on the back deck. He was barefoot and wearing a blue-and-white-striped T-shirt with dark blue shorts. His tanned arms were covered in white hair that reflected the sun as he ran his hands back through the thick mop of gray hair hanging in his face.
“Anyone care for a tour of my little boat?”
“I’d love to see the rest of it,” Leo said. They all stood and followed Lev up to the bridge.
The yacht was a beauty. Built in Holland in 2002, the boat was immaculate. Two decks rose above the main deck, with the bridge on the uppermost deck almost forty feet above the waterline. The entire superstructure was brilliantly white, while the hull was painted a glossy dark blue trimmed with two gold stripes that ran the entire two-hundred-thirty-foot length just below the main deck.
“What do you call her?” Leo asked.
Lev’s face suddenly became somber.
“Carmela. She was named after my dear wife.”
“That’s a beautiful name, Lev,” Leo said, wondering why he had not taken the time to ask Lev more about his late wife. People at the villa talked in hushed tones when her name was mentioned.
After a quick tour inside the bridge with all of its high tech equipment, Lev led the group outside to the top deck behind the bridge, where he showed them a small sunken pool next to an extensive outdoor bar, complete with widescreen TV and barbecue grill.
“This looks like a mini version of the pool area back at the villa,” Leo observed.
“I copied it as near as I could with the limited space available on a boat. An outdoor entertainment area needs to have a pool, a bar, and a grill, in that order.”
Ariella giggled at her father as he pointed above to an assortment of antennas and two radars that spun constantly, scanning the horizon. Lev loved his electronic gadgets, and this was a source of much amusement to Ariella, as it had been to her mother.
While Lev explained the navigation capability of the boat, Leo and John’s attention was drawn to the helipad located behind them with a small dark-blue helicopter secured to the deck.
“Oh, I see you like my little bird.” Lev smiled. “We use it quite a bit actually. That’s why Nava came on board. It’s used mostly for going back and forth to places on shore and spotting schools of tuna for our supper.” Written in gold script on the fuselage of the helicopter was the name,
The group left the sun-drenched top deck and crowded through a tight interior stairway that descended below to the lavishly furnished mid-deck salon. The front section of the salon was furnished with two cozy booth- like tables that faced a rich cherry-wood bar topped with black granite. Two flat screen TVs above the bar were usually reserved for watching sports, but unfortunately today, the thrill of soccer, basketball, and football were replaced with images from the aftermath of the attack on Houston.
Several crewmembers were standing in front of the TVs watching the news of the attack, their youthful exuberance flattened by the overwhelming evil displayed across the screens before them. They were all dressed in the yacht’s standard uniform of dark blue shorts and blue and white horizontally striped polo shirts with the name of the yacht, Carmela, embroidered in gold on the upper left chest.
The aft portion of the salon held a spacious seating area surrounded by large horizontal windows that ran the entire length of the space, giving it a bright and airy feel. Oversized glass doors opened outside onto a covered deck furnished with several tables and built-in bench seats that followed the curve of the outside railing.
Descending some exterior stairs to the main deck, they entered the grand salon. Inside, the group beheld a more formal area that resembled a five-star hotel lobby and included a grand piano and expensive artwork from around the world. This area of the yacht contained a large dining room and a fully equipped gourmet kitchen large enough for a team of chefs to prepare a dinner party for at least fifty guests. Blue marble flooring ran the entire length of the salon, where several multicolored fabric couches faced the heavy glass doors that led out onto the main deck.
Beyond the doors lay the main deck, the focal area for most of the entertainment that occurred on the boat. The first half of the deck closest to the salon included a seating area and bar that was covered by a blue-and- white-striped fabric awning, while the last twenty feet of the stern section was left open to the sky, so that guests could sit under the sun or the stars and watch the yacht’s wake recede into the distance.
The group paused to watch a pod of dolphins play nearby before descending down another narrow stairway to an area below the main deck. They trailed along behind Lev as he passed through a dark, wood-paneled hallway lined with brass side railings. Antique brass lamps gave off a soft yellow glow and provided a fitting ambiance for Lev’s collection of classic oil paintings of sailing ships at sea. This region of the yacht was reserved for guests and contained twelve staterooms, all beautifully decorated, with their own private baths.
To the rear of the guest’s quarters, a large, garage-like space held some of Lev’s favorite toys. Next to a room full of scuba diving equipment, two speedboats and several jet skis crowded the area in front of a large hydraulic door that could be lowered at the stern, providing direct access to the water.
Below this deck lay the engine room. It gleamed from top to bottom and was the pride of the yacht’s engineer. Anyone who spilled oil on the immaculate floor did so at their peril. Twin turbine engines propelled the craft through the water at a speed greater than most small speedboats, and oversized fuel tanks carried a sufficient amount of diesel for a voyage across any ocean in the world.
Lev looked at Leo and John, beaming like a proud father. “Well, what do you think of her? Isn’t she magnificent?”
“Magnificent would be a good word,” Leo said. “Palatial would be another that comes to mind.”
“I’m glad you approve of her, Leo, because I hope you’ll be spending a lot of time at the villa and on this boat in the future, my friend.”
Leo had never traveled in such wealthy social circles in his simple life as a priest, and a man like Lev was an enigma to him. Rich and smart, he also possessed a heart filled with love. He was generous to a fault and protected those in his care like a lion.
With the tour finished, Lev excused himself from the others and made his way forward to his cabin. The stress of the past few days was showing on his face when he slid beneath the covers of his bed for a much-needed nap. He had just fallen asleep when a knock on the door awakened him. “What is it? Is the boat sinking?”
A nervous-sounding voice echoed from the other side of the door. “No, sir. I’m sorry to disturb you. Father Leo wants to talk to you, sir. He says it’s very important.”
Chapter 34
Leo was pacing the bridge when Lev found him. Obviously worried, his green eyes looked out over the rolling sea in the direction of the Italian coast. Over the course of the past few days, the priest had barely slept, and his scarred left eyelid drooped more than usual. His hand trembled as he took a sip of yet another cup of coffee.
“Why don’t you go below and try to get some sleep, Father?”
“How far are we from Italy?”
“At this speed, we’re already two-thirds of the way across the Med. Alex told me we should be approaching the southern Italian coast sometime later this evening.”
“Have you given any thought as to where we will dock?”
“We usually go into Fiumicino when we bring the yacht to Rome. It’s a large harbor close to the city and a good place to buy provisions, but …”
“We’ll stand out like a sore thumb there,” Leo said.
“You read my mind, Father. Moshe and I have been looking for somewhere less conspicuous and farther down the coast. A place where we can sneak into a small harbor in the middle of the night, somewhere they won’t be expecting us.”
“What about docking at a harbor on the opposite coast?” Leo asked. “Maybe somewhere along the Adriatic Sea.”
“Let’s take a look.” Lev called Alex over as he opened a polished wooden cabinet and pulled out several sea charts of the Italian coast. Even though he enjoyed his electronic gadgets and could have easily looked the same information up on the navigational computer, he was still a traditionalist at heart and loved his large paper
