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He makes one of the faces only Italians can nation, amusement, and a cool distance, all in less than a second “It would explain why Iyour stay”

“Right,” she says tersely, and begins to climb out

Tomaso puts a hand on her arm “Miss Schulterman, you must have no fear that I would exploit”

She nods tightly and the two of thear and unfold a newspaper

To special: white walls adorned only by a crucifix and a portrait of Mussolini, a tile floor, a sagging bed in an iron frame, the tiniest sink she’s ever seen in one corner beneath a milky square of mirror

But the viewthe view is breathtaking

Even after the stunning drive along the coast from Salerno, Rainy is not prepared for what now unfolds below her The Mediterranean is genuinely blue, almost placid, and it sends up sudden reflections that dazzle andtemporarily blinded

The town of Positano rests mostly on the side of a hill, which at the bottom is quite steep and by the top becomes sheer cliff Stucco houses and hotels painted ochre, sunflower, pink, tan, and white cover the hill—all but that last hundred feet of cliff, and even there a terrace has been cut into the rock to allow one last house to be supported Many of the buildings, alraceful balconies facing the sea, and on virtually every one there are green plants of a type Rainy cannot naer terraces

Looking down there are the roofs, soently pitched and covered in Spanish tile Then, just before the beach, where at last the land levels briefly before touching the sea, there rises a doold, but on closer examination it looks as if it is covered in fish scales, colored shingles that forreen, and dark blue

Tomaso steps beside her on the balcony and nods “Yes, that is the duomo There you will find Father Patrizio” He steps back inside, unfastens his coat, and draws out a long and clu pistol He lays it on the bed

Rainy stares at it and up at him

“It’s a 22 with a silencer, a quiet but not silent gun, and deadly at close range Too to confession You will shoot hi in the confessional Pop, pop, pop Three tiun behind, and I will pick you up a block away You will be taken directly to the Swedish E intervenes on the first try, you will make a second attempt the next day”

“Once the priest is dead, you’ll kill me,” Rainy says

Toiven iven his word We have kept our word to this point, and you have the inforht Noe embark on a new deal, a deal that ill also keep So do not treat entleman”

He runs his hand up her aroose bu the springy hair back to see her neck “Unless, of course, that’s what you would like?”