The Rome Prophecy

95

Louisa’s phone is ringing.

Purple Cloak is sitting behind the wheel of the four-by-four in a side street adjacent to Santa Cecilia. He takes Louisa’s ringing phone out of his jacket pocket and reads the display. ‘Valentina?’

‘My assistant.’

He hands it over the back of his seat. ‘Put it on speakerphone and watch what you say.’

Louisa presses the accept button, fearful that she might miss the call, then switches to speaker function. ‘Valentina, ciao. Where are you?’

‘ Ciao.’ She tries to sound unstressed and normal. ‘I’m just walking to the fountain. I had to take Anna back to the car because it’s raining hard and she’s really not too well. I thought she might pick up an infection. Where are you?’

Louisa looks to her captor.

He mouths back, ‘In the church.’

‘I’m inside Santa Cecilia. Wait for me by the fountain, I’ll be out in a second.’

Purple Cloak nods his approval.

She switches off the phone and hands it back to him.

Or at least that’s what he thinks she’s done.

He slips it back into his jacket, unaware that Louisa never ended the call. The line is still open and will stay open providing Valentina doesn’t hang up.

‘What now?’ asks Louisa.

‘My brothers and sisters will look after things. You sit tight. When we have Anna, I will let you go.’

Louisa suddenly realises she’s made a mistake.

A big one.

She assumed that only Purple Cloak and his two henchmen had come to the church with her.

Now she knows she’s wrong.

He mentioned sisters. No women travelled with them. Louisa looks through the rear window.

Parked tight to their bumper is an old Land Rover, with a man behind the wheel.

She drops her head into her hands. He must have been driving several members of the gang to the scene.

She realises she’s put Valentina in grave danger.

And herself.