Because,” said Bianchi, “for however long I have been down here, I have been waiting for bad cop to ask me about it. But he hasn’t. Instead he has asked me about all of my other business dealings. He has asked me about Hamas, Hezbollah, al Qaeda, the Taliban, ELN, FARC, Abu Sayyaf, and on and on and over and over.”
“You sold computers to all of those organizations?” asked Casey. “You must be a very good salesman.”
He smiled. “I can get anything people want.”
“So what did Thomas Sanders want?”
“Let’s talk first about what I want,” demanded Bianchi.
“And what would that be?”
“I want to walk out of here, wherever this is, a free man.”
Casey started to speak, but he raised the index finger of his shackled right hand and continued. “I also want a guarantee that no one will come after me. That I will be safe.”
“Nino, you are directly involved in the murder of more than twenty Americans in Rome alone. I can’t even begin to imagine how many U.S. soldiers and Marines have been killed because of the people you have helped equip. You just expect us to let you go free? After all that you have done?”
“If you don’t make a deal with me, millions of people in your country are going to die. I can help you stop that from happening.”
“How?”
“First things first,” he said. “You are here because of Mr. Sanders, aren’t you? Everything else was to soften me up, to make me more cooperative.”
Casey didn’t care what the guy thought, as long as it kept him talking. She nodded.
“I knew it,” said Bianchi. “How did you find out? About Sanders and what he has planned?”
“Listen, Nino,” stated Casey, “I’m the one who will ask the questions. Now, as to Mr. Sanders. What is it you know that might be of value to us?”
“I want some sort of a guarantee. In writing.”
Casey patted her pockets before saying, “I must have left my pen on the subway. You’ll have to take my word for it.”
The Italian shook his head. “No. I want something from your president. Something signed.”
Casey laughed. “You’ve been watching too much television, Nino. Our president doesn’t do that sort of thing. Even if he did, we would need to know exactly what you were offering.”
Bianchi thought about that for a moment. “Mr. Sanders wanted bombs from me. A very special, very specific type of bomb.”
“What kind?”
The Italian shook his head again. “A man has to have some secrets.”
“You know what I think, Nino?” said Casey as she stood up. “I think we overestimated your usefulness. I’m sorry I wasted your time.”
Casey walked over to the door. Just as she was about to rap on it to be released, Bianchi said, “EMP bombs. Electromagnetic pulse. Are you familiar with those?”
Gretchen turned around and leaned her back against the door. “I’ve heard of them.”
“Well, that’s what Sanders wanted.”
“And that’s what you got for him?”
Bianchi nodded.
“How many?” asked Casey.
“He wanted three at first.”
“At first?”
“Yes. Then he contacted me and said he needed more. That he wanted them quickly. He told me he would purchase whatever I could get my hands on.”
“And you being you,” said Casey. “You had no problem finding more of these things.”
He smiled. “There are a few countries that see EMP devices as the weapons of the future. They are producing certain EMP devices in quantity. In most of these countries, the scientists and members of the military are poorly paid. They are easy to come by. The hardest part is getting the bombs to their destination.”
“Which in the case of Mr. Sanders was where?”
Bianchi shook his head. “As the good cop, you can appreciate that I must have my guarantee.”
Casey wanted to go over and slap the smug bastard across the face, but she kept her emotions in check. “Nino, this is still not enough for me to take to my superiors and request special treatment on your behalf. It’s all words, smoke. We can’t prove if any of what you say is true.”
“You are toying with me,” said Bianchi, a bit of the spark back in his eyes.
“No,” replied Casey, “you’re toying with me and I’m done having my time wasted.” She pounded on the cell door to be let out. As she waited for the door to be opened she added, “I’ll tell your friend outside that you’re done with your lunch and that you’re ready to pick back up wherever you two left off.”
Casey didn’t even bother looking at him as the door opened and Harvath stood back so she could exit.
As the door began to close, Bianchi yelled, “Wait!”