Gates Of Hades

Chapter Twenty-five

Silanus, Sardinia

Dawn, the next day

The morning did not begin with a slow grayness. Instead, the red of a cardinal's robe streaked the eastern sky momentarily before buttery light began to chase the night from the far ridge. In an instant of deja-vu, Jason was with Laurin, watching the sun climb to the lip of the bowl that was Aspen, Colorado. He had been so absorbed in the colors, he had forgone the ski slopes that morning for an opportunity to capture the scene on canvas.

Laurin. The places they had shared.

As always, the emptiness was filled with a sense of rage, a fury illogicaly directed at the men from whom he was hiding.

In minutes the cave would be in full daylight. Slipping out of the entrance, Jason used the last of the shadows to tend to bodily functions before returning to a refuge without comfort facilities.

Maria had much the same needs, and he met her as he entered. He pointed to the valley below that was quickly filling with daylight. "Hurry."

She started to reply, a sharp remark, he guessed, thought better of it, and disappeared behind a nearby boulder.

Not far below, somewhere near Adrian's chicken coop, a rooster belatedly proclaimed what was already fact.

Carefully holding his weapon behind him rather than risk an errant reflection of the early sun, Jason stretched. Muscles, including some he had temporarily forgotten, ached from sleeping on the rocky floor. He winced as he rotated his neck in a vain hope of working out the soreness. He gave up on the stiffness going away anytime soon and he surveyed the farm below.

Two men in military fatigues were poorly concealed beside the house's door. Two more were covering the approach up the driveway. Assuming he and Adrian had seen them all last night, that left two unaccounted for. Jason guessed they would be concealed somewhere along the turnoff from the road to the house. Or on the ridge behind the cave. Or both.

Or neither.

"No tellin' where th' sods might be." Adrian had come up behind him, one military mind reading another. "Could be that we dinna know exactly how many of them there are."

"I thought of that," Jason said, not taking his eyes from the view in front. "Question is, how long do they plan to stay?"

Adrian shook his head. "Long as they want, I'd think, waitin' for us to come back home. Folks 'round here pretty much mind their own affairs rather than constantly botherin' their neighbors. Could be a month or so 'fore anyone comes 'round."

"You've got your cell phone, right? You could call the cops," Jason suggested.

"Not in here. These rocks shield us from satellite contact. We might try calling the nearest carabiniere, about a hundred kilometers away, if we can get outside tonight and risk being overheard."

Jason had a better idea. "I'd as soon not have to answer the questions they'd ask, and I'm not sure how much scrutiny my papers will take. Tell you what-if they're still down there by dark, I have another way to handle it."

If Adrian had doubts about that, he didn't show them.

The rest of the morning was spent alternating watches from the cave's mouth.

Shortly after noon, Maria observed, "They are still searching for us, looking behind every rock, checking out every building. Except one."

Jason snorted derisively. "And that one is the pigsty."

Maria didn't take her eyes from the men below. "And that would be because…?"

Jason shrugged. "They may well know those pigs would go for them. Plus, how eager would you be to wade through pig slop up to your knees?"

Surprisingly, Maria smiled, the first time since leaving Sicily. "I thought these people were nature lovers. Pig shit is part of nature, is it not?"