QUOTE : Falco loosened the final rope with a flourish and the gondola floated free of the dock. He laughed when Cass instinctively took her usual spot, tucked back inside the felze. Then he went to the rear of the boat and began to use the long flexible oar to steer toward the Giudecca, the sandbar island that separated San Domenico from the more populated islands of Venice.<br />Cass felt a bit foolish. She slid out of the felze and went to stand beside Falco as he moved the boat through the water. Fog swirled around the gondola.<br />“Don’t expose yourself to the elements on my account,” Falco said with a crooked smile. “I don’t mind playing gondolier for you.