by Lisa Harris
Whatever the case, this was a game that needed to end.
“I want you to listen very carefully to me,” Anna continued. “I realize now that I went to the wrong person looking for the paintings.”
“So what is she? A hostage?”
“For the moment. And here’s what you’re going to do. Take a flight to Rome, where you’re going to get on the next plane back to the US.”
He kept walking, praying he’d catch sight of them. They couldn’t be that far ahead. Her planned distraction had only lasted a few seconds. But which direction? “You think I’m just going to walk away from her, or even if I do, that the police won’t find you?”
“You will do exactly what I’m saying, unless you want her dead, as well.”
“What’s going to stop you from killing her no matter what I do?”
He tried to mask the desperation in his voice as he kept walking. She had to be out somewhere. Inside an apartment or a shop or lost in a sea of tourists. On the water in one of the boats…
“Let me speak with her before I do anything.”
“Call me from the airport in Rome, and I’ll let you speak to her. And don’t try my patience. You know what happens when you do.”
The call ended.
The waterfront was bustling with tourists taking photos and selfies. There were hundreds of streets, several hundred canals and even more houses and places of business. All of which made hiding from the police—at least temporarily—possible.
Or for all he knew they could be leaving the island now.
Except Anna wasn’t going to do that. Not if she still believed the paintings to still be here. She might not have found what Marco did with them, but she’d stay on the island, and use Talia as her leverage. Which meant she wasn’t going anywhere. And neither was he.
Joe’s phone rang again.
“Esposito,” he said. “Tell me you’ve got something, because we’ve got a problem.”
“I was just checking in with you. What’s wrong?”
“Anna Hayes’s got Talia. She’s trying to use her now as leverage to get those paintings.”
“Where do you think she’s headed?”
“I don’t think she’ll leave the island until she has what she wants. But I also believe she’s running on adrenaline and not thinking clearly. She’s taking too many chances. She’d told me to leave the country, or she’ll kill Talia.”
“I’ll make sure the local police have photos of both women. She’s not going to get away with this. Because if she’s here, we’ll find her.”
“Keep me updated.”
Joe ended the call then put in one of his own to the States. If Anna still had her phone on her, he might have just found a way track her.
A minute later he was connected to a secure FBI line. “This is Agent Joe Bryant. I need a call traced that just came into my phone.”
“Okay, but that’s going to take a few minutes,” a woman said.
“I don’t have time. A woman has been kidnapped, and her life’s in danger.”
“I understand, but I’ll need to put you on hold while I trace the call.”
He could feel the seconds ticking. The Grand Canal lapped alongside the buildings. Boats left a trail of white behind them. A man jumped into a boat next to a line of colorful mooring poles, then pulled at the motor before joining the flow of traffic in the canal. A couple floated past on a gondola. Customers sipped at their coffee and stared out across the water.
But he had no idea where Talia was.
“You still there?”
“I’m still here,” he said. “What have you got?”
“I found her. She’s moving away from your position on the south side of the island.”
Where was she going?
His mind battled for the best option, but as far as he was concerned, he only had one. “I need you to take me to her. Pull up a map of the city and take me on the most direct route.”
“That’s not going to be easy.” He caught the hesitation in her voice.
“Is it doable?”
“Yeah… I think so.”
“Then get me to her. I don’t think she’ll leave the island. Not yet anyway.”
“Okay. I’ve got a map in front of me with your location as well as her cell phone GPS pinpointed on the map.”
Joe stood in the middle of a lake of tourists. Life went on. No one had any idea what was going on. “Which way do I go?”
“Head west…left. There’s a narrow alleyway just ahead of you. When you get to it, turn right.”
He moved out at a fast pace, weaving his way through the tourists who were enthralled with the offerings at the shops. Venetian carnival masks, hand-blown glass filling up the windows.
“Take a left at the next T junction.”
“Do you still have her?”
“She’s still moving down one of the canals. I’ll let you know if she stops.”
A minute later, he was moving away from the mobs of tourists to the quieter streets. He hoped he was making the right decision and wasn’t off on another wild-goose chase. It seemed that Anna didn’t know he might have the capability to follow her. But if she was rattled and her plan began to fall apart, she was going to make mistakes. What he couldn’t have happen was for Talia to get caught up in the crossfire.
“Talk to me,” he said, moving at a slow jog.
“Keep going another hundred yards, then take a left.”
He stared down the long empty alley. “Are you sure?”
“Yes…go. It’s a shortcut.”
Pipes and electrical wires competed for space with ivy up the brick walls. If he put his hands out he’d be able to touch both sides of the wall. There were private houses and graffiti on the walls. Locked doors, brick walls, barred windows, elaborate doors, opening up to wider, stone pavement. The farther he got from the tourist district the quieter the streets became. Local residents walked the narrow streets carrying shopping bags. Schoolchildren ran through the street.
He came to another canal.
“Turn left again and go over the bridge.”
He could smell garlic and onions coming from a small pizzeria, as he passed a dock with a row of boats bobbing in the water. Colorful wooden posts jetted up from the water. Bells rang in the background from one of the churches…
“Where is she?”
“Give me a second.”
Don’t let me lose her now, God, please. Not now.
“You’re close. One street over and another fifty feet.”
“Is she on a boat?”
“Maybe. I’m not sure.”
He started running. Tracking her down in the water was going to be even more difficult.
“Wait a minute…looks like another twenty feet and you should see her.”
But he couldn’t.
The canal flowed beside him, and he could see at least half a dozen boats. He searched for Talia’s red shirt. Nothing.
Where are you, Talia?
FOURTEEN
Talia felt the butt of the gun press against her lower back and the grip of Anna’s fingers pressing tightly around her arm as they weaved through the almost deserted streets. As soon as they’d left the piazza, Anna had immediately steered them away from the heavy pedestrian traffic that ran through the popular sections of Venice like St. Mark’s Square and the route to the Rialto. Away from those tourist hot spots you could find quieter streets, where one could almost forget that twenty-five million people visited the island each year.
She’d discovered it was like that in almost every heavily trafficked tourist town. Most of the crowds tended to stick to the main arteries of the city and the tourist traps, when only a few minutes away you could find the underlying beauty and culture of a place that most people missed.
But she wasn’t here this time as a tour guide.
Instead she was here fighting for her life.
She glanced behind her, down the empty street. Joe would have noticed she was go
ne by now, but finding her in this maze of streets, canals and foot bridges was going to be difficult, if not impossible.
Talia stumbled over a lose brick in the pavement. Anna’s grip tightened as they turned quickly down yet another quiet street.
“Hurry up,” Anna said. “We don’t exactly have all day.”
“So what happens next?”
“Like I told your FBI hero, I went to the wrong person for the paintings. I should have gone directly to your in-laws. And since there’s a good chance they’re going to need some motivation to hand them over, having you will help guarantee that they do what they are told.”
Talia winced at Anna’s tightening grip around her arm. “They’ve already lost two sons—”
“Trying to get me to feel sorry for them isn’t going to work. You of all people should know that by now.”
An older gentleman stepped out of one of the buildings, locked a heavy wooden door with a key, then started walking toward them at a leisurely pace. Talia’s jaw clenched. This had already gone too far. If she didn’t take a chance and do something—
“Remember what I said.” Anna’s words broke into her thoughts. “I can’t have you going and making a scene, now can I, Talia? I’d hate to have to shoot the man, but I will.”
Fear encircled like a tangible presence. What was going to happen if she didn’t get away, or if Joe didn’t find her? Anna clearly didn’t have a problem with eliminating people. Once she got what she wanted, Anna would end up killing her and disposing of her body somewhere out in the surrounding islands or out in the sea.
Talia drew in a deep breath of humid air. But Anna wasn’t going to get her way. Not this time. Because she wasn’t going down that road again without a fight. But neither could she put the life of someone else at risk. The man walked past them, completely unaware of the situation. She was going to have to find a way to escape without putting anyone’s life in danger. Which meant she needed to get away from Anna.
She kept walking while her mind fought for a solution, but the odds weren’t exactly in her favor. She might have taken a number of self-defense classes over the years, but Anna had been trained by law enforcement. And in order to escape, she was going to have to take down Anna.
Her shoes clipped against the brick-lined street that was empty again. Music played from one of the apartments above. Someone was cooking. They couldn’t be far from one of the arteries of the canal, where there would be boats and maybe someone who could help her. She glanced back at Anna. The woman might be better trained, but she’d also relaxed her grip on her arm and no longer had her gun pointed at her. There was another street twenty feet or so up ahead and to the right. She wasn’t sure where it went, but gut instinct told her if she was going to run it needed to be now.
Turning quickly, she thrust her elbow into Anna’s throat while at the same time pitching her weight forward to give her the leverage she needed. Anna stumbled backward, then groaned as she slammed into the brick wall. Talia didn’t waste any time as she ran for the adjacent alley, then made the sharp turn to the right down another narrow street, with apartments towering over her. If she could get far enough ahead of Anna in the maze of streets, she just might be able to lose her.
She reached the end of the street and made another turn. Humidity hung heavy around her, making it hard to breath. She kept moving forward, unwilling to risk slowing down just to look back. Because she knew Anna was somewhere behind her. She took another corner and looked for the canal. She needed to find Joe. Needed to find someone who could get her out of here without getting either of them shot.
A bullet pinged off the brick wall next to her. Talia ducked into an alcove with a large wooden door, her heart racing. She tried the handle, her chest heaving, but it was locked. She was out of options. It was another fifty feet or so until the next street, and Anna was closing in behind her. She’d never make it.
“You don’t learn, do you?” Anna stopped in front of her, gun pointed directly at Talia’s heart. “Or maybe you don’t believe I’m serious. But you need to listen to me very carefully. That shot—that was a warning. You know I can hit any target. Like your FBI friend. That shot was calculated. But next time I won’t be aiming for the wall behind you. Or your friend’s arm.”
Talia shivered despite the heat as Anna pulled a zip tie cord from her back pocket and quickly secured her hands behind her. “I had hoped I wouldn’t have to do this. It’s hard to look like two happy tourists on a stroll when one of them is tied up, but we don’t have much farther to go, and I’m not to take another chance of your doing something stupid. Now let’s go.”
Talia winced as Anna grabbed her by the arm and started back down the street.
I can’t do this on my own, God. I’ve tried. And I don’t want anyone else getting hurt, but I need a way out…
Anna turned another corner then walked across a footbridge that spanned the murky canal water. There was a boat on the other side of the quiet space, bobbing in the water.
“Come on.” Anna caught her gaze. “And don’t try something stupid.”
Talia glanced back, still praying that Joe would find her. But if they left the main island, the odds of him finding her were only going to decrease dramatically.
“Where are we going?” she asked.
“It doesn’t matter.” Anna jumped onto the boat, pulling Talia onboard behind her. “Sit down under the awning and be quiet.”
She started the engine, then quickly maneuvered down the narrow waterway. Talia felt her options of escape evaporating. Her chances of jumping overboard and making it to shore were slim to none unless she could get her hands untied. And if she called out for help… Anna had already made herself clear on that one. On top of that, she was partially hidden beneath the canopy, which would make it harder for her to signal someone.
“You seem to know Venice better than I would have thought,” Talia said. Until she could figure out a way to escape, she might as well try to get some answers.
“I backpacked across Italy one summer during college and Venice was one of the stops we made. I did have to spend some time studying a map once I discovered you were coming here. And to be honest, even a map doesn’t truly show how complicated the six main neighborhoods and street layout of Venice are. I thought about relying on a local, but even you know how far that got me the last time. It’s always better to do things yourself if you want things done.”
“Even with the risk of getting caught?”
“If you think I can’t make it through the canals, you’re wrong. I grew up near the Mississippi gulf coast. The Grand Bay is a maze of bayous, bays and marsh islands. My brother and I used to take out a skiff during summer vacation and explore the area. I’ve never really liked being in the water, but I loved driving the boat. And while Venice might be a bit more well-known than my hometown, I’ve found that I feel right at home here.”
They were heading out of the canal. If they made it out to the open water…
“Do you really think this is going to have a happy ending for you?” Talia asked.
Anna laughed. “A couple million seems like pretty good to me.”
“Not if you have to spend your time watching your back.”
“Who said I was going to be on the run? There are dozens of places I can disappear to. I looked into Thailand, for example. The weather is perfect most of the year, and the cost of living is cheap. There’s plenty of western-style restaurants and entertainment if I get bored. Do you know how far that much money could go in a place like that?”
“And you think that just because you live overseas the FBI will drop the case?” Talia asked.
“Just like you think your FBI hero won’t stop looking for you?” Anna turned around and frowned. “You know, I’m really tired of listening to your questions.”
Anna swung the gun across Talia’s temple. Lights exploded behind her eyes, then everything went dark.
*
Joe kept running down the canal, searc
hing for a glimpse of Talia. He had no doubt about who was behind this. No doubt as well that the woman with the baby had been a plant to distract him. All it had taken was seconds for Talia to disappear. Why hadn’t he just stayed with her?
“Joe, are you still there?”
“Yes, I’m here.” The phone cracked. He couldn’t lose the connection. “Can you hear me?”
“Okay, you’re back. It looks like the boat’s leaving the canal and heading out into the open water. Which means we’ve got a problem. You won’t be able to follow on foot.”
Where was she going?
He might not be a tour guide, but he did know there were over a hundred islands that made up Venice, as well as the mainland. It would be possible for her to leave the main island and hide out somewhere else. Close enough to return when needed, and yet remote enough to avoid detection.
“Wait a minute… I think I spotted her.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah.” He could see someone in a red shirt sitting beneath the awning of a boat. The woman at the wheel matched Anna’s description. It had to be them.
“If you can get access to a boat I might be able to help you follow her.”
“Okay.”
“Wait a minute…”
“What’s wrong?”
“The signal just went dead.”
“Meaning?”
“I don’t know. She must have dumped the phone or taken out the battery.”
I need something else, God. Please… I can’t lose her now.
Joe expelled a sharp breath as he ran down the sidewalk along the water, while keeping his eye on the boat that was now heading out of the canal. A young man in his early twenties was working in the back of a cargo boat organizing supplies on the small transport vessel.
“I need a ride,” Joe shouted, searching for the Italian words as he approached the boat. “A—a barca. Rapido.”
“I speak English,” the other man said in a thick accent. “What is the problem?”
“I’m with the FBI.” Joe pulled out his badge and stepped onto the boat. “A woman’s just been kidnapped.”