“You won’t,” Robert said. “It’s very secret.”
“I won’t tell anyone,” Pier promised. “What else?”
What else? Robert thought for a moment. “Well, there’s the telephone trick.”
Pier snuggled closer to him. “Tell me about that.”
“Er—let’s say a fellow spy telephones you to find out if everything is all right. He’ll ask for Pier. If everything is fine, you say, ‘This is Pier.’ But if there is any problem, you say, ‘You have the wrong number.’ ”
“That’s wonderful!” Pier exclaimed.
My instructors at the Farm would have a heart attack if they heard me talking this nonsense.
“Can you tell me anything else?” Pier asked.
Robert laughed. “I think those are enough secrets for one morning.”
“All right.” She rubbed her body along his body.
“Would you like to take a shower?” Pier asked.
“Love to.”
They soaped each other under the warm water, and as Pier spread Robert’s legs and began to wash him, he became tumescent again.
They made love in the shower.
While Robert was getting dressed, Pier put on a robe and said, “I’ll see about breakfast.”
Carlo was waiting for her in the dining room.
“Tell me about your friend,” he said.
“What about him?”
“Where did you meet him?”
“In Rome.”
“He must be very rich to have bought you that emerald bracelet.”
She shrugged. “He likes me.”
Carlo said, “Do you know what I think? I think your friend is running away from something. If we told the right party, there could be a big reward in it.”
Pier moved over to her brother, her eyes blazing. “Stay out of this, Carlo.”
“So, he is running away.”
“Listen you little piscialetto, I’m warning you—mind your own business.” She had no intention of sharing the reward with anyone.
Carlo said reproachfully, “Little sister, you want it all for yourself.”
“No. You don’t understand, Carlo.”
“No?”
Pier said earnestly, “I’ll tell you the truth. Mr. Jones is running away from his wife. She has hired a detective to find him. That’s all there is to it.”
Carlo smiled. “Why didn’t you tell me this before? Then it’s no big deal, I’ll forget about it.”
“Good,” Pier said.
And Carlo thought, I’ve got to find out who he really is.
Janus was on the telephone. “Have you any news yet?”
“We know that Commander Bellamy is in Naples.”
“Do you have any assets there?”
“Yes. They’re looking for him now. We have a lead. He’s traveling with a prostitute who has a family in Naples. We think they may have gone there. We’re following through on it.”
“Keep me informed.”
In Naples the Bureau of Municipal Housing was busily trying to track down the whereabouts of Pier Valli’s mother.
A dozen security agents and the Naples police force were scouring the city for Robert.
Carlo was busily making his own plans for Robert.
Pier was getting ready to telephone Interpol again.
Chapter Forty-two
The danger in the air was almost palpable, and Robert felt as if he could reach out and touch it. The waterfront was a beehive of activity, with cargo ships busily loading and unloading. But another element had been added: There were police cars cruising up and down the quai, and uniformed policemen and obvious-looking detectives questioning dockworkers and sailors. The concentrated manhunt took Robert by complete surprise. It was almost as if they had known he was in Naples, for it would have been impossible for them to be conducting this intense a search for him in every major city in Italy. He did not even bother to get out of the car. He turned around and headed away from the docks. What he had thought would be an easy plan—to board a cargo ship bound for France—had now become too dangerous. Somehow they had managed to track him here. He went over his options again. Traveling any distance by car was too risky. There would be roadblocks around the city by now. The docks were guarded. That meant the railroad station and airport would be covered as well. He was in a vise, and it was closing in on him.
Robert thought about Susan’s offer. “We’re just off the coast of Gibraltar. We can turn around and pick you up, anyplace you say. It’s probably your only chance of escape.” He was reluctant to involve Susan in his danger, and yet he could think of no other alternative. It was the only way out of the trap he was in. They would not be looking for him on a private yacht. If I can find a way to get to the Halcyon, he thought, they could drop me off near the coast of Marseilles, and I can get ashore by myself. That way, they won’t be in danger.