The Bannerman Solution (The Bannerman Series) (83 page)

Paul's expression softened a shade. Still, he waited.

“It's okay to send Molly. I appreciate the thought. I'd
appreciate also if you'd call me when you know some
thing.”

“You have a place to stay?”

Lesko shook his head.

“Use my place. Molly will give you the key and a
car.”

Lesko nodded thanks. “You see Elena, if you talk to
her, tell her for me. . . .”

“Tell her yourself, Lesko.” Paul walked briskly to
ward the street at the sound of Billy's horn.

The phone message, marked
Extremely Urgent,
had
been left by Urs Brugg, who identified himself as
Elena's uncle whe
n
Bannerman hastened to return the call. The introduction was unnecessary.

It had happened near the town of Lachen, forty
kilometers south of Zurich. A van had overtaken the
Mercedes driven by his nephew, Josef. Two men in the
back of the van fired automatic weapons as it drew past.
Josef was killed outright. Bannerman's man, Russo, seated behind the driver, was also killed outright. His
niece, Elena, was hit twice and is now in surgery. One
bullet pierced her left arm, which had been holding
Russo. Another struck her high in the chest after passing
through Russo. The van was then driven off, after an
exchange of fire with another nephew, Willem, who had
been following only two kilometers behind.

“My niece remained conscious throughout,” Urs
Brugg told him, “insisting that Mr. Bannerman at Davos
Hospital be notified immediately. It is her impression,
and that of
my surviving nephew, that she was the pri
mary target. Both gunmen concentrated their fire in
her direction after hitting the driver.”

“I see.”

“She is alive because she was shielded by the body of
the injured man, Russo. She asks me to assure you that
such use of him was inadvertent.”

“I understand,” he said. “Mr. Brugg, can I help you
in any way?”

“Can Mama's Boy find the men who did this?”

Bannerman remembered his words to Anton about
Urs Brugg, deeply regretting them. “I'll do better than
that, sir. You have my promise.”

“Elena suggests that you do it from outside Switzer
land. The police have identified Russo and will soon
connect him with the rest of your people. They are
likely to detain all of you regardless of my wishes. The Swiss police have little tolerance for assassins of any
stripe.”

“I have a flight in four hours. Can you steer them away from the airport?”

“I will do my best.”

“Mr. Brugg, I did not get a chance to meet your
niece. I regret that because she sounds like a very con
siderable woman.”

“Yes. Yes, she is.”

“I will be in touch, sir.”

Paul and Billy returned directly to Klosters, where Paul told Molly and Carla about the ambush. He gave
Carla no chance to brood about the death of Gary Russo.
The trick was to move fast and keep moving. He sent
her out to rent another car and to purchase an axe and keyhole saw at the local hardware store.

By the time she returned he had packed his bags and
Susan's, including their skis, and wrapped Lurene
Carmody's body in a mattress cover. With Carla waiting
at the garage elevator, Billy carried Lurene to the trunk
of the BMW, where she joined her husband Harold. The
axe and saw were put in with them. The luggage was
stacked on the rear seat and the ski bags tied on top.

Carla was instructed to take the first southbound
train, carrying no luggage lest she be observed by the
police, then make her way to Milan and book the first
available flight home. Molly was to take the rented car
to Davos and make sure that she or Lesko was with
Susan at all times, and stay until she was told it was safe
to leave.

Paul and Billy were on the road shortly before sun
set. Billy insisted upon riding with the luggage, his win
dow ope
n
. and his silenced pistol ready in the event of a second ambush. Paul said it was a waste of heated air.
Billy said it couldn't hurt.

An hour out of Klosters, by the shore of the Wallen
see, Paul pulled off the autoroute and made his way to
the lake's frozen surface. Leaving Billy on shore near a
stand of pines, he walked fifty feet onto the ice, carrying
the axe and saw. He hacked out a hole six inches in
diameter, then cut out a two-foot disk with the saw.
Fifty feet downstream, he hacked a smaller hole. He
dropped the tools through it.

He returned to the BMW, where Billy had finished
stripping Harold's body of all identification. Paul took these, plus Lurene's effects and jewelry, to the smaller hole, and tamped them through. He turned to see Billy
dragging Harold and Lurene across the ice to the larger
hole. Harold went in headfirst. Lurene followed. Billy
threw his gun after them.

Paul took the two-foot disk, inverted so it would freeze shut more quickly, and plugged the hole with it.
Next he used his car key to scratch
kein verdammen
fischen
in the ice, hopeful that it would induce the next
morning's ice
 
fishermen to try another part of the lake.
It all took twenty minutes.

They reached Zurich Airport with only thirty min
utes to spare. Leaving Billy and their baggage at curb-
side, Paul drove the BMW to the parking lot where,
after carefully wiping all surfaces, he locked and aban
doned it.

He joined Billy, who was checking their baggage and
securing boarding passes. Billy watched the clerk's face
for any sign that she'd been alerted to watch for them.
There was none. Just two more men with skis. Best way
to remain inconspicuous at a Swiss airport in January.
Their only remaining obstacle was passport control.
The official at the glass Immigration booth examined
their passports, then stared at each of them with what
Paul took to be interest but not alarm. Nor did he bother
checking their names against his stop list print-out or
bulletins. The official's eyes flicked past his shoulder.
Paul turned, his stomach tightening. But standing
there, arms folded, touching a finger to his hat, was
Willem Brugg.

From the departure lounge as final boarding was
being called, Paul telephoned Anton Zivic, to alert him
that they were coming. Zivic knew already.

“Molly called from Davos,” Anton told him. ”Urs
Brugg called as well. I'll have security and transporta
tion waiting. Have you spoken to Roger Clew? He's
most anxious.”

“I'll call him when I get there. Everything quiet
otherwise?”

“Calm before the storm, I think.”

“Anton, I had no business asking Molly to stay. Will
you call back and tell her to get out? I have to run for the
plane.”

”Urs Brugg has seen to that as well.”

As the Swissair flight left the runway, a profound
sadness, born partly of exhaustion, settled upon Paul.
He tried not to think of Susan. And he berated himself
for leaving Molly with her. He'd told himself he'd done
it for Susan's protection, even that of her father. But
that wasn't the reason. Carla would have been the bet
ter choice as an attack dog and Molly would be needed
in Westport. He left her because he knew that she, un
like Carla, would talk to Susan. Tell her about him. In a
way that would ease the hurt. And Susan would talk to
her.

Mama's Boy. Always calm, cool, in control. Always
the professional. Some professional.

He was asleep before the clouds blurred out the
lights of Zurich.

At Kennedy Airport, passing through Customs with
out incident, he spotted John Waldo among the limo drivers and waiting relatives. Janet Herzog and her
knitting bag were by the door. He did not acknowledge
them. Billy hauled most of the bags to a stretch limou
sine waiting at the curb while Paul carried the others to
a telephone. He had two calls to make.

“Mr. Brugg, it's Paul Bannerman. How is she?”

“Out of danger,” Elena's uncle answered. “One bul
let shattered her collarbone but missed the lung. She seems more concerned about the scar and how it will effect her choice of wardrobe.”

“That's the best possible news, sir.”

“Easy
for
you
to
say. You don't wear low-cut gowns.”

Paul smiled, both at the joke and at the relief that it
implied. “Sir, I made you a promise. Will you stay close
to your phone this week?”

“I am in a wheelchair, Paul. I am always here.”