Brett said, “It’s a stand-alone, thank God. We won’t have to bust into a hundred different apartments looking.”

The phone lock was good, but not pinpoint precise. If the target had been four stories tall and a block long, that would have left a lot of real estate to cover. Brett was happy it was a small two-story, meaning it probably didn’t have any sublets, and whoever was using it was all bad.

I said, “How many breaches?”

“Not counting windows, looks like two. One in front, and one in back, near the alley with the trash cans.” He handed the tablet to me, showing me the roof of what looked like a slice of pizza, the crust end butting up into the refuse alley, but the front getting narrower and narrower as it was hemmed in on two sides with cobblestone streets.

Brett pointed to the right side of the building, “That’s Via del Moro, the road with the main entrance. The other road just runs down brick, then the alley cuts in between both of them.”

I said, “How can you see a back breach? It’s hidden by the buildings. Are you guessing?”

He leaned over and ran his finger over the screen, flipping through twenty pictures, trying to find the one he wanted. Eventually, he did, a long-axis shot of the alley from above. You couldn’t see exactly what was down it, but you could see a light fixture and a row of garbage cans. Which meant a breach. Nobody puts a light fixture on the back side of an alley wall unless there’s some reason for a person to use it.

I privately thanked my lucky stars I’d made Knuckles get in the plane. He knew what we needed, and hadn’t quit taking photos until he had it.

I studied the image a little more, building a plan. Knowing what I thought we should do, but wanting input, I said, “What’s your call?”

Brett said, “Low-vis entry, back door. No knock-knock on this one. Stealth. Get on them before they realize we’re there. Koko and Carrie lock down the front if we screw up.”

Which is exactly what I thought. I said, “Aaron?”

Before he could answer, Shoshana said, “Who the hell is Carrie? What am I doing?”

Brett grinned at me and said, “Uhh . . . it’s your callsign for this mission. For on the radio, you know, when we have to talk in the clear.”

She said, “I don’t get it. Why Carrie? Is this some joke, like calling Jennifer a talking gorilla?”

I cut above the fray, speaking sharply. “Enough of this shit!” Everyone got quiet and I said, “Aaron, what are your thoughts?”

He said, “Brett’s plan is sound. As long as we don’t get into a gunfight on the street out front.”

“I’m good with that. Carrie and Koko should be able to lock them inside as long as we give them a heads-up we’re compromised. If we push them out, and they choose to fight, it’s their bad luck.”

Piqued again, Shoshana rotated around and said, “What is Carrie? Why am I that?”

Aggravated, I said, “It’s just a callsign, but it fits. You scare the shit out of me and my team. You are Carrie. She’s a character in a book that slaughtered half a town with her mind. Killing everyone because she was slighted, using her brain alone.”

She took that in, then said, “So no talking monkey.”

I looked at her, incredulous. “It’s a bad callsign. It means you’re a telekinetic psychopath.”

She turned back around, happy, saying, “Koko and I can lock down the front.”

Aaron was grinning, and Brett looked like he’d just created a monster. We crossed the Tiber River, entering Trastevere, and Jennifer said, “About two minutes out.”

I said, “Okay, Jennifer, do a drive-by of the front of the house, on Via del Moro. We’ll take a quick look, then roll out at the alley. You park, then provide squirter control on the front breach. You and Carrie position close on the door if we call. Any questions?”

I got none, and the pizza house came into view. Jennifer rolled around the point, us staring at the front door like it would tell us something. It showed nothing. Just another Roman house on a street full of them.

She left Via del Moro, turning onto the other leg of the triangle, and I cracked the door. She reached the alley, and we rolled out, scurrying into the small, rat-infested lane. I unhooked my PWS, flipping out the buttstock and whispering, “Brett. Your door.”

He and Aaron did the same with their weapons, and we advanced, making sure not to kick cans or other refuse. He reached it, and Aaron pulled security on the far side while I took the near. Brett knelt down, pulled out an old-fashioned pick kit, and set to work, going very, very slowly.

He felt the lock release and turned to me. I raised my weapon, caught eyes with Aaron, then nodded. He swung the door open, and I flowed in, rifle high.

I entered a small anteroom, a stove visible through another door. I went in enough to allow space for the rest of the team, then took a knee, listening. Brett slowly allowed the door to close and we all paused, straining our ears. I heard nothing. I glanced at Brett, letting him know I was moving, then took a position on the door that allowed me to pie off the room. I saw nothing. Brett came up behind me and squeezed my arm. I entered the room, going left, feeling him go right, both of us still moving gingerly.

The room was empty.

We continued through the small house, but it was deserted. Nothing.

I called in Jennifer and Shoshana, and ordered site exploitation. While that was going on, I called Knuckles, saying, “We got a dry hole. Need another lock for the phone. Get overhead.”

I got acknowledgment from him, then Brett brought up a GoPro camera, saying, “You have to see this.”

He turned it on, and I watched the other two Lost Boys chanting a bunch of crazy shit, exposing suicide vests.

A martyr tape. And they were gone.

“Fuck! Give me something from this place. Right now.”

Aaron came up with a hand-drawn diagram of some sort of ceremony. Nothing identified where it was, but it was big. A lot of people. It had sketches showing where to target and who to kill, confusing marks that had been erased and redrawn, as if whoever had made it had been in a discussion with others, changing the plan.

I said, “Any idea where that is?”

“None. Brett’s still looking. Their luggage is here, so this is the endgame. They aren’t coming back.”

Knuckles came on my earpiece, saying, “I got the phone. It’s on an island in the middle of the Tiber, close to Trastevere, headed north. Whoever’s got it is on foot. It’s moving slow.”

I said, “What’s north? What’s the target?”

I got nothing for a minute, then, “The Colosseum. That’s the biggest thing around.”

I looked at Brett. “What time does that place open? Find out.”

Jennifer came back downstairs, Shoshana behind her. I said, “They’re on the move. It might be the Colosseum; it might be something else.”

Brett said, “It opened at eight thirty. It’s open right now. According to this, worst crowds are between nine and ten.”

“That’s it. Pack up. We need to go.”

I called Retro, relaying what I had and telling him to contact Kurt. It was time to get the Italians involved. Let them know the threat. We might be able to stop it, but I couldn’t live with myself if we failed and hadn’t given some notice.

Retro tried to interrupt me several times, until I told him to shut up and start taking notes. He did so. When I was done, I said, “Get that out right now. Tell Kurt we’re on the move, but we may be too late.”

He said, “Roger all. Pike . . . Christine’s awake. She’s talking. I got her information.”

I was on the verge of hanging up the phone when what he said penetrated. “What did she say? What does she know?”

“Nothing, really. She was screwing some guy from America. She’s a mistress, but she was here with a man hosting a church group. The man hasn’t been seen in days. It’s why she came down to Rome, to find him. I’ve run his name, and he’s from Florida. He was here leading three boys on a Catholic church group trip.”