Drew and Arlene. "It's not enough time. How am I going to find out?"

The phone rang, harsh. Saul flinched in surprise. "If that's Gallagher

"He might have called his own room," Arlene said. "When he didn't get an answer, he called here."

"Maybe," Saul said. "But I don't think Gallagher would have used the phone. He'd have come right up. Besides, it isn't time for him to check in. He promised me a full two hours."

"It could be he had misgivings and changed his mind,"

Drew said. The phone kept ringing. "Maybe it isn't Gallagher," Saul said. "Maybe it's--" He didn't say Erika, but her name screamed through his mind as he reached for the phone. "Hello."

"Saul Gasman?" The voice belonged to a man. It was thin, with a faint metallic edge like a knife being sharpened on a whetstone. "Yes."

"You must be distressed about your wife. No need to wonder any longer.

We have her."

"We? Who the hell--?" Drew and Arlene stood rigidly straight.

"You surely don't expect us to reveal our names," the voice said. "All you need to know is that we have her and she's safe."

"How do I know that?" Saul demanded. "Let me talk to her,"

"Unfortunately, that isn't possible. She isn't with me at the moment, and even if she were, she's been sedated. But you can see her."

"How?"

"In fact," the voice said, "you can have her returned to you. If certain conditions are met. We'd like to arrange a trade. Your wife for the priest. You do have the priest, I hope. Otherwise there's no point to this conversation."

"Yes. I have the priest."

"We'd want to be sure of that. It wouldn't do to base your transaction on dishonesty. It would go very hard on your wife if you weren't completely honest."

"I told you I've got him!" Saul said. "At six o'clock this evening, bring him to the Colosseum. In the last hours before sunset, the ruins will still be crowded with tourists. Blend with them. Sit the priest down in the middle of the terraces on the northern side. I'll use binoculars from the opposite side to identify him. Make sure he's reasonably alert. I want to satisfy myself that he's capable of walking under his own power. But I don't want him so conscious that he'll make trouble. As soon as I'm sure you've brought the priest, I'll arrange for your wife to be placed across from you, on the southern terraces of the Colosseum. Bring binoculars, and assure yourself that she too is in satisfactory condition. When each of us sees what he wants, a man who appears to be a tourist will set a blue travel bag beside her and walk away. That will be the signal for us to make the trade. Approach your wife by circling to the right of the arena. I in turn will circle to your left. In this way, we'll never pass each other, and there won't be a risk of an unfortunate confrontation. Wait five minutes before leaving the Colosseum with your wife. I'd prefer not to rush getting the priest out of there." Saul gripped the phone so tightly he thought its plastic would crack. "Agreed. At six o'clock."

"There is one further condition." Saul began to sweat. "In questioning your wife,"

the voice said, "I learned that she used to be an operative for the

Mossad. Are they involved in this?"

"No."

"You'd say that, no matter what. I have to be sure. It's imperative--your wife's safety depends upon it--that you don't bring help with you when the transfer is made. No associates of any kind. That includes the man and the woman who were dressed as a priest and a nun in the Vatican gardens last night. We know what they look like. If we see them, if we suspect any sign of surveillance, any attempt to interfere with the transaction, your wife will be killed. When I leave with the priest, if I sense I'm being followed, I can still arrange for her to die." Saul imagined a sniper hidden somewhere in the Colosseum, in two-way radio contact with the man he now spoke to. But he wasn't prepared for the tactic the voice described. "A packet of explosive will be attached to your wife's back.

I'll hide it under her jacket The bomb will have a radio-controlled detonator whose electronic trigger will be in my pocket. As long as I'm within a mile of her, I'll be able to set the bomb off if I feel threatened. Don't fool yourself into thinking that all you have to do is remove the bomb from her and then betray me. The explosives will be held in place by a locked metal belt that's been wired in such a way that any attempt to remove it--by using metal clippers, for example--will blow her apart. Only when I'm out of radio range will the detonator be deactivated. Only then can the belt be safely cut off."

Saul felt as if insects had invaded his chest. "You seem to have thought of everything."

"That's why I've stayed alive so long. Six o'clock. Don't try to be clever. Just do what you've been told." With a click, the line was disconnected. Saul set down the phone. He tried to keep his voice from shaking while he explained to Drew and Arlene. Drew was briefly silent, assessing the information. At once he spoke with resolve. "It's twenty after twelve. We've just got five minutes to take Father Dusseault back down to the other room before Gallagher shows up. You can question the priest for a while after that. But if he's supposed to be able to walk from the Colosseum, you'll have to stop giving him Sodium Amytal and let the drug wear off."

"That's assuming Gallagher agrees to surrender the priest," said Saul.

Arlene looked surprised. "You think he might not?"

"Gallagher wants to learn everything he can about the Fraternity. He won't be happy about the deal I made. Suppose he thinks he can infiltrate a surveillance team into the Colosseum? Suppose he decides the threat about the bomb is a lie and figures he can get the priest back after the exchange? I won't bet Erika's life on someone else's tradecraft.

And something else--I'm not supposed to have moved the priest. How am I going to explain to Gallagher where I got the phone call? I'd have to tell him I brought the priest here so the two of you could help question him. He'd learn about you." Drew glanced at Arlene. She nodded. 'Tell

Gallagher," Drew said. "Your wife is more important than hiding us from

Gallagher." Saul felt a surge of warmth. His voice was choked with feeling. "I know how much your privacy means to you. I appreciate your gesture. Truly. More than I can say."

"It's not just a gesture," Drew said. "But even if I did let Gallagher know about you, it wouldn't solve the problem. I still couldn't count on his keeping the bargain I made. I don't want his men at the

Colosseum, and the only way I can guarantee they won't be there..."

"Is not to tell him?" Drew asked. "We're going to have to steal the priest." Drew committed himself immediately, reacting as if he and Saul had been working together for years. "Arlene, check the hallway. Make sure Gallagher isn't out there. Saul and I will carry Father Dusseault down the fire stairs. Get the car. Have it waiting for us outside."

"But you'll be seen taking the priest from the hotel!"

"We'll pretend it's an emergency. We'll leave so fast no one'll have time to question us."

28.

When Icicle heard a knock on the door, he stood abruptly. He'd been staring at the unconscious woman on the bed, brooding about Seth's behavior. To kill as an automatic choice, without sufficient reason, was a sign of lack of control. It wasn't professional. It wasn't... He likes it, Icicle thought. That's what bothers me. The gleam he gets in his eyes. It's as if he's having... Sex? That realization made Icicle remember the near fight he'd had with Seth to keep him from abusing the woman. Employing drugs or force to interrogate a prisoner was justified. But abusing this woman merely for (he sake of self-gratification insulted Icicle's sense of dignity. Victims had a right not to be caused needless pain, not to be treated as objects.

Keep thinking about your father, he told himself. Nothing else... not the woman, not your principles... matters. But he couldn't help noting that the conflict between Seth and himself was a replication of the lifelong enmity between their fathers. Was it happening all over again?

He checked the peephole, identified Seth, and freed the lock on the door. He felt uneasy about the packages Seth carried and the gleam in his eyes. The gleam abruptly diminished when Seth glanced toward the bed. "You dressed her."

"She was shivering."

"Shivering?" Seth's gleam returned. "Since you feel so protective about her, I'm sure you'll be relieved to know that she'll be leaving us."

"What do you mean?"

"When you interrogated her, she told us her husband's name and where they were staying in Rome," Seth said. Icicle nodded. Seth put the packages on the bureau. "I phoned her husband."

"You what?"

"I've made arrangements to exchange her for the priest."

Seth opened the packages, revealing a fist-sized clump of plastic explosive along with a radio-controlled detonator and transmitter. There were batteries, wires, a metal belt welded to a metal box, a lock.