The Confessor

ROME

THE Via Gioberti was ablaze with flickering blue emergency lights. Achille Bartoletti stepped out of the Pensione Abruzzi and spotted Carlo Casagrande's car amid the turmoil. The Italian security chief came over at an easy executive stroll and climbed into the backseat.

"Your assassin is damned good with a gun, General. I hope he never gets anywhere near the Holy Father."

"How many dead?"

"Four carabinieri killed, six others wounded."

"Dear God," Casagrande murmured.

"I'm afraid there's one other casualty--a Polizia di Stato detective named Alessio Rossi. Apparently he was inside the assassin's room when the carabinieri went in. For some reason, Rossi tried to escape with him."

Casagrande feigned surprise. The tone of Bartoletti's next question

revealed that he did not find his performance altogether convincing. "Is there something about this affair you've neglected to tell me, General?"

Casagrande met Bartoletti's quizzical stare and slowly shook his head. "I've told you everything I know, Achille." I see.

Casagrande tried to quickly change the subject.

"What is Rossi's condition?"

"He's dead, too, I'm afraid."

"Was it the Israeli?"

"No, it appears he was shot by carabinieri."

"Is there anything in the room?"

"Just a change of clothes. No papers, no identification. Your man is good."

Casagrande looked up at the open window on the second floor of the pensione. He had hoped the matter could be handled quietly. Now he had to use the circumstances to his advantage.

"Based on his performance tonight, it is clear to me that this man is a professional."

"I cannot argue with that conclusion, General."

"As for Rossi, perhaps he was involved somehow in the conspiracy."

"Perhaps," Bartoletti said with little conviction.

"Whatever the circumstances, the Israeli must not be allowed to leave Rome."

"A hundred officers are looking for him right now."

"He won't stay in Rome long. He'll leave at the first opportunity. If I were you, I'd seal the city. Put a watch on every train station and bus terminal."

Bartoletti's expression betrayed that he didn't appreciate being

treated like an incompetent who needed to be told how to mount a search for a fugitive. "I'm afraid this affair has little to do with the Vatican at this point, General Casagrande. After all, five Italian policeman were killed on Italian soil. We will conduct the search in the manner we see fit and inform the Vatican Security Office as events warrant."

The pupil has turned on his master, thought Casagrande. Such was the nature of all relationships like this. "Of course, Achille," he said submissively. "I meant no disrespect."

"None taken, General. But I wouldn't hold out much hope that this man is going to simply vanish. Speaking for myself, I'd like to know what Inspector Rossi was doing in his room. I would think you'd like to know that too."

Bartoletti climbed out of the car without waiting for a reply and walked briskly away. Casagrande's driver looked up into the rear-view mirror.

"Back to the Via Pinciana, General?"

Casagrande shook his head. "Il Vaticano."

IN A SOUVENIR KIOSK near the Forum, Gabriel bought a dark blue hooded sweatshirt with the words Viva Roma! emblazoned across the chest. In a public toilet, he removed his shirt and stuffed it into a rubbish bin. Only then did he notice that a bullet had grazed his right side, leaving a bloody furrow below his armpit. He used toilet paper to wipe away the blood, then carefully pulled on the new sweatshirt. Rossi's Beretta was still wedged into the waist of his jeans. He went out and headed north toward the Piazza Navona. He had made his second call on the emergency line. The same woman had answered the phone and had told him to go to the

Church of Santa Maria della Pace. Inside, near the confessionals would be a man in a tan overcoat with a folded copy of L'Osserva-tore Romano. The agent would tell Gabriel where to go next.

His first responsibility now was to his rescuers. He had to be certain he was not leading them into a trap. As he wound his way through the warren of narrow streets and alleyways in the Centro Storico, he mingled with tourists and ordinary Romans, keeping clear of main thoroughfares. He could still hear the wail of police sirens in the distance but was confident no one was following him.

In the Piazza Navona, carabinieri were patrolling in pairs. Gabriel pulled up his hood and settled into a group of people watching a man play classical guitar next to a fountain. He looked up and saw that the northern end of the piazza was free of police. He turned, crossed the square, and followed a narrow alley to the entrance of the church. A beggar was sitting on the steps. Gabriel slipped past and went inside.

The smell of incense greeted him. He thought of Venice. The stillness of San Zaccaria. Just two weeks ago he was at peace, restoring one of the most important paintings in all of Italy. Now he was being hunted by every policeman in Rome. He wondered whether he would ever be allowed to go back to his old life again.

He paused before the basin of holy water, thought better of it, and eased forward into the nave. An old woman was on her knees before a bank of memorial candles. Opposite the doors of the confessional sat the man in the tan overcoat. On the pew was a copy of L'Osservatore Romano folded in half. Gabriel settled in next to him.

"You're bleeding," said the man in the overcoat. Gabriel looked down and saw that the side of his sweatshirt was indeed soaked with blood. "Do you need a doctor?"

"I'll be fine. Let's get out of here."

"Not me. I'm just the messenger." "Where do I go?"

"There's a silver BMW motorcycle parked outside the church. The driver is wearing a crimson helmet."

Gabriel walked outside. The motorcycle was there. As Gabriel approached, the driver pressed the starter button and revved the engine into life. Gabriel threw his leg over the back and wrapped his arms around the driver's waist. The bike turned into traffic and sped in the direction of the river.

It did not take Gabriel long to realize that the agent driving the motorcycle was a woman: the hourglass hips, the narrow waist and slender blue-jeaned thighs, the bunch of hair poking from the bottom of the helmet. It was curly and smelled of jasmine and tobacco. He was certain he had smelled it before.

They raced along the Lungotevere. To his right Gabriel could see the dome of St. Peter's, looming over the Vatican Hill. Crossing the river, he hurled Alessio Rossi's Beretta into the black water.

They headed up the Janiculum Hill. At the Piazza Ceresi they turned into a steeply sloped residential street lined with stone pines and small apartment houses. The bike slowed as they approached an old palazzo that had been converted into a block of flats. The woman killed the engine and they coasted beneath an archway, coming to a stop in a darkened courtyard.

Gabriel dismounted and followed her into the foyer, then up two flights of stairs. She unlocked the door and pulled him inside. In the darkened entrance hall, she unzipped her leather riding jacket and removed her helmet. Her hair tumbled over her shoulders. Then she turned on the lights. "You?" said Gabriel. The girl smiled. It was Chiara, the rabbi's daughter from Venice.

FOR THE second time that evening, Eric Lange's cellular telephone chirped softly on the bedside table of his Paris hotel room. He brought it to his ear and listened silently while Rashid Husseini told him about the gun battle at the Pensione Abruzzi. Obviously, Carlo Casagrande did know about Allon, and he had sent a mob of incompetent Italian policemen to do the job when it could have been handled quite easily by one good man with a gun. Lange's window of opportunity to deal with Allon himself may have just closed permanently.

"What are you doing now?" Lange asked. "We're looking for him, along with half the police in Italy. There's no guarantee we're going to find him. The Israelis are good at getting their people out of tight spots."

"Yes, they are," said Lange. "In fact, I'd say the Rome station of the Israeli secret service is very busy tonight. They've got quite a crisis on their hands."

"Indeed, they do."

"Have you identified any of their personnel in Rome?"

"Two or three that we're sure of," Husseini said.

"It might be wise to follow them. With a bit of luck, they'll lead

you straight to him."

"You remind me of Abu Jihad," Husseini. "He was brilliant too.'

"I'm coming to Rome in the morning." "

"Give me your flight information. I'll have a man meet you.'

Gabriel spent a long time in the shower washing his wound and scrubbing the blood from his hair. When he emerged, wrapped

in a white towel, Chiara was waiting for him. She cleaned his wounds carefully and bound his abdomen in a heavy dressing. Lastly she gave him a shot of antibiotics and handed him a pair of yellow capsules.

"What's this?"

"Something for the pain. Take them. You'll sleep better."

Gabriel washed down the tablets with a swig of mineral water from a plastic bottle.

"I laid some clean clothes for you on the bed. Are you hungry?"

Gabriel shook his head and walked into the bedroom to change. He was suddenly unsteady on his feet. While he was on the run, being fed by nerves and adrenalin, he had not felt the pain. Now his side felt as though it had a knife in it.

Chiara had left a blue sweatsuit on the bed. Gabriel carefully pulled it on. It was for a man several inches taller, and he had to roll up the sleeves and cuff the pant legs. When he came out again, she was sitting in the living room watching a bulletin on the television. She took her eyes from the screen long enough to glance at him and frown at his appearance.

"I'll get you some proper clothes in the morning."

"How many dead?"

"Five," she said. "Several more wounded."

Five dead. . . Gabriel closed his eyes and fought off a wave of nausea. A burst of pain shot through his side. Chiara, sensing his distress, laid a hand on his face.

"You're burning," she said. "You need to sleep."

"I've always found sleep difficult at times like this."

"I understand--I think. How about a glass of wine?"

"With the painkillers?"

"It might help you."

"A small one."

She went into the kitchen. Gabriel aimed the remote at the television and the screen went black. Chiara returned and handed him a glass of red wine.

"Nothing for you?"

She shook her head. "It's my job to make sure you stay safe."

Gabriel swallowed some of the wine. "Is your name really Chiara Zolli?"

She nodded.

"And are you really the rabbi's daughter?"

"Yes, I am."

"Where are you posted?"

"Officially, I'm attached to Rome station, but I do a fair amount of traveling."

"What sort of work?"

"Oh, you know--a little of this, a little of that."

"And that routine the other night?"

"Shamron asked me to keep an eye on you while you were in Venice. Imagine my surprise when you walked into the community center to see my father."

"What did he tell you about our conversation ? "

"That you were asking him a lot of questions about the Italian Jews during the war--and about the Convent of the Sacred Heart on the Lago di Garda. Why don't you tell me the rest?"

Because I don't have the strength, he thought. Then he said, "How long do I have to stay here?"

"Pazner will tell you everything in the morning."

"Who's Pazner?"

Chiara smiled. "You have been out of the game for a while. Shimon Pazner is the head of Rome station. At the moment, he's trying to figure out how to get you out of Italy and back to Israel."

"I'm not going back to Israel."

"Well, you can't stay here. Shall I turn on the television again? Every policeman in Italy is looking for you. But that's not my decision. I'm just a lowly field hand. Pazner will make the call in the morning."

Gabriel was too weak to argue with her. The combination of the painkillers and the wine had left him feeling heavy-lidded and numb. Perhaps it was for the best. Chiara helped him to his feet and guided him into the bedroom. As he lay down, pain shot through his side. He settled his head carefully on the pillow. Chiara switched off the light and sat in an armchair at the side of the bed, a Beretta in her lap.

"I can't sleep with you there."

"You'll sleep."

"Go into the other room."

"I'm not allowed to leave you."

Gabriel closed his eyes. The girl was right. After a few minutes, he slipped into unconsciousness. His sleep was aflame with nightmares. He fought the gun battle in the courtyard for a second time and saw carabinieri drenched in blood. Alessio Rossi appeared in his room, but in Gabriel's dream he was dressed as a priest, and instead of a Beretta it was a crucifix he aimed at Gabriel's head. Rossi's death, with his arms flung wide and his side pierced by a bullet, Gabriel saw as a Caravaggio.

Leah came to him. She stepped down from her altarpiece and shed her robes. Gabriel stroked her skin and found that her scars had been healed. Her mouth tasted of olives; her nipples, pressed against his chest, were firm and cool. She took him inside her body and

brought him slowly to climax. As Gabriel released inside her, she asked him why he had fallen in love with Anna Rolfe. It's you I love, Leah, he told her. It's you I'll always love.

He awakened briefly; the dream was so real he expected to find Leah in the room with him. But when he opened his eyes, it was the face of Chiara he saw, sitting in her chair, watching over him, a gun in her hand.