Countdown - Iris Johansen [61]
“Not personally. The executioner wore a hood, but he was taller, thinner.”
She rubbed her temple. It was hard to comprehend when all she could see was the image that Trevor had described. “He said . . . letters?”
“There were no letters. This was the only letter Mario received since he came to MacDuff’s Run.”
“Then why would Grozak say—”
“He wanted to put a spoke in the wheel,” Trevor said harshly. “I needed Mario to translate, and Grozak wanted to stop me or slow me down until he could make a move. If Mario thought I was keeping his father’s ransom letters from him for my own purposes, that would do the trick.”
“He beheaded that old man without giving anyone a chance to ransom him?”
“Ransom wasn’t the aim. That would have dragged it out too long, and Grozak doesn’t have that much time. He needed the translating stopped now. This was the quickest and most likely way to do it.”
“His father . . .” She remembered something Mario had said on the first day she’d arrived at the castle. “But he said he’d told you he had no close relatives. That you’d made it one of the requirements for the job.”
“It seems he lied. Stupid . . .” For an instant his expression was more agonized than Mario’s had been. “He didn’t give me a chance. I could have—” He flipped open his telephone and pressed a number. “Brenner, I’m in the library. I need you now.” He hung up. “Get out of here, Jane.”
“Why?”
“Because as soon as Brenner walks through that door I’m going to start rerunning the tape. I don’t think you want to see it.”
She stared at him in horror. “Why would you do that?”
“Between us, Brenner and I have run across most of the hit men who Grozak would deal with. If we look at the tape enough, we may come up with an identity.”
“How can you sit and watch—” She knew the answer. You could do anything you had to do. But watching and rewatching that tape would be hard even for the most callous person. “It’s necessary?”
“I’m not letting Grozak get what he wants without paying the price.” He repeated wearily as Brenner came into the room, “Get out of here. I’ll let you know if we come up with anything.”
She hesitated.
“You can’t do anything,” Trevor said. “You’ll only get in the way.”
And he didn’t want her to see that tape. Dear God, she didn’t want to see it either. And he was right, it would serve no purpose. She turned and headed for the door. “I’ll go and see if I can help Mario.”
She felt numb with horror as she went down the hall and started up the stairs. She had known that Grozak was evil, but this took malevolence to a new level. The sheer calculated coldness of the act was stunning. What kind of creature was he?
Mario wasn’t in the study as she’d expected. No, of course not. He wouldn’t be able to face the work that had been the cause of his father’s death. She knocked on the door of the adjoining bedroom. “Mario?”
“Go away.”
She was tempted to do as he said. He probably needed time alone to get over the shock.
No, she couldn’t leave him to cope with that shock and horror alone. She opened the door. He was sitting in a chair across the room, and the tears were gone but his expression was ravaged. She came into the room. “I won’t stay long. I just want you to know I’m here if you need to talk to someone.”
“I don’t need you. I don’t need any of you.” He stared at her accusingly. “Did you know about the letters?”
“There were no other letters,” she said gently. “Grozak wanted you to think there were so that you’d stop work and blame Trevor.”
He shook his head.
“It’s true. Grozak’s a terrible man. That’s why Trevor wanted to make sure that he didn’t have a target.”
“He let them kill my father.”
“You told me yourself that you told Trevor you had no close living relatives.”
He looked away from her. “He wouldn’t have given me the job. It was clear what he wanted from the man he hired. And it wasn’t exactly a lie. My mother divorced my father years before she died. He moved to Lucerne and I didn’t see him often.” His voice broke. “But I loved him. I should