55

Dante called the group to order. “I will speak in English,” he said, “since you are all conversant in the language.” He clicked a remote control, and a photograph of the Casselli house appeared on the screen. Clearly taken from the air, it showed everything from the roof down past the Amalfi drive to the sea. “This is our target,” Dante said. He pressed a button and the camera zoomed in and moved up, until they had a bird’s-eye view.

“Here,” he said, pointing to the rear deck, “is a platform marked on the plans as a helicopter landing pad. We had originally intended to set down a troop-carrying naval chopper there with twenty-five men aboard. However, we are cursed with winds forecast for tonight of more than thirty knots, and there is so little room for error that we have decided to bus in our backup to the village square in Ravello. Our troops will then walk about a kilometer down this narrow path, which ends at the chopper platform. It will be dark, the path is narrow, with only a rope handrail for safety, and the drop to the bottom is steep, ranging between fifty and one hundred meters, so they must use their flashlights and be very careful. It will be slow going. The path widens as it approaches the deck. Four men will be assigned to rush the deck and take any security people who might be stationed there. They will be carrying silenced weapons.

“Now, the other point of entry: from the Amalfi drive at the front of the house.” The image on the screen moved and the camera descended to the road. “Behind this high hedge is the entrance to the elevator, which is large, three by three meters. This will certainly be guarded, and it is likely that all guests will be searched or wanded for weapons. Around a curve a hundred meters away we will have twenty-five more men in a bus.”

He switched to the blueprints and highlighted the living room. “This room is very large and was built for entertaining. The caterers inform us that fifty-eight people will be served dinner, about equally divided between men and women. There will be several armed security guards in the house, and we have learned that they will be wearing dark suits and identified by large lapel buttons bearing the letter C. We believe that the guards downstairs will have served us by disarming all the guests, therefore, the security guards are our wild cards: if shooting erupts, it will be from them, so those of you stationed inside the house should identify them from their lapel pins and make them your first targets, if necessary. The next target will be Leo Casselli himself, who should be taken alive, if at all possible, and you have all seen photographs of him. On past social occasions hosted by Casselli, he has worn a white dinner jacket, so that may help you to immediately identify him.

“The four members of the band will arrive at the Amalfi drive entrance to the house, where they will probably be searched, then taken up in the elevator. The piano is situated at the Amalfi end of the living room, near the elevator, so we believe the band will be put there.

“There will be twelve people in waiters’ uniforms. Those working for the caterers will be wearing white jackets. Our people, five of them, will be wearing red jackets. All the catering personnel, who are already en route, will arrive at the square in Ravello in their own vans and a small bus. They will be the first to arrive, in daylight, and after dark, they will walk down the narrow path from the square and enter the house through the rear door on command. All the food, wine, and utensils will have already been delivered to the kitchen, which is of a large and commercial nature. Two of these crates have been marked with a large red C. These have false bottoms and contain the weapons to be used by our five people—four men and one woman. They will also contain three Tasers. These will be used to disable and disarm the security personnel, probably two, who work on the lower floor here.” The image changed to the plan of the lower floor. “This room contains audio and video equipment connected to the many cameras around the house and property. At seven PM, as the guests have begun to arrive, two of our waiters in red jackets, armed with Tasers and pistols, will go to the security room, Tase the occupants, and immobilize them with plastic cuffs on their hands and feet, and they will also gag these people. Their pistols will be silenced. They may have to be fired, depending on the level of resistance. At the same time, our female officer will go to the lower level where four maids’ rooms are located. We believe that Hedy Kiesler may be held in one of these rooms, though we’ve had reports that she is no longer in the house. We have to find out. Three of them should be unoccupied, since their occupants will be upstairs, working. Our woman will be carrying a jimmy bar with which to force the doors, if locked.

“Having reached Hedy, our officer will remain in the room with her until the house has been secured, when another of our people will come for them and walk them to the elevator for extraction from the house. It is possible that Hedy has already left or been taken from the house to another location, in which case we will have another problem on our hands. If so, the security people and staff of the house will be aggressively interrogated as to Hedy’s whereabouts.

“All our inside people, including the musicians, will be equipped with earpieces that contain two-way radios. Commands will be given by these means, and people who have no critical information for everyone else should remain silent.

“Darkness will fall at around seven PM. At approximately seven-thirty to seven forty-five, our guitarist, Guido, will make an announcement, using a microphone attached to his guitar’s amplifier. The other musicians will have earlier retrieved their weapons from the snare drum and will be ready. Guido will announce that they are all under arrest and surrounded. He will reassure them that, after being interviewed, nearly all the guests will be released and allowed to leave. The band members will be responsible for detaining Leo Casselli.”

Stone raised his hand. “Dante, may I make a suggestion?”

“Yes, Stone, of course.”

“Perhaps Guido, before he makes his announcement of arrest, could ask Casselli to come to the microphone and welcome his guests. That way, he will detach himself from the crowd, so we will know where he is, and while Guido makes his announcement, we can cuff Casselli, take him down in the elevator, and put him into a vehicle. I assume that the downstairs guards will have already been taken.”

“Yes, they will be in custody by that time, and I accept your suggestion, which is an excellent one. You, Stone, may have the pleasure of taking Casselli.” There was applause in the room.

“And now, are there any questions? No? Then you will all be in your assigned vehicles at four PM. Waiters, please go now, since you need a head start.”

The meeting broke up, and everyone went to his assigned vehicle. The band members were assigned to a van, inside which the neck of the bass fiddle protruded into the passenger compartment.

Stone took his seat. In a moment, they were off.

56

Hedy had run out of food and wine as the day waned, and two security guards now manned the rear deck, so she could not get into the house or leave her hiding place without being seen. She resolved that once darkness fell, she would leave her nest among the rocks and make her way up the path toward wherever it led, regardless of the danger. She would crawl, if necessary, but she would do it. Irrationally, she began to blame Stone for her predicament, and her single-minded goal in getting out became confronting him with her many complaints. She longed to be back in New York, where no one wished to kidnap or otherwise harm her. Italy no longer seemed an attractive place to live and work.