Page 14 of The Honeymoon Heist

Because the hotel was built using two old houses, the area they’d rented was chopped up, with the grand bedroom having a balcony that overlooked the falling hillside of Positano, but the second bedroom—Amena’s room—was down a narrow hall that led to the front door. With showers and toilets for each bedroom, it was more of an apartment than a standard hotel arrangement.

Jennifer backed up into the headboard to be out of view of the door, saying, “You’d better hope that someone’s out there, because Pike’s going to tease you unmercifully if it’s an animal sniffing around.”

Amena shook her head and said, “No. Someone’s trying to get in. I heard it.”

Then they both heard Pike shout, “Whoa! What’s going on? Hey, hey, no need for that.”

Jennifer heard a man with a thick Italian accent say, “Get in the bedroom.”

The next thing she knew, Pike was backing through their doorway with his hands in the air. Forcing him into the room were the two muscleheads from the White Grotto, one waving a pistol.

The armed one said, “Get on the bed.”

Pike said, “Okay, okay, just get your finger off the trigger.”

Jennifer wouldn’t have been more shocked if a unicorn had shown up. She snatched Amena in her arms and attempted to leave the bed. The second man waved at her, telling her to stay where she was, then went to the balcony, pulling the shades back and looking out the French door.

Pike glanced at the second man, then at Jennifer. She saw the look and thought,Is he trying to tell me something?

He said, “What do you guys want?”

The first said, “We have some questions. Why are you looking at paintings of Caravaggio?”

Pike said, “Caravaggio? What are you talking about?”

The man aimed the pistol at his head, his hand so taut that Jennifer thought he was going to break the trigger, and Pike’s look became clear.He wants a diversion. Split these guys up and give him a chance.

The second man opened the door, glancing out onto the balcony to ensure it was clear.Big mistake.

She leapt off the bed and sprinted to the balcony, going right past the second man, his face slack jawed. She hit the outside patio just as the first man screamed, “Get her!”

But that was going to be easier said than done. She heard the man behind her and leapt onto the railing of the balcony patio like a cat, seeing the old red-tiled roof of the lower house to the hotel. She glanced behind her, making sure the man was following, and sprang up and out, landing on the roof with a racket. She stood up, pretending to be finding her balance and scared about what she’d just done, wanting the man to follow. Get him on her turf, where his size and strength didn’t matter.

She glanced back at him, saw he wasn’t following anymore, and sank down, like the height alone scared her. He shouted, “Come back here!”

“I can’t. I can’t jump again.”

The man shook his head, stood unsteadily on the balcony railing, and then flung himself across, thudding into the roof. Before he’d even landed, she was sprinting like a monkey to the other side of the slope, knowing it was a three-story drop to the concrete surrounding the pool below.

He scrambled on his hands and knees, following as fast as he could and shouting at her. She reached the edge, grabbed an old copper drainpipe, and flipped herself over, appearing to disappear into the void above the pool.

She felt the muscles and tendons in her shoulder scream, but held on with her left arm, waiting with the right, her body swaying in the wind. The man scrambled to where she’d disappeared, leaning over, and she reached up, snatching his collar.

He panicked at the hold, trying to back up on the roof, which put him off balance. She jerked with her arm, and gravity took over. He sailed above her head, screaming all the way to the ground, hitting the concrete like a ripe melon.

She scrambled back up to the roof, ran across it, and then repeated her cat maneuver, landing on the balcony to their room. She raced back inside, her entrance causing the man with the pistol to jerk her way, and she saw Pike make his move. He trapped the pistol in two hands, locking up his wrist and rotating to the left, spinning the man in the air and slamming him into the floor.

The man pulled the trigger to the pistol, shooting holes in the wall, almost hitting Amena. She leapt to the other side of the bed, and Pike jammed the man’s arm high, the pistol still firing. The man put his foot into Pike’s chest and shoved, causing no harm but pushing Pike off his body. Pike rolled upright, the pistol came to bear, and Amena screamed.

He fired, the bullet missing high, and Pike slammed into him, clotheslining the man’s neck with his forearm, forcing his skull to torque backwards and flipping the body to the bed frame. The neck caught right on the edge of the solid wood of the frame, an audible snap splitting the air. The man convulsed spasmodically, dropping the pistol.

Pike leapt up, saw Jennifer standing in the room and said, “Where’s the other guy?”

“He tried to jump into the pool. He didn’t make it.”

Pike let out a half breath, half chuckle, letting the adrenaline flow out of his body. He said, “You okay?”

“Yeah. Yeah, I am.”

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