Page 260 of Niccolo

“Wait – WHAT?!” I yelled. “NO, that’s even WORSE!”

Dario smirked. “Be careful what you wish for,consigliere.”

Massimo called at 4:15 AM. He said he wanted everyone to meet him in a small town near Venice called Treporti. Then he and Lars hashed out the technical side of the attack.

Massimo hung up – then called back a few minutes later with a cockamamie idea about carrying around a bulletproof car door as a shield.

Lars thought it was insane but agreed it just might work.

After Massimo hung up the second time, Lars and Adriano sprang into action. They assembled the cars and men for the four-hour drive to Treporti.

I promised to have transportation available for them upon their arrival.

How the fuck I was going to find three speedboats for hire at 5 in the morning, I had no clue…

But I would figure it out.

I always did.

Lars and Adriano said their goodbyes…

And then they were gone.

107

Sofia

Hours passed before we heard anything else from Zollner.

I dozed fitfully on a sofa in the parlor, but Fausto stayed up the entire time.

He woke me at 6:30AM.

“Zollner just got into Venice with the girl,” he said giddily. “It’s about to begin.”

I buckled up mentally and emotionally for an extremely bumpy ride.

Half an hour later, we watched on Fausto’s tablet computer as Aurelio used his cellphone to show us where he would stay during the fight.

He stood in a small octagonal room that made up the top of the bell tower (ironically, without any bells in it).

Empty archways on every side led to a balcony with a white railing all around it.

There was a single wooden chair in the middle of the room – presumably for Lucia Fioretti.

Aurelio walked out onto the balcony and panned the camera around, giving us a superb view of the island.“We’ll have a 360-degree view. No matter which way they come, we’ll see them.”

Despite the fact San Michele was a cemetery, it was a beautiful sight, with marble crypts and groves of cypress trees against the backdrop of the Mediterranean.

I had to admit that Aurelio and Zollner had an excellent tactical advantage. Despite plenty of buildings and marble statues that could be used as cover, there was a direct line of sight from the bell tower to virtually every part of the island.

If Zollner was as good a shot as he claimed to be, then Massimo and the others were dead men.

Of course, we’d thought Mezzasalma and the Turk were unbeatable, too.

“Still think they have a snowball’s chance in hell, consigliere?”Aurelio asked me contemptuously.

I replied, “Ask me again two hours from now.”

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