Page 189 of Niccolo

Sofia

The morning after I got back, Fausto convinced his contact at the Swiss bank to make a call on our behalf.

An hour later, we were on the phone withder Jäger.

I had assumed a man named ‘the Hunter’ would be a gruff, no-nonsense, scary motherfucker.

Nothing could have been further from the truth.

“Helllllooooo – is this Herr Rosolini?”a high, sing-song voice called out from the speakerphone.

Fausto and I exchanged confused looks.

“Yes – is thisder Jäger?”Fausto asked.

“Ja, it is!”the man said cheerfully.“That is my professional moniker, I guess you could say. My actual name is Friedrich Zollner. Please, call me Friedrich!”

“Uh… nice to meet you, Friedrich. Please, call me Fausto.”

“Such a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Fausto! I was so happy to hear from Herr Schmidt at the bank. He said you have an interesting project for me!”

“Yes. I need someone found in the Dolomite mountains north of Venice.”

“OOOOooooh – lovely! I’m well acquainted with the area.”

“Wonderful, because I need the target found as quickly as possible.”

“Yes, well, it’s a VERY large area, Herr Rosolini, as I’m sure you’re aware. Is your quarry an accomplished woodsman?”

“Massimo likes to hunt and backpack, if that’s what you mean.”

“Oh,”Zollner said, sounding like he was wincing.“That could be an issue.”

“You’re saying you can’t find him?”

Zollner giggled obscenely.

“Oh, NO! No no no no no. I’ll find him. There is no doubt about that. It’s just that if he’s good at navigating the forest, it might take some time.”Zollner’s voice suddenly became darker.“But I WILL find him. What do you want done with him once I do?”

“It’s not just him. There’s also a young woman with him.”

“OOOOoooooh! Lovers, perhaps?”Zollner asked, back to the giggly, sing-song voice.

“No. He’s acting as her bodyguard.”

“Interesting. So this Massimo is armed, ja?”

“You should assume that, yes.”

“Wunderbar! I do so love a challenge. However, that WILL increase the price substantially.”

“Which is what, exactly?”

“Hmmm… two targets… is the girl dangerous as well?”

“Not that I know of. Lucia Fioretti is a spoiled little rich girl.”

“I see… well, as long as she’s not a Mossad agent or something, I don’t think it will be a problem. My price is 30,000 euros per day, plus expenses, with a 100,000 bonus once I catch them.”

---