The Quest: A Novel

Addis Ababa.

Chapter 14
    H ello, Henry.”
    Henry Mercado didn’t turn toward the voice behind him, but he did glance into the bar mirror.
    Frank Purcell took the empty stool beside Mercado and ordered a Jack Daniel’s on the rocks. He said, “You look well.”
    “Is this an accident?”
    “I heard you were in Rome.”
    Mercado did not reply.
    “Can I buy you a drink?”
    “I was just leaving.”
    The bartender poured Purcell’s drink and he raised his glass. “Centanni.”
    Mercado called for his tab.
    Purcell stirred his drink and said, “I left you a note at the Addis Hilton.”
    “I was taken directly from the prison to the airport.”
    “Vivian left you a note, too.”
    He didn’t reply.
    Mercado’s bill came and he put a twenty-thousand-lire note on the bar, which Purcell reckoned was about three drinks at Harry’s Bar prices.
    It was four in the afternoon, and the quiet, elegant bar was not yet in full swing. A few perfunctory but tasteful Christmas decorations were placed here and there.
    Outside, the Via Veneto was crowded with cars and people as always, but maybe more so, thought Purcell, because of the Christmas season. The sky was low and gray, and the air was damp, so he wore a trench coat, but he noticed that Mercado was wearing only a tweed sports jacket, which seemed too big for him. In fact, Henry did notlook well and there was a lot of space between his neck and his collar and tie. They’d both lost their Ethiopian tans, and Mercado’s skin looked as gray as the winter sky.
    Mercado slid off his stool and said, “I’m living at the Excelsior, and usually at the bar there.”
    “I know.”
    “Then you also know not to run into me there.”
    Purcell nodded and said, “Merry Christmas, Henry.”
    Mercado turned toward the door, then turned back and said, “All right, I will ask you. How is she?”
    “
Where
is she might be a better question.”
    “All right,
where
is she?”
    “Don’t know. She left me in Cairo, end of October. Said she had business in Geneva, and she’d be back in two weeks. What’s today?”
    Mercado stood there awhile, then asked, “How long have you been here?”
    “Two days. Let me buy you a drink. I came to Rome to see you.”
    “Why?”
    Purcell slid off his stool and took Mercado by the arm. “I need ten minutes of your time. I have some good news about Colonel Gann.”
    Mercado hesitated, then let Purcell steer him to a table by the window. Purcell called out to the bartender, “Another round, please.”
    They sat across from each other, and Mercado glanced at his watch. “I’m meeting someone at five.”
    “Okay. Well, I just heard from a guy named Willis at the AP office in Addis. You know him? He says that Gann has been released from jail and will be flying to London in time for Christmas.”
    Mercado nodded. “I’m glad to hear that.”
    “Me, too. Only in a place like Ethiopia can you be condemned to death, then released on bail and allowed to leave the country.”
    “I’m sure the British government paid dearly for their knight errant.”
    “Right. Money talks, and the Revolutionary government needs money, so they sold Gann. Works for everyone.” He also informed Mercado, “The bad news is that Gann has to return to Addis afterthe holidays for a hearing on his appeal or he forfeits his bail.” He smiled. “I don’t think he’ll be making that trip.”
    Mercado smiled in return. “If he does, he
deserves
a firing squad.”
    “
Two
firing squads.”
    Mercado said, “It’s important for these people to save face. Before they kicked me out, I got handed a five-year sentence for my association with counterrevolutionaries.”
    “Only five? When are you supposed to report back?”
    “I’m not clear about that.” He asked Purcell, “How about you?”
    “I just did that week in the slammer.”
    “Then a week of house arrest in the Hilton.”
    “Correct.”
    “With Vivian.”
    “Correct.”
    “You both got off easy.”
    “Right.” He reminded Mercado, “You’re the one who got caught sleeping with Gann. Vivian and I didn’t do anything wrong.”
    “Well, I’m sure you did in the Hilton.”
    Purcell changed the subject. “We should go see Gann in London.”
    Mercado kept to the subject, “I didn’t do anything wrong and I spent a month in the foulest prison I’ve ever seen, while you and Vivian—”
    “Was it that long? Well, we’ve both been in worse places.”
    “Where did you go after you left