Chapter 63 Chapter 61

The afternoon sun broke through the rising mist on the lagoon, and the San Marco Square echoed with the violinist Handel's "Triumph of Time and Truth", Lindsay and Nick watched from the sidelines. They sat down at a table to the right of the outdoor stage and waited for a waiter to serve two glasses of champagne to mark the end of their trip to Venice. "It's such a beautiful city," Lindsay murmured thoughtfully. "I can't help but feel that what happened has desecrated this beauty." "I see what you mean," agreed Nick, "but by this time next month, it will be history forever. Life goes on, look around you, no one knows what happened last week until now .You and me? Not like them. That's life."

Lindsay smiled. "That's right. It's just a headline, an article in a newspaper." "Let's talk about something else then." Nick leaned back in his chair. "Did I tell you I have a twin brother?" "I never said, what is he like?" Lindsay asked. "Of course," Nick replied, "like me!" "Of course, but that's not what I meant." "I know," said Nick, "he's a soldier, and he's got a rank, and he's got a bad temper." "Did you serve in the army with him?" "My God, of course not! Our relationship is not that good. I don't know if I can trust him on the battlefield, he is very ego."

"Have you seen him recently?" "Long time no see. He could be on the other side of the world now, probably back in Iraq or Afghanistan. The only thing I know is that he's still alive, otherwise someone would have called me .” Lindsay looked over his shoulder, wondering when their drinks would be served.Her eyes fell on Nick again, and his expression told her that his mind was wandering to other things. "What are you thinking?" "Sometimes I do worry about him." "Naturally," Lindsay replied, "otherwise you wouldn't be human. Does he have a wife?"

"You're kidding. Who's going to marry him? Anyway, he's not the type to marry." "how about you?" "What's wrong with me?" "Is it the right type for marriage?" Oh my god, what did I say! Nick smiled: "That's another matter, maybe one day I will tell you. Then again, what are your plans?" "Frank wants to see me when I get back to Dublin. I have a hunch he's going to reopen the international edition." "Then, good news for you." "I hope so," Lindsay said. "What about you?"

"I'm flying back to London tomorrow for a briefing and after that, who knows. I've said before that I have a nice place in County Kerry. I value the quiet and peace, but Harry said..." "Who's Harry?" Lindsay interrupted. "Boss in London. Harry Williamson. He said he had a task for me." "for example?" Nick shrugged: "I don't know. All I know is that London is very worried about the growing threat of the rebels from the Republican Army. This refers to more than just fundraising activities. They are getting more and more aggressive. There will definitely be other activities, What's more, they extended their tentacles outside of Ireland. They lost the help from the US and had to find another way. I mean, who would have thought they would work with someone like the Icelanders? Anything is possible .”

Lindsay listened intently to what he had to say.Makes sense.She had a premonition that another big news was coming. "Also, you can't ignore the constant threat from al-Qaeda. Soon they're going to have a big fight in London and we have to get ahead of them." "us?" Nick looked at her across the table. "Anyway," he continued, pushing the thought out of his mind, "I've heard that Winterbottom and his friends are to be extradited to England to face a series of charges. Will you go?" "I'd go if Frank wanted the news, but he'd probably get the Press Association guys to follow up on it. What do you think they're going to do? And what's their purpose anyway?"

"It's about oil and the arctic circle. They want to get ahead of the Russians. All I know is that it's still going through the courts. Norway wants the green light, but it's already involved the UN. The whole thing is too complicated , I don't want to know. Actually, I don't care at all. They will probably go to jail." "That's right," Lindsay said. "I think climate change, global warming, it's all a hoax. I certainly don't take those things as seriously as those two. What's their name? Susan and Will. Poor guy, wrong place at wrong time. But at least they survived."

"And the President of Pakistan. The Russians sort of saved his life and killed the muslims. Apparently they don't like leaving behind any clues that point to them, which is why they hired Jon to do some dirty work ’ said Nick, “as for the Muslim, he’s a deranged bastard.” Lindsay shook his head. "Probably not. For a while, Pakistan seemed to be slowly recovering, but it wasn't. He must have had a strong sense of where things were going at home, and whether it was wrong or right, he did what he felt he should do. Sometimes the reality That's it." "You're Irish again." Nick smiled and reached across the table to take her hand. "Hope you're not a rebel," he quipped.

"My God, of course not! I don't want to go through that again. Any news on the shooting of Robert Davidson?" "It seems Italian agents fired the fatal shot. The man who showed up at the window. What would you think otherwise? Like you said, wrong place, wrong time, that's fate." "What about us? What will happen to us?" Lindsay blurted out without thinking. God what am I talking about? Fortunately, the champagne arrived at this time. Champagne is delivered on trays by well-groomed waiters with smiles on their faces. "Hope you're having a great time in our beautiful city," he said. "Celebrating something special?"

Nick raised his glass.Lindsay raised it too.They looked at each other and smiled. "I hope so," Nick said.Lindsay also had a warm look on his face. Neither of them knew what the future held, yet years later, the two would still recall this moment.