7
A STRANGE ENCOUNTER
All was still in the courtyard. There was scarcely a whisper of wind. She inhaled and her mouth received a fresh coating of dust. The faint light of dawn struggling through the calima backlit the cliff that towered up beyond the house, an imposing giant of a cliff ensuring no one would ever take Villa Winter by surprise.
She went and stood in the middle of the courtyard and scanned the rooftop, her gaze resting on where she and Richard had hid for hours through the night, taking in what she could see of the window situated in the first room of the north wing, then observing the tower. She sensed the presence before she saw it. There, framed by one of the arched windows on the second and inaccessible level, was the shape of a man. He was uniformed and wore a militar
