Siegfried had to accept the white-haired veterinarian’s advice. Although
he’d always favored the animals being off by themselves for logistical
and security reasons, its time was past. The animals could not be
allowed to kill each other. In a very real way, there was no choice.
‘When should we retrieve them?’ Siegfried asked.
‘As soon as possible,’ Bertram said. ‘I can have a team of
security-cleared animal handlers ready by dawn tomorrow. We’ll begin by
darting the splinter group. Once we have all the animals caged, which
should take no more than two or three days, we’ll move them at night to
a section of the animal center that I will prepare.’
‘I suppose I’d better recall that contingent of soldiers out by the
bridge,’ Siegfried said. ‘The last thing we need is for them to shoot
the animal handlers.’
‘I didn’t like having them out there in the first place,’ Bertram said.
‘I was afraid they might have shot one of the animals for sport or
soup.’
‘When should we inform our respective bosses at GenSys?’ Siegfried
asked.
‘Not until it is done,’ Bertram said. ‘Only then will we know how many
animals have been killed. Maybe we’ll also have a better idea of the
best ultimate disposition. My guess is we’ll have to build a separate,
new facility.’
‘For that, we’d need authorization,’ Siegfried said.
‘Obviously,’ Bertram said. He stood up. ‘All I can say is that it is a
damn good thing I had the foresight to move all those cages out there.’
NEW YORK CITY
Raymond felt better than he had in days. Things seemed to have gone well
from the moment he’d gotten up. Just after nine he’d called Dr. Waller
Anderson, and not only was the doctor going to join, he already had two
clients ready to plunk down their deposits and head out to the Bahamas
for the bone marrow aspirations.
Then around noon Raymond had gotten a call from Dr. Alice Norwood, whose
office was on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills. She’d called to say that
she’d recruited three physicians with large private practices who were
eager to come on board. One was in Century City, another in Brentwood,
and the last was in Bel-Air. She was convinced that these doctors would
soon provide a flood of clients because the market on the West Coast for
the service Raymond was offering was nothing short of phenomenal.
But what had pleased Raymond the most during the day was whom he didn’t
hear from. There were no calls from either Vinnie Dominick or Dr. Daniel
Levitz. Raymond took this silence to mean that the Franconi business had
finally been put to bed.
At three-thirty, the door buzzer went off. Darlene answered it and with
a tearful voice told Raymond that his car was waiting.
Raymond took his girlfriend in his arms and patted her on the back.
‘Next time maybe you can go,’ Raymond said consolingly.
‘Really?’ she asked.
‘I can’t guarantee it,’ Raymond said. ‘But we’ll try.’ Raymond had no
control over the GenSys flights. Darlene had been able to go on only one
of the trips to Cogo. On all the other occasions, the plane had been
full on one of the segments. As standard procedure, the plane flew from
the States to Europe and then on to Bata. On the return trip the same
general itinerary was followed, although it was always a different
European city.
After promising to call as soon as he arrived in Cogo, Raymond carried
his bag downstairs. He climbed into the waiting sedan and luxuriously
leaned back.
‘Would you like the radio on, sir?’ the driver asked.
‘Sure, why not,’ Raymond said. He was already beginning to enjoy
himself.
The drive across town was the most difficult part of the trip. Once they
were on the West Side Highway, they were able to make good time. There
was a lot of traffic, but since rush hour had not begun, the traffic
moved fluidly. It was the same situation on the George Washington
Bridge. In less than an hour Raymond was dropped off at Teterboro
Airport.
The GenSys plane had not yet arrived, but Raymond was not concerned. He