“Let’s keep it that way. Don’t get too close.”
They were a couple of hundred yards back among a cluster of boats rounding Venice’s southern flank heading toward the Grand Canal and Piazza di San Marco. A rocky channel separated Venice from Giudecca, a banana-shaped strip only a few hundred yards south of the main island. Traffic was heavy. Boats and slow-moving vaporetti cruised everywhere, his ears flooded by the sounds of engines and hulls slapping water. Ten days ago the cruise ship had passed this way, headed south, offering passengers breathtaking views. Then, eight days later, it had returned the same way. To his left, the bulging baroque hulk of the Santa Maria della Salute dominated the entrance to the Grand Canal. But Howell’s boat did not make the sharp turn that way. Instead its course stayed due east, paralleling Venice’s impressive array of towers and spires. He squinted in the bright glare and saw the Doge’s Palace, along with the two iconic red-and-gray granite columns. One was topped by the winged lion of St. Mark, the city’s current patron, the other by St. Theodore, its predecessor. Piazza di San Marco, just beyond, throbbed with visitors. More people milled back and forth along the waterfront in a steady parade. Another busy day at tourist central.
Howell’s boat veered left and slowed.
Luke matched the maneuver, keeping his distance.
“They’re headed into a canal,” he said.
One that opened just past the Doge’s Palace, beneath the Bridge of Sighs, forming a path north into the city bowels.
“Careful in there,” he said. “We can get spotted.”
The canal was only thirty feet wide, lined on both sides with tiers of old buildings, the stone mellowed by time. Once privileged palaces, they were now apartments, hotels, museums, and shops, some of the most expensive real estate on the planet. Venice was not thick with cranes, skyscrapers, overpasses, and tunnels. Time and history ruled here.
“I know you don’t like to talk about things,” Luke said as they slowly cruised the canal. “But I have to ask. What about Cassiopeia? Did she cool down?”
No, he didn’t like to talk about that. But Luke had been there in Utah, and knew it all, so he answered him with the truth. “She’s gone.”
“Sorry about that. I know it hurts.”
He appreciated the sentiment. About the only good thing that happened from the whole experience had been a realization that his emotions were not so dead. He’d felt attraction, intimacy, even love. And now? Regret and longing had settled over him.
“Why don’t we just take this guy?” Luke asked, pointing ahead. “And be done with it.”
“We will. But first I want to watch.”
“Is Pappy on to somethin’?”
“Larks was killed for a reason. That robbery last night happened for a reason. Something tells me they’re related.”
“And how did you make that leap in logic?”
“Years of dealing with this crap.”
“Our mission is only concerned with getting Howell.”
“Since when? You’re going to learn, Frat Boy, that in the field you can do whatever you want. Unlike Ms. Schaefer, I made a career out of breaking rules.”
Luke smiled. “I like the way you think.”
Howell’s boat veered left and disappeared around a bend. They were creeping along and Luke negotiated the same corner, now headed straight through the city, due west toward the end of the island with the cruise terminal.
Why was he not surprised.
*
Kim crossed the street and walked toward the ferry terminal. Boats leaving from there shuttled passengers to other parts of Italy, Croatia, and Greece. The ferries were oceangoing vessels, more like cruise ships, equipped with all the comforts including cabins.
The woman with the Tumi bag entered the ferry terminal and Hana hurried ahead. He kept walking, showing no anticipation. Just another passenger headed off for who-knew-where. A couple of times he checked behind him and saw no one coming in their direction. His only real concern, Malone, had balanced himself across the tops of two boats with a travel bag on one shoulder before leaping into another boat and racing away. Good riddance. Now he could focus on the task at hand.
Their own luggage remained at the cruise terminal and would need to be retrieved. But their destination had yet to be determined. Luckily, there was nothing packed that could not be replaced. Personal effects were the least of his concerns. He was working on changing both his own life and the world. Doing the impossible, as Disney liked to say. To that end he would spend whatever time and money was needed, his father and grandfather be damned. One day there’d be more than five hundred statues erected in his honor. And he would not have to embalm his body and display it under glass like a sideshow. Centuries from now people would freely speak his name with their heads bowed. He would become North Korea’s greatest leader. His father, grandfather, and half brother would be forgotten. When he was done, retaking the south would be a simple matter. In fact, the south might actually ask for reunification, a request he would gladly grant. How satisfying it would be to eliminate the demilitarized zone and watch as the American army exited Korea forever. Which, if this played out as expected, it would have no choice but to do.
He entered the terminal and immediately spotted Hana at one of the counters. She finished her business and walked over, handing him two tickets.
He read the destination.
Zadar, Croatia.
The ferry departed at 9:30 A.M. His watch read 8:50.
“I will go back and retrieve our luggage,” he said. “You keep an eye on our prize.”
*