Part 49 (1/2)

There Was One.

Other Thing- Los Angeles. August 5.

IN THE MIDST OF A RIOTOUS WORKLOAD AFTER his return-including hammering out a contract for a sequel to Dog on the Moon Dog on the Moon-and innumerable hour-long conversations with Elena in Italy as she prepared in body and soul to move to Los Angeles, Harry was increasingly troubled by the memories of a conversation he'd had with Danny on the drive from Maine back to Boston.

It had begun with Harry thinking about unanswered questions. And in light of his restored relations.h.i.+p with his brother and because of what they had experienced together and the secrets they still shared, he felt it completely natural to ask Danny to help him clarify a few things.

HARRY: You called me early Friday morning Rome time and left word on my answering machine that you were scared and didn't know what to do. ”G.o.d help me!” you said.

DANNY: Right.

HARRY: I a.s.sume it was because you had just heard Marsciano's confession and were horrified by it and by what the repercussions might be.

DANNY: Yes.

HARRY: What if I had been home and had answered the phone?

Would you have told me about the confession?

DANNY: I was a mess, I don't know what I would have told you. That I had heard a confession, maybe. Not what was in it.

HARRY: But you didn't get me, so you left word and a few hours later you were on a bus to a.s.sisi. Why a.s.sisi? There was hardly a church inhabitable after the earthquakes.

(It was here Harry remembered Danny's beginning to get uncomfortable with his questions.) DANNY: It didn't make any difference. It was a terrible time, the bus was going and a.s.sisi was my solace. It always had been.... What are you getting at?

HARRY: That maybe it wasn't just solace, that maybe you were going there for another reason.

DANNY: Like what?

HARRY: Like to meet someone.

DANNY: Who?

HARRY: Eaton.

DANNY: Eaton?-Why would I be going all the way to a.s.sisi to see Eaton?

HARRY: You tell me...

DANNY: [Big smile.] You're wrong, Harry. It's that simple.

HARRY: He was trying very hard to get to you, Danny. By providing me with false papers he was sticking his neck way out. He could have gotten into a h.e.l.l of a lot of trouble if he got caught.

DANNY: It's the business he was in...

HARRY: He got killed trying to find you. Maybe even protect you.

DANNY: It's the business he was in...

HARRY: What if I said the real reason you went to a.s.sisi all those years was not for solace but to deliver information... to Eaton...

DANNY: [Big incredulous grin.] Are you suggesting I was the CIA's man in the Vatican?