“I’m a woman of mystery,” Sarah said, laughing. “I just told him that we were pleased to meet them.”
The couple grabbed their bags from the trunk and led them up the stone steps through weathered front doors, all the while speaking to Sarah in rapid Italian.
“They act as though we were long lost relatives just returning home from a long trip,” Sarah said. “Wouldn’t it be fun to live in Italy for awhile someday?”
Daniel just smiled and took Sarah by the hand as they passed through the doorway into a large entrance hall with inlaid terrazzo floors. To their right was an enormous ballroom-sized space with gilded wall coverings and crystal chandeliers. A magnificent curved marble stairway led to the rooms above, while a wide hallway passed through the center of the building to an open country-style kitchen and dining area with red brick floors and sienna-colored walls.
The caretakers insisted on feeding their new guests, and after showing Daniel and Sarah their rooms upstairs, they escorted them back down to the rustic kitchen. Throwing a loaf of freshly baked bread onto a cutting board, the man winked as he told the two how romantic the surrounding gardens were and encouraged them to explore the grounds after lunch.
Covering approximately thirty acres, the estate had a gentrified rural ambiance that included a swimming pool surrounded by marble statues and extensive terraced flower beds. The most striking feature of the house was a twelfth-century medieval stone tower that was constructed five hundred years before the house was added. The tower dominated one end of the structure and could be reached by a long hallway that led from the kitchen.
After they were finished with lunch, the two briefly explored the grounds before Daniel went to work, setting up his laptop computer and communications gear in one of the upstairs bedrooms. With nothing for her to do at the moment, Sarah informed Daniel that she was going off to explore the tower.
An hour passed before Daniel was satisfied that all his equipment was functioning properly. He wandered through the house carrying a large duffle bag and climbed the winding stairs of the tower before opening a wooden trap door into the room at the top. Looking around at the thick stone walls, he spotted Sarah gazing at the grounds below through one of the medieval arrow slits. “Hi. I thought you might be getting lonely up here.”
“This place is gorgeous,” Sarah said. “Just look at all the flowers.”
“It’s really beautiful. Makes me wish we were here under different circumstances.”
Sarah turned away from the opening and gave him a sympathetic look. They both stared across the room at each other before Daniel opened the bag, exposing an Israeli-made Uzi submachine gun and a shotgun. “Sarah, do you know how to shoot a gun?”
“I used to shoot skeet with my father at his gun club.”
“Perfect … you take the shotgun. I have no idea what dangers Leo thinks we might face out here in this beautiful spot, but we have to be prepared. If any of the others have to make a run for it out of Rome, this is where they will come.”
“Do you think anyone else knows about this place?”
“It’s possible. Morelli entertained a lot of people from the Vatican here, so this house is probably common knowledge to the security men there. The question is whether or not anyone who might be after the book will correlate this location with any of us.”
“You used to be some kind of Israeli commando or something, didn’t you?”
“I was in crypto.” He saw the puzzled look on her face. “I was a code breaker. I saw some combat on the Lebanese border when we were fighting Hamas, but I was never a commando. You’re probably thinking of Alon.”
“Oh, the big guy, Nava’s boyfriend.”
“Yeah, that’s him. He can really tell you some stories.”
“I’d rather hear yours.” She crossed the room and stood close, looking up into his eyes. They reached out and held each other tightly, listening to each other’s heartbeats in the stillness of a twelfth-century medieval tower built for defense. It reminded them both that they were locked in a battle with humanity’s oldest enemy in a setting eerily appropriate.
Daniel gazed down at Sarah’s head nestled on his shoulder. “We need to keep a watch over the grounds and the highway leading here. This tower is as good a spot as any. I can stay up here while you get some rest.”
“That’s OK. I couldn’t sleep now if I wanted to. I’ll take the first watch.”
They held each other for a while longer before Daniel kissed her lightly on the cheek. “There’s also a walkie-talkie in that bag. Use it if you need me in a hurry.” With that, Daniel disappeared through the trap door and descended the tower stairs. Sarah picked up the shotgun and made sure the safety was on before returning to her lookout spot at the slit in the ancient tower wall. The contrasting beauty of the gardens below made danger seem very far away.
Chapter 39
The air traffic control tower at Leonardo da Vinci Airport was keeping Nava’s helicopter in a holding pattern while a United 747 passed by on final descent for a landing. Next in line, she navigated the small chopper carrying Moshe and Alon to an area designated for private aircraft. Now they would wait.
In the harbor at Maratea, the yacht shuddered as the engines came to life. The Carmela slowly eased away from the dock and passed through the entrance of the harbor, picking up speed as she made her way north along the coast in a part of the Mediterranean known as the Tyrrhenian Sea. They were now destined for Fiumicino, homeport to some of the finest luxury yachts in the world. Fiumicino was a large fishing town on the central Italian coast known for its great seafood restaurants, but more importantly, it was also home to Rome’s main harbor and the busy Leonardo da Vinci Airport. This strategic location would make the port an excellent choice for their new temporary base of operations.
Shortly after noon, the yacht entered one of the most exclusive marinas in the world and was being secured alongside the dock next to the speedboat that had arrived hours earlier. Listening to the radio chatter from the teams in rental cars now heading for the harbor, Lev and Alex drank coffee and gazed out at all the other boats through the windows of the bridge. They knew that, even if the yacht had not been spotted yet, there was no longer any need for secrecy as far as the boat’s location was concerned since the Devil’s Bible was no longer onboard. All the pieces were in place, and it was now up to Leo and John to deliver the book to the chapel under the Vatican. Only the specter of the unseen forces that surrounded them stood in their way.
At the airport, it was time to go. Nava fired up the chopper, while Alon and Moshe piled into a rented minivan and headed for the train station in the center of the city. If traffic wasn’t too heavy, they would arrive at precisely the same time as Leo and John’s train from the south.
Back on the Carmella, Ariella leaned against the railing on the main deck and watched a tiny blue speck in the sky grow larger until the shape of the yacht’s helicopter loomed overhead before touching down on the top deck. Nava jumped out and waved to her before Ariella turned her attention back to the dock.
Inside the bridge, Lev sat idly watching a crewmember wash the salt spray from the windows when he noticed a bright red Ferrari speeding along the dock. It slowed and pulled to a stop next to the yacht. One of the Carmela’s crewmembers, who had supposedly gone ashore to buy supplies, jumped out of the driver’s seat and ran up the gangplank to the yacht’s main deck. Without a word, the crewman tossed the Ferrari’s keys to Ariella and stood aside while she bounded down the ramp with her backpack and jumped into the car.
Lev jumped to his feet and ran out onto the upper deck, followed by Alex. “Ariella! Where are you going?”
She paused long enough to toss her head out the window and throw him a kiss before roaring off alone toward the city.