Retribution
Chapter 7
The next two days were gloomy with high winds that slapped rain against the window of the hospital room. It did not stop Major Richards from making afternoon visits. Terry listened carefully to his explanations of the group she supposedly belonged to. It sounded bizarre. Still, she tried to make her mind wrap around and remember who "Casino", "Goniff", "Chief" and of course this "Actor" person whom she was supposed to be partnered with, were. Maybe she would recognize this Lt. Craig Garrison who was her brother. That was if they ever got back.
The Masons diligently stayed with her. John firmly informed his wife that Teresa was to be allowed to remember her relationship with "Vittorio" on her own.
GGGGG
The rain beat relentlessly against the window Chief had claimed as his own place. It made the Indian edgy when he couldn't even see out. None of them knew how long the front would last. Until it let up, there would be no transportation back to England. It was doubtful a bird could have flown in the strong winds.
As they were confined with nothing to do, it left the men too much time to think. With thinking came questions. Garrison, Actor and Casino wondered how Terry was doing and if there had been any changes. There was no way of finding out until they arrived back in London.
Goniff had something else on his mind and it troubled him. He managed to steer Actor away from the others, a move that surprised the confidence man as it was unusual. The pickpocket generally kept company with Casino, usually reserving his conversation with Actor to teasing, sometimes with barbs.
The blond man scuffled his feet, looking at the floor. Finally, he peered up at the tall man. "Actor, did I do sumfin' wrong with the sleeping pill? It weren't meant to kill the bloke."
Actor shook his head and sucked on the inside of his cheek. He had gone over everything in his mind a hundred times since they had dumped the body in a wooded area far from the road or people.
"No," he said, "you did nothing wrong. It was only enough to make a normal person light-headed and drowsy. No. I think there was something in the man's chemistry that reacted intensely with the drug. It was an unfortunate circumstance that could not be foreseen without knowing the General's medical history . . . and maybe not even then."
That seemed to mollify the Englishman, who nodded. But he was still concerned. "Wot do you think the Brass is going to do when we come back without him?"
Actor gave a brief shake of his head. "I have no idea. The Warden might have a better grasp on that. He spoke with Allied Command and does not share everything he knows with me, or anyone else."
"You think 'e'd tell us if we asked?"
"Does he usually?" countered the con man.
"No," admitted Goniff.
Actor gave a small smile. "I suppose we can ask. The worst he can say is it is none of our business."
Goniff grinned and started back toward the officer, Actor following at a slower pace. The Lieutenant was standing at another window, gazing outside at the rain, but deep in thought about the mission and his sister. Casino was sprawled in a wooden kitchen chair sideways to a long rustic dining table close by.
Garrison looked up and turned toward the men who approached him. Seeing as the Warden seemed a little less preoccupied, Casino asked the question that was on the minds of the other two men.
"Warden, what's the Brass gonna say if we don't come back with the General? We all gonna end up in the stockade?"
Craig looked around at the questioning faces of his men. Even Chief's ears had perked up, though he did not leave his spot.
"Probably not. They knew the man was unwilling to just leave with us. My orders were to kill him if he made too much trouble. He just took that out of our hands." Craig shook his head. "They wanted to see if they could get information from him, but his cooperation was doubtful at best. And the information in the papers Casino pulled from the safe is very detailed." He reached for a chipped cup on the table with lukewarm ersatz coffee in it and took a sip with a grimace. "No, I don't think there will be any problem."
Casino glanced at the window. "So how soon do you think we can get outta here?"
"Wot kind o' question is that, Casino?" asked Goniff. "Wot's he look like, a ruddy weather balloon?"
That brought the first bit of levity to their situation.
"Your guess is as good as mine, Casino," said Craig. "Would you like to walk into town and ask for a weather report?"
Casino turned his eyes up to the officer's grin. "Funny, Warden."
GGGGG
It was late in the evening when the telephone rang at the Mansion. Collins got up from his chair at the table where he was doing the mending and went into Garrison's office to answer it. He was wary, knowing the men were stuck on the Continent and Miss Terry wouldn't be calling.
"Hello?" He had finally learned not to answer as Lt. Garrison's office in case it was someone trying to find the location of their base.
"Sgt./Major?" came a female voice with an American accent. Even without the bar noise in the background, he knew it was the Gallagher woman.
"Yes, Miss Kit. Is something wrong?"
"Is Craig back yet?"
"No, Miss. Nothing is flying."
"I thought maybe they were taking a sub."
"Channel's even too rough for that according to Major Richards." Collins was getting used to the, to him, lackadaisical approach to security the Yanks here had. "Can I do something for you?" Anything! His head was getting better and there was only so much cleaning he could do.
"I don't know," Kit mulled. "I just got a strange phone call from some guy named Paolo to tell Actor the green package he had asked them to find had been located and was in a safe place."
"Blimey! They found Miss Terry's car!"
Kit hated being left out of things, especially when she seemed to be the communications conduit. "Who found Terry's car?" she demanded.
Harry sat down in the Lieutenant's desk chair. "Some friends of Actor."
A snort came across the phone from the girl on the other end. "Actor doesn't have friends."
Collins had to give a wry smile. "It would appear he has several in London, Miss Kit."
"So, what am I supposed to do?" Kit was frustrated.
"I don't know, Miss. We'll just have to wait for the Lieutenant to return and allow Actor to get it. I don't know where this bloke is in London and if I did, I can't drive two cars."
"'Ey, we're getting' dry over here," came a slightly inebriated voice in the background of the bar.
"I gotta go," said Kit. She would be happy when Terry was back on her feet and working the bar again.
GGG
The next call to the Mansion came the next morning.
"Hello," said Collins tentatively.
"Sgt./Major? Is Terry there?" asked the young female voice.
"Miss Christine?"
"Yes. We just got back. There was a message to call the Mansion."
"Oh dear," Harry did not want to be the one to inform her of the injury to her sister. "No, Miss, your sister is in the Army Air Corps hospital in London."
"Hospital? Who shot her now and how bad is it?"
"Well, Miss, you might want to be sitting down for this . . ."
Harry explained as quickly as possible the events leading up the present. ". . . And Miss Christine, she doesn't know anybody."
"So, Craig and the guys are stuck on the Continent?"
"I'm afraid so, Miss." Harry pondered two things. "Questions, Miss. How did you get back from the Continent?"
"We didn't," said Chris vaguely. "We weren't on the Continent; it was not fun; and I can't tell you where we were."
"Okay. Do you know somebody named Paolo?"
There was a pause on the other end. "Kind of," said Chris, the alarms chiming in her head. "Why?"
"Well this Paolo person called the Blue Fox and told Miss Kit he has Miss Terry's car."
On the other end Chris was wondering if this was a nightmare she would wake up from, but she doubted it. "I'll . . . take care of the car too. Thank you, Sgt./Major. I'm sorry, are you all right?"
"Much better," he replied.
"Thank you for telling me. I'll get Terry's car and go to the hospital."
GGG
"Dirk!"
Both boys came running.
"What's the matter?" asked the tall blond man.
"I need you to give me a ride into London," Chris said. "Terry's in a hospital in London. Craig's stuck on the Continent and I imagine Kelly is stuck in Norway."
So much for sleep. "You want me to drive you to the hospital?"
"Not exactly. I need you to take me to a bar to pick up Terry's car. Then I'll go to the hospital."
Tinker shook his head. "Terry got in a bar fight in London?" he asked in disbelief.
"No. It's a long story," said Chris. "I'll explain on the way to the bar. Oh, and bring a gun." The last was said as though it was a casual thing.
By the time they had reached the bar, Chris had finished the story. She stepped out of the car and looked at the front of the establishment. If Terry could do it, so could she. With determination, she walked toward the door. Dirk was beside her, while Tinker sat behind the wheel of their car and watched, engine running.
Of course, the door was locked. Chris knocked and they waited. No answer. Knowing from working at the Fox, there had to be someone inside, she knocked again. When there was still no answer, Dirk pounded on the door with his fist, waited a moment and pounded again. They heard the lock being opened and stepped back as the door pushed out a crack.
"We're closed."
"I want to talk to Paolo," said Chris firmly.
The dark Gianni eyed the two.
"I'm Terry's sister. I would like to see Paolo."
"And she wants to see him now," said Dirk just as firmly.
Reluctantly, the bartender/bouncer stepped back to allow them to enter. They followed him into the dim interior of the establishment and stopped at the wooden bar. The dark-haired man disappeared into a side room, a loud irritated spouting of Italian coming from him. A moment later another dark-haired man emerged from the storeroom.
"Buongiorno, signorina," he said and continued in Italian.
Chris held her hand up and waved it to stop him. "I'm sorry. I don't speak Italian."
That brought raised eyebrows to the man. "Mi dispiace. I am Paolo. You are Teresa's sister?"
"Yes," she replied.
Paolo did an assessing glance of the tall blond man standing beside her. Did they always bring a bodyguard? He dismissed the younger blond as unimportant.
"How is Teresa?" asked the bar owner.
"I don't know yet. I just got back and found out she's in the hospital." She smiled prettily. "Would you have Teresa's car by chance?"
Paolo nodded. "We found it in a bombed out area on the East End. It runs fine. Does not appear to be damaged."
"It was abandoned?"
"It would seem so. The car is quite distinct. Whoever stole it probably realized they would have a hard time selling it and dumped it."
Christine nodded. "May I take it? I'm sure you would feel better not having a stolen car in your possession."
Paolo gave a short laugh. These American friends of Attore were pazzi, but they seemed harmless enough. This one was way too young. However, Attore's taste went to all women.
"Come, follow me. The car is in the alley."
Gianni exchanged a glare with Dirk as they were led through the storeroom to the back door opening out into the alley. The alley was pretty much how Chris remembered it from before. Beside the garbage bin was a large shape, covered with a tarp. Boxes had been tossed haphazardly on it. Gianni and Paolo began tossing the empty boxes down the alley along the wall. The two men tugged the tarp off and folded it up. Beneath it, top up, was the green Tickford SA. Paolo reached in his right front pants pocket and extracted the keys. Whoever had dumped the car had left the keys in it, perhaps hoping someone would take it and be blamed for the theft. He held the keys out toward the blond man. The girl stepped forward and took the keys from him. Dirk and Paolo exchanged one of those universal "women" looks.
The first splatters of rain tinged off the metal of the car and the bin. Chris jumped behind the wheel in the car and started it up with a satisfying roar. Paolo and Gianni trotted back into the storeroom as the sky opened up. Chris pulled the car out, but by the time Dirk climbed in the passenger side, he was soaked.
"You owe me for this," he said with a shiver.
"Just add it to my bill," smiled Chris turning the heater on full.
She drove out of the alley and around to where Tinker had their beat up junky car, let Dirk out and took off with a roar of engine. Chris had always wanted to drive the Tickford. Now, she reveled in the power it had. By the time she reached the outskirts of London the rain had become heavy again. It prevented her for seeing just how much power the sports car had. When she reached the gate to the air base, she had to wait until her papers were checked and she was cleared. Finally, she parked alongside of the hospital building.
GGGGG
"Why couldn't it do this when we're back in England?" groused Casino.
"I am sure they are getting it as we are."
"Who asked you?"
"Knock it off."
Truth be known, Craig was getting as antsy as his men. He didn't like staying in the same place this long. The muddy stream running rapidly down the dirt drive gave some reassurance that nobody would be out looking for them. A loud crack of thunder seemed to affirm that thought. Part of Craig's irritation was not knowing how his sister was doing. They all knew how tricky head injuries could be. He had experienced them in the past, at home and in North Africa. The other one of the group with the most experience was Actor. Once away from the hospital and "Teresa", the con man seemed to be his normal self. Craig hoped it stayed that way.
6
