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Niccolo meant it wasn’t safe to speak over the phone in case we were being monitored.
Considering I was on a public phone that could have been bugged, it wasn’t paranoia on his part.
“Alright… so… what do we do about meeting up with Lars?”
“If my caller ID is correct, then it’s a five or six-hour drive to where you are.”
“Yeah.”
“As soon as Lars gets home, I’ll send him to retrieve you. Plan on 6 PM. Call me again from this number shortly before 6, and I’ll confirm where he should pick you up.”
“Can’t you just send a bunch of our guys today?”
“I want somebody I trust in charge – not just for their loyalty, but to do the job right. In case Fausto or Aurelio rear their ugly heads.”
“What about Adriano? Is he still recovering?”
“No, he’s alright – I might even send him along. But if we’re going to extract you from enemy territory, I’d rather use the guy who did it for a living.”
He meant Lars’s past as a Special Forces operative.
“Okay.”
“Can you make it another night out there on your own?”
“With my eyes closed and my hands tied behind my back.”
“Ha – well, THAT won’t be necessary.”
Despite our impending rescue, I was worried that Lucia and I might be separated.
“What about the Widow?”
“Venice is still in play. It’s not safe for you OR Lucia to go back there – not yet.”
Relief flooded my body. “Okay. Should I at least call her to check in?”
“No – there’s an even greater chance that HER phones are bugged. I don’t want anybody knowing where you are.”
“Too late. After we took care of the two guys who found us, Fausto already knows where we are.”
“But you’ve been able to evade them since then?”
“Yes.”
“Well, no need to send up a flare to let them know you’re still around. I’ll get word to the Widow. Don’t worry about that.”
“Just because I know Lucia will ask – is her grandmother okay?”
Niccolo snorted. “I don’t think you could kill the old bat with a whole jar full of arsenic. She’s fine, last I heard – better than fine. Peacetime bored her. Now she has something to do. Although she’s pretty frantic about her granddaughter.”
“Lucia’s safe. You can tell her that much.”
“Will do. I’m sorry you’ve been stranded out there, brother.”
“Not a problem.”
And it wasn’t. If I hadn’t been stuck out here for three weeks, I would have never had this time with Lucia…
