“Yes, sir!”
Cracco watched three soldiers lift the crate off the floor and stagger outside with it.
Kohl turned to Cracco. “Well, my friend, it’s been a short acquaintance, though a productive one. I think I am going to like this country. The politics, the freedom, the culture … And, more important,” the man said with a serious frown that soon blossomed into a smile, “restaurants where you can find an entire meal behind little glass windows. This clearly is a paradise on earth!”
Cracco and the colonel embraced, and the German stepped out the door of the bakery into the alley to accompany the uranium, with all his potential for horror and for good, to New Mexico.
Tom Brandon stood partly at attention, partly slumped, a difficult pose to achieve.
Geller said, “We’ll talk later, Tom. Oh, and if you hear from J. Edgar Vacuum or his boys, send ’em to me.”
“Yes, sir.” The younger OSS officer nodded, then walked through the door, pulling his coat about him.
Geller turned from the empty doorway. “I got word this afternoon: Your brother’s safely back in Italy, behind Allied lines.” The general reached forward and shook his hand. “Ah, Luca. You’ve done a good thing here.”
The baker shrugged. “It was my duty. The attack by the Japanese on Pearl Harbor was inexcusable. I would do anything to avenge that crime against my country.”
His country.
America.
It had been Cracco who’d suggested the name Operation Payback. For, indeed, it was.
Geller added, “Oh, and here.” He handed Cracco a dollar bill, open, not folded, as in the past.
“What is this?”
“When I told President Roosevelt about the operation, he asked me to thank you. And when I told him what a fine baker you were, he asked me to bring Eleanor and him a loaf of your bread.”
“The president of the United States wants a loaf of my bread?” Cracco blinked.
“Semolina, of course.”
“I’ll bake some now. At once.”
Geller said, “Don’t have time. I’ve got to leave for Washington in a few hours. The first train out.”
“Sit,” Cracco said. “Have a café, which I’ll make myself, while I bake.” He picked up a metal bowl of risen dough, covered with a damp cloth.
“No, don’t bother. I’ll take one of those.” He pointed to a bin of a dozen loaves.
Cracco frowned. “No, no, that’s day old. Good only for turkey stuffing and pudding.”
“Roosevelt won’t care.”
“But I would.” And Luca Cracco pulled off his jacket and took an apron from the stack of cleans ones that Violetta had laundered and carefully folded. He slipped it over his head and tied the drawstrings around his girth.
“Sit,” said the baker once more.
General Geller sat.
A former journalist, folksinger, and attorney, JEFFERY DEAVER is an international number-one best-selling author of thirty-five novels and three collections of short stories. He’s received or been shortlisted for dozens of awards. The Bodies Left Behind was named novel of the year by the International Thriller Writers Association, and the Lincoln Rhyme thriller The Broken Window and a stand-alone, Edge, were also nominated for that prize. He has been awarded the Steel Dagger and the Short Story Dagger from the British Crime Writers’ Association and the Nero Wolfe Award; he is a three-time recipient of the Ellery Queen Readers Award for best short story of the year. Deaver has been honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Bouchercon World Mystery Conference. His most recent works are The Starling Project, an original audio play from Audible.com, The Skin Collector, and The October List, a novel in reverse.
ABOUT
MYSTERY WRITERS
OF AMERICA
Mystery Writers of America is the premier organization for mystery writers, professionals allied to the crime writing field, aspiring crime writers, and those who are devoted to the genre. MWA is dedicated to promoting higher regard for crime writing and recognition and respect for those who write within the genre. We provide scholarships for writers, sponsor MWA:Reads (our youth literacy program, formerly known as Kids Love A Mystery), sponsor symposia and conferences, present the Edgar® Awards, and conduct other activities to further a better appreciation and higher regard for crime writing.
At Quirk, our strikingly unconventional titles include best-selling fiction, award-winning craft books and cookbooks, irreverent reference guides, wall-enhancing poster books, and plenty of titles in a category all their own (you try to explain The Resurrectionist). But we’re not just book creators, we’re also a community of book lovers. Join us for literary pub crawl suggestions, Worst Case Wednesday survival advice, love letters to libraries, plus announcements about contests, giveaways, book release events, and author signings. We’re seekers of all thing awesome, and since you are awesome, isn’t it time we talked?
The Last Policeman
Countdown City
World of Trouble
Mystery Writer’s of America Cookbook
Scope our site: Quirkbooks.com
Be our friend: Facebook.com/quirkbooks
Try our tweets: Twitter.com/quirkbooks
Mary Higgins Clark, Manhattan Mayhem: New Crime Stories From Mystery Writers of America
Thank you for reading books on BookFrom.Net Share this book with friends