Day Of Confession

131

10:50 p.m.

They sat at the kitchen table, listening to Danny, his hand-drawn map of Vatican City in front of them, surrounded by coffee cups and bottles of mineral water and the remains of the pizza Elena had gone out alone to get.

'Here is the goal. Here is the mission,' Danny said for the twentieth time, walking them through it again, as Harry had told Roscani he would, talking not as a priest but as a highly trained marine.

'The tower is here, the railroad station here.'

Once more Danny jabbed his finger at his diagram of Vatican City, looking up from his wheelchair at Harry, Elena, and Hercules in turn, making certain they were watching, understanding each step. As if this were the first time he had gone over it.

'A high wall here,' he continued, 'runs southeast along a narrow paved road leading from the tower for maybe sixty yards. Then it ends. On the right is the main wall' – abruptly, Danny pointed off – 'the one we can see from the window.' Now he looked back to the faces at the table.

'At the end of the wall, there's a gravel path through the trees that will bring you to Viale del Collegio Etiopico, the boulevard of the Ethiopian College. A right there and you are at a low wall and almost on top of the station.

'Everything keys to the timing. We can't try to get Marsciano out too soon, or we'll give them time to swarm the place. But we have to be out of the tower and inside the railroad car before they open the gates at eleven to let the engine in. That means he has to be out of the tower at ten-forty-five and inside the railroad car by ten-fifty-five, no later, because by then the stationmaster or one or two of his men will be coming out to make sure the gates are opening properly.

'Now' – Danny's index finger went back to the drawing – 'you come out of the tower and for some reason – Farel's men, Thomas Kind, an act of God, who knows, but for some reason – you can't follow the wall? Take the road directly in front of you through the Vatican gardens. Several hundred yards down, you'll see another tower building, which is Vatican Radio. As soon as you see it, turn right. The cut across will bring you back to the Viale del Collegio Etiopico and then the wall above the station. Follow the road along the wall for maybe thirty yards. By then you'll be at track level. The freight car will be right there, between the station and the turn-around tunnel at the end. Cross the tracks to the far side of the car, away from the boulevard. All that's there is another set of tracks and then the wall. Pull open the doors – and they may take some work because they're old and rusted – then climb in. Close the doors. And wait for the engine… Any questions?'

Once again Danny looked around the table, and Harry had to marvel at his attitude, his precision, focus. Whatever melancholy he had had before had been pushed aside completely. He might as well have had 'The Few, The Proud' stenciled on his forehead.

'I have to pee,' Hercules said, and standing, gathered his crutches and swung off out of the room.

This was hardly a time to smile, but Harry did. It was Hercules' way. Brusque, funny, and all business, whatever that business was. Earlier, the moment the police had gone, Hercules had looked to Harry, totally perplexed, and said, 'What the hell is this?'

And soberly, in front of Danny and Elena, Harry had explained how Cardinal Marsciano was being held against his will inside the Vatican as part of a secret coup and that he would be killed if they didn't get him out. They needed an inside man, someone who could get to the tower unseen. That man, they hoped, was Hercules, and that was the reason for the climbing rope. Harry had ended it by telling him that if he went along he would be risking his life.

For the longest moment Hercules had remained stone faced, staring at nothing. And then his eyes had gone around the room. Looking from one to the other to the other. Finally his face slowly twisted into an enormous grin.

'What life?' he'd said loudly, his eyes gleaming. And in that moment, he'd become one of them.