Page 59 of Licence To Howl
Vissier jerked.
‘And,’ Devereau continued, ‘the room at the back where I presume you kept all the details of your upcoming plan was completely ransacked. Almost everything was either destroyed or taken.’
Vissier’s brow creased as he considered the ramifications of that particular titbit. ‘They wanted them,’ he said. ‘They wanted the plans for themselves. Everything was set up and ready to go. If Bartan hadn’t gotten himself killed and if Solentino hadn’t listened to fucking Alina and been so determined to get that ring to see into the future,’ Vissier rolled his eyes, ‘then we’d could have started at any moment. Instead, he wanted us to wait till he could get the ring even though everything was already in place.’
‘What?’ Devereau prompted. ‘What was in place? What were the plans?’
He snorted. ‘To make money. What else is there?’
‘Go on.’
Vissier allowed himself a tiny smile. Pride, Devereau realised. He was proud of whatever shit they’d cooked up together. ‘We start in Rome,’ he said. ‘We contact the government. We tell them that either they pay us what we demand or we blow something up.’
‘And what?’ Devereau asked baffled. ‘Surely you wouldn’t expect them to give you money based on a threat like that.’
Vissier tossed the gun to one side. ‘You were right,’ he said, ‘it isn’t loaded.’ He gesticulated towards Devereau. ‘And of course they wouldn’t give us anything. We didn’t expect they would.’
‘So?’
A smile spread across Vissier’s face. ‘So we blow something up.’
Devereau stared at him. Vissier laughed.
‘You’re looking at me like I’m some kind of bloodthirsty maniac. I’m no psychopath, Mr Webb. None of us are.’ His mouth downturned. ‘None of us were. Not even Solentino, although he had his moments. We had a shortlist of targets ready to go. They were carefully selected to create maximum impact. But because we’re not monsters, we wanted minimum bloodshed.’ He shrugged with cold-hearted pragmatism. ‘Some innocents would inevitably die. But not many.’
‘What do you mean?’
Vissier smiled nastily. ‘You saw what happened with Notre Dame, right?’
Devereau squinted. ‘You mean the fire?’
‘The fire. The outpouring of grief that an old building could be placed in such mortal danger. The money that was raised to save it.’ Vissier waved around him. ‘This is an old building. You don’t see anyone rushing to return it to its former glory. But it’s not in the right place and doesn’t attract the right people. And this is Rome. There are no shortage of beautiful old buildings.’
‘Like the Colosseum.’
Vissier nodded. ‘It made our shortlist. But it’s already in ruins. There were other candidates. The Trevi Fountain. St Peter’s Basilica. The Sistine Chapel. All were viable. We blow one up. And then we move on.’
Devereau already knew where they were planning to move on to but he was unwilling to reveal to Vissier what he’d already worked out. ‘To where?’
‘Berlin. There we repeat what we already started. We contact the authorities. We make our demands. And if those demands are not met, we blow something up. Solentino reckoned it was fifty fifty that we’d make any money from the Germans. By the time we moved onto Paris, however,’ his smile broadened, ‘well, by then not only would our threats be believed but we would be taken very, very seriously. Maybe we’d choose Notre Dame. Maybe somewhere else. The Eiffel Tower perhaps. Or the Louvre.’ His eyes danced with cold amusement. ‘Imagine all those works of art,’ he snapped his fingers, ‘gone forever.’ Vissier smiled to himself. ‘And then when we got to London it would be a fait accompli. The British government would fall over themselves to pay up whatever we demanded.’
It was a bone chillingly clever plan. It wasn’t as foolproof as Vissier imagined, however. ‘Those governments don’t negotiate with terrorists.’
Vissier smirked. ‘That’s a myth. Governments negotiate with terrorists all the time. They pretend they don’t but they absolutely do. Sometimes they go out of their way for such negotiations and make the first approach.Here,’ he mimicked, ‘take these weapons that I will give you for free. Just make sure you only use them to kill people we don’t like.’
‘You don’t really think you’d be able to get away with all this though?’
Vissier dismissed his doubts with a flick of his wrist. ‘Solentino had all the details worked out. He knew a lot of people who could help with the plans and the set-up. And he wanted the ring you have in your belly to double check that everything would go ahead as it should. From the moment the first button was pressed here in Rome it would have been plain sailing.’ He snarled suddenly. ‘Until Solentino was murdered himself that was.’
Devereau tried to control his breathing. ‘You had a shortlist of specific targets for each city? But you don’t know what the final decision was and what actual buildings are going to be attacked?’
‘We had to remain flexible. After all, who knows what last minute security procedures might be put into place? We are talking about rich cities. But rich cities with a lot of history and a lot of potential places to target.’ He raised his shoulders. ‘And who knows? Maybe it would end up being a positive thing when people around Europe realise that their governments are more willing to spend millions to save mere bricks and mortar than put money into helping save their own people from poverty and ill health.’
Devereau watched him with expressionless eyes. ‘You’re all heart. You have no idea who might have killed Solentino and taken all the plans? Can’t you speculate?’
Vissier pursed his lips. ‘If it definitely wasn’t you, then there’s only one obvious choice. It always seemed a bit suspect that Bartan died when he did. He was integral to a lot of our movements between each country. Avanopoulos appeared very eager to step in and fill his shoes.’ His eyes narrowed. ‘Too eager. Before now I didn’t think he would be smart enough to pull something like this off. But I was wrong. Solentino was right to be worried about him.’
Perhaps. Devereau gazed at him for a moment or two. ‘I hope you’ve not left anything out,’ he said finally. ‘I found you here. That means I can find you anywhere. If I discover that there’s anything you’re not telling me, it won’t go well for you. I can promise you that.’
