The Evening News (30 page)

Someone else groaned and Sloane wanted to answer, How the hell would you
feel? Instead he replied, "Obviously, I hope it isn't true
.”

A gray-haired former CBA correspondent, now with CNN, held up a copy of
Sloane's book
.”
Do you continue to believe, as you wrote here, that
'hostages should be expendable,' and are you still opposed to paying
ransom-as you put it, 'directly or indirectly, ever'
?
”

Sloane had anticipated the question and answered, "I don't believe that
anyone as emotionally involved as I am at this moment can be objective
about that
.”

"Oh, come on, Crawf
,”
the CNN man persisted
.”
If you were standing here
instead of me, you wouldn't let anyone get away with that. I'll put the
question another way: Do you regret having written those words
?
”

"At this moment
,”
Sloane said, "I find myself wishing they weren't being
quoted against me
.”

Another voice called out, "They're not being used against you and that's
still no answer
.”

A woman reporter from an A_BC magazine program raised her penetrating
voice
.”
I'm sure you're aware that your statement about American hostages
being expendable caused a great deal of distress to families who have
relatives still imprisoned in the Middle East. Do you have more sympathy
for those families now
?
”

"I've always had sympathy
,”
Sloane said, "but right now I
probably have a better understanding of those people's anguish
.”

"Are you telling us that what you wrote was wrong
?
”

"No
,”
he said quietly, "I'm not saying that
.”

"So if a ransom is demanded, you'll say adamantly no
?
”

He raised his hands helplessly
.”
You're asking me to speculate on something
that hasn't occurred. I won't do that
.”

While not enjoying what was happening, Sloane acknowledged mentally that
at plenty of press conferences in the past he had played hardball as an
interrogator himself
.
An offbeat query came from Newsday
.”
Not much is known about your son
Nicholas, Mr. Sloane
.”

"That's because we keep our family life private. In fact, my wife insists
on it
.”

"It isn't private anymore
,”
the reporter pointed out
.”
One thing I've been
told is that Nicholas is a talented musician and might become a concert
pianist one day. Is that true
?
”

Sloane knew that in other circumstances Jessica would object to the
question as an intrusion. At this moment, though, he didn't see how he
could avoid answering it
.”
Our son does love music, always has, and his teachers say he's advanced
for his age. As to his being a concert pianist or anything else, only time
will tell
.”

At length, when the questions seemed to be winding down, Leslie Chippingham
stepped forward and declared the session at an end
.
Sloane was immediately surrounded by some who wanted to shake his hand and
wish him well. Then, as quickly as he could, he slipped away.

Miguel, having seen all the news he wanted, switched the television off and
considered carefully what he had learned
.
First, neither the Medellin cartel nor Sendero Luminoso was suspected of
involvement in the kidnappings. At this point, that was helpful. Second
,
and equally helpful, was the fact that no descriptions existed of himself
or the other six conspirators. If the authorities had somehow obtained
descriptions, almost certainly they would have been made public by now.
All of which, Miguel reasoned, made slightly less dangerous what he
proposed to do next
.
He needed more money and, to get it, he must telephone tonight and arrange
a meeting at, or near, the United Nations tomorrow
.
From the beginning, getting sufficient money into the United States had
been a problem. Sendero Luminoso, which was financing this operation, had
plenty of money in Peru. The difficulty was in circumventing Peru's
exchange control laws and transferring hard currency in U.S. dollars to New
York, at the same time keeping the movement of money-its source, routing
and destination-secret
.
It had been done ingeniously, with help from a revolutionary sympathizer
,
a Sendero ally highly placed inside the Lima Peru, banking system. His
accomplice in New York was a Peruvian diplomat, a senior aide to Peru's
ambassador to the United Nations
.
The amount of operating funds allocated during planning by Sendero and
Medellin was $850,000. This included payments to personnel, their
transportation and living expenses, leasing a secret headquarters, the
purchase of six vehicles, medical supplies, the funeral caskets, payments
in the Little Colombia district of Queens for covert aid and firearms
,
commissions in Peru and New York on money transfers, plus bribes to an
American woman banker. There would also be the cost of flying the captives
by private aircraft from the U.S. to Peru
.
Almost all the money spent in New York had been drawn in cash by Miguel
,
through the United Nations source
.
The way it worked was that the Lima banker surreptitiously converted the
funds entrusted to him by Sendero Luminoso into U.S. dollars, $50,000 at
a time. He then made transfers to a New York bank at Dag Hammarskj6ld Plaza
near United Nations headquarters, where the money was placed in a special
sub-account of the Peruvian UN delegation. The account's existence was
known only to
Jose
Antonio Salaverry, the UN ambassador's trusted aide, who
had authority to sign checks, and to the bank's assistant manager, Helga
Efferen. The woman banker personally took care of the special account.
Jos
e
Antonio Salaverry was another secret supporter of Sendero, though not
above taking a commission on the transferred funds. Helga was sleeping
regularly with the duplicitous Salaverry and both were living a lavish New
York lifestyle beyond their means, partying and keeping up with the
free-spending United Nations diplomatic crowd. For that reason the extra
money they made by secretly channeling the incoming funds was warmly
welcomed
.
Whenever Miguel had needed money he telephoned Salaverry and stated the
amount. A meeting was then arranged for a day or two later, usually at UN
headquarters, occasionally elsewhere. In the meantime Salaverry would
obtain a briefcase full of cash. Miguel would walk away with it
.
Only one thing bothered Miguel. On one occasion Salaverry let slip that
while not knowing the money's specific purpose or where Miguel and the
others from Medellin were hiding out, he had a pretty good idea of their
objective. This, Miguel realized, could only mean there had been a security
leak in Peru. At this point there was nothing he could do, but it made him
wary of contacts with
Jose
Antonio Salaverry
.
Miguel glanced at the cellular phone beside him. For a moment he was
tempted to use it, but knew he shouldn't and must go out. In a caf6 eight
blocks away was a pay phone he had used before. He checked his watch: 7:10
P.m. With luck, Salaverry would be in his mid-Manhattan apartment
.
Miguel put on a topcoat and walked quickly, keeping a lookout for any sign
of unusual activity in the area. There was none
.
During the walk he thought again about the televised press conference with
Crawford Sloane. Miguel had been interested in the reference to a book by
Sloane which apparently included statements about never paying ransom and
that "hostages should be expendable
.”

Miguel hadn't known about the book
nor, he was sure, had others in the Medellin cartel or Sendero Luminoso
.
He doubted, though, if the knowledge would have affected the decision to
abduct Sloane's family; what someone wrote for publication and what they
felt and did in private were often different. But either way, it made no
difference now.
Something else of interest coming out of the press conference was the
description of the mocoso Sloane brat as a possible concert pianist
.
Without any clear notion of how he might use it, Miguel tucked the nugget
of information away
.
When he reached the cafe Miguel could see that only a few people were
inside. Entering, he headed for the phone, which was at the rear, and
dialed a number he had memorized. After three rings Salaverry answered
.”
Allo
,”
he said with a strong Spanish accent
.
Miguel tapped three times on the phone mouthpiece with a fingernail, a
signal that identified him. Then he said, keeping his voice low
,
"Tomorrow morning. Fifty cases
.”

A "case
”
was a thousand dollars
.
He heard a quick gasp at the other end. The voice which came back sounded
frightened
.”
You are crazy
phoning here tonight? Where are you? Can this
call be traced
?
”

Miguel said contemptuously, "Do you think I am a pendejo
?
”

At the same
time he realized that Salaverry had connected him with today's events;
therefore meeting him would be dangerous. Still, there was no
alternative. He needed cash to purchase-among other things-the additional
casket for Angus Sloane. Also, Miguel knew there was plenty left in the
New York account and wanted some extra money for himself before leaving
the country. He was certain that more than just commissions had stuck to
Jose
Antonio Salaverry's grubby fingcrs
.”
We cannot meet tomorrow
,”
Salaverry said
.”
It is too soon, and too short
notice for the money. You must not . .
.”

" Do not waste my time
.”

Miguel gripped the phone tightly
,
controlling his anger, still speak
ing softly so others in the cafe
would
not hear
.”
I am giving you an order. Get the fifty cases early. I will
come to you in the usual way, shortly before noon. If you fail, you know
how furious our mutual friends will be, and their arm has a long reach
.”

"No, no! There is no need for their concern
.”

There was a hasty
,
conciliatory change in Salaverry's voice. A threat of vengeance by the
infamous Medellin cartel was not to be taken lightly
.”
I will do my
best
.”

Miguel said curtly, "Do better than that. I will see you tomorrow
.”

He hung
up the phone and left the caf6.

Inside the Hackensack hideaway the three captives remained sedated under
Socorro's watchful guard. Throughout the night she administered additional
dosages of propofol as Baudelio had instructed; she monitored vital signs
and kept a record. Shortly before daylight Baudelio awakened from his own
sedated sleep. After studying Socorro's medical log he nodded approval
,
then relieved her
.
In the early morning Miguel, who had slept only fitfully, watched TV news
again. The Sloane kidnapping was still the top item, though there were no
reports of new leads
.
Soon after, Miguel informed Luis that at eleven o'clock the two of them
would be driving into Manhattan in the hearse
.
The hearse was the group's sixth vehicle, a Cadillac in good condition
,
bought second
hand. So far they had only used it twice. The remainder of the
time the hearse had stayed out of sight at the Hackensack house, where it
was referred to by the others as el angel negro, the black angel. The
vehicle's inside floor, where a casket normally rested, was of handsome
rosewood; built-in rubber rollers ensured that a casket's passage would be
smooth. Interior sides and roof were lined with dark blue velvet
.
Miguel had originally planned to use the hearse only as a final means of
transportation before the air journey to Peru, but now, clearly, it was
their safest vehicle. The cars and the GMC truck had had too much exposure
,
especially during the Larchmont surveillance, and it was possible that
descriptions of them had by this time been given to police and circulated.