“I have been thinking that I would like to be there when you talk with this man,” he said.
“You don’t mean you want to go there, Mr. S.,” Paulo said in surprise.
“I think that would be best, under the circumstances,” Savarese said. “I would like to personally hear what he has to say.”
“What I meant, Mr. S., is that you don’t want to go there, do you? I mean, I can have him at the garage, for example, or anyplace else, thirty minutes after you give me the word.”
Mr. Savarese poured wine in two glasses and handed one to Paulo.
“Salute,” he said.
“Salute,” Paulo repeated.
Mr. Savarese took a small, appreciative sip of the wine.
“That would involve moving him,” he said. “I would rather that he not be moved. I think that would be better.”
“Whatever you say, Mr. S.”
“Paulo, he is in a certain state of mind after having been where he has been, under those circumstances, for twenty-four hours. If we move him, that would, I think, break the spell, so to speak.”
“You’re right, Mr. Savarese. I didn’t think about that.”
Paulo was frequently reminded, when dealing with Mr. S., that if he was one and a half times as smart as Pietro, Mr. S. was like five times, ten times as smart as he was.
“There’ll be no problem, nothing to worry about,” Paulo said. “I’ll get enough people to guard that place like fucking Fort Knox!” When he saw the pained look on Mr. S.’s face, his own colored quickly. “Sorry about that, Mr. S.”
Mr. S. did not like either profanity or obscenity.
Mr. S. accepted his apology with a curt nod of the head.
“This man is strong and dangerous. Paulo?”
“No, Mr. S. He’s not. Not at all.”
“And there is no question in your mind that you and Pietro can deal with him in any circumstance that you can think of?”
“I don’t even need Pietro, Mr. S.”
“Nevertheless, I want Pietro to go along with us.”
“Right, Mr. S.”
“I don’t want this man to see me, for obvious reasons,” Mr. S. said. “Or to hear my voice.”
“No problem, Mr. S.”
“Although I doubt it very much, he may have had nothing to do with the problems my granddaughter is having. I don’t want to close any doors that might have to later be opened, you understand?”
“Absolutely, Mr. S.”
“And, of course, we don’t want to be interrupted while we are talking with him.”
“I understand.”
“I wondered if someone saw the vehicle you previously used there if it might not cause curiosity.”
“I see what you mean, Mr. S. Let me think a minute.”