| 2:50a |
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“Charlie, what the hell is going
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“Charlie, what the hell is going on?”
“The Ogilvies were tipped off and have gotten outAlso, if I’m not mistaken and if we could
sort out several hundred accounts, we’d learn that millions have been transferred from New York to
God knows where beyond these shores
“And?”
“Medusa’s now in Moscow, Mr
Robert Ludlum ?? THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM
348
34
Louis DeFazio wearily dragged his small frame out of the taxi in the boulevard Masséna, followed
by his larger, heavier, far more muscular cousin Mario from Larchmont, New YorkThey stood on
the pavement in front of a restaurant, its name in red-tubed script across a green-tinted window:
Tetrazzini’s
“This is the place,” said Louis“They’ll be in a private room in the back Mario looked at his watch under the wash of a street lamp“I set the time for
Paris; it’s almost midnight here
“You still haven’t told me their names, LouWhat do we call them?”
“You don’t,” answered DeFazio, starting for the entrance“No names—they wouldn’t mean
anything anywayAll you gotta do is be respectful, you know what I mean?”
“I don’t have to be told that, Lou, I really don’t,” reprimanded Mario in his soft-spoken voice
“But for my own information, why do you even bring it up?”
“He’s a high-class diplomatico,” explained the capo supremo, stopping briefly on the pavement
and looking up at the man who had nearly killed Jason Bourne in Manassas, Virginia“He operates
out of Rome from fancy government circles, but he’s the direct contact with the dons in SicilyHe
and his wife are very, very highly regarded, you understand what I’m saying?”
“I do and I don’t,” admitted the cousin“If he’s so grand, why would he accept such a menial
assignment as following our targets?”
“Because he canHe can go places some of our pagliacci can’t get near, you know what I mean?
Also, I happen to let our people in New York know who our clients were, especially one, capisce?
The dons all the way from Manhattan to the estates south of Palermo have a language they use
exclusively between themselves, did you know that, cugino? It comes down to a couple of
orders: ‘Do it’ and ‘Don’t do it ”
“I think I understand, Lou
“Respect, yes, my fancy rendering cousin, but not no weakness, capisce? No weakness! The
word’s got to go up and down the line that this is an operation Lou DeFazio took control of and ran
from beginning to endYou got that?”
“If that’s the case, maybe I can go home to Angie and the kids,” said Mario, grinningYou shut up, cugino! With this one job you got annuities for your whole passel of
bambinos
“Not a passel, Lou, just fiveRemember, respect, but we don’t take no |