82. Coulda, Shoulda, Woulda, Didn't
Chapter 4
Gianni frowned as he took down the rapid clicks and dashes. He would have to spend some time figuring out what the code was. It wasn't the one for today. This was more complicated, which was not a sign of anything good.
The woman sat beside him. She couldn't follow it either. She knew the basics of the codes and could decipher them, but not without looking at this one when it was done. It might be a three off, but not from the beginning of the alphabet. The only thing she knew, which Gianni had told her, was it was from the British, which meant Major Richards.
Good as he was, it took Gianni over a half hour to translate the coded message and give it to Terry. At her frown, Emilio joined her on a bench.
"Trouble?" he asked.
Terry shook her head. "This is insane." She turned to look at the now worried countenance of the resistance leader who knew Garrison and his men. "They have been framed and brought up on charges of treason. One of the generals wants to hang them."
"Are you going back to England?" asked Emilio.
"Can't," replied Terry. "I've been named too. No, I need to get to Zurich."
"How soon?" Frazini was already plotting in his head.
"Yesterday," said Terry distractedly.
It took the Italian a moment to comprehend it was a kind of American slang.
Terry was trying to come up with a plan. "I need to get to Como and get papers. From Como I can take the train to Zurich. But how?"
The scarred face of Frazini broke into a wide smile. "What is that saying? 'Oh you who have no faith'?"
"Close enough," replied Terry with a smile. "Do you have a plan?"
Emilio nodded. "We transport weapons in stages from one part of Italia to another. We just change the weapons for you. And we get our people in Como to make up papers for you."
The woman gave him a big smile of relief. "Emilio, I could kiss you!"
"Oh no, cara!" said Frazini with raised eyebrows. "Marco might come down and strangle me." He looked skyward and crossed himself. "Or Actor might come here and do the same."
"I think you're safe," teased Terry. "I doubt either of the brothers would hurt you."
Frazini turned and walked toward the radioman, gesturing with his hands. "Brothers who no see each other in years, and she gets both of them. Don't know how she did it."
"Neither do I," Terry called after him.
GGGGG
The telephone at the mansion rang in the afternoon. The four men in the common room looked at each other. With a sigh of resignation, the tall Italian rose from his chair and went into Garrison's office. He picked up the phone as he sat down in the Lieutenant's chair.
"This is Actor," said the man, keeping the wariness from his voice.
"'Ello Actor," said Madge cheerfully. "'Ow are you doing?"
"We are fine," replied the confidence man. "And how are things on your end?"
"I thought I would let you know," said the woman, "you were right. Gen. Garrison is getting some money to us. We should be able to make a London run tomorrow. Would you blokes be needin' anything?"
"Ah," said Actor, going along with the girl. "If you are making a liquor run, we could all use some."
"An' will those men with the guns at the gate take it up to you?"
"I will ask them tomorrow," replied the con man. "As long as you do not attempt to come through the gate it should be all right."
"Well, I just thought I'd let you know we 'ave a solution to our dilemma as you put it."
Actor smiled. "I am happy you were able to accomplish that."
"I'll be by tomorrow afternoon," said Madge.
"Thank you, Madge."
"No, thank you for the suggestion. Bye now."
Actor was still smiling. "Good bye, Madge."
Actor hung up, sat back in Garrison's chair and reviewed the conversation. Apparently, Gen. Garrison would be here sometime today. He did not know what the officer could do, but he had stars to Richards' oak leaves. And the two men worked well together. Maybe there was a glimmer of hope. Maybe. Probably not, but stranger things had happened to them.
GGGGG
General Garrison stepped out of the plane onto the top of the metal stairs leading down to the ground. He looked around. The tarmac was wet with puddles and a cold rain fell on him and everything else. Mostly, he found England an inhospitable place as far as the weather was concerned. Turning his coat collar up, he hefted his bag into his left hand and walked down the steps.
A military car pulled up at the base of the stairs and a Lance Corporal got out, opening an umbrella and holding it up to cover Garrison's head and shoulders when he reached the pavement. The Corporal snapped a salute which Will returned.
"Major Richards sent me to get you, Sir. He would like you to come to his office. It's just a short ride, Sir."
"Thank you, Corporal," said Will climbing into the back of the car after the door had been opened. His bag went in the trunk.
The ride took about a half hour. It was enough to make Garrison more tired than he already was. It had been afternoon when his plane had left Quantico. There was a two hour stopover in Greenland, another stopover to drop off supplies in Ireland, and finally on to London. The man had not slept much on the flights. He had called and talked with Major Richards before leaving the United States and what he had been told had been disconcerting to say the least. Now, perhaps, he would find out what was going on and why it was bad enough for Actor to request his assistance.
The General was brought to the door of the Commando officers building. A Lieutenant met him and escorted him to Major Richards office. Once the door was closed, Garrison took off his coat and hung the dripping thing on the coat tree. Major Richards came around his desk and the two men substituted a handshake for salutes.
"I see you acquired another star," noted Richards.
"Yes, the epaulets were too light with only two stars."
Both men grinned. Richards gestured for Garrison to have a seat.
"Coffee or bourbon, Will?" asked the Major.
"Coffee," said Will. "I have an idea I won't be getting any rest any time soon."
"You're probably right."
He instructed the Lieutenant to bring a coffee and a tea, before taking his seat at his desk. He eyed the General.
"All right, Kevin, what the Sam hell is going on? It isn't like Actor to ask for help. He is quite competent." Garrison frowned.
"Unfortunately, all of their hands are tied. The men are under guard in their base. The guards have orders to shoot to kill if they try to leave the building. They are being charged with treason, but nothing very much has been done about that yet."
"Treason?" burst out Garrison angrily. "All right, where are my children?"
Richards was not looking forward to this. "Lieutenant Garrison is in the stockade in London. Terry is, hopefully, on her way to Switzerland from Italy. And I do not have a location for Christine and Kelly, other than Europe."
"Craig is in the stockade? What the hell for if his men are at the mansion?" demanded Will.
"I believe General Fremont does not want him and his men together for fear they could execute an escape."
Major Richards waited for the coffee and tea before he began to brief Garrison on what he knew and what he thought he might know. At the end, Will shook his head.
"Kevin, that's insane," he said.
"I agree," replied Richards, "but if it's true, it seems to be working."
"Let me get this straight," said Will. "You sent my daughter to Switzerland to try to find this Miller, Mueller, whatever his name is, and she is alone?"
The Major smiled. "You did not figure out that last time you were here with them how capable your daughter is? You know her code name. You know what she does. Given the okay, it would not surprise me if she finds a way to take Miller out."
Will's eyebrows rose. "Terry could do that?"
"Kill?" Kevin nodded. "According to Lt. Garrison, she has done it in the past. This is war. It's probably a little more intense than the wild west you are from."
Any other time Garrison would have stridently objected to what could have been taken as a condescending attitude, but there was truth to what the man said, so he let it go.
"I would like to go to the mansion and meet with Actor and the other men." Will grinned somewhat snidely. "I have the same number of stars as General Fremont, so I see no reason to bother him with this. And I have clearance that even he probably does not have."
"I assume you don't want to wait until morning," grinned Richards. At the slow shake of the older officer's head, he continued. "I will have my driver take you there."
GGGGG
Lt. Garrison had been pacing his little room for the past half hour, partly out of boredom and partly to keep his muscles in shape. The advantage of having his own toilet, with or without a seat, did not outweigh the disadvantage of being alone and not knowing what was going on with his men and his siblings. Not for a minute did he believe Chris and Kelly were safe from all of this.
His evening meal had been inserted on a tray through the slot in the bars made specifically for that purpose. Craig had the feeling by the end of the war, he would never allow Spam to pass his lips again. That was if he made it to the end of the war. As neither he, nor his men, had any way of defending themselves, he realistically thought that notion was highly unlikely.
Garrison sat down on the cot and ran his fingers through his tawny brown hair. Terry had probably been notified some way of the mess they were in and told to stay away from England. Whether she obeyed or not was another thing. He might just find her up on the scaffolding with him and his men.
No, he was being too pessimistic. There had to be a way out of this. What did he know? There was always something known. He just had to think it through. It wasn't like he was going anywhere anytime soon. Miller. The man had to hate their guts for killing all of his men, getting the diamonds and leaving him wounded. It probably would have taken him this long to recover, pull a team together and teach them to do what the guys could do. Was he on British soil or over on the Continent? Think Craig, he told himself. What would he do?
GGGGG
It was dark by the time Terry arrived at the safe house in Como. A quick picture of her, printed, dried, and carefully applied to the forged identification card, and she was on a train to Zurich. It was midnight when she reached the Swiss city. Using what little money she had left on her, Terry took a cab to Bernardo's and entered the casino, not dressed for a night on the town or at a game table for that matter. She approached the doorman, gave her real name, and asked for the Duchess, it was urgent. A few minutes later she was escorted to the casino office.
The blond woman with the perfectly coiffed hair above the perfectly made up face was standing by her desk waiting. Terry remained silent until the door was closed behind her. She smiled falsely at the woman who had taught her so much.
"Can I borrow your couch?" asked Terry.
"Of course." Kat looked at her with resignation. "Who is in trouble now?"
"Everybody."
GGGGG
It was midnight, and the men were getting ready to call it a night. There was only so much solitaire and so much reading they could do. It was difficult to even have a meaningful conversation knowing the entire common room, Garrison's office, the common room upstairs and their rooms were bugged. As fast as they had removed them, the listening devices were replaced.
Casino, Goniff and Chief were about to head up the stairs and Actor was reaching to turn off the lamp on Garrison's desk, when the Indian paused and listened.
"Car comin'," he said.
The three at the bottom of the stairs turned to watch the door warily. Actor left the light on and walked to the office doorway. The front door was opened by an outside guard and the tall, gray-haired officer entered the house, still dripping rain water from his clothes.
"How nice of you to join us," greeted Actor smoothly. He frowned, "However I am curious how you talked General Fremont into allowing this."
Will Garrison gave the only slightly shorter aristocratic Italian con man an amused grin. He removed his trench coat and hung it on the coat tree, making sure his shoulder was aimed at Actor.
The Italian grinned broadly. "Ah, I see now," he said. "Congratulations on your promotion, General." He made a face. "However, perhaps the next time, you could arrange for four stars?"
Will shook his head. "That would make me even with Ike and he is very good at what he is doing. I wouldn't want to give him competition."
The other three men, and the two door guards. were watching the confidence man and the Army officer and wondering how the general had known to come to England.
"Would you care to come into the office?" invited Actor. "It is bugged also."
"It would be a pleasure," replied Will.
With a sweep of his hand, Actor motioned him to go into the office. The Italian waited by the door until the other three cons had entered and he could close the door.
"Casino, would you like to exterminate the premises?" asked Actor.
"Now wot did he say?" asked Goniff.
Casino gave him an indulgent look. "Get rid of the bugs."
"Oh right, Mate."
Casino and Chief went about removing the listening devices from the phone, and under the furniture. Goniff motioned Garrison to step aside so he could hop up on the desk and tip the overhead light to remove the bug that was there. The pickpocket grinned at the general when he jumped down. Actor stepped into the bathroom and half-filled the glass on the sink with water.
The three cons walked up to him when he returned to the room and deposited their finds in the glass, effectively shorting out the devices.
Actor turned to General Garrison. "There is only one in the bathroom. It's on the backside of the toilet tank."
Will needed to visit that room and went in shutting the door behind him. A minute later the sound of the toilet flushing reached the men. The door opened while Will washed his hands. Coming out his eyes swept the four men.
"I hope your plumbing is good," he said. "It went for a swim."
That pronouncement brought grins to the others. It seemed every time they met the senior Garrison, he had lightened up a little more. They watched him take a seat behind the desk, open the middle drawer and remove the key. Reaching down, Will unlocked the lower right hand drawer and pulled it out to reveal the bottle of bourbon he knew was there. He removed the bottle and the two glasses.
"If you can scrape up more glasses," said the general, "I would be happy to have all of you join me in a drink."
Garrison waited until more glasses had been obtained everybody was seated taking their first sip before he eyed the Italian sitting seemingly relaxed in the chair on the other side of the desk.
"Gentlemen, I have heard Major Richards' version of what is going on. Now I would like your insight. Who is this Miller person, and what can we do about him?"