Day Of Confession

95

Danny was alone as Harry came into the cave, sitting just back from the entrance, his broken legs in their blue fiberglass casts twisted awkwardly in front of him. He wore Harry's black jacket over the thin hospital gown he had on when they put him into the skiff.

Immediately Harry looked around. Where was Elena? He looked back to find Danny staring at him, as if he weren't quite sure who Harry was. And Harry knew the physical exhaustion caused by the brutal ride through the grotto's sluices was taking its toll. Danny had regressed, and it frightened him because he didn't know how far back he'd gone or if he would regain the strength to come back.

'Danny, do you know who I am?'

Danny said nothing, just continued to stare. Unsure, uncertain.

'I'm your brother, Harry.'

Finally, hesitantly, Danny nodded.

'We are in a cave in the north of Italy.'

Danny nodded again. But the action was still vague, as if he understood the words but not what they meant.

'Do you know where the sister is – the nun who is taking care of you. Where is she?'

For several seconds there was no reaction at all. Then slowly, deliberately, Danny's eyes shifted to the left.

Harry followed the movement across the cave to a bright, sunlit opening near the back. Leaving Danny, he crossed to it, started through, then stopped. Elena was half dressed, her habit around her waist, her breasts exposed. Startled, she quickly covered herself.

'Sorry,' Harry said, then turned and went back inside.

A moment later and fully dressed, Elena followed him in, thoroughly embarrassed, trying to explain.

'I apologize, Mr Addison. My clothing was still wet. I dried it out there on the rocks, as I did your jacket and your brother's gown. He was sleeping when I… was… not dressed…'

'I understand…' Harry found a way to smile, and it put her at ease.

'You came with the truck?'

'Yes.'

'Harry-?' Danny cocked his head as Harry and Elena came closer.

It was Harry, he was sure. Elena was with him, and that helped because she had been with him for a long time. And she made him feel anchored to some kind of reality. Still, he felt weak. Thinking itself – where they were, how Harry came to be there – was a supreme effort. Then the vision of Harry taking his hand and helping him out of the water came back vividly. So, too, did the moment when they looked at each other and realized that after so much time they were together again.

'I…' Danny touched a hand to his head. 'Not thinking… too… clear…'

'It's okay, Danny,' Harry said gently. 'It's going to DC okay…'

'It's not unexpected, Mr Addison,' Elena said deliberately, her eyes going to Danny. 'And I don't mind talking in front of the father, because he needs to understand it, too – he has been seriously hurt… He was making progress, all this has set him back… Physically I think he will be all right… But he may have trouble with his words, his cognizance, or both… How much will return, only time will tell.' Now she looked to Harry.

'How far is the truck, Mr Addison?' She was suddenly concerned with time, with the lengthening shadows outside the cave. 'How far do we have to go to reach it?'

Harry hesitated, then looked to Danny. Afraid of upsetting or frightening him, he took Elena by the arm and led her toward the cave's entrance, telling her he'd show her the way from there.

As they reached it and bent down to step over the rocks that kept it from being seen from the lake, Harry turned to face her.

'The police have found the grotto. They had a helicopter circling the top of the hill by the elevator shaft. Maybe that's the way the blond man got out – who knows? But they'll know Danny was there and that he was alive…' Harry hesitated. 'You left your things behind, Elena. They'll know who you are… and probably that I was there, too, because I wasn't very careful about what I touched.

'They'll search the tunnels and corridors, and when they don't find us, they'll saturate this whole area looking for us.

'The road up out of here is impossible, but if we can get out before they come this far, and do it before dark, before I need to use headlights, we might make it. At least to the main road and in with other traffic. Hoping that when it does get dark, we can slip through their checkpoints like we did this morning.'

'To go where, Mr Addison?'

'With luck, the Autostrada at Como and then north to the Swiss border at Chiasso.'

Elena studied him for the briefest moment. 'And then where, Mr Addison?'

'-I'm not sure…' Suddenly Harry was aware of Danny watching them intently from inside the cave. For the first time Harry saw him at a distance, saw what he had become. Emaciated, broken. But still with fight, the same way Harry had always remembered him. Bullheaded sometimes, but always tough. Nonetheless, right now he was next to helpless.

Abruptly, Harry turned back to Elena. There were things she needed to understand before they went anywhere.

'You know that I am wanted for killing an Italian policeman. And that Danny is a prime suspect in the murder of the cardinal vicar of Rome.'

'Yes.'

Harry's eyes were suddenly intense and filled with strength. 'It's important you understand that I did not kill the policeman… What my brother did or didn't do, I don't know and won't until his mind is clear enough for me to ask him… And even then, I don't know what he'll say, or won't… But whatever happened, someone wants him dead… Because of what he knows, for what he might tell… That's why the blond man, maybe even the police… And now they know he's alive, they'll not only come after him again, they will assume he's passed on whatever he knows to the people with him.'

'You and me, Mr Addison…'

'Yes.'

'And whether he has told us anything or not-'

'They won't ask.' Harry finished the thought for her.

Suddenly, and out of nowhere, came the chunky thud of a jet helicopter's rotor blades slicing air. Taking Elena by the arm, Harry pulled her back into the cave's overhang just as the machine swept over the ridge above them. Moving out over the lake, it made a wide turn, then swung back the way it had come, disappearing over the treetops. Its sound vanishing with it.

Instantly Elena's eyes came back to Harry.

'I understand the situation, Mr Addison, and I am prepared for whatever happens…'

Harry stared at her for the briefest moment.

'Okay,' he said, then turned back into the cave for Danny.