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They were to taxi at low speed until after the markers, when they could tear out of this place.
“Explain the earring, the hair, and, oh my God, I see you’ve been wearing eyeliner! Dimitri, is this really you?” asked Parker Tisdale.
The other three stood nearby. Orenthall Hughes, the medic in the group, couldn’t contain himself.
“Can I take a picture?”
“You cannot. That’s final. Not a word of this to anyone. Understood?”
They all agreed, but that didn’t stop the jabs and pokes at his expense. Dimitri was so glad he had followed his instincts and not donned the makeup. He’d never ever outlive the gossip on the Teams, especially the wives.
Moira was introduced, shaking their hands, one by one.
One of the crew advised them to take their seats, as the speed was going to be picking up. “Or you’ll fly right back to Capri.”
“How’s it going, my love? Feel better now?” she asked.
“I don’t think we got all the makeup off. The guys noticed. And it itches.”
“No, sweetheart,” Moira said. “That’s the shaving. You’re not used to having your chest shaved.”
They sat at the stern, huddled together tight, while they went over the next steps of the plan. He confirmed they were able to carry their weapons, and they had flashers, tiny ones, in case they had to cause a distraction when they got to the mainland.
“We’re hoping to make it back to Naples, be dropped off, and then let the ladies party a bit on the bay. If not, we’ll dock wherever we can. We’ve got three choices tonight. One was taken off the list.”
“You expecting company?” asked Tisdale.
“Never know. Who were the guys at immigration?” Dimitri asked.
“At first, we thought they were sent to greet us. They looked at our bags. They saw what we had. We had our government-issued letters you had Kyle get for us. It helped that he was available by phone to verify everything. But they’re going to wonder why we returned so quickly. I wouldn’t recommendgoing back through Naples. You’ll have to go back through immigration again,” said Byron.
“I agree. They had Special Operations patches, though. Not immigration.”
“A special task force. Part of the Department of Defense,” said Byron.
That meant Francone was on to them.
He was going to have to make a decision. They could take a bus or train to Bari and fly out of there on a direct flight to London or, if he could get some help, fly out of the military base at Naples, not part of the regular airport. It was a shared operation with the Navy. If he couldn’t get permission, Bari was their only option or risk going through immigration again and get nabbed there.
He decided to opt for the trip to Bari, two and a half hours away, by train or car.
He instructed the captain to take them to an alternative southern location where they could hire a van. The captain had a spot.
“Less busy than Naples. Little town south, used by locals. Several boating clubs there, expensive second homes on the water. I think I can get in. I’ll call ahead and get a berth. If not, we’ll have to hire a pilot to offload.”
He had ten minutes to search for flights from Bari and discovered there was only one flight per day to London, and it wasn’t until the morning. They’d have to find lodging. He asked Moira to speak to her mother, who agreed with her that it wouldn’t be a problem finding a small hotel for one night.
They docked mere minutes later, quickly gathered their things, and said their good-byes. Dimitri promised the captain a large bonus if he showed the girls a good time.
“Remind me not to do business with you Yanks. Why can’t you ever stick to the original plan? I nearly shat myself when Isaw that lot lined up on the pier. I thought you had gone plumb loco.”
“Thanks for the compliment, but nothing ever works out the way you plan it. That just SOP for us. We adapt.”
“What you call adapting and what we call folly, well, it’s two sides of the same planet. Dangerous and causes everyone unnecessary risks.”
“But you’re just the boat operator. You don’t own any of this.”
“Try telling that to the Civil Guard, who don’t much like you Yanks coming over and causing problems.”
