Part 9 (2/2)
”I guess that's why I can't raise Tony,” Air Two replied.
Bolan growled, ”Send them home.”
Grimaldi sighed again, heavily. ”Boss wants you back at the joint,” he told Latigo. ”Go on home, Earl.”
”My ground crews too?”
The Great Stone Face nodded his head.
Grimaldi pressed the throat mike and said, ”Yeah, everybody is heading in.”
”Okay, see you there,” Air Two replied, signing off.
Bolan eased off the pressure of the Beretta and commented, ”I might even pay you a salary plus bonuses, Jack.”
That, thought Grimaldi, was because the guy didn't know what he was heading into. Quick Tony couldn't be reached on the radio because he was setting up something at Puerta Vista.
He went along with the gag, though, and told Bolan, ”When Tony hears about this, you'd better make it enough to get me to Lower s...o...b..via, eh.”
Bolan did not reply, and they went on in silence until the lights of Puerta Vista became visible.
Then the woman spoke, for the first time since entering the 'copter. ”Circle from the east,” she instructed him. ”On the first road north of the coastal highway, just inside the village, you will see the church. It has a high bell tower. You will land in the churchyard to the rear.”
Grimaldi nodded his head and glanced at the ice man. ”Is that what you want, Mr. Bolan?”
”You heard the lady,” Bolan replied. ”Do it.”
He found the spot with no trouble at all, and he set her down without landing lights exactly where the lady wanted, and with hardly a b.u.mp.
The moon was coming up, and visibility was definitely improving. Grimaldi s.h.i.+vered, wondering what was coming up next-and fearing the worst.
He cut the engine and the rotors were still chugging around in the rundown spin when the big guy started battering the radio with his pistol and ripping out the ignition system.
Then Bolan grabbed Grimaldi and hauled him to the ground and told him, ”Run east, soldier. Don't slow down, and don't look back.”
Grimaldi had absolutely no desire to argue with the man. Paydirt now meant simply remaining alive.
He started running, mentally bracing himself for the shot in the back which never came.
Twice in one day the b.a.s.t.a.r.d had let him off. Jack Grimaldi simply could not understand it. He ran on, almost hoping that the big guy would make it through Puerta Vista in one piece. Maybe the guy wasn't such a total b.a.s.t.a.r.d, after all.
It was a dumb hope, though. Grimaldi was the lucky one. He was running out of Puerta Vista.
Bolan was striding into it Straight into Quick Tony's paydirt.
Chapter Ten.
SOFT SELL.
During those tense moments at the strip mine, while awaiting the arrival of the helicopter, Bolan and Evita performed reluctant farewells, both aware that this might be their last opportunity to do so. And when all the words of appreciation and mutual admiration had been said, she asked him, ”What will you do upon leaving Puerto Rico?”
He reflected on the question for a moment, then replied, ”I .had planned to chase the bra.s.s ring but... well, I guess it's best that I tuck my tail in and make a run for home ground.”
She nodded her head in agreement. ”This would be best. You do not now think it wise to enter the tournament, yes?”
”I don't like the focus the thing has taken,” Bolan explained. ”Anything I go for now will likely be just another setup, and I'll be fighting their war their way.”
”This is not good.”
”No, it isn't. I'll have to pull back and hope for another try another day. My way, and on my terms. If we can capture this chopper, well go on into Puerta Vista. We'll make the meet with Juan. Then you will go your way and I will go mine.”
”This would be best,” she quietly agreed.
”It's a d.a.m.n shame,” Bolan mused. ”I may never pa.s.s this way again, and there's a lot of fruit to be picked down here.”
”But, as you say, the tournament would now be a sham. They will be expecting you, and lying in wait for you.”
”Yeah.” Bolan sighed and dug into his moneybelt and produced a folded sheet of linen paper. He pa.s.sed it over to the girl. ”I took those names out of a book I came across in Las Vegas a couple of thousand years ago. They're the local reps-or they were, as of a day or so ago, of the mob's Caribbean operation, the entire wheel from Na.s.sau to Panama.”
Evita was scrutinizing the list of names in the fading light. ”Yes, a few of these I recognize,” she told him. ”They make frequent visits at Gla.s.s Bay.”
”Keep the list,” he offered. ”Give it to your bosses. Maybe it will tie in somewhere to their investigations. But tell them that they may as well cool it for a couple of months. I've an idea that those boys are all on sudden vacations. Or they will be, as soon as I'm officially declared free of the death trap here.”
”There is one big name missing from this list,” Evita said thoughtfully.
”Yeah? Which one?”
”You have heard the name Edward Stuart?”
Bolan smiled and shook his head. ”If it's Mafia, and it's big, then it probably started as Eduardo Stuarti-but it still means nothing to me.”
”This man is known as Sir Edward,” Evita said casually. ”He is thought to be the number one syndicate man in all of Caribe land. And this one would feel no need for a sudden vacation.”
”That big?”
She nodded. 'That big. He is thought to be very influential behind the scenes in Haiti. Since Papa Doc's death, especially. I would-”
”Hold it,” Bolan growled, his interest rising. ”Are you saying this guy is in the Haitian government?”
”Officially, no. But, as I said, very influential. It is being said that the decline of tourism in Haiti during Papa Doc's regime is now being greatly reversed, and that Sir Edward Stuart is the man and the money behind this new surge.”
”What is Puerto Rico's official interest in Stuart?”
”Officially, no interest,” Evita replied. ”Haiti is a free republic, a friendly neighbor. They belong to OAS and to the UN. But their government for many years has been a strong dictators.h.i.+p, perhaps the most repressive, and terroristic in the Americas. And Sir Edward's influence with certain officials provides him a perfect sanctuary from which to operate illegally throughout these islands. We are naturally interested, and we are naturally observing his operations whenever possible.”
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