Who's telling the truth?
...
After the three women left, I stretched out in one of the chairs and closed my eyes.
Cecelia had disappeared into one of the bedrooms, I suspect the one with the biggest bed and its own private bathroom, and I tried not to think about her. I tried not to think about Juliet either.
I heard Cecelia flop into the other chair opposite me a few minutes later. "They're all lying in one way or another."
I opened my eyes, hoping she hadn't changed into something more 'comfortable', like in the movies.
"Welcome to the real world. I'm glad you played along. It was a bit of a limb we're out on at the moment, and I'm sure Alfie, after bursting into the flat will be having kittens."
"Can we trust any of those three?"
"You'd think the countess being a countess would be trustworthy."
"But…"
"She does come from a class of people who are a law unto themselves. I don't see her as a master criminal though, but she's not telling the whole truth, just the parts she thinks we need to hear. It's the same with everyone in this business. They try to anticipate our requirements."
"I like the idea of being a bit player."
"Never tell anyone who you really are. I find it helps to allay their fears and stops them from thinking you can save them from anything. First lesson I learned; I couldn't save everyone."
"Noted."
"So, what do you think after hearing everything."
"Anthony got some of it right, but his suppositions didn't meet the facts on the ground."
"Which is always the case. Sometimes a lot worse for us when we get there. We're lucky this time we have a familiar face, Juliet. It buys us some credibility."
"You think it's the old woman or Alessandro trying to kill them, or someone else, or was that attack staged…"
It was a thought I had in passing too, as real as it appeared. If I thought too much about it, the fact was, just before the shooting started, we were both sitting ducks and he could have shot both of us dead.
A point to be noted and filed for later reference.
"Assuming it wasn't, we have to get them over to Italy."
"How?"
"How Larry got there. A small plane flying under the radar. If Rodby put you to work with me for a reason, it was probably to teach you all my tricks of the trade. You accumulate a lot of them as you progress, and don't get killed. Moving secretly from place to place is a useful tool and you gather assets over time. I know a guy who knows a guy, and tomorrow, with the three women, you will go find him and take yourselves off to Italy. You will have two envelopes, the first the name of the pilot. The second, is an address of a safe house near Sorrento. Once they are safe, you will take up surveillance on the Sorrento Chateau, and the movements of the matriarch. After I've dealt with Rodby, I'll be over to talk to her."
"Don't you think that's dangerous, I mean, Rodby will be very angry."
"Do you want to go see him?"
"No."
"Then let me worry about him."
"You sure he won't lock you up and throw away the key?
"Not if he wants the countess."
© Charles Heath 2023
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