally got him a pardon for his mother's sake by laying out a little money."
"Where is he now?"
"That's the trouble, he's on the run again. The Mafia this time." Barzini sighed and shook his head. "Would you believe it, but he has to choose the daughter of the Capo Mafia of all Sicily to put in the family way. Ten thousand dollars for anyone who brings in his head. Believe me there haven't been so many looking for one man since the days of Guiliano."
"From the sound of things I'd say he'd be glad of a way out. How do we get hold of him?"
"A phone call to the right person is all it takes."
As he lifted the receiver, the bell tinkled and Langley started violently. Barzini laughed. "Why don't you go and make the check this time, Mr. Langley?"
Langley glared helplessly at him and Barzini was still laughing as he dialed the number.
In Sicily