Chapter 14 Section Thirteen

Decker made a sharp turn, turning the rented Fiat from Via Condotti onto a narrow street.His headlights pierced through the rain curtains, revealing two police cars ahead with flashing dome lights.At the brightly lit entrance of an apartment building, two policemen in oilskins were talking to a few sad-looking people on the porch, all in pajamas or nightgowns.There were lights in many of the windows. "Too bad, I hope I'm mistaken." "What is this place?" "I followed your son here on Friday with a woman," Decker said. "Her name was Renata. He didn't give me her last name. It's probably an alias. She was recruited by your son." The leader of the gang, which means she's the leader of the gang that blew up the Tiber Club. In other words, she's the leader of the terrorists."

"It's just a hypothesis. You can't be sure it's the same group," McKittrick said. "Your son mentioned a word so many times that I dare say you know it - the ultimate veto." Decker slowed down and passed the police cars slowly down the narrow street.Muddy water splashed as the wheels rolled over puddles, and the two cops looked up at the Fiat, then turned back to continue their conversation with the man on the porch. "Besides, you can't be sure there's any connection between these cops and Brian," McKittrick said. "You understand as well as I do—we can't think of this as a coincidence. If I were Brian, this would be where I should be in the first place. He's going here to seek revenge on the woman who betrayed him. There's a certainty about that." way. I stop the car and you go over and talk to the police. Would you like me to do that?"

"Jesus, no. Just keep going. I'm an American, and they're going to ask me why I'm interested in this, and they're going to ask a lot of questions, and I'm going to have to show my papers." "Yeah. If the terrorists have given the police evidence of Bryan's involvement in the bombing, if the police have connected him to what happened in this apartment complex, then they're going to put you and him and the Tiber Club Bombing. Isn't that a terrible situation?" "Do you think Brian found the woman?" McKittrick said with deep concern in his voice.

"I doubt it. There's no ambulance here." Decker sped up another street. "Are you worried that he will be so angry that he will kill that woman?" "No, it's the exact opposite that worries me." "I do not understand." "She killed him," Decker said. "Your son is no match for her. Worse, he's too proud to realize it. These guys are all seasoned killers, and they do it." Excellent job, and they love it. They have a lot of fun playing Brian, but if they think Brian has become a serious threat to them, they'll kill him right away. He might even There is no way to leave a whole body and send it back to the country for burial.”

McKittrick tensed up and sat up straighter. "How do we stop him?" Decker squinted out of the car over the swinging windshield wipers. "Your son likes to litter the apartment with papers. For example, a list and addresses of his informants." "My God, are you telling me he's so bad at his job?" "I have a feeling you're not listening to me. 23 dead, 43 wounded. That's how poor his job is." "That list," McKittrick said angrily, "why are you mentioning that list?" "I wrote it all down before I burned the list," Decker said. "Renata's name and address were at the top of the list. It was logical that he was going there first. It would also be logical to go to all the other addresses one by one until you find her."

"But if they were really terrorists, they wouldn't be in these places." "Exactly." Decker turned a corner sharply. "They're veterans, they're not going to tell Brian their real address. Renata may have used the apartment just now as a shelter as part of their scam. But it doesn't look like Brian With that in mind. He's full of rage right now and he just wants revenge. The people who live in those places have been threatened by him, but they don't really know what's going on. Maybe that's what Renata wants him to do, Maybe it was her last joke."

McKittrick asked anxiously, "Where's the closest address on the list?" "Across the river, but I don't think there's a need to go there. He's already far ahead of us." Decker picked up speed, tires hissing on the wet pavement. "He's probably at the third or fourth address by now. I'm going to go to those places one by one in reverse order, first to the last address and then to the penultimate address. Hopefully we'll run into him."