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me?”
    â€œLeaving Israel the minute my term is over.”
    â€œDo you intend to run for a seat in the Knesset?”
    He rolled his eyes.
    â€œWrite a book about your exploits?”
    â€œI’ll leave that chore to someone else.”
    â€œSo?”
    He made no reply.
    â€œIf you stay in Israel, you’ll be within easy reach of the Office. And if there’s a crisis, they’ll drag you back in to right
     the ship, just like they did to Ari.”
    â€œAri wanted back in. I’m different.”
    â€œAre you really? Sometimes I’m not so sure about that. In fact, you’re getting more like him every day.”
    â€œWhat about the children?” he asked.
    â€œThey adore Venice.”
    â€œSchool?”
    â€œBelieve it or not, we have several very fine ones.”
    â€œThey’ll turn into Italians.”
    She frowned. “A pity, that.”
    Gabriel exhaled slowly. “Have you seen Francesco’s books?”
    â€œI’ll knock them into shape.”
    â€œThe summers here are dreadful.”
    â€œWe’ll go to the mountains or sail the Adriatic. It’s been years since you’ve sailed, darling.”
    Gabriel had run out of objections. In truth, he thought it was a marvelous idea. If nothing else, it would keep Chiara occupied
     during the final two years of his term.
    â€œDo we have a deal?” she asked.
    â€œI believe we do, provided we come to terms on my compensation package, which will be exorbitant.”
    He signaled the waiter for the check. Chiara was pulling at the loose thread in the tablecloth again.
    â€œThere’s one thing that’s bothering me,” she said.
    â€œAbout uprooting the children and moving to Venice?”
    â€œThe Vatican bollettino . Luigi always remained by Lucchesi’s side late into the evening. And when Lucchesi went to the chapel to pray and meditate
     before bed, Luigi always went with him.”
    â€œTrue.”
    â€œSo why was Cardinal Albanese the one who found the body?”
    â€œI suppose we’ll never know.” Gabriel paused. “Unless I have lunch with Luigi in Rome tomorrow.”
    â€œYou can go on one condition.”
    â€œWhat’s that?”
    â€œTake me with you.”
    â€œWhat about the children?”
    â€œMy parents can look after them.”
    â€œAnd who’s going to look after your parents?”
    â€œThe carabinieri, of course.”
    â€œBut—”
    â€œDon’t make me ask twice, Gabriel. I really hate playing the role of the complaining wife. They’re so annoying, those women.”

5
Venice─Rome
    Next morning they dropped the children at the Zolli house after breakfast and hurried over to Santa Lucia in time to make the eight o’clock
     train to Rome. As the rolling plains of central Italy slid past their window, Gabriel read the newspapers and exchanged a
     few routine e-mails and texts with King Saul Boulevard. Chiara leafed through a thick stack of home design magazines and catalogs,
     licking the tip of her index finger with each turn of the page.
    Occasionally, when the combination of shadows and light was favorable, Gabriel caught sight of their reflection in the glass. He had to admit, they were an attractive couple, he in his fashionable dark suit and white dress shirt, Chiara in her black leggings and leather jacket. Despite the pressure and long hours of his job—and his many injuries and brushes withdeath—Gabriel judged he had held up rather well. Yes, the lines around his jade-colored eyes were a bit deeper, but he was still trim as a cyclist, and he had retained all his hair. It was short and dark but very gray at the temples. It had changed color almost overnight, not long after the first assassination he carried out at the behest of the Office. The operation had taken place in the autumn of 1972, in the city where they would soon be arriving.
    As they were approaching Florence,