The water of the canals shivered under the cold light of a pale moon. Far away, the sound of a ship’s horn echoed across the lagoon like a lonely sea monster, and in the Piazza San Marco a pigeon came to rest under one of the many arches of St Mark’s Cathedral.
But Max Remy saw none of it.
She’d been on assignment in Venice, searching for a criminal mastermind who would soon bring about the ruin of this ancient city. Now she’d found him: Signore Sagbottom, owner of Venice’s finest glass factories.
‘You may think you’ve outsmarted the world but your criminal days are over, Sagbottom.’
‘I may not have outsmarted the world, Signora Remy, but I have outsmarted you. Looks like you’ve finally met your match.’ He laughed a snivelling, wheezing laugh.
As Max Remy dangled from a cargo crane in Sagbottom’s shipyard on the outskirts of Venice, she had to admit, he may have been right. He planned to lower her into a container and send her on a slow journey to the bottom of the ocean, where no-one would find her.
But she wasn’t giving up yet. ‘I haven’t met my match. I’ve met one of the most vile cowards the world ever spat out.’
‘You can’t rile me, signora. I am not usually known for my good spirits but today I feel happy.’
‘Happy knowing you will be responsible for the deaths of thousands of people and the destruction of some of the most beautiful buildings in the world?’
‘They can be rebuilt while I’m sunning myself in the Bahamas.’
Max’s palm computer was in her pocket, relaying her position and her conversation to Linden who was at this moment on his way to find her. If Max was going to die, she was at least going to make sure Spyforce knew Sagbottom’s plan so they could stop him.
‘As a last request, tell me, how were you going to do it?’
Sagbottom paused. ‘Why should I?’
He reached over and threw the switch on the crane’s controls. Max jerked downwards in a swift plunge.
‘Ouch!’ Max landed with a squelchy thud onto a cold bed of mud. ‘Very classy. Have you given up exporting glass for mud now?’
Signore Sagbottom sniggered into the cool night air. ‘As a matter of fact, I have.’
Max stared at his moonlit face and his plan became clear. ‘You’re going to dig up the bottom of the lagoon and ship it out to sea in containers until the city of Venice slowly sinks into its own harbour!’ She gulped. ‘And I am going to be part of your new cargo.’
‘You’ve worked it out. Now I couldn’t possibly let you live.’
Max had to think fast. She had to figure out a way to escape from the container and save Venice. The world couldn’t be without such a beautiful city: without its history, its art, its
‘Are you going to sit here all night or are you going to help us save Venice?’
Max looked up. There was no Sagbottom, no container full of mud, just the smug face of Toby as Max realised she was the last passenger on the plane.
She closed her spy notebook and tucked it into her backpack. ‘I’m not leaving Venice in your hands. The city needs a professional to save her.’ Max stood up in a huff but her foot became tangled in the straps of her bag and she fell into Toby’s arms.
‘Yeah, but are you coming or not?’ He grinned.
Max awkwardly untangled herself. ‘How about we get to work and save Venice from your bad jokes?’
‘One day you’ll appreciate my good humour and the fact that I’m the best-looking boy you’ve ever met.’
‘Okay, now I really need to get off the plane. It’s starting to feel very crowded in here with you and your ego.’
After clearing customs, Max, Linden and Toby left the airport to be met by the chauffeur of a luxury limousine. Inside, the car looked like a small lounge room. There was a low table on a rug between wide leather seats, a tray of food, a fridge filled with drinks and their own personal entertainment system complete with wide-screen plasma TV and surround sound.
Toby grabbed a juice from the fridge and sank back into his seat as the limousine drove towards the city. ‘I’m still annoyed, Max, that you didn’t ask me to be a spy earlier.’
Max took a sip of her bitter orange drink. ‘I never asked you to be a spy. You pushed your way in.’
‘Only because I knew how badly you wanted to work with me. I was doing it for you.’
Linden smiled. He enjoyed the sparring between the two.
‘If you want to survive this mission, I think it’d be better if you closed your mouth and enjoyed the view. I’m your supervisor, remember?’
Toby opened his mouth to say something else, but before he could, Max shoved in a crumbled rice ball filled with cheese.
‘That should do it.’
Toby’s tastebuds went into action and he forgot about annoying Max. ‘This is good.’
‘I told you food fixes most things.’ Linden bit into a mini salami pizza.
Contented munching sounds filled the car until they pulled up at the edge of a wharf.
‘Now we go by boat.’
The driver directed Max, Linden and Toby to a large, plush, covered gondola. This time Toby had nothing to say as they sank into the warm interior of the boat. The gondolier sailed them along a wide canal that wound beneath a myriad of bridges lit by the glow of coloured lamps, while on either side of them, people huddled in cafes or restaurants or nestled in coats as they walked small dogs or held hands in moonlit strolls.
The whole of Venice took on a magical feel as it lit up the night. ‘It’s like we’re in a film,’ Max said quietly.
They arrived in front of a grand mansion, with tall arched windows, carved stone balconies and strings of fairy lights strung in shimmering rows. Two men in suits stepped out of the mansion and leant down to help them out of the boat.
Max stepped onto the stone pavement. ‘Thank you.’
She looked up at the house to see the good-looking boy from Steinberger’s brief staring down at her.
‘Luca Cavello,’ she whispered.
The fairy lights flickered across Luca’s face. ‘Maxine Remy,’ he greeted her.
Linden reeled back. Apart from her mother and their old archenemy, Mr Blue, no-one called Max ‘Maxine’. But instead of the explosion he expected, Max just smiled.
‘It is so very nice to finally meet you,’ Luca continued with smiling eyes. ‘It really is an honour.’
Max knew it was silly, but there was something about the eyes and the fact that Luca had said all that with an accent that made her want to hear it again, but she knew she couldn’t ask, so she just stared instead.
‘It’s probably polite if you say “thank you” about now,’ Toby smirked.
‘Thank you.’ Max winced, realising it’d only taken her ten seconds to made a fool of herself.
‘And you must be Linden, the clever one.’ Luca shook Linden’s hand. ‘And you are Toby, the good-looking one, yes?’
‘Only if you ask his mother,’ Linden scoffed.
‘It’s true,’ Toby corrected him. ‘And the sooner you come to terms with it the less painful it’ll be.’
Luca laughed. ‘I think we will have fun on this visit. Please enter.’ He held out his arm and asked the two assistants to take the bags into the house.
As Max walked inside, she made a promise to herself that for the rest of the mission she would not mess up. She wouldn’t trip or fumble or stare or …
‘Aaaah!’
Her foot got caught under the welcome mat and sent her sliding across the polished marble floor like a blubbery seal on a joy-ride across ice.
Luca ran forward and knelt beside Max who had head-butted the boots of a very large statue. He examined her head and then the statue. ‘Lucky you didn’t damage the marble.’
Toby and Linden gave each other a worried look. If either of them had made a joke like that, they could have kissed their lives goodbye.
‘Let me help you up.’
The way Luca smiled at Max made her feel okay, bot
h her head and her ego.
‘I am here as your friend and guide,’ Luca offered. ‘So please do not hesitate to ask me anything.’
‘Where do I trade in my life for this one?’ Toby asked. ‘Because I think this is where I am supposed to live.’
Luca laughed. ‘For now, let me show you to your rooms.’
At the top of a sweeping marble staircase and along a richly carpeted hall, he showed Toby and Linden to their rooms before moving on to Max’s. ‘We have saved the best for you, signorina.’
He opened the door, and even though Max tried not to, she stared again, this time with the added attractive bonus of her mouth hanging wide open.
Her room had an antique red velvet lounge suite, a small gold-rimmed table and chairs, and a giant four-poster bed draped with crimson lace and covered with shiny plum-coloured pillows.
‘Is it okay?’
But no matter how hard Max tried, she couldn’t answer.
‘There’s a fridge with food and drinks as well, but you can call down to the kitchen at any time to have food brought up. Oh, and there’s one more thing to show you.’ Luca led her over to the window, threw aside the curtains and opened the doors onto a stone balcony.
From this height Venice looked even better. The city and her canals were laid out in front of Max like a fairytale city. Its lights shimmered off the water like a million low-flying fireflies hovering protectively over small squares, while music and the smell of the sea brushed past her in a cool touch.
‘It’s not unusual for Venice to steal away one’s words. It has been doing so for hundreds of years, but you do like it, no?’
Linden and Toby appeared behind her.
‘It’ll do,’ Linden said. ‘Sometimes you have to rough it a little when you’re on a mission.’
Luca smiled before closing Max’s curtain and doors.
‘We better get to it,’ Max forced her mouth to work. ‘Linden, could you activate the Shush Zone?’
Linden rifled through his pack while Max took out her palm computer.
‘What’s a Shush Zone?’ Toby asked.
‘It’s a restrictive sound field that stops anything we say leaving this room.’ Linden sat beside Luca on the lounge. ‘But we need to move in close.’
He lifted a small metal dome into the air and moved it in a sweeping arc. It created a snug, green, glowing curve around them as Max opened the connection on her computer to Spyforce.
‘Ah, you’re there.’ Steinberger’s face appeared on the screen before them.
‘Yes, sir,’ Max answered. ‘We’re at Luca’s and ready to begin our mission.’
‘Excellent. As you know, the city of Venice is under great threat and it is up to you to find out how and by whom. You will be …’
Steinberger was interrupted by another incoming message.
‘Yes, Mr Harrison. I’m talking to them now. They’re in Venice and I’m about to brief them further. Yes, sir. Absolutely, sir. Goodbye, sir.’
Steinberger ended the connection. ‘Mr Harrison sends his love and wants to know if you have clean … hankies.’
‘Hankies?’ Luca frowned.
‘Handkerchiefs,’ Linden whispered. ‘They’ve got a thing about them.’
‘Oh.’ Luca looked confused.
Steinberger continued. ‘We are closely monitoring satellite information and we have the mayor’s house and all major buildings and tourist sites under twenty-four-hour surveillance. So when the extortionist makes their next move, we will know about it. You will meet with your contact, Agent 31, in the Accademia art gallery tomorrow at ten a.m. He will have further information about the threatening note Luca’s father received.’
‘Shouldn’t Luca’s father be here?’ Linden asked.
‘We need this mission to be as low-key as possible, and for that, Spyforce and the Italian government thought it better if Luca’s father went about his regular business. He has been given a private and direct line to me and I will update you on any information he has that you need to know.’
‘This will lead the criminal to believe nothing is being done,’ Luca continued, ‘therefore increasing the surprise they will get when we catch them. Isn’t that right, Maxine?’
‘Sorry?’ Max had been listening to Luca’s accent but not what he was saying.
‘It will make our … victory sweeter?’
Toby and Linden smirked.
What will? Max thought. Then, knowing she had to say something, she said, ‘Absolutely,’ and tried to look confident.
‘That’s the spirit!’ Steinberger leant into the camera as if to look at Max more closely. ‘Are you okay, Max? You look different somehow.’
Max didn’t like the attention focused on her.
‘No. I’m fine.’
‘You seem a little pale. Must be the reception.’ Steinberger leant back. ‘If you have any further questions, call me at any time. My lines will be open twenty-four hours a day. I have complete faith that we have sent the best team for this mission. Good luck.’
Steinberger signed off and the connection ended.
Max closed her palm computer and brushed past Luca’s arm as she put it in her pocket, making her suddenly aware of how close they were sitting.
‘And now I’d like to invite you all to dinner.’ Luca smiled.
‘Excellent.’ Max jumped up quickly and clanged her head into the Shush Zone. ‘As soon as Linden deactivates this.’
The green glow of the Shush Zone disappeared as Linden turned away to hide a smirk and Max did her best not to look embarrassed.
Max, Toby and Linden soon realised that Luca’s idea of dinner was very different from what they had expected. They stood at the entrance to a huge dining hall lit with intricate chandeliers and the soft light of candelabras. A long table was filled with an endless banquet of food surrounded by laughing, talking, well-dressed guests.
This time, none of the three spies could speak.
‘Please,’ Luca led them towards his parents who were seated at the head of the table. ‘Mama, Papa, these are my friends.’
‘Welcome.’ Luca’s mother’s voice was warm and inviting.
‘We are very pleased to have you here,’ said Luca’s father. ‘If you need anything during your stay, consider it yours. Enjoy.’
Luca invited them to sit down as a tall man in an elegant suit announced them. ‘Mr Linden Franklin, Mr Toby Jennings and Ms Maxine Remy from Australia.’
The stylish diners nodded and held glasses up to them.
‘I would have been happy with pizza,’ Toby whispered to Linden as they sat down, but Linden wasn’t listening. He was gazing at the food before him as if he’d suddenly been dropped into heaven.
There was minestrone soup, quail baked with almonds and orange, crispy skinned roast chicken and potatoes, lasagne, spinach-filled cannelloni, grilled fish with a cream and salmon sauce, and plates overflowing with cheeses, fruit and berries. This was followed by crystal bowls of chocolate mousse covered in strawberries and, for anyone who could fit it in, pistachio and pecan gelato.
Throughout the meal, Linden fell into bouts of dreamy silence followed by attempts to guess all the ingredients of the dishes, as if he wasn’t on a top-secret mission but a gourmet tour of Italy.
‘This is like eating little pieces of happiness.’ Linden stared at the quail on his fork before slowly polishing it off.
‘Linden likes food?’ Luca asked Max.
‘He could be falling out of a helicopter, but someone mention food and he forgets where he is.’
Luca laughed. ‘You are very funny. I like that.’
Luca gave Max a smile that made her feel she’d lost her stomach on a roller-coaster. To stop anything stupid coming out of her mouth, she reached for her glass and took a sip of her drink, only it went down the wrong way and she turned bright crimson while trying not to choke.
‘Are you okay?’ Luca asked.
‘Sure,’ she said through a few wheezed coughs.
After a couple of minutes, Max’s throat calmed down and she felt better. She took a deep breath and enjoyed breathing normally again. All around her were women entwined with jewels and men sitting beneath perfectly styled hairdos and suits.
‘Who are all these people?’
‘Friends of my fathers, dignitaries, hangers-on. Being the son of a mayor means you don’t have many quiet dinners at home.’ He paused. ‘Except tonight I don’t mind, since the guests are so very special.’
Max’s stomach did the roller-coaster thing again, but this time she didn’t mind so much.
She looked around the table. They were people who had lives that were probably exotic and rich, but as she watched them talk and laugh and tell stories, she knew that life as a Spyforce agent was the best life of all. She’d rescued her mother from being kidnapped and her boss from being killed, she’d been an extra in a Hollywood film, raced in an Aqua Buggy through the Amazon Jungle, flown over the boiling lava of a volcano, battled terrifying …
‘Potatoes?’ Linden held a dish of baked potatoes under her nose. ‘You have got to try these.’
Max sighed, knowing there was little point talking to Linden about their lives as spies while there was food around. She took the dish and piled a few potatoes on her plate before passing it on, while on the other side of the table, through a dripping candelabrum, a pair of watchful eyes stared at her every move.
‘This is your boat?’ Toby stood on the wharf in front of Luca’s house and stared at the speedboat bobbing in the canal in front of him.
‘One of them,’ Luca answered modestly. ‘Living in Venice gives you a taste for boats. And it’s the best way to get around.’
‘Well, then.’ Toby slipped on his sunglasses. ‘I guess if we’re going to act like tourists we might as well do it in style.’
‘And since you’ll need a few tips on style, I’ll be here if you have any questions,’ Linden offered as he did up the top button of his jacket.
Luca held his hand out to Max to help her on board but she pretended not to see and got on by herself, pulling her woollen hat down low on her head.
‘And this is Alberto, my personal guard. He speaks three different languages but I’m afraid English isn’t one of them.’
The Venice Job Page 6