Day Of Confession

97

The steering wheel chattered unmercifully in Harry's hands. The truck shook, and the tires spun in the gravel against the steep pitch of the hill, the truck inching upward but at the same time sliding sideways, bringing them perilously close to the edge and the lake how many hundred feet below. Then they were out of the gravel and onto solid ground, the truck gained purchase, and Harry guided it back toward the center of the road.

'So far, so good…' He half smiled and saw Elena pressed against the far door, trying not to show her fear. And Danny, jammed in between them, wholly exhausted, was staring off at nothing, seemingly unaware of any of it. Immediately Harry glanced at the truck's primitive instrument panel. Fuel. They had little more than a quarter of a tank, and how far that would take them he didn't know.

'Mr Addison, your brother needs fluids and food as quickly as we can possibly get them.'

By now, it was all but dark, and in the distance they could see the lights of traffic on the Bellagio road. The highway south would take them along the lake and back toward Como, where Harry wanted to go. How far it was or how many towns there were in between, he didn't know and neither did Elena.

'Does the Church here still practice sanctuary?' Harry asked suddenly, remembering that places of worship had provided asylum and safe haven for refugees and fugitives for centuries.

'I don't know, Mr Addison…'

'Would they help us, at least for the night?'

'In Bellagio. Near the top of the steps. Is the Church of Santa Chiara. I remember it because it is Franciscan, and I belong to the Congregation of Franciscan Sisters… If anyone would give us assistance, it would be there.'

'Bellagio.' Harry didn't like it. It was too dangerous. Better to take their chances going south along the lake, where the police might not yet be.

'Mr Addison,' Elena said quietly, her gaze falling to Danny, as if she knew what Harry was thinking, 'we don't have the time.'

Harry followed her gaze to Danny. He was asleep, his head dropped down, resting on his chest. Bellagio. Elena was right, they didn't have the time.