Chapter Eight
I woke with the tannoy announcing something in Italian. Sergio stretched next to me, bleary-eyed.
“Roma in fifteen minutes.”
I had always wanted to go to Rome. Little did I know it would be under these circumstances. I rubbed my eyes and tried to come round—I’d been in the deepest sleep.
He leaned forward and kissed me. “You look cute.”
I bet I look terrible. I would have to go and check in the toilet. I didn’t want to scare the poor people of Rome. “What time is it?”
“So many questions,” he said with a smile. “Just gone half-past twelve. We only have about twenty minutes in Roma, then we’re on the train to Napoli. Sergio has it all worked out.”
He looked immensely proud of himself, which brought a grin to my lips.
“Then all we need to do is to hire a car, drive to Sorrento, find Antonio Valeri and clear our names. All the while avoiding strangers in weird black outfits and the police.”
Sergio threw his hands up. “Simple, eh?”
The city had replaced the fields as we hurtled to our destination. “So, this is Rome?”
He snuggled back into my chest. “This is not the real Roma. Have you never been?”
I shook my head. My childhood had been beach holidays. Matt had given far more importance to saving for a flat, so holidays had been out. Money that he hasn’t returned to me, money that could be the start of a new life somewhere exciting…
“No. This is my first trip to Italy.”
“I cannot believe you can get to your age and never experience Italia. That is sacrilege. I will show you Roma.”
“I thought you had nothing but bad memories of the place.”
He leaned up and kissed me, snaking his arm up and around my neck. “Then you can help me to make some new, better memories, can’t you? I think you are the kind of man that can make good memories easily.”
That did sound tempting.
Before long, the train pulled into the station. Being amongst people made me nervous again. I wished we had made that direct train to Sorrento and the carriage had been empty. That would have made things so much easier. I couldn’t help looking all over the place for anyone who didn’t like the look of us or approached us too quickly.
Sergio found out which platform we needed. “What do you want to do?” he asked.
“Let’s go to the shop,” I said. “I don’t want to be standing around.”
The demons of panic were never too far away for me, resting in the pit of my stomach, ready to explode at any given moment. I marvelled at all the people going about their daily business, with absolutely no idea of the nightmare we found ourselves in.
We went to the shop, one of those hideous types found in most stations, where they stock nothing anyone would want yet at dramatically increased prices. Standing behind a display of boiled sweets, we got ourselves together.
“Do we need anything? You know, while we’re here,” I said, looking around.
Sergio laughed and pointed to a stand of essentials for travellers. “I don’t know if I need a combination lock right now, but I will bear it in mind.”
“You know what I mean—”
My body went cold as I saw the front page of a newspaper on the newsstand. A picture of the policewoman who had landed in our gondola screamed out at us. Sergio saw it at the same time as me and picked one up.
“How about some water too? I’ll go and get it.”
I stopped him. “Is she dead? I have to know.”
He glanced at the paper and shook his head. A weight lifted from me.
“She is in a coma. I will read it to you on the train.”
“Do you need money?”
“No, Gianni gave me some.”
I wished I had an older brother to call on right now. “He’s a good man.”
Sergio smiled, a little sadly. “He is my hero.”
He disappeared off to get water and I carried on browsing. Out of the bubble of our rail carriage, we were exposed. The clock above the door told me we still had ten minutes. It was amazing how long ten minutes could be. The shop sat across from our platform so we could make a quick dash for it and get back to some sort of safety in about five minutes.
I didn’t know if the break on the train had been a good or a bad thing. The stark facts rushing back into my head made me feel dizzy. If the story had made the national newspapers, who knew how far it had gone? I had a sick feeling that Matt might know about this. He had booked the hotel, after all. He would love this. The first thing I had done without him. I could just imagine him holding court to his friends, telling them that I had been the crazy one, after all.
The devil in me hoped he would see a picture of Sergio. That would annoy him, with his pasty skin and dead eyes. I might be going down, but I would be going down on a gorgeous man at the same time.
Sergio had got to the cashier, so I went to join him, but stopped dead when a hand gripped the top of my arm. Whirling around, I felt sick to see a man in black. I tried to wrestle my arm free, but the man had a firm hold.
“You have something we want.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about. Take your hand off me.”
I glanced across, but Sergio stood chatting amiably to the cashier. I couldn’t get his attention without screaming the place down and that would bring the police.
“Oh, I think you do. My boss is a very unhappy man because of you. If you come with me now, there is no need for your friend to be harmed.”
In his other hand, a knife glinted in the fluorescent light of the shop.
“But not so for me, eh?”
“I didn’t say that. I’m sure we could work something out.”
I knew what that would mean. They weren’t going to let us go. We had witnessed the attempted murder of a policewoman and for all they knew, had deciphered everything on the phone. We knew way too much for them to let us stay alive.
A family moved towards us. I would never have put them in danger, but as witnesses, they were just what I needed.
“Get off me, you drunk,” I said, loudly, starting to struggle. “I don’t know who you think you are or what you want. You’re not getting a penny out of me.”
He tried to push the knife towards me, but I dived out of the way and he sliced towards a stand of chocolates. Quick as a flash, I grabbed an umbrella from a stand next to us. Glad it had a metal tip and not a child’s plastic one, I dragged it down the man’s shin. He dropped me like I was on fire, which was when I drove the umbrella tip into his foot with all my might. The howl he let out made people stare, including Sergio, who started to run towards me.
“Oh, are you okay?” I asked the man. Heart thudding, I made a show of trying to help him but instead gave him a firm shove, pushing him into a display of pottery centurions. With my foot behind his heel, he went down straight away, making a huge noise.
I reared back and met Sergio at the door, playing the part of an outraged English tourist. The man at the counter stood open-mouthed. “That man is blind drunk! You know, you really shouldn’t let people like that into your shop.”
Sergio followed my lead as I walked out as fast as my legs would carry me.
“Andrew—”
“Let’s just get out of here, for Christ’s sake. How on earth did they find us here?”
I looked behind us. People were helping the man up. He tried to push them away to pursue us, but that just made him look drunker.
“God knows. It’s like they know our moves before we do.”
Then it hit me. I pulled Sergio behind a column. “The bloody phone.”
I rifled in my pocket and sure enough, the phone had power. They must have been tracking its signal. With shaking fingers, I pulled the back off and removed the battery.
“Don’t break it, whatever you do,” said Sergio annoyingly.
I decided not to respond. “Come on,” I snapped.
Sergio looked a little hurt but
didn’t say anything. It wouldn’t help, taking it out on him, but the man in the shop could be out at any minute.
Pushing the impending panic down, I forced our way through the people and hurried to the train. We fell into the carriage with relief and I risked a glance back out of the window, almost expecting the man in black to be right behind us, but there was no sign. We weren’t as lucky as last time and were sharing the space with a young couple who were kissing in the corner.
“What a display on public transport,” Sergio said with a wink.
My humour started to come back as we put some distance between us and that awful shop.
“Disgraceful.”
Back in the familiar leather seats. Another test passed and another chance to relax.
“How long?”
“About ninety minutes.”
I felt bad for snapping at Sergio. It amazed me how he was taking everything in his stride. After his experiences with the German lover, I’d have thought he’d be more afraid of prison than I was. Feeling awkward that I’d taken it out on him, I leaned forward to take his hand.
“Good thinking about the phone,” he said warily.
“Thanks.”
Suffocated, I was desperate for this to end. Thoughts were rushing around in my head. What would happen in the next few hours could have a bearing on my whole life. I looked at the couple, so in love. Would Sergio and I ever be that free?
Chapter Nine
I didn’t want to fall asleep this time, but Sergio dozed off before we’d even left Rome. I watched his sleeping face. I couldn’t understand why someone this gorgeous would be bothering with me, even before all this craziness had thrown us together. It confused me that he’d made such a play for me.
I tried to stop these thoughts from coming in. They were Matt talking. Breaking the power of his words would take some time. I just hoped like hell that I wouldn’t have to do it from an Italian prison cell…or worse not even get the chance.
Out of the window, Italy passed us by at breakneck speed. I had always wanted to see this country. I smiled to myself. Sergio’s ability to get the positive out of something had to be rubbing off on me.
The train manager came past and offered me a coffee which I gratefully received. I seemed to be running on caffeine and fear now. The couple had barely come up for air. The manager smiled.
“Amore.”
“Si.”
Love. We were surrounded by it. Oh yes, we were slap-bang in the middle of Valentine’s Day. I took the menu from the train manager and pointed at the most garish chocolate-covered biscotti I could see.
He nodded and soon came back with it. I slid it across the table in front of Sergio and sipped my coffee. Scalding hot. I winced but felt the effects almost immediately. These Italians sure knew how to serve espresso.
An hour passed with me lost in my thoughts and staring out of the window blankly. Then an announcement came over the tannoy again. It woke Sergio who listened, frowning.
“Twenty minutes.”
He looked down and saw the biscuit in front of him.
“What is this?”
“Happy Valentine’s Day.”
His face lit up. “Thank you, caro. I have nothing for you.”
“I’m sure you’ll think of something. The day isn’t over yet.”
He sniggered and bit into his biscuit.
“Nice?”
He grimaced. “Only because it is from you.”
I laughed and took a bite. For a foodie nation, they needed to work on their rail food. I shuddered to think what Sergio would make of British trains and their sweaty, microwaved bacon baps and endless offerings of shortbread. I could just imagine the dramatic complaints at the weak coffee too.
“You are thinking again.”
“I am. You would hate British trains. Have you ever been?”
Sergio stretched. “I’ve been waiting for a handsome English prince to whisk me away and show me all the sights. Endless waiting for poor Sergio.”
“Oh, have you now?”
“I sure have. I want to go to where The Beatles lived. My father loved them. Do you live near there?”
London and Liverpool were not exactly near each other but as we were doing his entire country in a day, I could barely make fun. “Not far.”
“Then you must take me.”
“That’s a deal, my friend.”
He smiled and hummed a tune to himself.
As time went on, the countryside started to turn into the terracotta-coloured buildings of Naples.
Sergio shuddered. “Here we go, into the belly of the beast.”
“Isn’t that a bit dramatic?”
He shook his head. “This is the crime capital of Italy. We need to be so careful, Andrew, and get out of here as quickly as we can. I don’t like being here. Not one bit. My mother always made me promise not to come here. She said I could go anywhere in our country with her blessing but not Napoli.”
“I’m sure she’d love me for dragging you here now, then.”
Sergio leaned forward and took my hand. “I think she would forgive us for this. I bet she is very proud of her Sergio.”
“I bet she is.”
Out of the window, Napoli was beautiful, but everywhere has a dark side. It differed greatly from Rome and Venice, with the burnt orange and yellow buildings. Everywhere seemed dustier and scruffier as well, which I put down to the climate. We had travelled a long way south—it stood to reason it would be hotter down here.
The train tracks started to congregate together, the sign we were coming towards the station.
“Have you got everything?” said Sergio, pulling his jacket on.
I stood up to get mine from the overhead shelf and stretched. All this being cooped up made me stiff.
The young couple had finally detached from each other and the man reached up to get their bag down.
“Andrew, get down!” Sergio leapt across the seats and pulled me to the floor as a shot rang out and cracked the window.
The train manager appeared at the doorway, shouting in Italian.
“Get back!” I screamed.
He froze for a second and moved just in time as the girl fired another shot. It hit him in the arm and he fell to the floor, screaming in pain.
I had to get that gun from her. With Sergio’s cries in my ear, I scrambled to my feet and launched at her. I crashed into the would-be assassin with force and dragged her to the ground. The man tried to pull me off, but Sergio fought with him, clawing at his face and trapping him in between two seats. He held him fast with his weight.
The girl struggled to get the gun to point at me. I don’t know how I managed this as I’ve never been in a fight in my life, but I headbutted her as hard as I could. It dazed her enough for me to grab the gun and pull away, down the carriage towards the whimpering train manager in the doorway. The man tried to run forward, but I held the gun firm. He wasn’t to know I didn’t have the first clue what to do with a gun.
“Get them in the toilet,” I said to Sergio.
Sergio barked orders at them. Snarling, the man lunged for us again and I brought the pistol down on his head. He cried out in pain and retreated.
“They will get you!” cried the girl with a sneer.
Sergio barked orders again and they gave in, dragging their feet to the toilet.
Handing the gun to Sergio, I hauled the train manager to his feet.
“Lock that door. Do not let them out. We’ll get the police.”
He winced in pain but did as I asked. I handed the gun to him as the train lurched to a stop. “Be careful with this.” He nodded and opened the doors to the train. We jumped off and ran into the crowd before he could change his mind, or our new friends could smash their way through the door.
“We have to find the police,” I said.
“Are you mad?”
“I promised.”
Sergio rolled his eyes and looked around. A train cleaner came towards us with his trolle
y. Sergio dashed over to him and barked some orders. The man looked confused but then his eyes opened wide. He abandoned his trolley and ran off in the opposite direction.
“Happy now?”
I nodded.
“We have to get out of here, quickly. We don’t want to be here when he brings the bloody police with him.”
We wove through the crowd. One thing I had learned on this holiday from hell—I could move through a mob of people quickly.
We made it outside the station. I had been right about it being hotter, but I hadn’t time to pull my jacket off. Sergio had his stern face on. I loved how he always had a plan. I didn’t love how he chose not to share it with me until the last possible moment. It must have been his Italian taste for drama rather than the fact he made it up as he went along.
“What are we doing?”
“We need to get out of the city,” he explained, looking around frantically.
“I thought we were going to hire a car.”
He put his hands on my shoulders.
“I don’t know this city and we do not want to get lost. If this is like any other Italian city, traffic will be a total disaster. We get to the airport and get a car there. That way we can avoid the city centre. If the police realise who we are, we will be ducks that sit in a traffic jam.”
He’d missed his calling. He should have been a master criminal or a spy or something.
Around the other side of the station, we found a rank of cabs. Sergio bundled me into the back of one.
“Aeroporto.” He gestured to the taxi driver to hurry as we pulled away from the station.
I looked out of the window and couldn’t see a thing. “I think we made it, you know. I can’t see anyone.”
“Doesn’t mean they aren’t around.”
“One flaw in your plan?” I said.
“Which is?”
“If we were going to get stuck in traffic jams, why won’t he?”
Sergio thought for a minute and shouted something to the driver. He put his foot down on the accelerator and we were thrown back in our seats as we started to weave through backstreets at an alarming pace.
“I told him we would miss our flight and I’d double his fare if he got us there as fast as possible.”
Venetian Valentine Page 6
