Morning, Noon and Night Page 5

Chapter Five

  At sea, later that evening, Captain Vacarro came to Harry Stanford's stateroom. ' Stanford . . '?' The captain pointed to the electronic map on the wall. ''m afraid the winds are getting worse. The libecdo is centered in the Strait of Bonifacio. I would suggest that we take shelter in a harbor until -' Stanford cut him short. ' is a good ship, and you're a good captain. I'm sure you can handle it. " Captain Vacarro hesitated. ' you say, signor. I will do my best. "'m sure you will, captain. ' Harry Stanford sat in the office of his suite, planning his strategy. He would meet Ren6 in Corsica and get everything straightened out. After that, the helicopter would fly him to Naples, and from there he would charter a plane to take him to Boston.

  Everything is going to be fine, he decided. All I need is forty-eight hours. Justfoqy-eight hours. 38 lie was awakened at 2 A. m. by the wild pitching of the yacht and a howling gale outside. Stanford had been in storms before, but this was one of the worst. Captain Vacarro had been right. Harry Stanford got out of bed, holding on to the nightstand to steady himself, and made his way to the wall map. The ship was in the Strait of Bonifacio. We should be in Ajaccio in the nexifiew hours, he thought. Once we're there, we'll be safe. The events that occurred later that night were a matter of speculation. The papers strewn around the veranda suggested that the strong wind had blown some of the others away, and ' Harry Stanford had tried to retrieve them, but because of the pitching yacht he had lost his balance and fallen overboard. Dmitri Kaminsky saw him fall into the water and immediately grabbed the intercom. ' overboard!"