Chapter Fifteen #3
Mrs Bellacci springs up and heads for the kitchen door, but stops and looks back when Lorenzo does not rise.
After a few sharp words from Romano, he frowns at me and nods, before following Bellacci out of the room.
Maybe they are prepared for something like this, but I still have questions.
As I go to speak, Romano holds a hand up to still me before heading over and closing the kitchen door.
“The other news,” he says, lowering his voice and returning to his seat, “is that the picture of your tattoo has stirred up a hornet’s nest. Instructions from way up the ladder—about as far as it goes—have been issued that Gabriel Redbrick is a highly trained and extremely dangerous traitor, and should not be approached.
Some nonsense about you being a specialised agent who recently defected and is now working for hostile intelligence services.
I bought you some time telling them that you are no longer in the villa, that you left in the night without a word and that we have no idea where you went or if you will return.
But I need you gone from here because they will send someone to verify. ”
After everything that has happened since Albert’s death, I should have known better than to get too comfortable in my world.
“Is the job in London really on?” I ask. “Or did you say that to take me away from the villa?”
Romano smiles grimly and shakes his head before reaching to the floor and lifting a small rucksack onto the table.
“Fate has a strange way of intervening. The target has changed his plans and is flying in from South Africa tomorrow night, not in three weeks. These things happen, and we need to adjust our plans accordingly. I want you there ready for his arrival. Everything you need is in the rucksack. As soon as we are finished here, go and pack and meet me out front. I will drop you at the airport.”
I pause to process what Romano has told me and breathe deeply to centre myself. And as I do so, a plan forms in my mind, each part snapping cleanly into place like the mosaic tiles on the kitchen floor.
“Packing will take me minutes. I have very little. But let me ask you this. Have you considered the idea of manipulating your intel?” I ask him.
“What do you mean?”
“Reconfirm with your superiors that Gabriel stayed at the villa and that you have no idea of his current whereabouts. Tell them you’ve heard through reliable intelligence sources that a foreign team of elite soldiers are being dispatched to confront and eliminate your agents residing here.
Suggest that this special force may have a secondary motive, to rendezvous with and extract their precious asset, Gabriel.
Tell them this is pure speculation and that you have no solid proof.
But suggest they check their own intel to corroborate.
If they want me badly enough, they will take the bait.
Then make sure you get Lorenzo and Mrs Bellacci the hell away from here.
Why risk your own assets when someone at the top of the food chain can do the job for you? ”
Doctor Romano reclines in his chair, folds his arms and studies me. I can almost see the wheels turning as he processes what I’ve said. Anybody else might ask me to clarify, but he understands exactly what I said.
“Fly in an elite team of our own to take on theirs? Eagle House would become a battleground.”
“Temporarily. She has been restored before. She can be rebuilt again.”
“If my superiors were to suspect I was manipulating them—”
“How can they? Everything you tell them is the truth.”
Dr Romano stands abruptly. Unusually for him, he leans across the table and holds out a hand for me to shake. I stand and return the gesture, sealing some kind of unspoken contract.
“Go and pack. I will meet you out front. Once I drop you off at the airport, I do not expect to hear from you until you have completed your assignment. Unless you encounter problems and need urgent assistance.”
“That will not happen. Before I go, can I speak to Lorenzo—”
“No, Aksel. We need to leave now.”
“Dr Romano—”
“Listen. You must be careful with Lorenzo. He is a young man filled with deep passion. He has a temper that is quick to rise and a loyalty that cements just as fast and just as deeply. I know this from the connection he has formed with Mrs Bellacci. I sense a different kind of bond between the two of you, something more profound. Maybe that has something to do with you being of a similar age. Let me just add that I wholeheartedly approve. It will serve you well in the field. But you must never put the mission before the person.”
I should be surprised by his words. Lorenzo and I thought we were being discreet around the villa, but perhaps our behaviour gave us away.
“I know him, Aksel, and if I tell him I need you to do this task alone, without his help, he will fight me on the decision. You must be the one to convince him. Do this via text message or a short call once you are away from here. If you speak to him now, he will argue and delay our departure. He may be hurt for a time, but will recover quicker and better this way. Do you understand?”
“I do.”
Between packing and heading to Romano’s SUV, I spot Mrs Bellacci through the kitchen window, but Lorenzo is nowhere to be seen. As we drive away, I cannot shake the cold dread that I may never see him again.