It
was a typical Ticino ristorante: oiled parquet floor, walls with knotty-pine
wainscoting, and rustic, hand-hewn beams holding up the ceiling …
The four soldiers settled on a table next to the jukebox… A
VW delivery van with wide cargo doors drove up and stopped in front
of the tavern, blocking the road to traffic.
They watched a slight man with a neighborly smile walk up the steps
and through the door… In a flash, the soldiers’ eyes were
once more upon the road below as a red Fiat with its top rolled down
backed into the parking space below the tavern window. By itself the
two-seat Topolino would have turned the young men’s heads, but
the driver made them forget to close their mouths.
As she slid from the driver’s seat they saw
she was wearing black slacks, tight around her waist and legs, stuck
into high-heeled boots like skiers’ pants… An unzipped
blue jacket made of fine leather was draped sportily about her. She
slid it off with a movement of her shoulders and folded it over her
arm. From the passenger seat, she grabbed a blue canvas bag that she
carried instead of a purse.
...more >
