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“Now why am I not surprised?” said Maggie.
“Because you’re a bright woman, my dear.”
“And what does Hercule Mersot have to do with us?”
“I’m afraid I’ve been greedy. You can play both ends against the middle for just so long, and then people begin to get suspicious. The Company is distressed with me, but I certainly won’t have any trouble placating them. The rebels are so deeply in trouble and in debt that they’re not worth worrying about, and Mancini will always listen to reason. No, my only problem is M. Mersot. I’m afraid he’s begun to suspect that I’ve been a little generous in helping myself to my share in certain deals. And he’s not a man who likes to be trifled with. So I need you two to take care of him.” He leaned back and smiled with the air of a man who’s explained a very simple problem to everyone’s satisfaction.
“Are you out of your mind?” Mack broke in. “We aren’t hired killers. Why don’t you hire someone with natural ability? Someone like your good buddy Willis?”
“Unfortunately, Willis is somewhere in Honduras,” Van Zandt replied, and Maggie breathed a small sigh of relief. She had no idea whether that misinformation would help her, but anything was possible. “And despite Willis’s many talents, he’s exactly the sort of man who could get nowhere near Mersot. Not to mention the fact that I wouldn’t trust him. No, I need two relative newcomers. People who would go about things with a fresh approach—therein lies the only hope of success. And that’s where you come in.”
“Why should we kill him? Why don’t you do it yourself? Don’t you think they’ll suspect you’re behind it?” Maggie demanded.
“I can talk my way out of anything,” he said with his usual overwhelming confidence, and Maggie almost believed he could. “You and Mack will be long gone—”
“I’m sure we will,” Mack interrupted.
“Living happily ever after,” Jeffrey continued reprovingly. “Mersot’s partners will have no idea that two innocent tourists could have gotten to the great Mersot, and they’ll be too busy fighting over control of his empire to dwell on it. It should all work out very well.”
“And this Mersot lives in Switzerland?” Mack asked.
“You got it. Halfway up the Jungfrau. You’ll have to take three cog railways and then hike across mountain meadows to get to his chalet, but you’re both strong and healthy.”
“How does he get there?”
“Helicopter. I think that might look a little suspicious on your part. There are a few roads that are passable this time of year, but the helicopter is so much more efficient. All you have to do, my dears, is go in there and kill him. He won’t give you any trouble—he’s a charming old man devoted to his gerbils. I’ll get rid of his armed guards for you.”
“Decent of you,” Maggie said. “And what makes you think we’ll do this?”
“Several reasons,” Van Zandt replied. “First, it’s your only chance to get me to call off my business associates. You might be able to avoid one set of them, but all of them together is rather more than even Maggie could fight off. And if Mersot has me killed, I won’t be able to help you.” He yawned delicately, like a cat. “And more important, you really wouldn’t have to make it back to the States before you met your long-postponed
fate. That little encounter with my Mercedes was in the nature of incentive.”
Maggie just sat there, looking at him, her hand still in Mack’s. He’d boxed them in quite neatly, and they had no choice in the matter. One couldn’t reason with the Van Zandts of the world. It was merely a question of kill or be killed. And Maggie had no intention of being killed. She looked at Mack, a question in her eyes, consulting him. He knew everything she’d been thinking, knew and agreed. He nodded, once.
“How?” she said to Van Zandt. “When?”
Van Zandt smiled his smug little smile. “Tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow?” she echoed, shocked out of her acceptance.
“Why put it off? Wouldn’t you like this all to be over with?”
Maggie ignored the pleasantry. “How and where?”
“I’ve written it all down. I even have train schedules, maps. Everything you might need. Mersot will be alone up there, the alarm system will be turned off. All you have to do is waltz in there and kill him.”
“Sounds too easy to be true. How do we know you’re not sending us into a trap, with Mersot’s men waiting to pick us off the moment we come within range?”
“Not a bad idea, but I could have taken care of you anywhere along the way. It wouldn’t make sense for me to import you to Switzerland just to kill you. Untidy, not to mention a little too spectacular. There are enough tourists around the Jungfrau to notice if someone opens fire.”
“Why aren’t we reassured?” Mack grumbled.
“Maybe because you’re sadly paranoid,” Van Zandt purred. “Take it or leave it, my friends.”
“And if we leave it?” Maggie said.
Van Zandt showed all his perfect teeth. “Then you’re dead. By my hand or perhaps by one of Mersot’s employees if someone happens to let him know you came to Switzerland to kill him. Or you may survive for a while until Mancini tracks you down. Whichever way, your days would be numbered. Far better to take a chance my way.”
