Part 16 (2/2)

Bolan took a drag and threw a glance toward the house as he exhaled. He could see men standing at the windows up there.

The cop was lighting another cigarette. He blew the smoke toward the house and asked, ”Is it true a bigshot Mafia Don owns this joint?”

Bolan grinned sourly and replied, ”How the h.e.l.l should I know? I've just been looking for a friend.”

”Looks like you found him,” the cop said. He pressed a sc.r.a.p of cloth into Bolan's hand. ”I was saving this, as a war souvenir. Guess it's not worth much as evidence. You better take it, as a souvenir of Philly. You're leaking out of your left side, maybe you better use it as a patch.”

Bolan was inspecting the cloth as the guy spoke. It was a pocket from his black-suit. ”Where'd you find this?” he asked.

”It's off a soldier of the same side, I guess. How the h.e.l.l should I know? It was growing out of a tree over there somewhere. You'd better beat it, soldier. You'll be getting in the law's way here, most any minute now. Good hunting. Uh, if I were driving this bomb, I'd veer right at the gate and not look back until I was crossing FranklinBridge.”

Bolan cranked the engine, thanked the cop with his eyes, and put that place behind him.

So it was ending on a decent note.

He was taking more than a torn pocket away as a souvenir of Philadelphia. He was carrying lead and pain and shredded flesh as well-but that was nothing particularly new. The important thing that he was carrying out of Philadelphia was a good feeling, a h.e.l.l of a good feeling.

The Executioner's part of it was finished. But the melody of his visit would linger on-and the panic in Philadelphia, he knew, was getting stronger by the hour.

A night for miracles? Bolan shook his head and ran a finger along the outline of the bullet at his ribs. Miracles, he knew, could happen anywhere, everywhere-any time the human spirit moved and tried.

He knew, also, that tomorrow and a whole string of tomorrows were going to be some kind of h.e.l.lish days for the Angeletti Mafiosi.

Yeah. He was carrying something precious away from the city of brotherly love.

He was carrying life, largely lived.

EPILOG.

He'd crossed the Delaware via the BenFranklinBridge and made tracks for the New Jersey Turnpike. The forty-G shark was devouring two full miles per minute and not even straining when the news from Philadelphia broke the airwaves to a.s.sure the Executioner that all the numbers had come home in the city of brotherly love.

He listened to the news, smoked a cigarette, and let the Maserati take its own head.

He had no clear idea of where he was going, nor what he would do if he ever arrived there.

It seemed a fairly safe bet, though, that somewhere up there in that immediate and uncertain future lay a trail which would lead him to a guy called Don Cafu and possibly a return bout with the gradigghia on their home turf.

Sicily, he'd heard, was beautiful this time of year.

Bolan had everything he'd need for a safari into the enemy's ancestral jungles.

He had the bounty he'd collected on a bounty hunter-a hundred and ten big ones-a good car under him, and the name of a guy in New York who provided pa.s.sports and special travel arrangements for a special fee.

He also had the name of a medic in the big city who would patch up gunshot damage without qualms or questions.

He did not need much else. Except his nerve, his numbers, and a willing universe.

Yeah. Sicily was supposed to be very pretty this time of year. And the hunting, he'd heard, was excellent.

POLICE BUSINESS.

* *RESTRICTED COMMUNIQUE* * SCRAMBLE CIRCUIT AUTHY #PH105 FROM PHILA PD/TF 142351L.

TO H BROGNOLA/USDOJ /WASHDC **IMMEDIATE ATTN**BOLAN** BT.

SUBJECT BELIEVED DEPARTED PHILA THIS DATE, DESTINATION UNKNOWN. MAFIA DON STEFANO ANGELETTI ENTIRE ORG APPEARS IN TOTAL DISARRAY, SCORES DEAD, HOSPITALIZED, OR UNDER ARREST. REMNANTS REPORTED DISPERSING IN PANIC IN EXPECTATION OF RETALIATION FROM OTHER ORGCRIME ELEMENTS.

ADJACENT AREAS, REASONS UNDISCLOSED AT THIS TIME. AGENT PERSICONE SUGGESTS. POSSIBLE QUOTE BOLAN TWIST UNQUOTE SIMILAR TO PALM SPRINGs. .h.i.t. SUBJECT POSSIBLY TRAVELING UNDER IDENTIFICATION JOHN J CAVARETTA WITH COMMISSIONE CREDENTIALS BUT UNLIKELY TO CONTINUE THIS GUISE BEYOND IMMEDIATE PHILA AREA. REQUEST IMMEDIATE AND OFFICIAL CLARIFICATION SICILIAN TERMS.

GRADIGGHIA AND MALACARNI ALSO REQUEST FED FOLLOW-UP SPECIAL FINGERPRINT ID REQUEST TELEFAXED THIS DATE.

BT.

THOMPKINS/PERSICONE PHILA SEND FROM BOTTLE AND BEDSPRINGS. END OF MESSAGE.

<script>