They had eaten a late breakfast in Palermo, but nothing since.
Harvath nodded and Argento looked at his watch. “Most places won’t be open for dinner until later, but I know one place we can try. It’s near the water.”
“Good,” Harvath replied. Looking to get to work on a plan as quickly as possible, he added, “Bring your laptop.”
? ? ?
Ristorante Glauco in neighboring Scilla wasn’t just near the water, it was built right at its very edge. Its upstairs, open-air terrace extended out over the bay and provided one of the most incredible vistas Harvath had ever seen.
Sailboats bobbed in the water beneath the dramatic Ruffo Castle, an old fortress perched atop a rocky peninsula that jutted out into the sea.
A hodgepodge of Mediterranean buildings in all shapes and sizes were stacked side by side and one atop the other up the steep, terraced hillside.
Looking out over the deep blue Strait of Messina, Argento explained that this was the location Greek mythology attributed to Scylla, the famed sea monster.
After the helicopter ride and now this dramatic location for dinner, Harvath joked that the Italian needed to get out of terrorism and into tourism.
Argento smiled and asked if he could order for their table. Harvath looked at Lovett, and when she nodded, he told the man to go ahead.
As he ordered, Harvath glanced over at the next table, where Staelin, Barton, and Morrison were sitting with Argento’s men, several of whom spoke decent English.
Satisfied that they were in good hands, he turned his attention back to what lay in front of them.
Argento opened his laptop and Harvath and Lovett adjusted their chairs so they could see the photos. As he clicked through them, every once in a while, Harvath would ask him to zoom in, or go back to the one they had just seen.
He was trying to get a thorough feel for the property; probing, looking for weak points that they could exploit. To his extreme relief, he didn’t see any dogs.
“Vottari’s property is set up much different than Ragusa’s,” Harvath said.
Argento nodded. “It’s a different mentality in Sicily. Everyone wants a fortress. In Calabria, it’s anonymity that protects you.”
“He doesn’t look very anonymous to me.”
“No. He doesn’t,” the Italian agreed.
“Do we know anything about his routine?” Harvath asked. “Anything that might provide us an opportunity to get to him?”
“Nothing like Ragusa and the bartender.”
“A restaurant he likes to go to? Does he visit his mother on a regular basis? How about going to see the uncle?”
Argento waved his hand in the air as if he was doing mini karate chops. “We don’t want anything to do with the uncle. No way.”
Harvath understood. “What kind of protection does Vottari normally roll with? Lots of men? Just a couple? What are we looking at?”
“Four to six men.”
“Armed?”
“We should assume so.”
Harvath reached over to the computer and clicked back to a previous photo of the property. “What kind of a security presence at night?”
Argento opened another folder, found the information Harvath wanted, and read him the answer. “Two men outside the house. Two men inside. Definitely armed. Semiautomatic rifles.”
“Do we know anything about his perimeter security? Ground sensors? Anything like that?”
The Italian scrolled through the file and then shook his head. “We don’t know.”
“Alarm system on the house? Safe room? Pets?”
Again, Argento scrolled through the file. “No idea regarding the first two and as far as pets go, I assume you are asking about any dogs. None have been seen.”
Harvath nodded.
There were always some question marks, no matter what the operation was. The less time you had to get ready, the more of them there usually were. Having access to Vottari’s file was a real benefit.
“Before we start talking about a plan,” said the Italian, “I want to go over a few ground rules.”
Harvath looked at him. “Such as?”
Argento drew a deep breath, and the moment he did, Harvath knew they were in trouble.
CHAPTER 69
* * *
* * *
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Harvath stated.
“I’m not kidding you,” said Argento.
“Why don’t we just save ourselves the time? We can walk right up to the front door and ask them to shoot us.”
“I think you’re overreacting.”
Harvath shook his head. “If I was overreacting, you’d know it. Trust me. What I’m giving you is the truth.
“Which is exactly what I have given you,” the Italian countered. “I don’t like it any more than you do. It is what it is.”
“What it is, is bullshit.”
“You need to listen to me. My men and I didn’t join the Carabinieri to be the same as the Mafia. We joined because we are better men. We don’t want to beat them by their rules. We want to beat them by ours.”
“With all due respect, sometimes you need to re-evaluate the rules.”
Argento didn’t disagree. “I don’t mind bending a few here and there,” he said. “But as bad as those men are, they are still Italian citizens. The law exists to protect all Italians. Even the worst of us.”
Harvath liked Argento. He was a good guy. But here, he was totally wrong. “And if I ignore the ground rules?”
“Come on, don’t be stupid.”
“I’m serious. What happens if I ignore them?”
“The CIA snatched a Muslim Imam off the streets of Milan and rendered him to Egypt, where he was tortured. Every CIA operative involved was tried in absentia and found guilty. Prison terms and big money judgments were handed down. What do you think the Italian courts will do to you if you harm Vottari or any of his people?”
“Define harm,” said Harvath.
“Shoot,” the Italian replied. “What do you think will happen to you and your team if you shoot even one of them?”
“No one even knows that we’re here.”
“I know you’re here,” Argento stated. “My men know you’re here. My pilots know.”
“So?”
“So who do you think I called last night from the safe house in Palermo? Where do you think my file on Vottari came from? I had to call the lead N’drangheta prosecutor himself to get that. I woke him up in the middle of the night and everything.”
Harvath was right back in the position he had been earlier with Lovett, vis-à-vis Ragusa. To climb to the next rung of the ladder, someone else had to become involved. As soon as that happened, the operation, not to mention its operators, were exposed. It was no longer fully covert.
“Then you tell me,” said Harvath. “How do we make this work?”
“Believe me, that’s all I have been thinking about. If Vottari or any of his men turn up dead, I’ll be the first person they look at. Same thing if he goes missing.”