Three Alpha Romeo

Some, I thought to myself, and nodded. “How about you?”

He looked out the window of the twin-engine aircraft for a moment, before turning his gaze back to me. I could see the constant yet remote pain in his eyes now. The anguish. It was way deep down, beneath the calm surface. Beneath all the jokes at Randall’s expense. Beneath the superficial laughter.

“I’ll rest when this is all over,” he said simply.

I wanted to tell him I knew. That Randall had told me what happened. That it was all okay.

But something told me not to say any of those things, at least not right now.

“When it’s over, huh?” I smiled gently. “And by that you mean—”

He nodded back at me grimly.

“When Kyrkos is dead.”

Thirty-Five

ANDREA

The little house they’d rented was set high up on the hill, a brick and stone villa practically carved into the mountain itself. It was as quaint as it was old. Sprawling timbers. Smoothly planked floors. Three tiny bedrooms and something that barely qualified as a kitchen.

“And where do we… uh…”

“Outhouse,” Holden announced, cutting Marcus off. He pointed outside. “Composting

toilet.”

“Ah shit.”

Randall chuckled. “Literally, yes.”

The villa’s saving grace as an outside garden seating area, all green with grass. It had a brick patio flanked on three sides by high-reaching flagstone walls. There was a square table in the middle, with four chairs. It was secluded and hidden, but at least it was open to the sky.

“We’re not going to be able to see anything from here,” said Marcus.

“No,” Holden admitted. “But no one can see us either, so it’s a safe spot. A place we can wait. It’s also the closest I could get us to where we need to be.”

Marcus arched an eyebrow. “Which is…”

“Up,” said Holden. “A two-hundred foot climb, wrapping around the hill to the other side.”

“To where we’ll set up a concealed position,” Randall added. “Just within range of Kyrkos.”

Marcus’s expression transformed into one of satisfied agreement. “So we’ll take shifts, then?”

“Yes,” said Holden. “One person on the scope at all times.”

“Works for me.”

“It also solves the problem of three beds, four of us,” smirked Randall.

“That wasn’t a problem to begin with,” Marcus noted. “None of these beds would fit me anyway. I’ll probably camp out on the floor.”

We unloaded our things, which didn’t long at all. I learned the house was stocked with essentials, but only barely. There were a lot of needs. One of them was air fresheners. The other…

“There’s no coffee maker?” I realized with dismay.

“There’s a cannister of instant,” said Randall. “It’s half-empty, but—”