the case was made for a mob killing. Hell, we
weren’t even sure why Halliday used Anstett in the
first place. Well, the computer boys at the Army
data banks have come up with the answer. It goes
back to October of 1944. Anstett was a legal officer
in Brad
THE AQUITAINE PROGRESSION 549
fey’s First Army, where Delavane held a battalion
command. Delavane railroaded a sergeant who’d
cracked through a court-martial. The charge was
desertion under fire, and Colonel Delavane wanted
an example both for his own troops and for the
Germans, to let the first know they were being led by
a ramrod, and the second that they were fighting
one. The verdict was guilty, the sentence execution.”
“Oh, my God,” exclaimed the Army officer.
“Slovik all over again.”
“Exactly. Except that a lowly lieutenant named
Anstett heard about it and came rolling in with all
his legal barrels smoking. By using psychiatric
evaluation reports he not only got the sergeant sent
home for treatment but literally turned the
proceedings around and put Delavane himself on
trial. Using the same kind of psychological
evaluations stress mainly he called into question
Delavane’s fitness for command. It damned near
ruined an illustrious military career, and would have
if it wasn’t for the colonel’s friends in the War
Department. They buried the report so well it was
under another Delavane’s name and wasn’t picked
up until all the records were computerised in the
sixties.”
‘That’s one hell of an explanation, Stone.”
“It’s only part of it. It didn’t explain Anstett’s
killing itself. And make no mistake, it was the Mafia
down to the man with the gun. ‘ Stone paused and
turned a page. “So there had to be a connection
somewhere, somehow a link, probably going back
years. The boys with the disks looked further, and I
think we’ve got it. Guess who was Colonel
Delavane’s chief aide in the First Army. No, don’t
bother, you couldn’t. He was a Captain Parelli,
Mario Alberto Parelli. ‘
“Good Christ! The senator?”
“The five-term senator, thirty years in that august
body. Up-from-the-bootstraps Mario, with a slight
push from the G.I. Bill, some early benefactors and
a few lucrative legal retainers.”
“Wow . . .” said the captain softly, without
enthusiasm, as he leaned back in the chair. “That’s
heavy, isn’t it?”
“It’s there. It fits. And I don’t mind telling you
that in ’62 and ’63, during the Let’s-get-Fidel days,
Parelli was a frequent visitor at the White House,
courtesy of both the Kennedy boys.”
“Even in the Senate. He’s one of the biggest
cannons on the Hill.”
550 ROBERT LUDLUM
“While you’re staring, let me give you the last
item. We’ve found Commander Fitzpatrick.”
“Whatfl”
“At least we know where he is,” completed
Stone. “As to whether we can bring him out, or
even want to try, that’s another question.”
Valerie got in the cab at McCarran Airport in
Las Vegas and gave the driver the address of a
restaurant on Route 93 repeated twice by Sam
Abbott over the phone. The driver, creasing his
forehead, looked at her in his rearview mirror. Val
was used to men scrutinizing her; she was neither
flattered nor annoyed anymore. Frankly, she was
just bored by the childishness of it all, by the
fantasies of grown-up children abusing themselves
with their eyes.
“Are you sure, miss?” asked the driver.
“I beg your pardon?’
“That isn’t a restaurant like I mean a
restaurant. It’s a diner, a pit stop for trucks.”
“It’s where I wish to go,’, said Val coolly.
“Sure, okay, fine.” The taxi pulled out into the
departing traffic.
The driver was right. A half-acre of asphalt
surrounded the long, low, L-shaped diner; a dozen
huge trucks dwarfed the cars, which were parked at
respectful distances from the intimidating rigs. Val
paid the driver and went inside; she looked around
and walked past the cashier’s counter toward the
L-shaped section. Sam had told her he would be in
one of the booths m that area.
He was, at the rear of the second aisle. As
Valerie approached she looked at the man she had
not seen in nearly seven years. He had not changed
much, the brown hair had a fringe of grey around
the temples, but the strong, relaxed face was not
very different perhaps the eyes were a little
deeper, a few more lines at the sides and the
cheekbones a touch more pronounced. It was a
better face for a portrait now, she thought; the
character beneath was emerging. Their eyes met,
and the brigadier general got out of the booth, his
clothes denying his rank and profession. He was
dressed in an open sport shirt, tan summer slacks
and dark loafers. He was somewhat shorter than
Joel, but not by much. His grey eyes said she was a
welcome sight.
THE AQUITAINE PROGRESSION 551
“Val. ” Abbott held her briefly, obviously not
wanting to call attention to them.
“You look well, Sam,” she said, sitting down
across from him, putting the carry-on beside her.
“You look merely outstanding, which is military
for all those other adjectives.” Abbott smiled. it’s
funny, but I come out here a lot because no one
pays any attention to me, so I thought, hell, it’s the
perfect place. I should have remembered you walk
through that arcade of gorillas and eggs get put in
ears with coffee spoons.”
‘Thanks. I could use some confidence.”
“I could probably use a strong alibi. If someone
does recognize me, word will go back that the
brigadier’s pulling outside duty.”
“You’re mamed, Sam?”
“Five years ago. Late, but with all the fixings. A
lovely bride and two beguiling daughters.”
I’m so happy for you. I hope I get a chance to
meet her, meet them but not this trip. Definitely
not this trip.”
Abbott paused, looking into her eyes, a touch of
sadness in his. Thank you for understanding,” he
said.
‘There’s nothing to understand, or rather, there’s
everything to understand. The fact that you’re willing
to meet me after all that’s happened is more than we
had a right to expect. Both Joel and I know the risks
you’re taking legally, as a general, all of it and if
there was any other way, we wouldn’t involve you.
But after you hear what I have to say, you’ll un-
derstand why we can’t wait any longer, why Joel
agreed to let me try to find you…. You were my
idea, Sam, but Joel wouldn’t have heard of it unless
he felt he had to not for himself; he doesn’t expect
to live. That’s what he said and he believes it.”
A waitress brought coffee and Abbott thanked
her. “We’ll order later,” he added, staring at Valerie.
You’ll have to trust my judgment, you understand
that, don’t you?”
Yes. Because I trust you.”
“When I couldn’t reach you I made a few calls to
people I worked with a couple of years ago in
Washington. They’re men who’re deep into these
kinds of things, who have answers long before most
of us know the questions.”
“Those are the people Joel wants you to reach!”
interrupted Val. “You saw him then; you spent a
night at his hotel, don’t you remember? He said you
both drank too much.”
552 ROBERT LUDLUM
“We did,” agreed Sam. “And talked too much.”
“You were evaluating aircraft ‘equipment,’ Joel
called it with specialists from various intelligence
units.”
“That’s right.”
“They’re the ones he has to contact! He has to
see them, talk to them, tell them everything he
knows! I’m getting ahead of myself, Sam, butJoel
thinks those people should have come in at the
beginning the beginning for him. He understands
why he was chosen and, incredibly, he doesn’t even
now fault that decision! But they should have been
therel”
“You’re way ahead of yourself.’
“I’ll go back.”
“Let me finish first. I talked to them, telling
them I didn’t believe what I was reading and
hearing; it wasn’t the Converse I knew, and to a
man they told me to back off. It was hopeless and I
could get badly tarnished. It wasn’t the Converse I
knew, they said. He’d psyched out; he was another
person. There was too much evidence to support the
blow-out.”
“But you took my call. Why?”
“Two reasons. The first is obvious I knew Joel;
we went through a lot together and none of this
makes sense to me maybe I don’t want it to make
sense. The second reason is a lot less subjective. I
know a lie when I hear one when I know it can’t
be the truth and a lie was fed to me just as it was
fed to the people who delivered it.” Abbott sipped
his coffee as if telling himself to slow down and be
clear. The leader of the squadron was in control; he
had to be. “I spoke to three men I knew, men I
trust, and each checked with his own sources. They