Opening her eyes, she saw a shutter had been opened. Standing on the other side of the window was Harvath.
“Give me your hand,” he said, as he reached out for her.
She took his hand and he helped her climb inside the musty old building.
CHAPTER 57
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Once they were safely inside, Harvath took out his phone and texted Barton. A couple of seconds later, he received a response. Barton was on his way.
Lovett sat on a stack of tiles and tried to catch her breath.
“You going to be okay?” Harvath asked.
She nodded.
“Good. I’m going to take a look at the courtyard in back. Wait here.”
She nodded and watched as he exited the room and disappeared into the darkness out in the hallway.
Using the low beam of his flashlight so as not to give away his presence in the building, he navigated to the rear stairwell. On the second floor, he came to a steel fire door and, first making sure it wasn’t actively alarmed, inched it open and stepped outside.
He was on the flat roof at the north end of the complex. An eight-foot-high wall ran along it, separating it from the building next door. Hopping up onto one of two hot water tanks, he peered over the edge. It was a straight drop, two stories down. They were going to have to go to the end of the flat roof and then scramble up and over another roof system to get to Naya’s apartment atop the Black Cat.
Climbing down from the hot water tank, he retraced his steps back inside and rejoined Lovett. Seconds later, Barton appeared at the window.
“Knock, knock,” he whispered.
Harvath offered him a hand and helped him climb through.
Once the SEAL was in, Harvath looked at Lovett. “Ready to move?”
Her mouth was dry and her stomach was still in knots, but the dizziness had passed and her heart rate had come down. Nodding, she stood up and followed Harvath out of the room. Barton brought up the rear.
The trio proceeded to the staircase and down to the second floor. When they reached the steel door, Harvath texted Staelin for a final SITREP before they exited.
“Naya is still behind the bar,” he texted back. “Music is plenty loud. You’re good to go.”
Harvath shared the message with Barton and Lovett, opened the door, and led them outside.
At the end of the flat roof, they squeezed past a set of solar panels and reached another pair of hot water tanks.
Turning to Lovett, he said, “I’m going to go first and you’re going to come right behind me, okay? Keep your eyes on me the entire time. Don’t look at anything else. You’re going to be great.”
She forced a smile, and when Barton flashed him the thumbs-up, he began his climb.
Leaping onto the hot water tanks, he then pulled himself up onto the roof of the building next to the Black Cat.
It wasn’t terribly steep, but it was covered with curved, terra-cotta tiles. They were very hard to walk on. Now, slick from the rain, they were even more difficult.
Harvath waited for Lovett to climb up onto a water tank and then held out his hand to help her onto the roof. As soon as Barton had joined them, Harvath began walking.
He chose his steps very carefully. They were three stories above the street. One wrong move and it would all be over. Once you started sliding, there wasn’t anything to stop you from going over the edge.
He walked near the roof’s seam, testing each tile with only part of his weight before fully committing. Every couple of steps, he looked over his shoulder to see how Lovett was doing. Though the fear was etched across her face, she kept moving. So did Harvath.
He was only fifteen feet away from the end of the roof when he heard a tile crack and break away behind him.
He turned just in time to see not Lovett, but Barton lose his footing and go down.
Before he could get even two steps, Lovett had dropped to her stomach, reached out her hand, and grabbed him.
Her rescue, though, was short-lived as he began sliding toward the edge and pulling her with him. Barton was just too heavy and the roof too wet to stop it from happening.
Harvath moved as fast as he could. He could hear Lovett grunting under the strain of trying to hold on to him.
“Don’t let go!” Harvath ordered her.
“I can’t hold him!”
Harvath picked up his pace and as he did, he slipped and almost went down.
“I’m losing him!”
Feet away, Harvath lunged just as Lovett lost her grip. He came down hard on the tiles and there was a slap as his hand wrapped around the SEAL’s wrist.
Slowly, he helped pull Barton back up.
Had Lovett not done what she had, Barton would have gone over the edge. She had saved his life.
“Thank you,” he said to her. And then turning to Harvath, he also offered his thanks.
“You’re welcome. We’ll talk about starting you on a diet tomorrow. Right now, we’ve got to get to that apartment.”
“Roger that,” he said, as he raised himself onto his feet.
Lovett did the same and flashed Harvath the thumbs-up. The fear he had seen in her face moments ago was gone. In its place was a determination to finish this task and get off the rooftops.
Taking up the lead, Harvath began walking again and gave them the signal to follow.
Cautiously, they fell into step behind him.
CHAPTER 58
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At the end of the roof was another wall. Scaling it, they were able to get onto the roof of Naya’s apartment.
The bartender lived on the fourth and very top floor of the building. The challenge now was getting inside.
She had a small balcony off the back, but an awning obscured most of it. With a much steeper roof, and drop-offs on both sides, only as an absolute last resort would they try to jump down onto it. And even then, trying to do it in the dark would only up the risk. That’s why Harvath had wanted to use the skylight.
“It’s locked,” Barton said when they finally reached it.
Harvath wasn’t surprised. There was a lot of crime in Palermo. “Let me take a look,” he responded, pulling out his flashlight.
The skylight was over the bathroom and it was a piece of junk. Whoever had constructed it had used wired glass. One of the biggest myths on the planet was that the wire made it stronger, and therefore better for security purposes. In fact, the opposite was true. The inclusion of wire actually weakened the glass. It was good in fire situations, but that was it.
The skylight was old and in lousy shape. Pushing on it, he could feel it give. The wood around it was soft and rotten. Pulling out his knife, he tried to wedge it underneath without any luck. They desperately needed to get off the rooftop and into the apartment.
Motioning Barton and Lovett to move back, he put his knife back in his pocket and took out his pistol. Turning it in his hand, he drew his arm back and smashed the weapon into the skylight.
The entire pane of wired glass not only shattered, but fell out of the frame and crashed into the bathroom below.