Page 73 of Theta

"Better than my Italian,” I say. “Look, I know there's a ferry. But I don’t have a passport. And I sort of need to avoid attention, if you know what I mean."

"No passaporto?"

“No."

"No Carabinieri?"

"Definitely not. Claro que no. Shit, that's Spanish."

"Abbastanza vicini. I understand."

He scratches his chin with the cigarette-holding hand. "No ferry, no passaporto. Only you?"

"No, me and my…um, girlfriend."

"Hai una ragazza, hey?" He grins. "And you need a ship to Roma on the secret?"

“On the secret, yeah."

“Okay."

"You can do it?"

"No me. My uncle. But you pay, okay?"

“How much?"

Another of those shrugs. "I don' know. Maybe…" he scratches his jaw with the same thumb again, smoke curling in his eyes. "Cinquecento."

"Five hundred?" I say, guessing at the translation—I know a bit of Spanish, enough to make a decent guess.

"Sì.”

That's a lot of money, and almost half of what we have. But to get to Rome on the down low…

"Three hundred."

His eyes light up. "You bargain? Buono, buono! Americans, you always just pay. I say a big number. Okay!" He chuckles like this is hysterical. "Four-fifty. No questions. No carabinieri. And a very long boat ride."

"Three-fifty."

"Four hundred. No less." He lifts his chin at me, grinning. "You need. I do not. I only agree because I like you. Hai due palle così!” He makes big cups with both hands near his groin in another very Italian gesture.

"Fine, okay." I fish out a pair of hundreds without showing the whole wad. "Half now, half when we get to Rome." He nods, reaching for the cash, but I pull it back. "Where and when?"

"Where you are staying, grande palle?" I tell him the name of the place, and he nods. "Ah, okay. I know this place. Stasera, mezzanotte. I come to you. Okay?"

I frown. "Mezza…midnight?"

He shrugs, inclines his watch toward me and taps the 12. "Stasera, mezzanotte."

"Tonight at midnight."

"Okay, yes, tonight at midnight. I come to your lodging, show you to my tio's boat." His gaze goes sharp and hard, then. "No Carabinieri. You and your ragazza. No other person."

"Same to you. You and your uncle."

Something occurs to him, then. "Sei nei guai?"