London Pass Part 6

Eight o'clock the next morning, Lt. Craig Garrison, dressed in full uniform that he had retrieved from G-2 after his briefing, strode up to the registration desk at the Windsor. He was not in a good mood. Major Richards had been waiting for him at six, when he got off the plane from the military base he had been taken to from the sub pens. There was another mission that required the expertise of all four of his cons. He hadn't even had a chance to go back to the mansion. Now he had to try to round up his wayward men, who could be anywhere.

"Is Count Mancini still registered here?" Craig asked the desk clerk.

The desk clerk smiled warmly, "Ah yes, the Count and Countess are still in the Westminster Suite. Shall I ring them for you, Lieutenant?"

"No," said Craig. "I'll just surprise them. You say the Countess is here too?

"Oh, yes, Sir," smiled the man. "A lovely lady, the Countess is, Sir."

"Yes, I'm sure," said Garrison.

He got on the elevator and pushed the button for the top floor, a scowl on his face. Countess! Man, Actor had balls bringing a woman up there. Well, he and his countess were going to get a piece of Garrison's mind on that one. He got off the elevator and pounded on the door to the suite.

Terry was up, dressed and packed. She had called room service for breakfast. It seemed the waiter was getting a little loud. She opened the door and stared into her brother's face. Craig stared back at her and then pushed into the room.

"What are you doing here?" asked Terry.

"Me? Just what the hell are you doing here?" He flung his hat on the table. "I told you to drop them off and pick them up. I did not tell you to stay with them, Countess."

"Oh, for heaven's sake, Craig. What do you think we've been doing up here, having an orgy?" Terry faced him with hands on hips. "They have all been perfect gentlemen. So what are you doing here? We aren't due to leave until two this afternoon."

"We have a mission."

"Now?"

"Now!"

Terry walked back to the hall and pounded on one bedroom door.

"Hey knock it off, Sister," yelled Casino. "I just got to sleep."

"Well, now you can get up and get dressed and get out here. We have company."

"Who?"

"The Warden." She heard something that vaguely sounded like 'oh, shit' before she turned around and yelled at the other door, "Chief!"

"I'm up," called Chief.

Terry went back to the living room. Craig was glaring at her. He had heard her call him 'Warden.' "Where's Actor?"

"Out," replied Terry, not overly happy with his brusque mood.

The three other men came into the room. Casino and Goniff were looking quite the worse for wear. Chief was awake and alert.

"All right, just where is Actor?"

Casino gave Garrison a dirty look. "How should we know? You know Actor. He gets out his little black book and calls some dame and goes to get his itch scratched."

Terry grimaced at the safecracker. "Casino, that is still the most disgusting description of that act I have ever heard."

Craig rounded on her, "Then maybe you shouldn't have come along with them."

Terry just favored her brother with a disgusted look.

"Get packed. I'm checking you out," ordered Garrison.

"Aw, come on, Warden!" growled Casino. "You gave us forty-eight hours."

"And I'm taking them back. Move it, Casino."

"We ain't goin' on another mission!" objected the safecracker strongly.

"You'll go where I tell you to go, when I tell you to go! Now move it!"

Terry followed Chief into his bedroom and began packing Actor's bag. He was going to be royally annoyed, not only with having his 'leave' interrupted, but having to drive back to the mansion in his tuxedo. As she was organizing things in his bag, she spotted the black book. A conniving grin came to her face. She picked it out and when Chief had his back turned, tucked it into her bra. She carried the bag out to the living room and retrieved hers also.

When everyone had arrived, Garrison looked at them all. "So nobody knows how to get hold of Actor?"

Again, Casino was the verbal one. "Come on, Warden. He never tells any of us where he goes or who he goes with."

"'E always shows up when 'e's s'pposed to," added Goniff. "And 'e 'ad six more 'ours."

"That's just great," said Craig, irritably. "We need him on this mission and we have to be on the way by two."

"I might be able to locate him," said Terry quietly.

Four pair of eyes fixed on her. "He told you where he was going?" asked Casino, incredulously.

"Not exactly," said Terry. "Give me a little bit and I might be able to figure it out so you can go get him," she said to Craig.

"Oh no," said Garrison with grim delight. "You're the one who wanted to play countess. You go get your count and get him to the mansion. You have two hours to find him."

Goniff fidgeted, "Uh, Warden. You really think it's safe to send your sister to get between Actor and another woman?"

Craig grinned wickedly, "I really don't care. Just so she gets him." He held up the keys to the jeep. "I'm taking the car. You get the jeep," he said to his sister.

Terry snatched the keys from his hand with a glare. As she walked past him, she spoke in his ear. "Now I know why they call you the Warden, Warden."

"Get moving, Terry," said Craig sternly.

The young woman stalked out of the hotel, muttering dire threats to her brother interspersed with oaths. It was darn cold out and she was wearing a skirt in an open jeep. She got behind the wheel and started the engine, pulling out before the men could get down to the Packard. If she stayed behind, she might be sorely tempted to run over her brother.

Terry drove down the street until she found a café that was open for business. She went inside and slid into an empty booth, ordered a cup of coffee and had to make do with tea. The little black book was still stashed in her bra and she stealthily removed it. Her tea arrived quickly and she tried to smile at the waitress. Wasn't the woman's fault she was in a lousy mood.

Dumping watered down milk and a saccharin tablet in the hot drink, she opened the well used book to the first page. Aw, hell, she thought as she stared at the page. It was in Actor's flowing handwriting, the names alphabetical by last name followed by first name above an address and a telephone number. There were two letters beside each name. Initials of his aliases? It didn't help her any because she only knew a few of his aliases and there could be any number of combinations of names.

With a sigh, she started reading down the first page of the 'A's. There were no 'Elizabeth's, but the addresses had her eyebrows raised in disbelief. Couldn't the man at least group them by country? Paris, Zurich, Oslo, Nice, and Cairo for crying out loud. Cairo? Carefully she worked her way through the book as she drank a second cup of tea. There were countries listed she had never even heard off. The blasted Italian must be a cross between Casanova and Don Juan, and he probably had both of those men beat. By the end of the book, she had found several 'Elizabeth's but only one with a London address.

Terry went to a phone on the wall at the back of the café, close to the rest rooms. She put some coins in and dialed the number for an Elizabeth Rothschild. The phone rang and rang in her ear with no answer. It was the only possible Elizabeth so the ladies' man had to be there. He just couldn't make this easy. Now thoroughly disgusted, Terry paid for her tea and asked the waitress for directions to the part of town the address listed.

Terry pulled up to the curb in front of an old stone row house in a wealthy neighborhood. She really did not want to do this. Steeling herself, she went up the steps. The outer door was unlocked so she stepped into the foyer and looked at the names on the mailboxes. Rothschild was on the second floor. She bounded up the stairs and stopped in front of the door. It took a second knock before someone answered.

The door opened a bit to reveal a very beautiful woman, about Actor's age, in a silky flowing robe. Terry figured there wasn't much else under it. The woman looked at Terry questioningly.

"May I help you?"

"Ma'am, I am terribly sorry to bother you. This is extremely awkward." Terry wasn't quite sure how to proceed. "I am looking for a gentleman and thought he might possibly be here."

God, she didn't even know what name he was using. She was spared from further fumbling when Actor stepped from the hallway behind the woman into the sitting room, wearing a short robe. His eyes widened with rage.

"What do you think you are doing here?" he demanded, the accent very strong, a sure indication he was very angry.

Terry held her hands up, "I'm sorry. It was not my idea. I was sent to get you. The Lieutenant showed up. Your – uh – expertise is needed. I was told I had to get you and drive you back, Sir." She tried the subservient role.

Actor remained enraged. "And just how did you find me?" Terry wasn't about to explain that one here and looked askance at him. "Never mind. I will deal with that later." He eyed her. "Why were you sent? Why did the Lieutenant not come himself?"

"He was very unhappy to find me with the others," said Terry. "This is my punishment."

Elizabeth was delicately hiding an amused smile behind her fingers. "Won't you come in? You must be cold?" she offered the girl.

"Oh, no thank you, ma'am," said Terry quickly. "Thank you for your kind offer, but I believe it would be best if I waited in the jeep."

"Jeep?" roared Actor.

Terry winced. "The Lieutenant took the car and made me take the jeep."

Elizabeth took the girl's hand and pulled her inside, shutting the door behind her. Actor turned and stormed back down the hall.

"I apologize again, Ma'am," said Terry very embarrassed at the situation.

Elizabeth was trying very hard not to laugh as she watched Actor's rigid back disappear in the direction of her bedroom.

Terry was very embarrassed at the situation. "I apologize again, Ma'am . . .," she repeated.

"Elizabeth," the woman introduced herself. "And what is your name?"

"Teresa," replied Terry.

"Do you work with him?" asked Elizabeth.

"Sometimes, when I have to," she replied in frustration, knowing that this mission with him was not going to be pleasant with the mood he was in.

"Are you sleeping with him?" asked the older woman in amusement.

"God, no, Ma'am!" exclaimed Terry.

"Too bad, Teresa." The woman smiled. "He is very talented."

"I will take your word for that, Elizabeth," said Terry. "I'm really not his type."

Elizabeth laughed at that, "Come now, if it breathes, is pretty and female, it is Vittorio's type." She looked the girl up and down. "And you fit those criteria." Footsteps could be heard. "You really should try him," she advised in a conspiratorial tone.

"I think not, but thank you for the advice."

Elizabeth glided over to Actor as he entered the room. He was still angry. Elizabeth slipped her arms around his neck and drew his head down for a passionate kiss. Terry turned away and took an inordinate interest in a flower arrangement on a side table.

Elizabeth whispered in his ear, "Be kind, Vittorio. I think you have scared that poor girl to death."

"As well she should be," he grumbled.

"There will be other times, Darling," Terry heard Elizabeth say.

Terry turned back as the couple approached. She ignored Actor. "I apologize again, Elizabeth. Thank you for your graciousness."

Elizabeth smiled, "Remember what I said."

"I'm sure I will remember that." Terry didn't think she would ever forget this. Somehow, she was going to get even with her brother. That is if Actor did not kill her on the way back to the mansion.

She happily endured Actor's angry silence which lasted for three blocks until she pulled up to a stop sign.

"Just how did you find me?" he demanded to know.

Terry reached inside the neck of her blouse and pulled out the black book, holding it out to him. He practically snatched it from her. She shot a glance at him. His eyes were almost bulging with anger.

"I didn't let Craig or any of the guys see it. They didn't know I had it. I looked up every Elizabeth until I found one in London."

"So you just had to drive right over and knock on the door?" The accent was still thick.

Terry shot him a look of pure anger. "I called. If you had answered the dang phone it would have been a lot easier."

"It rang at a -," Actor stopped abruptly, '-inopportune moment."

Terry choked on a laugh, further enraging the man. "What's the matter, Actor? Can't you do two things at once?"

"Teresa!"

The con man sat in stony irate silence for the ride through London. By the time they had left the outskirts of the city the outside temperature had warmed up a bit, but Terry was still cold. It was after twelve and they still had a two hour drive to reach the mansion on schedule. Terry laid her foot on the gas pedal. They rode through the countryside without comment for twenty minutes.

"Must you drive like a maniac?" shouted Actor irritably over the roar of the wind as the jeep bounced through and dodged potholes.

Terry's lips clamped together as her foot slammed down hard on the brakes. The jeep squealed to a sliding halt, throwing the Italian forward, his hand catching the dashboard to keep from hitting the windshield. He turned angry eyes to her, but she just stared straight ahead.

"I have to have you back by two o'clock," she said with a steely voice. Now she turned to glare at the con man. "If you think you can drive any better and still get there on time then feel free to take the wheel."

Actor looked at his watch. It would be tight getting to the mansion in that timeframe, no matter who was driving. Still, his driving was better than Teresa's. "Switch," he said forcefully.

Terry got out and stalked around the back of the jeep while Actor crossed in front of it. Without a word, the Italian shoved the jeep into gear and took off with a squeal of tires. As far as Terry was concerned the ride was just as bouncy and swerving as when she was driving. A stealthy glance at the speedometer told her the con man wasn't driving any faster than she had been. Despite that, they reached the estate with five minutes to spare.

The two strode into the mansion, rigid in anger and silent. Garrison stood in his office doorway and surveyed them with a grim smile of satisfaction. The two were most obviously at odds with each other. It went a little ways in soothing his irritation.

Terry paused at the base of the stairs as Actor moved past her. She glared at her brother. "I don't suppose you packed me a bag while you were waiting?"

"No," he replied. "You're not going on this one."

"Well that's just fine with me!"

She stormed up the stairs and into her bedroom. Her bag was sitting on her bed. She jerked it open, but carefully removed the ball gown and began putting away her clothes.

Garrison strode back into his office and shut the door.

The three cons sitting at the game table looked at each other.

"How the hell did she find him?" asked Casino in disbelief.

"Don't know," said Chief, wondering the same thing.

"She's ruddy well got you beat," said Goniff to Chief in admiration of the girl's ability.

Casino chuckled. "I bet that was some jeep ride."

"No bet," said Chief.

Ten minutes later, Garrison emerged from his office, duffle bag in hand, still obviously unhappy.

"Actor!" Craig's voice came stridently up the stairs. There was no answer. "Actor! Get down here!" Garrison was in just as bad a mood as the Italian. There was still no answer.

Terry frowned and walked down the hall to the con man's bedroom. Actor was in his mission clothes, duffle bag packed and on the bed. He was trying to smooth the wrinkles out of his tux before hanging it up.

"Actor!"

"Go," said Terry. "I'll take care of it." He looked at her in a split second of indecision, then grabbed his bag and moved past her. "And Actor, find him a woman so maybe he'll get in a better mood. Not that it did anything for yours."

"Teresa, I swear . . .!"

"Yeah?" she shot back at him defiantly.

He stopped, lips tight together as he realized he would do nothing to her and she knew it. Instead he turned and strode down the hall.

Terry watched him and realized she did not want anger to be the last thing between them if something should happen to him. "Hey!"

Actor paused at the end of the hall and looked back.

"Be careful," she admonished quietly.

The anger faded. He gave a half crooked smile. "Always."

Terry watched him disappear around the corner and heard him descend the stairs. She turned and went into his bedroom. The tuxedo had been laid out carefully atop his bed. Terry picked up where Actor had left off, smoothing the wrinkles in the black material with her hands. She picked up the pants and held them by the ends of the legs, trying to line up the creases before putting them on the pants hanger in the armoire. She smoothed the material of the jacket before hanging it up also.

The tails of the white dress shirt were quite wrinkled. It would have to go into the wash. She was about to turn to put it in the dirty clothes hamper when she stopped and sat down on the bed, holding the garment and looking at it with a frown.

Why had she been so concerned that Actor not be angry with her when he left. It wasn't like she really meant anything to him. Yeah, he had spent quite a bit of time with her and seemed to enjoy it, but had it been just another one of his con jobs? The number of names in that little black book of his had been astonishing. She bet that every one of those women felt she was the most important to the man. That was what the con was. He made people see what they wanted to see and made himself into what they wanted him to be. So what did he think she wanted him to be? Certainly not a lover. Not with that many women under his belt so to speak. If she were to ever take a lover again, not that she had any intention of doing that, it most certainly would not be a man who just looked at her as another conquest. And besides, her mind wandered, where did Actor get off being mad at her? It was Craig he should be angry with, not her. Oh, to hell with him, she thought with a snort of self-disgust. She rose from the bed and threw the shirt hard into the hamper before striding out of his room.

***Stay tuned for the next story.