The Reckoning by Thomas F. Monteleone

Author:Thomas F. Monteleone [Monteleone, Thomas F.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Suspense & Thrillers
Publisher: Crossroad Press
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Less than ninety minutes later, even Marion was impressed with what they’d been able to accomplish.

Captain Leutmann had arranged for the delivery of ample travel clothing and gear to the convent, plus an escort of two loyalist Guards to personally drive them to Ciampino, an airport dedicated to military, charter, and freight service flights. The Vatican Secret Service, while officially under the umbrella of the pope, was more realistically an independent agency. There were plenty of “rogue” agents within its ranks who were willing to do anything necessary to preserve the traditional church. Leutmann had enlisted several of these SSV ops to meet them at the Ciampino airfield and fly them south to Nairobi. From there, they would be met by a Kenyan station op who would get them to their final destination, regardless of where that might be.

“Everything has been arranged,” said Lareggia, speaking with ease and confidence, as though he’d been the architect instead of the button man. “No public exposure, no passports, no record of your passage.”

Marion looked at him behind from the hooded folds of her nun’s habit. The cowl concealed most of her face. “That also means that if anything goes wrong, there won’t be any way for anybody to trace us, to find out what happened to us.”

Lareggia shrugged. “Welcome to the underground,” he said.

Etienne nodded but said nothing, looking out the window as their Mercedes knifed through the darkness beyond the hills of Rome. The twenty-minute ride to the airfield wound through small villages and out-of-the-way train stops. Once they had cleared the Grande Raccordo Anulare, there was little traffic and less interest in their passage along the coast.

Marion spent the time attuning herself to her new clothing and appearance; she knew she would have to be conscious of her demeanor as well. If she wasn’t a convincing nun, she would be a red flag to anyone looking for her.

The car left the main coastal road, ascended a single-lane winding through the cliffs to a security gate manned by Italian Air Force sentries. They were waved through the SSV vehicle without incident. As their limo drew closer to a number of hangars illuminated by banks of auxiliary lighting, Marion could discern the logos of Federal Express, United Parcel, Airborne Express, and other international carriers on the hulls of the jets.

She was surprised at the high level of activity—hundreds of people drove cargo vehicles to and from the planes; conveyors, trucks, lifts, and personnel moved crates and boxes in unrehearsed choreography. Suddenly, their car stopped, and one of their escorts jumped out to open the rear door. He ushered them silently toward the nearest plane, white and green with the logo of International SkyFreight prominent along the fuselage and tail section.

Moving up the steps of the gangway, Marion looked back and down across the tarmac where the ant-colony-like activity continued unabated. No one seemed to be paying them even the slightest attention. She followed Etienne through the cabin door to the flight deck of the jet, then waited while Lareggia struggled up the staircase.

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