It’s a weeknight, but every night during the tourist season is busy atBrezza Marina,and the sea breeze it’s named for isn’t cooling down the crowded bar much. I’m running back and forth, pulling at my white tank top, and hoping my sweaty self isn’t making it transparent. The bar is a beautiful little place with strings of fairy lights overhead and movable glass doors that open to the beach.
“Your German Mule cocktail, madame.” I place the drink in front of a woman waiting patiently at the end of the bar.
“Thank you, darling,” she says sweetly. I smile back, admiring how beautiful she is. She could be anywhere from sixty to eighty years old, a little out of the age range for the bar, but maybe that’s what makes her so elegant.
“Let me know if I can get you anything else,” I nod, spinning to make the next order.
“Two Apertinis and an Easy Bellini,” Kelli says, pushing her tray across the bar, “and I think your love god Christos just showed up.” She nods at the door and I groan. Yes, there he is, in a bright salmon color polo shirt, with two other guys. They’re all wearing the cheerful smiles of guys on vacation and hoping to get lucky.
“He’s notmyanything,” I remind her, “and if he’s so hot, I suggest you take him under your wing and make a man out of him.”
Kelli laughs at me, adjusting her short denim skirt and picking up her tray. “Oh, that’s your job tonight, mate.”
“I swear to god I’m going to throw you out of a moving car if you don’t stop trying to set me up-” I force a smile as Christos and his buddies belly up to the bar. “Hey guys, what can I get you?” Kelli leers at me over her shoulder as she scoots through the crowd.
An hour later, I’m less uncomfortable about Christos, who’s behaving himself and giving me a hopeful grin every time I look at him. One of his buddies has peeled off, sitting with a table of giggling girls from Portugal, but he’s planted at my bar with his other friend. It’s one am and the crowd is thinning out.
“Shots!” Kelli slams her tray down and leans past me to grab the bottle of Limoncello.
“Kelli…” I warn under my breath, but she’s already pouring them out, smiling at me innocently. When they all hold up their glasses, staring at me expectantly, I sigh and grab mine, gulping it down.
“So, it turns out the guy was a contortionist, I mean, no shit, he worked in a carnival and everything!” Kelli’s laughing so hard that it makes us laugh, too. I’m three Limoncello shots in which is two more than I usually allow myself. I’m feeling warm and relaxed and it’s nice not being on my guard for a change.
“All right,” Christos is trying to talk while he’s laughing and his face is beet red, “your turn, Cora. Who did you date who was definitely not your usual type?”
“Um… I dated a Navy SEAL for a little while, a super hot boy from Virginia who was great until he opened his mouth. His Southern accent was so thick it could have legally been classified as a disability.” I pull two beers from the tap and send them down the bar to another waiter. “I’d spend hours after a date trying to figure out what the hell we’d been talking about.”
Christos is laughing again, “So what happened to him?”
My smile faded. My father. That’s what happened. “Oh, we just drifted apart, nothing dramatic.”
“So, you must live on the coast in America, then?” Christos’ friend pipes up.
All my shields come slamming down because even Kelli looks interested. I really liked her because she usually does all the talking and I don’t have to evade as much.
“Oh, excuse me, I have to grab some clean glasses,” I smiled pleasantly, trying to look like I was slightly tipsy and having so much fun. “Carry on.”
They turn to each other and Christos is describing a tattoo artist in Athens when I slip through the door to the kitchen, trying to calm my pounding heart.
“It’s just a couple of nice drunk guys from Greece,” I whisper, “nothing to freak out about.” I check my phone and swallow hard. It’s nearly three am and my shift should have ended two hours ago. Christos just kept us all talking and talking and keeping me right here…
I survived this long by trusting my inner alarm and when the kitchen door opens and a man in a dark suit walks through, I slide back into the hallway, craning my neck to see- ohfuck,it’s Dario strolling up to the bar. Looking around wildly, I know the only way out is up, and I take the stairs to the owner’s office, two at a time. There’s a little rooftop space just outside his window and I climb out and onto the hot tile.
Dario’s going to have the bar surrounded, a typical Mafia move. I’m going to have to get over to the next building without being spotted and I sprint across the rooftop, trying to get enough speed to make the jump.
Tuck your legs and roll,Michael, my old bodyguard would say,whether it’s from a car or leaping a gap, tuck and roll.
I land with an ungraceful thump, the breath whooshing out of me and I take a second, staring up at the stars and questioning my life choices before I’m up and running again. This building has a shed attached and I can slide down it and onto the street without breaking my leg.
The first thing you do is look for escape routes, Michael’s voice is in my head again,make sure you always have three ways out of wherever you are. Try to blend in with other people in a crowd.
Michael’s dead now but I will never forget anything he tried to teach me. Putting my head down, I slip into a group of cheerful drunks on the next street, rubbing the shoulder I’d landed on, until I can catch a ride to the Venice Airport Marco Polo. There’s no time to book a flight to leave as a false lead because by now, Dario knows my tricks. I have to hope I can land in London before he can figure it out.
Shifting through my stack of passports, I groan silently. I’ve used every one of my fake IDs at least twice, which makes it easier to track me. I become British citizen Camilla Baker and get on the plane.
Dario…
“You are fucking kidding me!” I run my hands through my hair, “Ten of us and she still slipped free? And you!” I whirl and point at Christos, who looks appropriately terrified, “You had one fucking job, keep her here!”
