Over the wall

Reddler blinked in the stark sunlight. She could feel a headache building, and desperately wanted to take a seat in the cool shade of the awning, but she that would mean sitting next to Artemis. Judging by the perpetual scowl pasted on his face, she could tell that he wouldn't appreciate that either. She sighed and rested her head on her elbows, watching the world walk by.

Palermo was a brash, fast-paced city—somehow contradicting Reddler's perception of European cities. She'd imagined it to be a drab, idyllic place with cobbled streets and renaissance architecture. It was a beautiful city, nestled in a wide, blue bay and had an unexpected mix of Viking and Arabic influence. Of course, the medieval Sicilian buildings added to its splendor.

Reddler smiled. Italy, almost.

"Would you like a seat in the shade?"

"Huh?" Reddler turned. Artemis was leaning over the café table, but it was impossible to tell which way he was looking with the dark shades he had on. He sighed.

"It's 'pardon', Reddler. I was wondering if you were uncomfortable in the sun. It really is very warm."

Reddler went; glad to be under the shelter of the awning. Artemis said nothing for a while, and then took a deep breath, as if he was about to deliver a speech.

"I'm sorry," he said in a strange voice.

Reddler was startled. "What do you mean?" she asked, sensing it was one of those rare instances when Artemis Fowl actually apologized.

"For dragging you along this way. It's rather rude of me."

"Hmm…"

"If it hadn't been my father…"

"Did Butler put you up to this?" asked Reddler.

"Excuse me?" said Artemis.

Reddler pursed up her mouth and said nothing. She sensed that Artemis wasn't entirely honest about apologizing. You have a lot to be sorry for, Artemis Fowl.

"I thought you'd at least have the graciousness to listen. Apparently I was mistaken," he said icily, and turned away.

You bet.

Artemis wanted to strike out at something very badly. It was one of the few instances when he lost control of his emotions. It had happened when his heart had done a double take on meeting Holly Short for the first time. It seemed to be happening more and more lately since he had abducted the Croft girl. It was probably a good thing that he could keep a straight face.

And right then he was burning up inside. As if the roiling emotions were consuming him. He felt angry, but his anger wasn't directed at Reddler. Which surprised him all the more.

Reddler slowly rotated the cup of iced tea, thinking hard. She tried to assume a bored look, but her mind was spiraling round one question.

What's happening?

What was it that forced out the short bursts of friendliness from the infamous Fowl character? His father, after all killed her best friend. It was most likely that his son would follow in his footsteps. So why was he trying to fraternize? Or was he…

"Move out," interrupted Butler's voice in her earpiece. "I'm sending you the co-ordinates. Artemis, do not stray out of Reddler's sight. She is trained for these situations; she'll know what to do." Reddler couldn't resist a smirk. "Holly will be covering us from the outside," he continued. "I'll have to stay in position and make sure Kayakova doesn't escape…Artemis?"

Artemis switched on to a private line on his cell phone. "Yes?"

"I don't like to leave you by yourself, and you know that. However, I could ask Holly to cover for me so that I can escort you here, if you want."

"Don't bother. I'll be fine, I think," he muttered, watching Reddler packing up the surveillance equipment out of the corner of his eye.

"I'll keep an open line for you. Good luck."

"You're wishing the wrong person, my friend," replied Artemis, flapping his phone shut.

Reddler was waiting for him, leaning on a gleaming black Porsche 959.

"Ready for a ride, Fowl boy?" she said, grinning.

Artemis scowled. "Aren't there Bentleys in Palermo?"

"I'd feel too stiff in it. Have some fun for a change," said Reddler, as the car purred to life.

"You can have fun in a Bentley," he murmured, as the car sped into the fast lane.

After half an hour of speeding in and out of traffic, they finally stopped half a block from their rendezvous point. Artemis felt sick to his stomach, and secretly vowed never to ride shotgun with the crazed Croft girl.

"Are you sure that driving license is valid in Italy?" he asked weakly, remembering the time when Holly had ferried him over the Atlantic wrapped in cam foil.

Reddler laughed. "It's valid all over the world, Fowl. Oh, except in maybe East Timor and some parts of North Korea, DMZ and all that, but we're trying to get clearance for them." She looked at him with sparkling eyes. Clearly she had enjoyed it all.

"What's the matter? Scared of a little ride?"

"Reckless driving is no joking matter," he scoffed, trying to keep pace with her. Reddler rolled her eyes.

The street gently sloped down to a magnificent 17th-century palace. Four high turrets rose above it in unison, and the entire building was roofed with a glass dome. Curved buttresses and volutes gracefully accentuated it.

"It's marvelous!" gasped Reddler, stopping in her tracks.

"Baroque architecture. Nothing impressive about it; I've seen better," said Artemis.

"Somehow I never imagined a mafiya kingpin actually living in one of these. A bit too…artistic, don't you think?"

"Not really, when you've placed truckloads of armed goons all over the place," said Artemis, pointing to heavily built men who strolled the front entrance in designer suits.

"Hmm…let's go," said Reddler, quickly walking down the street. They passed the palace and its adjoining building, which seemed to a gallery or museum of some sort. Crossing the street, she disappeared into a little cul-de-sac next to it. Artemis was about to follow, but stopped short of the entrance to the dingy alley.

"Surely you don't expect me to enter that?" he asked, cringing. "It stinks!"

"Trash is a good cover," replied Reddler matter-of-factly. "All we have to do is scale up the wall, and we'll have a view of the roof." She pushed some empty crates against the wall, stacking like a staircase. Then she climbed up them and peered over the wall down the roof of the gallery and studied it for a moment. Turning, she jumped off nearly eight feet of crates and landed softly beside Artemis. He stared at her open mouthed.

"No problem," she said. "We've got motion sensors and telescopic cameras. No problem at all."

"I hope you have a plan," grumbled Artemis, tying his jacket around his waist. He looked up at the creaky, shaky stack uneasily. Climbing wasn't his specialty. Reddler noticed his pale face.

"Don't worry, I'll help you up," she said, smiling.

After some grunting and pulling, she finally got Artemis on top of the wobbling stack. Reddler concentrated on the motion sensors, imagining axial cross-branching lines originating from them, and noted their blind spots to chalk out a path for themselves. Drawing into her backpack, she pulled a small metallic mass and rolled it down the roof. A moment later, small legs sprouted out and it moved forward like an insect. It lunged at the nearest camera feed cable and penetrated the insulating jacket of the wire.

"Move out, guys," said Foaly's voice in their earpieces. "I'll be sending in the loop now."

"All clear," confirmed Reddler. "Let's go, Artemis. Here, wrap yourself in this cam foil. Look carefully where I'm stepping, and follow my exact steps. Okay?"

"You do have a plan for crossing this wall first, right?" said Artemis, pointing to the single braid of barbed wire that lined the top of the wall. Reddler gazed at it for a second.

"There are plenty of good boutiques in Palermo," she said before grabbing the sharp, twisting wire and nimbly stepping over to the roof.

Artemis' face was a picture at that moment.

Artemis had never imagined he'd have so many swear words in his vocabulary. Frustrated, he shoved the remains of his lacerated designer jacket into his field pack. Reddler didn't fare much better. Her jeans had snagged on the barbed loops, leaving an enormous rent on the thigh. They had crossed the roof in a ragged diagonal, missing out on the electron beams from the sensors. They now lay flat on their stomachs on the edge of the roof, studying the palace grounds below. Guards were stationed ten feet from each other, and they were constantly moving. Reddler frowned.

"I don't see a way into the palace, Fowl," she whispered.

Artemis brought up Holly on the comm. Screen velcroed to his wristband. "Holly?"

"I can see you. Bring up the grid on the screen. D1 is isolated, farther east. Find a way in through there," came the reply.

Crouching, they quickly made their way eastwards, carefully keeping behind cornices. They rappelled down the wall and into the compounds. Reddler threw another camera bug onto a cable near the fences.

"I'm in," said Foaly. "Move."

Reddler and Artemis made their way through the lawn to a side door, making as less noise as they could. Open spaces were a nightmare, grassy lawns were the worst. You simply couldn't tell how many motion detectors or pressure pads were in place. Or mines. Or guns.

But since there were plenty of guards about, these wouldn't be necessarily activated. Artemis screwed open the combination lock at the door and rearranged its innards for a while. In half a minute, they were in.

"No problem," grinned Artemis.