The Black Sun Conspiracy

Chapter Six

“Why, oh why did I decide to learn German?” Nina whispered to herself. Perched precariously at the top of a ladder, searching the top row of one of the long shelves. So far she had succeeded in finding a handful of books that looked potentially useful and, crucially, were in either English or German. It was frustrating though, to see the shelves stacked with books that might very well contain useful, even life-saving information which was inaccessible due to her lack of command of the Italian language.

‘Even if I’d just taken French, that would probably help,’ she thought. ‘German doesn’t give me much of a chance of muddling through.’

A glance at the catalogue had shown her that there were other books in English available, but only if she submitted a request for them using her name and card number. She was tempted to take the risk, especially when she found a book entitled Black Sun: Occult Origins of Hitler’s Master Race.

‘But if I were them,’ she thought, ‘if I were part of some secret organization trying to track down three people on the run, and I had access to the kind of technology the Order seems to have, I would definitely be monitoring attempts to access that kind of information. Because if we’re really so valuable or so dangerous to them, we’d be worth accidentally taking out a few academics for.’ So she had left the tantalizing book alone, thinking that she might ask Purdue if there was any other way to get her hands on its contents. Assuming, of course, that at some point she would feel capable of speaking to him again without wanting to hurl the sparse furnishings of their hideout at him.

By the time the library closed Nina could hardly tell whether her head was spinning due to a lack of food or an overdose of information. Page after page of hastily-scribbled notes filled her notepad. Nevertheless, she still felt that she had done little more than refresh her existing knowledge and scratch the surface of what was going on. She returned her books to the shelves before the librarian could see that they were in a language she had claimed not to speak. Then she retrieved her belongings and went back to the apartment, hat pulled in her face and head down.

The heavy front door fell shut, but the lock failed to click. Nina turned to check on it, squinting as her eyes got accustomed to the darkness in the stairwell. She wriggled the handle, waiting for the lock to right itself. Just as it clicked, she heard a sound behind her. Footsteps! Light footsteps coming down the stairs. She spun around to face the wall and dug deep into her handbag, shoulders hunched, head angled to keep her face in darkness so that any passing neighbor would not get a clear look at her.

“Very convincing, Nina.” The amusement in Purdue’s voice was audible. “If I didn’t know you better I would be quite certain that you were searching for your keys.”

She straightened up, trying to keep the scowl off her face as Purdue moved along the short, dingy corridor towards her. He was wrapped in a long, charcoal grey coat with a thick black scarf pulled up to his ears. He was still immediately recognizable as himself, which infuriated Nina. If she and Sam were taking the trouble to look inconspicuous when they went out, why could he not do the same? Where was he going, anyway?

“I have an errand to run,” Purdue said, holding up a long, thin case in black leather. It looked like it might have contained a flute, but Nina guessed at once that it must have been the Renoir.

“And you’re going alone?” she asked.

He shrugged. “We are more likely to be spotted together. I shall be safe enough. I should be no more than an hour. If I am gone for more than two hours, go to Caffe Rivoire on the Piazza della Signoria. You will find Matteus there between eight and ten. He’ll know what to do.”

“Dave, that really doesn’t sound reassuring — look, why don’t you just let one of us come with you and at least that way we’ll—”

She was cut off mid-sentence by his lips suddenly covering hers. Before she could decide whether to push him away or relax into his embrace, he was gone. The door fell shut behind him, leaving her to fix the lock once again.