Gorgeous Reads for Christmas (Choc Lit)

by Sue Moorcroft

  ‘They were putting one of the paintings into the back of a van. From the size of the picture, I think it’s the oil from the sitting room, which suggests that they’re almost finished. The lights are on in both buildings, so they must have emptied both houses. I imagine that they did the other house first – the van’s parked on the grass at the end of the drive now, very close to the loggia. You stay put – I’m going to have another look.’

  ‘Don’t go, Max. Wait for the police. They must be almost here by now.’ Biting her nail, Jenny peered out of the window down the slope. ‘I can’t see the lights any more so they must be on the hill behind us, and probably close to us. Wait for them, won’t you?’

  ‘Don’t worry, Jenny. I’ll be very quick. I just want to get some idea how close they are to leaving,’ he said, and he jumped down and sped into the dark.

  Moments later, he was climbing up the steps into the minibus again. ‘I was right. They’ll be ready to go soon. It looks as if Howard’s about to shut the van doors.’

  Nick slid to the edge of his seat. ‘Then I say we all go in and stop them. Apart from Jenny, of course.’

  ‘Wait.’ Max ordered. ‘That’s not an option: they might have a gun.’

  Stephen laughed dismissively. ‘Not Paula and Howard.’

  ‘Yes, Paula and Howard. This has been very carefully planned. No way are they innocent honeymooners, acting on the spur of the moment. It takes nerve to do what they’re doing, not to mention skill and some knowledge of the art world. They’ll need buyers for the pictures, for example. I’m certain this won’t be their first theft and they’ll know that Italian police are armed, which means that there’s a real risk of them having a gun. No one’s charging in, but I’ve got an idea that could buy us some time. If it works, that is. We’ll need to move sharpish, though.’

  Jenny twisted round and stared through the rear window. ‘I’m sure I can hear police cars. We can leave it to them.’

  ‘I’m not going to risk them getting away before the police arrive, especially as I think I can safely stop them. Or at least slow down their exit.’ Max tapped Carlo on the shoulder and gestured for him to follow him. Stephen started to rise from his seat. ‘No, Stephen,’ he said quickly. ‘You and Nick stay here.’

  Jenny put her hand to her throat. ‘Please, be careful, Max. Remember what you said about playing it safe. If they see you and they’ve got a gun …’ Panic welled up inside her.

  ‘Don’t worry, I won’t do anything silly.’ He gave her a quick smile, and he and Carlo got down from the minibus and ran towards the bend in the road.

  Nick moved into the front seat. ‘I’m going to ignore what Max said. They might need help.’

  Stephen made a move to follow him, took one look at Jenny’s terrified face and sat back down again. He squeezed her arm reassuringly. ‘They’ll be fine, Jenny. They’re not stupid, not even Nick. And you’re right about the police being close – I can hear them now. Nick and Uncle Max will be back in a minute, you’ll see.’

  He fell silent. Side by side, they stared into the darkness beyond the windscreen, waiting.

  Almost as soon as he’d gone, Nick was back outside the minibus, standing at the foot of the steps.

  ‘Max and Carlo have closed the gates,’ he called up to them gleefully. ‘Max wrapped the chain around the gates and put the padlock on. The goons in the van were too busy reversing up the slope to notice what was happening. Great stuff. I’m going to—’

  He stopped short at the sound of feet running towards them, and clambered quickly into the van.

  Panting, Max and Carlo climbed into the minibus, slammed the doors shut and threw themselves into their seats. Carlo revved the engine, thrust the gearstick into reverse and guided the minibus swiftly backwards, steering it close into the side of the hill.

  Behind them, the distant drone of approaching cars grew into a loud roar. Carlo braked hard.

  Max turned to face the seats behind him. ‘I’m sure Nick’s told you what we’ve done – we saw you there, Nick. We’ve stopped them from driving out. The main thing now is to make sure that the police can get past us to the house. We don’t want to block their way.’

  ‘Do you think that Howard and Paula will ram the gates?’ Nick asked.

  ‘They might try, but they won’t succeed. The chain’s very strong. No, they’re more likely to try to shoot the lock open.’

  ‘Suppose they drive down the slope and escape that way.’ Stephen stared anxiously at Max.

  ‘A van like that couldn’t stay upright on such a steep slope. They’d know that and they’d never risk it. Besides, there are trees all the way down the slope. They wouldn’t have a chance.’

  ‘Suppose they come after us with a gun.’ Jenny’s voice shook.

  ‘They can’t get through the gates any more than the van can. What they might do is ditch the van and go down the slope on foot, but it wouldn’t be easy in the dark. And if they did that, they’d be going away from us.’

  The back of the minibus was suddenly flooded with light. A car screeched to a halt behind them, and another behind that. They turned to look through the rear window and saw two policeman step out of the first car parked behind them. One of them started to walk towards them; the other waited by the side of the car.

  Engines sounded, and one behind the other, three more cars edged past the policemen and the minibus, and continued towards the house.

  ‘I forgot, the gates are locked.’ Max jumped down from the minibus. ‘They’ll need the key for the padlock. Will you tell them where I’m going, Jenny?’ he called up.

  ‘Of course I will.’ She moved forward and climbed out after him. Her heart pounding with fear, she watched till he disappeared round the corner, then she turned to the policeman.

  Standing in front of the wide-open wrought-iron gates, Jenny watched Carlo drive off in the minibus. When he was out of sight, she turned and started to walk down the drive and past the van, which had been abandoned by the thieves in the middle of the drive. She paused and glanced inside; there were several large crates, with a number of paintings slotted into each. The oil painting from above the fireplace lay on top of one of the crates, half covered by a rug.

  Two men in protective clothing were dusting the inside of the van for fingerprints, while a policeman was standing by, watching them. She went over to the policeman and thanked him for their quick response to the call and for sending out so many men and cars. Their support had been amazing, she said.

  He told her there’d recently been a spate of robberies in the area, especially art-related robberies, and they were very keen to catch the perpetrators. As soon as she’d phoned them and told them about a possible theft, they’d realised that they had a chance to catch the criminals red-handed and they’d thrown everything they had behind it.

  They’d also set up two road blocks, he added, one just before the divide in the Bevagna road and the other at the entrance to Montefalco. And just in case the thieves decided to make a run for it, there were handlers and dogs at the foot of the slope.

  She thanked him again, and continued making her way down to Max, who was standing at the bottom of the drive, staring towards the end of the garden, which was flooded with bright light thrown out by giant lamps. Stephen and Nick had gone across the grass and were standing as close to the top of the slope as the police would allow, two black figures, stark against the white light.

  She told Max what the policeman had said.

  He looked down at her, and took her hand. ‘It’s just a matter of waiting, then. They won’t be able to get far. It’ll all be over soon.’

  ‘Thank goodness Clare spotted that they’d already packed,’ she said, ‘and that Paula slipped up about the suitcases. If it hadn’t been for that, they’d have got away with it.’

  Just as she finished speaking, they saw two figures appear over the top of the slope, caught in the beam of one of the lamps. Stephen and Nick gave a shout of triumph and jumped up and down on th
e spot.

  Max’s hand tightened around hers. ‘Here’s the first of them.’

  ‘It’s Howard,’ she said.

  The slim policeman walking at his side was beaming with pride. Howard’s face was an angry scowl.

  Jenny heard a nearby policemen say something to his colleague.

  ‘Apparently that policeman’s a champion runner,’ she relayed to Max. ‘We’re very lucky that he was on duty tonight. Anyone racing against him didn’t stand a chance.’

  In silence, they watched Howard being led past them, his eyes firmly fixed on the ground. Looking back at him, they saw he was in handcuffs. The slim officer propelled him towards the nearest car and indicated that he should get into the back seat.

  Max dropped Jenny’s hand. ‘It’s no good. I’d really like a quick word with Howard. Will you ask the officer if I can speak to him? I only want a minute.’

  Jenny ran up to the police officer and put Max’s request to him. The officer glanced across at Max, then at Jenny, and nodded. Pulling Howard away from the car, he gestured for Max to come over.

  He walked straight up to Howard, who turned towards him, his face impassive.

  ‘Why, Howard?’ he asked quietly, coming to a stop in front of him. ‘Why did you do it?’

  The corner of Howard’s mouth twisted into a sneer. ‘I would have thought that the answer’s fairly obvious. Redistribution of wealth, of course. From someone who’s got money enough to waste it on expensive ornaments, to someone who needs enough money to buy necessities. It’s not that difficult to work out if you look beyond your privileged world.’

  ‘So you’re stealing for the necessities of life, are you? Don’t make me laugh – you’re a common thief. I’ve worked very hard for everything I’ve got. But you, you’re trying to live off the fruit of my labour, and the labour of others. If you genuinely needed money and couldn’t earn it like everyone else, you could have tried asking for help.’

  ‘What, go cap in hand to you and your ilk, begging for a handout? Ask you to throw us some crumbs out of the goodness of your hearts?’ His voice rose and he laughed in derision. ‘I don’t think so. It’s a bit beneath my wife and me. Just a bit.’

  ‘And you don’t think theft is beneath you?’ Max said, contempt in his voice.

  ‘Are you and Paula really on your honeymoon?’ Jenny asked, coming to stand next to Max.

  Howard laughed even more loudly. ‘If you think that, then you’re even more gullible than I thought, and that’s saying something. Now, if there’s nothing else …’

  He spat on the ground, shrugged the policeman’s hand off his shoulder, turned and got into the car.

  They heard footsteps approaching from behind them, and Jenny turned to see who else they’d caught.

  ‘Look, they’ve got Paula, too,’ she cried gleefully as she saw her being brought up the drive, a policeman on either side of her. One of them had a gun in his hand. ‘She and Howard must have made a run for it together. Thank goodness neither got away. Even if the other man did.’

  As Paula drew alongside them, she glanced quickly towards the car that Howard was in, and her steps slowed. He looked up at her through the window, gave her a slight smile and shrugged his shoulders. She stopped and turned abruptly to Max and Jenny.

  ‘You pigs,’ she hissed, and she threw them a look of pure hatred. ‘You filthy pigs.’

  One of the officers gave her a push to move her on. Her head held high, she walked forward and let herself be led towards a car that was parked further up the drive.

  ‘Not travelling with Howie-darling, then?’ Nick called after her as he and Stephen came running up to stand alongside Max and Jenny.

  A loud shout came from the bottom of the garden, followed by the sound of dogs barking in excitement. They spun round and stared down the slope. Two policemen were hugging each other and whooping with delight. Then they gave the thumbs up sign to their colleagues on the drive.

  ‘That must mean they’ve got the third man,’ Max said. ‘I’m not surprised – there’s no hiding from the dogs.’

  A moment later, the head of the third thief appeared above the top of the slope, followed by the rest of his body. As he was led across the grass by a policeman on either side, they saw that the bottoms of his trousers were bloodstained and torn.

  Jenny turned to Max. ‘It looks as if the dogs got him. He’s lucky he wasn’t seriously hurt. So now that they’ve caught the three of them, it really is over, isn’t it? I don’t think I’ve ever been so scared in all my life.’ Her voice broke.

  ‘My darling Jenny. Yes, it is.’ He put his arms around her and pulled her to him.

  Encircled by his strong arms, she felt the warmth of his body spread through hers. The fears of the evening faded away, and all memories of the past and why she was there fled from her mind. Thinking only of him, she slid her hands round his back and nestled more closely to him. His arms tightened round her, and all sense of time and place dissolved into nothingness.

  ‘I could stay like this forever,’ she whispered, lost in the moment.

  ‘Oh, Jenny,’ she heard him murmur into her hair, and she sank deeper into his embrace.

  ‘Signore.’ A policeman appeared at Max’s side. ‘Vorrebbe andare in casa con me?’

  ‘Oh, no, he wants you to go into the house with him,’ Jenny translated, her voice muffled by his shirt.

  Max sighed, and let his arms fall to his side. Reluctant to do so, she stepped back from him, and for a long moment they stared into each other’s eyes.

  ‘Signore,’ the policeman prompted.

  ‘I suppose I’d better go in and start answering questions,’ he said. ‘What timing.’

  ‘I’m coming with you.’ She moved to his side, and together they followed the officer into the house.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Breakfast had been a quiet, sombre meal that morning.

  Once they’d finished eating, they’d been interviewed in turn by the police, with Jenny translating each time. While the interviews were under way, other officers had searched the Andersons’ room and bagged up the few things they’d left behind. Jenny gave them the paintings they’d done, and those had been taken away, too.

  By the end of the morning, they’d all felt completely drained, and lunch on the terrace had been as subdued as the breakfast. From the comments she’d heard the police make one to another, she knew that another group was working in Max’s house, and that he’d had to stay over there with them, so she wasn’t surprised when he didn’t turn up to have lunch with them.

  ‘Come on, Clare,’ Stephen said briskly when he finished his panino. He pushed away his empty plate and stood up. ‘I’m not going to let your last full day in Umbria be ruined by the Andersons. We’ll go into Montefalco and have our coffee there, and then we’ll have a wander around. And we can plan our first meeting in England – it can’t come soon enough for me.’ He glanced anxiously at Jenny. ‘It’s OK to disappear now, isn’t it, Jenny? I’ll go stir crazy if I don’t get out for a bit. Clare, too.’

  ‘Of course, it is. You go and make the most of Clare’s last day. She hasn’t had much fun so far today – none of you have.’

  ‘Are you sure that you don’t mind us trotting off and leaving you with the police and everything?’ Clare asked hesitantly.

  ‘Of course, I don’t.’ Jenny smiled warmly at her. ‘You go and have a good time. Nothing would give me greater pleasure than to see you enjoying yourselves.’

  ‘Thanks.’ Clare jumped up, beaming at Stephen, and they went off, hand in hand.

  George rose awkwardly to his feet. ‘I find that I am somewhat tired, dear lady, and I think I shall go to my room and have a short lie down. The events of yesterday and today have rather taken it out of me. That’s not anyone’s fault but Howard and Paula’s, mind you, but a few moments of sleep in order to recoup is in order, I feel.’

  ‘That sounds an excellent idea, Mr Rayburn. We’ll see you later.’

  He nod
ded to Nick, gave a little bow to Jenny and made his way slowly into the house.

  ‘Right, one of us ought to do some work. I’m going to finish the picture for my mother,’ Nick said. ‘There’s not a lot left to do, and I was tempted to leave the rest till I got home, but I know me – I’d never finish it if I did, and an unfinished picture wouldn’t be much of a present for Mother Dearest.’ He got up. ‘I won’t apologise for leaving you alone because I strongly suspect that you’ll be delighted to have an afternoon without any of us around. I know that I would, if I were you.’

  He gave her a knowing grin, crossed over to his paints and easel, gathered everything together and went off into the garden, whistling.

  She sank back into her chair. Nick was right: it was going to be much easier not to have to worry about them that afternoon. George wasn’t the only one who was worn out – she felt absolutely shattered. The events of the night, and the words ‘My darling Jenny’, followed by her total failure to give any thought to what had happened to her father, had gone round and round in her head, and she’d slept only fitfully. To have a relaxing afternoon by herself was an unexpected treat, and a very welcome one.

  She sat back. She wasn’t going to let herself think about Max; she wasn’t going to let herself think about anything at all – there’d be plenty of time for that later. She rested her head on the back of the chair, and stared up at the lilac wisteria that was clinging to the grey stone walls of the house. Very slowly her eyes began to close.

  ‘Where is everyone?’ she heard Max ask.

  Her eyes flew open and she sat up sharply.

  He came up and took the seat opposite her, his face strained and drawn.

  ‘I didn’t expect to see you until much later,’ she said, pushing her hair back from her face. ‘I thought you’d be tied up with the police for longer.’

  ‘They’ve been there all morning, taking fingerprints and the like. The insurance people are there, too. I had to notify them about what happened. But they can manage without me now, so I came to see you. I didn’t expect to find you by yourself, though.’