Page 25 of Light Me Up

“Why the last-minute change in plans?” Caro asked. “It took us hours to workall this out.”

“New info,” he said. “I liked the north side when we were doing the planning, but I didn’t factor in the thicker foliage. There’s better cover for the car outside the garden wall on the east side, and more hiding places for us if we have to escape through the garden.”

“OK. Good to know.” Caro’s voice wascarefully even.

“Yeah. Although it is a longer walk back to the car.”

She sighed. “Gotta be flexible.”

He didn’t even have to look at her to know that she was only humoring him at this point. That was fine. She could think what she liked as long as she stuck to the plan.

He drove on, turning onto a small road that curved around the outside of the high stone walls of the Palazzo’s enormousformal garden.

“Um, what about the wall itself?” Caro asked. “It’s twelve feet high. Reality check, buddy. I know a twelve-foot wall is no big deal for you, but if we actually did have to make a run for it, I’m not dressed for climbing. Did you consider that when you revised our plan?”

“Hell yes,” he told her. “No need to climb. There’s a door in that wall. It’s covered with ivy, but when we were looking at the satellite photos today, I noticed a very old path through the grass that dead-ends right at that wall. It’s kind of overgrown but still visible. At least until it disappearsinto the ivy.”

She sniffed. “Visibleto you, maybe.”

“Trust me,” he said.

“Oh, but I do trust you.” Her smile had a flash of sensual heat that turned him stone-hard in a heartbeat. “I told you this morning. Remember?”

“Yeah,” he said. “I remember every single detail of thatconversation.”

“Me too,” she murmured. “Very memorable.”

“Damn, Caro,” he muttered. “Don’t get me started. I haveto stay sharp.”

She was trying not to smile, and failing. “I’ll be good,” she said sweetly. “Tell me more about thisgetaway route.”

“OK. We start on the path alongside the east garden wall,” he said. “Then we get all the way up to that hidden door while staying mostly behind bushes, out of the range of the security cameras.”

“You sound awfully sure of the details.”

He shrugged. “Detailsare my thing.”

“If you say so.Anyway, go on.”

He collected his train of thought. “The ceremony is in the Sala dell’Annunziata, which is on the second floor of the east wing. Astraight shot.”

“Slow the car down,” she said suddenly. “Did you mean this part of the east garden wall? Because there’s a lot of ivy here.”

Noah braked, studying the wall. “Yeah, this is the place. Right before those big cypresses.” He pulled off the road onto an unpaved, rutted space outside the high wall, parking in the shadow of a shaggy Mediterranean pine. He glanced behind him to see if Youssef had caught up yet, but he was still nowhere to be seen.

Caro reached over, brushing a fleck of lint from his sleeve. “Why the contact lenses today?” she asked. “I’ve gotten spoiled on this trip, having you use just the shield glasses so often. I love getting a peek of your real eyes fromtime to time.”

He shook his head. “Shield glasses look OK in the daytime, but they’re weird at night,” he said. “The contacts are a better look. I don’t want to attract attention.”

She looked him up and down, a sexy little smile playing about her lips. “Good luck with that, gorgeous.” Her voice was a throaty whisper.

“I’m not the problem,” he told her. “Everyone’s going to be staring at you in that goddamn dress and remembering every last detail about you. That dress is aterrible idea.”

“Thanks so much.” She opened the car door. “Sweet of you. So glad you like it.”

They got out of the car as the grinding crunch of tires over gravel and dirt announced the arrival of the battered white taxi. Youssef killed his engine and waited.

Noah would have preferred to execute the next part of his plan unobserved, but the thick wad of cash in Youssef’s wallet, along with the bonus to come, was a strong incentive for the guy not to be too inquisitive. In any case, once he started looking for the spot he’d studied last night, they were soon hidden by bushes and out of the taxi driver’s line of vision. He walked along the wall for a few paces, studying the ground until he found the faint signs he was looking for…yeah. Right here.

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