Order of the Black Sun Box Set 11

by Preston William Child

  “We were looking for the sword of Caesar.”

  Inspector Amaro looked up from his notes and seemed legitimately surprised for once. “Caesar? As in Gaius Julius Caesar?”

  “Yes,” Nina said with a shrug.

  “Fascinating...”

  “Not really,” Nina said. “Compared to some of the others things I've seen, believe me--”

  Inspector Amaro cut her off. “You misunderstand me. It's not fascinating because of the item alone. No. It’s fascinating because the victim—Mr. Santino Rossi—was stabbed twenty-three times. Which, correct me if I'm wrong, is the exact same amount of times that...”

  He paused, inviting her to complete his sentence. She played with his obnoxious prompt, even though he could’ve just said it himself. They both knew what he meant.

  “It's the same number of times Julius Caesar was stabbed.”

  “Indeed,” Inspector Amaro said with the closest thing he could make to a smile. “That seems like someone was sending a very specific message, doesn't it? Someone who knew about Mr. Rossi's interest in Caesar's sword.”

  Nina didn't like the implication that was starting to form.

  “You can't seriously think that I'm a suspect? And you want to talk about specific messages? How about the one that was written and left on the body? That one sure seemed specific!”

  Inspector Amaro raised his hands in surrender. “You misunderstand me again, Dr. Gould. I don’t believe you’re a suspect just because you found the body. Is it possible? Of course. Anything is possible but it isn’t likely. As you say, that letter that was left behind sure seems like a confession from the real culprits.”

  “The Third Triumvirate.”

  “That is what they’re calling themselves, yes. They’re thieves who have now upgraded themselves into murderers. So unless you’re one of them...then I believe you to be innocent.”

  “I'm not one of them.” Nina tried to hold back her anger at him even voicing the thought.

  “I know you aren’t, especially since your name is on the list of people that the Third Triumvirate wants dead. Interesting that you’re already on the list after you’ve only been in Rome for such a short amount of time. You must have left quite a negative first impression. I imagine that they aren’t fans of your search for the sword of Julius Caesar.”

  “I guess not.”

  “Do you want to end up like the late Santino Rossi over there?” The question caught her off guard and Inspector Amaro said it so flippantly. He wasn't asking out of worry or fear. He was asking it like it was any other simple question. “Laying in your own blood, dying from nearly two dozen wounds?”

  “Of course I don't.”

  Nina was tempted to tell him about the Third Triumvirate visiting her hotel room but decided against it. The inspector didn't need to know everything. He already acted like he did anyway. And he especially didn't need to know everything if it meant that he’d be asking questions about the Order of the Black Sun. It was a secret society for a reason; and now more than ever, as David Purdue tried to fix the order, they needed to stay hidden even more vigilantly. Inspector Donatello Amaro seemed smart enough to figure anything out if he was given enough time to think and talk things through, even if he only got the smallest crumbs of information to use.

  “You don't? Good. Then I suggest a few different options for what you should do next.”

  Nina wasn't excited to hear Inspector Amaro's options. All those recommendations were going to be were a police officer trying to tell her what she should do and how she should protect her own life. She’d gotten this far without assistance from eccentric detectives. Still, she listened to what he had to say, if only to shake her head.

  “One. You allow me and my officers to take you someplace safe, until all of this blows over and I catch those three monsters and lock them away. Two. You catch the next flight out of here and go back home, hopefully far enough that the Third Triumvirate won't be able to reach you.”

  Nina hated both of those options, since either one of those meant abandoning her search for Caesar's sword. Even if it was just a delay, there was no way of knowing if this strange investigator and his police would ever even catch the Third Triumvirate. She might be putting the expedition on hold indefinitely. She wouldn't do that, and she could tell by the way the inspector was looking at her, that he knew that.

  “There’s a third option. I don't recommend it.” He paused, like he was expecting that warning to be enough to deter her. She wanted to hear it. “You could stay, go about your hunt for the sword, test your luck, and hope that the Third Triumvirate doesn't stab you twenty-three times. You’d just ignore the threat and carry about your business, but you would do that of your own accord. We won't be held responsible if anything happens to you.”

  He still looked like he expected her to back down, now that the third option sounded so dangerous.

  “I'm going to do that then,” Nina said. “I've faced worse than those three psychopaths.”

  “Have you?”

  That must have sounded strange coming from someone who was supposed to just be like any other historian. She tried to change the subject before he started pursuing that misstep she made. She worried that if he did, he’d then be able to dismantle her alibi with ease until he found the truth of what might be happening with her visit to Rome.

  Nina did her best to deflect, and explain. “Like I said before, sometimes my work takes me all over the world.”

  Inspector Amaro didn't look convinced. He flashed that thin smile again, knowingly. He may not know the full truth, but he definitely seemed to suspect that there was far more to Nina than she was disclosing.

  “Aw, yes, to places far worse than this...places that apparently make death threats from killers seem like nothing more than a slight bother. If that’s your final decision, to stay in Rome, then you’ll be provided some police escort, with myself included, during the rest of your time here in Italy.”

  That sounded very terrible, and she was annoyed that he hadn't mentioned it before she decided. Now that he said it, it’d seem very suspicious to change to a different option. Still, she could try to convince him to steer away from that part of it.

  “That's not necessary.”

  Inspector Amaro shrugged and closed his hands together. “I'm afraid that I'm going to have to insist. For your safety, of course.”

  She knew that was the final word, so she was just going to have to accept it, at least for now.

  The inspector looked pleased that she wasn't going to keep fighting him on the subject. He jotted another line down in his notepad and then started putting the book and his pen back inside of his jacket. “In my experience, all death threats should be taken seriously. They should especially be heeded when one of the people threatened is butchered, wouldn't you agree?”

  Nina bit her lip. “I thought you said that if I decided to stay, it wouldn't be the police's responsibility if I die.”

  “It won't be,” Inspector Amaro said, looking happy about that. Once again, he seemed so detached from human empathy. All of his quirkiness was masking a very cold and calculating individual. “But that doesn't mean we have to sit back and let it happen. This is for your own protection.”

  No, it wasn't. That much was clear.

  “Thanks...”

  She wasn't feeling overly grateful to the man, though. The police were honestly just going to be getting in her team's way. Having them around, especially a wild card like the inspector just raised the risk of the Order of the Black Sun becoming public knowledge.

  Monica Moretti, the floor manager for the museum walked by, her eyes wide with confusion as she arrived on the scene. She was probably arriving for work, expecting a perfectly normal day to be ahead of her. Inspector Amaro signaled for his men to bring her over for his questioning. Nina thought that Amaro would excuse himself to break the news to Monica privately, but he didn't. Nina just had to stand there while the inspector caught the poor woman up to spe
ed about her boss.

  “Monica Moretti, is that right?”

  Nina realized that Inspector Amaro could have easily chosen to speak to Monica in her native tongue to keep their conversation more private since Nina wasn't too fluent in Italian. Instead, the inspector kept it in English, a language that Nina could easily process. He definitely wanted her to be able to hear and understand everything that was being said. Was this part of his idea of working together with her? To make her watch a woman break down?

  “Yes,” Monica said nervously, looking around at all of the police activity. “That is me.”

  “I’m truly sorry to have to tell you this, but your boss, Mr. Santino Rossi was brutally murdered a short while ago.” Inspector Amaro was so blunt about it, his delivery had no remorse at all. There was no need to tell Monica that it’d been vicious; she didn't need to know the gory details but Inspector Amaro had no qualms about presenting terrible news like it was just as casual about talking about the weather.

  “W-w-what?” Tears immediately started filling Monica's eyes. “Are you...?” She looked past them at the museum entrance. “Are you serious? Is he really...?”

  “Yes. He really is dead. Stabbed, actually...twenty-three times...which is interesting because--”

  “I'm sorry,” Nina cut in, trying to offer the woman some bit of warmth and comfort, since she clearly wasn't going to get any from the inspector. “It was the Third Triumvirate. They did it. I found the body...”

  “I just had a few questions to ask you,” Inspector Amaro said. “What time did leave the museum last night after you finished work?”

  Monica looked frazzled and was trying to stop the tears from streaming down her face. She was in no state to be bombarded by Inspector Amaro's questions. Nina had enough trouble with his interrogation, and she wasn't shell-shocked by the death of her boss when she was being asked the questions. She couldn't imagine how hard and confusing this news must be for Monica.

  “Inspector,” Nina said, more firmly than she intended. “Could you please just give her and me a moment alone?”

  “I’m afraid that isn’t protocol,” Amaro said. “We need to have the questions asked before she really speaks with anyone else. That way, there’s less chance of unconsciously diluting the real truth. We can't be getting stories and memories crisscrossed. Contaminated witness stories can be messy...”

  “Please,” Nina said, practically growling at the man. “She isn’t going to be able to answer very coherently if she's sobbing. Please give us a few minutes.”

  Inspector Amaro rubbed his scruffy chin and pursed his lips. “Five. You have five. That’s all I’ll give you...and then I’ll resume my questions and you’ll do your best to give me your answers.”

  It wasn't much, but it was better than nothing and much more than Nina expected. Inspector Amaro walked away to speak with one of the other policeman but glanced back at Nina and Monica before turning his attention back to the officer.

  “I'm sorry about him,” Nina said. “I endured the same thing a little while ago with him, and it was...a lot. He is...how do I put this lightly? He's off his rocker, I'd say, but he also seems very smart. A little obsessive and pushy, yeah, but intelligent. He wants to find these people that did this to Santino and it seems like he's not going to let anyone stop him from doing that. It's annoying...but kind of comforting...I don't know.”

  Monica choked back more tears. “You...said...you said you found him? How...how bad was it?”

  It was a sight that Nina wouldn't forget anytime soon. She could tiptoe around it or just be honest, but withhold the more gruesome parts. “Very. But I think he must have gone quickly. He wasn't in pain for long.” She wasn't at all sure about that—and it most likely wasn't the case—but it was what Monica probably wanted to hear in that moment.

  Monica nodded but bit down hard on her lip. “Why did they do this? Stealing things is one thing but...stabbing someone so many times...so many...” Monica was clearly envisioning the murder, and putting herself in Santino's shoes. She was probably seeing those knives penetrating her own body, terrified and screaming as her blood erupted. She started bawling again. “I can see him. I can see his face. He must have been so scared.”

  Nina nodded. It was all she could do. It was hard thinking about it, especially the idea that someone could even do that to someone else. Why wasn't just taking things from the museum enough? Why did they have to come back in such a violent fashion? The Third Triumvirate didn't just stab Santino Rossi. They tore him apart. Twenty-three wounds to his torso...it was insanity.

  “I know this detective is...oblivious to human emotion...but just answer him as honestly as you can. I don't like him either, but I really do think he’s trying to help.”

  Monica nodded, wiping her tears away.

  “You can do this,” Nina said comfortingly.

  Inspector Amaro walked over and requested Monica's presence for an interview. Her five minutes were up and Nina sympathized with the woman for having to speak with Amaro. Nina knew how exhausting a conversation with that inspector could be.

  11

  PROTECTION FROM THE PROTECTORS

  The rest of the team arrived at the museum entrance in a car they’d apparently rented, all looking very concerned at the sight of all of the police cars. That was their second visit to the Palazza Nuovo, and the second time that they’d discovered a police barricade in their way. They were initially stopped by some police who told them that the museum was closed for the day, but Inspector Amaro called his men off and let Nina's colleagues through the barricades.

  The group went straight to Nina.

  “Are you alright!?” Riley asked, exasperated.

  “I'm fine,” Nina said. “Santino isn't...”

  “Is he dead?” Elijah asked.

  “Yes,” Nina said quietly as Riley pulled her tightly into an embrace. “It was the Third Triumvirate. They left another letter.”

  “I hated the first letter,” Elijah said.

  Nina wanted to tell them about how the Third Triumvirate had come to them last night. Now she felt like she had to since they were absolutely a threat. It just occurred to her that Santino was the other friend that Mr. Nero had mentioned when he told her that they’d execute more of her friends. They’d already executed one.

  Their moment to process Santino's death was cut short, though. Inspector Amaro appeared with his fake smile.“You must be co-workers of Dr. Gould,” Inspector Amaro said. “We’ll be working quite closely together.”

  Everyone looked on guard as the inspector shook their hands. Elijah looked utterly perplexed that a strange man like Donatello Amaro was some high-ranking detective in the Roman police force. Inspector Amaro exchanged pleasantries in that same awkward way that he’d introduced himself to her; and just like with Nina, it didn't seem to be winning any of her friends over either.

  “Has Dr. Gould informed you of the arrangement we’ve made?”

  They all looked to Nina and she could feel her face warm up. She hadn't had the chance to tell them yet, so of course the inspector was going to make this even more uncomfortable. He was really good at doing that.

  Her team looked at her expectantly, waiting to hear more. As leader, it was her job to keep them aware.

  She started, “Inspector Amaro--”

  “Please,” the inspector interrupted. “We’re all friends here. Call me Donatello. Don will do just as well, even.”

  They all gawked at him in bewilderment and none of them had any plans to call this stranger “Don.” They were still just waiting to hear what he was doing there.

  Nina tried again, ready for another interruption.

  “Because of these Third Triumvirate people, the police think it’s best that we receive an escort for the rest of our search.”

  “For your protection, of course.” Inspector Amaro kept repeating it, but it never felt comforting.

  “An escort!?” Riley asked, baffled. “What do we need an escort for? We do
dangerous things all of the time. I mean just the other day we almost got killed in Egypt--”

  Nina wanted Riley to stop talking before she said something that gave away the existence of the order. With her fast-talking, loud mouth, there was a high chance that Riley could slip up and satiate the inspector's curiosity.

  “I agree,” Elijah commented, pushing his glasses up his nose and glaring at the Amaro. “I think it’s a waste of manpower.”

  “Or perhaps a perfect use of manpower,” Amaro said merrily. “Now where to, Dr. Gould?”

  She wasn't exactly sure, but she needed to buy time until she could figure out how to get out of this inspector's web. For now, she’d lead them on a wild goose chase. If they really wanted to follow her around, she wouldn't make it worth their while. Or maybe they could lose them on the road, and leave the police completely ignorant of their actual destination?

  “Trevi Fountain,” Nina said.

  “Really?” Inspector Amaro said with a raised brow. “Interesting. Why there?”

  “Listen, if you're going to be following me, that's fine, but I don't want to have to hold your hand through all of it,” Nina said. “Follow us.”

  Nina walked toward their car but Inspector Amaro whistled and she turned back around.

  “I think it’d be best if you rode with us, Dr. Gould.”

  “That's not necessary--” She should’ve known by now that that wasn't enough to deter Inspector Amaro once he’d decided something.

  He gave the response she expected. “I insist.”

  Nina turned to August. “Okay, follow the police car. Stay close. Very close. And get ready for a quick getaway.”

  “What do you mean?” August asked with some alarm.