Without remorse - Tom Clancy [263]
'Right-standard rudder, come to new course two-six-five.'
'Right-standard rudder, aye, come to new course two-six-five, aye.' Petty Officer Sam Baker rotated the wheel. 'Sir, my rudder is right-standard.'
'Very well,' the Captain acknowledged, adding, 'Surf City, here we come!'
'Aye aye, sir!' the helmsman hooted back. The skipper was really with it for an old fart.
It was the time for nerves now. What could go wrong? Kelly asked himself atop his hill. Lots of things. The helicopters might collide in midair. They might come right over an unknown flak site and be blotted from the sky. Some little widget or seal could let go, crashing them to the ground. What if the local National Guard was having a training exercise tonight? Something was always left to chance. He'd seen missions go wrong for any number of dumb and unpredictable reasons. But not tonight, he promised himself. Not with all this preparation. The helo crews had trained intensively for three weeks, as had the Marines. The birds had been lovingly maintained. The sailors on Ogden had invented helpful things to do. You could never eliminate risk, but preparation and training could attenuate it. Kelly made sure his weapon was in proper shape and stayed in a tight sitting position. This wasn't sitting in a corner house in west Baltimore. This was real. This would enable him to put it all behind. His attempt to save Pam had ended in failure due to his error, but perhaps it had had a purpose after all. He'd made no mistakes for this mission. Nobody had. He wasn't rescuing one person. He was rescuing twenty. He checked the illuminated dial of his watch. The sweep hand was moving so slowly now. Kelly closed his eyes, hoping that when he opened them it would move more quickly. It didn't. He knew better. The former Chief of SEALs commanded himself to take a deep breath and continue the mission. For him that meant laying the carbine across his lap and concentrating on his binoculars. His reconnaissance had to continue right to the moment the first M-79 grenades were fired at the guard towers. The Marines were counting on him.
Well, maybe this would show the guys from Philly how important he was. Henry's operation breaks down and I handle things. Eddie Morello is important, he thought, stoking the fires of his own ego as he drove up Route 40 towards Aberdeen.
Idiot can't run his own operation, can't get dependable people. I told Tony he was too smart for his own good, too clever, not really a serious businessman - Oh, no. he's serious. He's more serious than you are, Eddie. Henry is going to be the first nigger to get 'made.' You watch. Tony is going to do it. Can't do it for you. Your own cousin can't do it for you, after you connected him with Henry. Goddamned deal wouldn't be made except for me. I made the deal but I can't get made.
'Fuck!' he snarled at a red light. Somebody starts taking Henry's operation apart and they ask me to check it out. Like Henry can't figure things oat himself.
Probably can't, not as smart as he thinks he is. So then what - he gets between me and Tony.
That was it, wasn't it? Eddie thought. Henry wanted to separate me from Piaggi - just like he got them to take Angelo out. Angelo was his first connection. Angelo introduced him to me... I introduced him to Tony ... Tony and I handle the connection with Philly and New York... Angelo and me were a pair of connections ... Angelo was the weak one ... and Angelo gets whacked...
Tony and I are another pair of connections...
He only needs one, doesn't he? Just one connection to the rest of the outfit.
Separating me from Tony ...
Fuck.
Morello fished in his pocket for a cigarette and punched the lighter on his Cadillac convertible. The top was down. Eddie liked the sun and the wind. It was almost like being out on his fishing boat. It also gave him fine visibility. That it made him somewhat easier to spot and trail hadn't occurred to him. Next to him, on the floor, was a leather attache case. Inside that were six kilos of pure stuff. Philadelphia, they'd told