"Beppe, did you see that?" Luigi Amedeo asked, peering through binoculars into the swirling smoke. "I think it's our boy. Swing lower, can you?"
While Il Falco dropped lower over the terrain, three aircraft swooped over the raging fire. They had filled their pontoon tanks on the fly, a plunge into the sea just deeply enough to scoop water, and risen again into the air. It took only seconds to fill their double tanks, and minutes for the pilots to fly back to the mountains. It was a nonstop operation, an aerial ballet conducted with perfect timing. One after the other, the planes dumped their precious cargo of water on the blaze, then returned to sea to refill their tanks.
"There's too much smoke, Beppe. I still can't see. Just a bit more, can you? Turn just a bit more and dip down," Luigi Amedeo asked. "I need a better view."
Beppe dove, but came up rapidly.
"Can't do any better than that, Luigi Amedeo. I can't see either, and I don't want to fly us into a tree."
"That was good enough. I saw." He reached for the radio, his movements hurried. "Caltabieni. The boy escaped. He's on the ground, perhaps unconscious. He's close to Albena, in a low spot." Luigi Amedeo paused, drew a deep breath. "Listen carefully-the fire is heading right toward him. There's been a wind shift to north-northwest. The fire will reach the boy if you don't come right away. Hurry."
Minutes later they watched as a helicopter flew toward them. Beppe banked his wings, to show the helicopter the boy's location.
"Circle around," said Luigi Amedeo to Beppe. "I want to see the final act of the rescue."
Three days later, the newspapers quietly reported Gianci's abduction, but stressed his return to his family within a short time. Crime against the rich, it seemed, did not pay.
"The Olfrandis want to congratulate you on the splendid job you did in the rescue, Conte," Caltabieni said over the phone. "I should have thought of you at once."
"I hope you won't think of me too often," Luigi Amedeo responded. "Have you taken care of my requests?"
"Your expenses and fee have been deposited into your Swiss bank account." Caltabieni paused. "About La Mimosa-by the way, you're one of the few people who know it by its original name-" Again he paused, waiting for Luigi Amedeo's response. Silence greeted him.
"I went well out of my way to find the information you requested, Conte. I wouldn't have done it if it weren't for the brilliant operation you conducted." He paused again, as if waiting for praise, a word of gratitude.