Carlos gazed at the piazza. He spotted one of the men from the orphanage running and speaking into his sleeve. They must have been frantic, wondering where Nico was, but soon enough he would reappear and things would be turned completely upside down.
Mrs Vanden Boom had the children out the door at nine o’clock, heading for the Santi Vincenzo e Anastasio a Trevi church on the corner. They would only be there half an hour or so before they set off for the gardens, so it was decided that the others would stay put and keep watch on the orphanage until then. As to be expected, Lola was still blisteringly angry with Misha and thought it served the girl right to come down with gastro after she’d ditched her for Autumn and Kensington. Lola attached herself to Hattie, who was a sympathetic ear, given she was prone to the odd angry outburst herself and found it difficult to make friends.
‘Why can I not I go home?’ Nico asked. He’d been thinking about his mother and stepfather and how worried they would be. ‘Does my mamma know I have escaped?’
Lottie Ziegler shook her head. ‘No, we need her to believe you’re still being held so she’ll agree to sign the papers and make the exchange. We have to get our timing just right – and that’s why we need you to lead them on a wild goose chase until then. We have sent a message to your mother, which she will think is from the kidnappers, and we have sent the kidnappers a message from her about the exchange. Of course, each has been fed a different story. The Diavolo think they are going to meet her at the Piazza del Popolo at half past eleven, but we need you to lead them to Quirinal Palace at half past ten.’
‘All right, shall we go over things one more time?’ Max said, spreading out the map of the city on the bed. The others gathered around. ‘First, we need to make it known to the thugs at the orphanage that you are close by – and that all starts here.’ He jabbed a finger at the picture of the Trevi Fountain. ‘Then we will lead them on the chase of a lifetime.’
‘And don’t worry,’ Kensy said to Nico. ‘Max has a photographic memory. He won’t let us get lost and we’ve already outrun them once before.’
‘I am not worried about that. I have some skills of my own,’ Nico said with a grin.
The briefing continued for another twenty minutes until Miss Ziegler, who had stationed herself by the window, saw Mrs Vanden Boom leading the children across the piazza with Mr Frizzle and Mr Reffell bringing up the rear. Once she received the signal from Romilly, Lottie turned to the children. ‘It’s time.’
The man in the suit stubbed out his cigarette in an overflowing ashtray and sat back with a sigh. After a sleepless night, he was sporting a five-o’clock shadow and dark circles under his eyes. Some days he wondered if he should retire to the countryside and live a quiet life, but he knew that he couldn’t live without her and she would never agree to move away from the city.
‘From her latest communication,’ he began, ‘it is clear the boy has not returned home and she is expecting us to make the drop this morning, as planned. But it is impossible to make the exchange if we do not have the goods.’
‘How did the boy escape in the first place, Giovanni? Hmm?’ Sister Maria Regina inspected her manicured nails and glowered at the other man at the end of the table. ‘I thought we had the entire building under surveillance.’
Giovanni cradled his head in his hands and swallowed hard. He had forgotten that fact last night. Perhaps his old age was catching up to him.
The woman looked up, as if reading his mind. ‘Do you mean to tell me you have not checked?’ she hissed. Taking his silence as confirmation, she slammed her hand on the tabletop, rattling the glasses. ‘Well, don’t just sit there – check the footage now! I want to know exactly how he got out. And you –’ She threw an old newspaper at one of two young men standing in the room. It had Nico’s photo on the front, its edges beginning to curl. ‘Show his picture to the children and everyone else here and tell them to get out on the street and start searching. Or you will all be sent to work in the mill!’
Both men nodded and hurried away, followed by Giovanni.
‘Why do I employ such imbeciles?’ the woman muttered to herself. She pouted when she saw she’d broken a nail.
‘Indeed,’ the man in the suit said, and took a sip of his coffee. ‘I presume you have visited the church this morning.’
‘Of course,’ she replied. ‘It is done.’
Giovanni charged back through the door, jiggling about as if he needed the toilet.
The woman looked at him. ‘Out with it! What did you find?’
‘He escaped through the hatch where we passed the food – the boy must be some kind of a contortionist,’ the man said, sounding impressed.
‘You idiot!’ she fumed, and threw the ashtray at him.
‘Yes, yes,’ Giovanni said, ducking out of the way in time. The ashtray smashed into the wall behind him. ‘But that is not all. Two of the children who noticed our business transactions the other day were in the basement. They helped the boy escape through the chute in the cellar.’
The younger man, who had just returned to retrieve his jacket, gasped. ‘I know where they are!’ he said. ‘I saw them in the piazza when I was speaking with the poliziotti. They are staying in the hotel across from the fountain.’
‘Find them and get the boy,’ Sister Maria Regina demanded, her lips quivering. ‘And when you do, make sure they are never seen again!’
The children stood inside the hotel entrance. Lottie Ziegler’s task was to shadow them. Carlos, Autumn and Misha would keep close too. Once Nico had the thugs’ attention, he had to lead them to Quirinal Palace instead of the Piazza del Popolo, where they thought they were making the drop. So long as everything went to plan, his mother would be there waiting for him. It all depended on everyone receiving the right messages and leaving at the right times; Mr Reffell had been busy in the church early this morning intercepting and replacing communications.
Lottie smiled at the children. ‘Good luck, everyone.’
‘You go ahead,’ Max said, nodding at Nico. ‘We’ll be right behind you.’
The boy opened the hotel door and stepped outside. The instant he did, a muscly arm grabbed him and a large hand covered his mouth to muffle his screams.
Nico bit down on the man’s fingers with all his might. ‘Help!’ he cried.
Max launched himself out the door and onto the man’s back. The brute spun around and around, trying to shake him off, until Misha scissor-kicked the fellow in the chin. Max jumped out of the way as the man crashed onto the pavement. Where there was one, there had to be more and, sure enough, two other men came running towards them. Carlos and Autumn created a diversion, ducking and weaving their way through the throng of tourists and across the piazza.
‘Go!’ Miss Ziegler called out. ‘I can deal with these two.’
And that she did, punching one fellow on the nose and cartwheeling the heel of her boot into the forehead of the other. They both groaned in pain as Misha gave them swift kicks to the ribs for good measure. Unfortunately, that wasn’t enough to keep them down. Seconds later, they scraped themselves off the cobblestones and gave chase.
Although the piazza was already brimming with tourists, the poliziotti seemed to turn a completely blind eye, despite an elderly couple pointing in the children’s direction and indicating to the officers there was something untoward going on.
The twins, meanwhile, sped after Nico along the laneway. Kensy turned to see a man thundering behind them. ‘Hurry, he’s gaining on us!’ she panted. ‘And he’s brought some friends with him for the ride. How rude.’
Max snuck a look. ‘Those are the kids from the orphanage!’
But the man wasn’t interested in the twins. He raced past them and was almost within reach of Nico.
‘Look out!’ Max yelled.
Nico grinned. Now was the fun part. Everyone watched on in amazement as he ran sideways up a wall and spun in the air, dodging the man’s grasp. He landed in the middle of the roadway, several feet behind the fel
low – right in the path of a speeding scooter. It skidded to a halt in front of the boy.
‘Oh no, he’s done for.’ Kensy winced, and almost fainted when the rider flipped his visor. ‘Fitz, what are you doing here?’ she cried.
‘Nico, get on.’ Fitz grabbed the boy and hurled him onto the seat behind him. ‘It’s okay. I’m with them.’
The other thugs were catching up, despite Autumn and Carlos’s best attempts to thwart their progress. Fitz revved the engine and swung the scooter around one hundred and eighty degrees. The man up ahead hauled a young fellow from another scooter and almost crashed into a parked car as he took off after them.
‘We need wheels,’ Kensy said, looking around. ‘We’ll never keep up with them on foot.’
‘Do you mean to steal a car?’ Max was aghast at the thought and a little excited too.
Kensy rolled her eyes. ‘Borrow. We’ll bring it back,’ she said, and ran along a row of parked vehicles, checking to see if any had keys in the ignition. Hot-wiring wasn’t a skill she and Max had studied yet. But there was nothing. Just as they reached a T-intersection, a tiny Fiat flew past. It screeched to a stop and reversed wildly towards them. ‘Oh no, who’s this guy?’ Kensy groaned, changing course to avoid the car.
‘Kensy! Max!’ a voice shouted through the open window.
Max turned and squinted into the vehicle. ‘Uncle Rupert?’
‘Thought you might need a hand,’ the man said. ‘Jump in!’
To their shock, Rupert scrambled into the back seat.
‘What are you doing?’ Max demanded, looking at his uncle as though he’d lost his mind.
‘Well, I don’t think it’s the best idea to let you loose with one of these if I need to use it,’ Rupert replied, lifting a double-barrelled shotgun from under the seat.
‘Shove over,’ Kensy said to Max, hopping behind the wheel. ‘I’ve got this. You can navigate.’ She crunched the gears as she tried to find first.
‘Thank heavens they’re in a box, sweetheart,’ Rupert quipped, as she finally found what she was looking for and roared away.
‘What about your mission?’ Max asked.
‘All over,’ Rupert said, waving the gun. ‘Saved the world yet again. Your teachers were very helpful yesterday.’
Max wondered exactly what sort of assistance they’d been able to offer and where this mission had been located, but now probably wasn’t the time to ask.
Not three minutes later, two of the thugs appeared on their tail. Miss Ziegler had also managed to wrangle herself a vehicle, and Carlos, Autumn and Misha were piled in with her. The cars and scooters sped through the streets of Rome, honking and tooting, skidding and screeching. Max was glad that he’d let his sister drive as it took quite a bit of brainpower to recall all of those alleys and dead ends.
‘Surely they’re not going to shoot at us,’ Kensy said as the sound of a bullet whizzed past. It struck a flowerpot up ahead, shattering it to pieces.
Rupert chuckled. ‘My dear girl, I’m afraid that you and your friends have confronted the worst of the worst. The Diavolo take no prisoners, but you’re right, it’s terribly irresponsible of them to fire their guns in the street, particularly when I was just going to do this,’ he said, and leaned out of the window to take aim. There was a strange thumping sound.
Kensy looked in the rear-vision mirror and couldn’t believe her eyes. The car behind them was enveloped in a huge bubble. Seconds later, it floated up and up and up until it disappeared beyond the rooftops. ‘Whoa, Mrs Vanden Boom has been holding out on us.’
‘Magnificent, isn’t it? Brand-spanking-new. I pre-programmed it to burst over the sewage treatment works.’ Rupert sat back and grinned. ‘Let’s say they’ll be seriously in the poo and we’ll have some people waiting for them.’
A black SUV roared out of a side street and tried to block their path. Kensy slammed on the brakes and swerved up onto the footpath, all the while keeping her cool.
‘You’re pretty good at this, Kensington, despite reducing poor Esmerelda to scrap metal. Sorry I missed Christmas, kids, but urgent business and all that. I heard that you found out about the race cars too.’ Rupert pouted. ‘It’s a shame, really. I love a good surprise.’
Max turned and looked at his uncle. ‘What race cars?’
Rupert arched an eyebrow, looking pleased. ‘So your sister didn’t tell you. Well done, sweetheart – now I know you’re good for a secret or two. They’re waiting for you at Alexandria – happy Christmas, kids.’
But there was no time to celebrate.
‘There are Fitz and Nico!’ Kensy exclaimed, spotting their scooter up ahead and the other man right on their tail. ‘And it’s almost half past ten.’
‘What’s Fitz doing here?’ Rupert asked, sounding like a petulant child. ‘I thought I was the only one sent as back-up.’
‘That way, Kens!’ Max pointed to a side street coming up on their left. ‘It’s a dead end ahead, but I’m pretty sure the scooters will get through.’
The Fiat roared into the crowded piazza outside Quirinal Palace. There were protestors all over the place. Kensy honked the horn without reducing speed and people scattered. ‘How are we going to get inside?’ she said. ‘The gates are closed and there are guards everywhere.’
‘Trust me and drive,’ Rupert instructed.
Kensy gulped. ‘But . . .’
‘Do it!’ Rupert ordered. ‘We need to be on the inside of those walls before the President and his friend leave.’
With her heart in her throat, Kensy stepped on the accelerator just as the gates opened and the Prime Minister’s Mercedes flew past into the courtyard. The car almost crashed into the President’s limousine, which was on its way out. The gates began to close, but Kensy floored it, with Fitz and Nico and at least three more scooters and cars zipping through behind them. Within seconds, they were surrounded by armed men.
‘Are they on our team or theirs?’ Max said in confusion.
Nico leapt from the back of the scooter and ran towards his mother’s car. ‘Mamma!’
Vittoria Vitale flung open the rear passenger door and jumped out, holding her arms wide. ‘Nico!’ she cried, tears streaming down her face. Her husband scrambled out the other side and raced to the boy too.
The men who had been chasing them were swiftly handcuffed and arrested. But it was the sight of the President and Sergio Leonardi that was the most surprising. The President alighted his vehicle and walked towards the Prime Minister.
‘Primo Ministro.’ He leaned in to kiss her cheeks. ‘Whatever is happening?’
Nico kicked the man in the shins. ‘Mamma, the President is Diavolo and that man there,’ he said, pointing at Sergio, who was skulking away, ‘is the Head of the Devil. They have burned the farms and stolen the wheat. They wanted you to sign over Penina so they could control Italy’s food supply. If you didn’t, they were going to kill me. Officers, arrest them!’
The President laughed. ‘The boy is clearly delirious. You will not touch me.’
A well-dressed man with a thick head of curly grey hair strode towards them.
‘Alessandro, tell her this is a nonsense,’ the President cried.
Alessandro Grimaldi shook his head. ‘I have been waiting years for this,’ he said. ‘Thank you, Nico. You are a hero.’
Kensy and Max got out of the car and were joined by Autumn, Carlos and Misha.
Alessandro Grimaldi turned to them. ‘I hear it is you who have helped us to bring down the most evil criminal network in Italy,’ he said with a smile. ‘I am eternally grateful.’
The children stood by modestly, all except for Kensy. ‘Thanks,’ the girl said, feeling quite chuffed.
‘We have not yet located the woman,’ he said.
‘You mean fake Sister Maria Regina?’ Kensy said.
The man frowned. ‘Sister Maria Regina? But that woman is a saint.’
‘She’s a fraud and the orphanage is a front. These men who were chasing us all work for her
. She’s Diavolo too,’ the girl replied. ‘The children are pickpockets and thieves and they steal the money from the Trevi Fountain.’
Alessandro Grimaldi flinched. He spoke quickly into his sleeve in Italian. ‘Grazie, children. Perhaps now you will enjoy the rest of your holiday.’ He hurried away to speak to the Prime Minister.
Max turned to the others. ‘Is that it then?’
Autumn, Carlos and Misha nodded.
‘Where’s Fitz and Uncle Rupert and Miss Ziegler?’ Kensy asked. She spun around, looking for them, but they had all vanished.
‘What should we do with the cars?’ Max asked, but it seemed they had disappeared too.
‘You do realise that’s our first-ever proper mission,’ Autumn said. ‘And we nailed it.’
Carlos smiled and dusted his hands. ‘Yup. Mission accomplished.’
‘It’s a shame, though, that we’re not allowed to tell anyone. If we were ordinary kids and we did something like that, it would be all over the television,’ Misha said. ‘We’d be famous.’
Despite having just brought down one of the worst crime syndicates in the world, Kensy and Max were both feeling a bit flat. They were no closer to finding their parents and now Fitz was gone again and they couldn’t even ask him if there was any news. Their uncle was just as elusive. Being an international spy was fun, but there wasn’t really anything in the way of fanfare. Talk about an anticlimax.
‘Do you think you can find your way to that gelateria Mr Frizzle promised to take us to?’ Carlos asked Max. ‘I think we deserve a celebratory ice cream.’
The boy grinned. ‘Sure.’
The children began to walk towards the gates when they heard Nico call out to them. They turned to see him running their way.
‘Grazie!’ he said, hugging each of them. ‘You rescued me from a fate I do not even want to think about, and you have saved my mother’s career and the whole country from being held to ransom by the Diavolo. Mamma will be able to put an end to the wheat wars and make sure that the farmers are protected and the prices are controlled. I do not know who you really are, but I am honoured to call you my friends.’
Disappearing Act Page 17