Death Under the Venice Moon

by Maria Grazia Swan

  What had just happened?

  She had my son's phone. How? I'd left it in the Focus. The light edginess I felt when I first saw her grew inside me like boiling water in a covered pot, ready to spill over any minute. And the heat was real. I was suffocating. I removed my jacket, blotted perspiration from my temples using toilet paper. I had to get out of there. What if they were looking for me? She would know I watched her snoop on Kyle's phone. Who was this woman? What did she want from me? From us?

  I stepped out of the stall. Not even stopping to wash my hands, I tried to fan myself while rushing back to the room I had come from. It was deserted. No Nicola, no cops. The tray with the leftover food and drinks, all gone. I sat on the same couch as before and realized my knee must have improved, for the only thing I could feel was this heat radiating from my body.

  I was trembling. My heart rumbled in my ears. I moved off the couch. I had to do something. That was when they came in. Giada and a man I'd never seen before.

  He wore a uniform like the other cops but with more—something—concentrate, Lella…red stripes, small stripes. Il comandante. He must have been the boss they'd told me to expect.

  I gave Giada my best imitation of a smile.

  She walked over, took my hands, and kissed my cheeks. "Lella, you poor thing. Kyle told me what happened. I am so sorry. Got here as fast as I could. But now we can drive to my place. Your son and your detective friend are on their way there. Everything will be all right."

  I was speechless, and that was a good thing as the word bugiarda formed on my tongue, fighting to be said. Calling her a liar out loud wouldn't have helped. Wouldn't have shed any light on this woman's dark soul.

  "Giada, the battery on my phone is dead. It's always something." Was that relief brightening her lovely face? "Do you have any idea why the police brought me here? No one would talk to me. There was a young man, also. Nicola. Nicola Martori."

  "Oh, yes, the troublemaker." Troublemaker? "Did you know he was the paparazzo who took that awful photo of you and Cruz on the Gemelli?"

  "Yes, as matter of fact I did know, but it's okay. Augusta the concierge was behind the whole thing."

  She blinked, possibly not having anticipated such an answer. "Everyone was concerned with your safety. Didn't you tell your American detective that you were being followed? Certainly you should have known they would spring into action. Once the police were sure Nicola couldn't do you any harm, they let him go, and here I am, to take you home." A short laugh. "My home, for now." She turned to the man. "Comandante, if you give us the keys we'll be on our way." Big smiles all around. Was she asking for the keys to the Focus?

  "Assolutamente. Let's go get the keys." More smiles.

  I wanted to scream for them to stop the comedy, but I remembered that old saying, you catch more flies with honey than vinegar, so I smiled back.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  She steered the Focus as if she'd done it her whole life. I sat in the passenger seat, hoping to be invisible. Kyle's phone had been in the car exactly where I'd left it. Was I wrong about Giada? Maybe she had two phones. Maybe she was in Verona when Kyle or Larry or somebody called her and told her about my plight. But how did she get to the police station? Only yesterday I'd been fantasizing about her as the mother of my grandkids. I was so confused. And so tired.

  "You look tired." She echoed my feelings. "It's been a very long day for you. Luckily a friend gave me a lift, so you don't need to drive, relax. It's a short ride. "

  I kept quiet and watched the green signs of the autostrada fly by.

  "Mrs. York—Lella, have you considered moving back to Italy permanently?"

  "No, of course not." My alertness level jumped to new heights.

  "Huh, because of your friend the detective?" Where was she going with this?

  "Partly, but mostly because of Kyle. He is my only family, my whole life." I found myself choking up. Maledizione.

  "What if he decided to stay?"

  "Stay? Why would he? All he's been talking about is going back to California to read the new scripts his agent received." Was I hallucinating or was the woman smiling? She certainly perked up. What did I say that made her so happy? Maybe it was the headlights from the passing cars, playing tricks on her profile.

  "Kyle is a great actor. He could have a bright future anywhere and especially here, with Cruz out of the picture and a—"

  "My God, Giada, you speak as if Cruz is dead."

  "Oh, no, no." Alarm in her tone. Interesting. "You misunderstood me."

  No, I didn't, you little witch.

  Before I realized it, we passed Peschiera. I had to admit Verona and Lake Garda weren't that far from each other. Maybe my suspicions were wrong. Still.

  "I meant that, due to Cruz's behavior, the studio I work for will very likely not renew his contract." Her voice had regained its typical coolness.

  "That's too bad. You may be right. He may be dying somewhere or dead already. Look at poor Pia."

  She didn't answer, but even in the dim glow of the dashboard I could see a muscle twitch at the corner of her glossy lips. What was eating at her? There had to be something going on. Why did I feel it was no coincidence I found myself on my way to her house instead of driving myself back to my hometown?

  Was it she who saw to it the police picked me up at the rest area? How? She had no idea where I went, where I was.

  The silence in the Focus grew suffocating, I wanted to tell her to stop the car and let me out. Just then I heard the click of the turn signal. We had arrived…somewhere.

  * * *

  It didn't matter that only eleven hours had gone by since we had all been together, it felt like a lifetime.

  Larry and Kyle arrived at Giada's place at almost the same time we did. The small house sat high on the hills before the turnoff to Desenzano del Garda. It must have been in her family for a very long time. I couldn't tell about the outside because of the darkness, but the shiny wooden floors looked like the kind my grandmother had in her house, the house that was her father's before it was hers.

  No one was hungry; we had drinks. I returned Kyle's phone to him just as a call came in. He looked at the number and excused himself, stepping out onto the small covered terrace with the view of hundreds of twinkling lights down by the lake.

  I sat on a velvet-covered sofa, next to Larry, who played with my wrist and the palm of my hand. "I can't believe you befriended that stalker." He leaned over and brushed my hand with his lips, his eyes riveted to mine. What was he trying to tell me? We knew the house only had two bedrooms, and Larry had quietly set my overnight bag next to his in the smaller room. I still felt funny sleeping with Larry under the same roof as Kyle.

  My son had never brought any female overnight guest to my house either. Sort of an unspoken rule. Sounds came from the kitchen, where Giada busied herself rinsing glasses and cups.

  Kyle came back in. I could tell something bothered him. "Is everything okay? Who would call you at this time of night?"

  "Mom, it's daytime in California. Carolyn." He wasn't very talkative.

  He seemed to have aged some in the last few days. Could it have been a consequence of watching Pia die? That was possibly the first time he had seen death so close and personal. His dad was already dead when Kyle got the call, but with Pia it was different. He witnessed life escaping her body. He watched helplessly and would probably carry an unjustified sense of guilt with him for years to come.

  "Is something wrong?" Giada came from the kitchen. Her face also had a shadow that wasn't there before. Kyle shrugged. Something just happened, and everyone seemed to know about it except me.

  "I need to get back to Venice in the morning." Kyle stood in the middle of the room, his back to me. "I'll be checking out of the Century. How about you, Mom?"

  "I—I probably will too. What about you and Larry helping to find Cruz?"

  "I've done all I could. They located the baita I told them about. It's out of my hands. I don’t see wha
t else I could do, probably just getting in the way of the trained experts. Anyhow…I'm done."

  Done? Did he mean done with Italy? Judging by Giada's expression, she thought that was what he meant. She didn't look too pleased.

  "Okay, then, see you all in the morning." And with that, Kyle went to bed.

  The disappointment on our hostess's face was so obvious I felt sorry for her. "Do you need any help in the kitchen?" I asked, anticipating her answer.

  "Thanks, no. I'm going to sleep also. It has been a very emotional day. Feel free to help yourself if you need anything. Buonanotte." She turned off the kitchen lights. "I usually leave the side lamp on." She left the room.

  Larry put his arm around my shoulders and pulled me close. His lips in my ear, he whispered, "Do you think she has cameras in every room? Shh, smile, just in case."

  Chills ran up the nape of my neck. I hoped it was his idea of being funny. If not, what did he know that I didn't?

  The hardest part was calming Larry when he saw my purplish, swollen knee after I undressed.

  "Who the hell did this to you? Cop or no cop, this isn't right."

  "Larry, please. It wasn't intentional." Or was it? "I tripped and he bumped into me. It's over. Let's forget about it."

  Mumbling his discontent, he turned off the light, and we snuggled under the blankets. Our room was opposite Giada and Kyle's, with the living room in between. Unless we shouted or the place was bugged, at least we could talk without our conversation being heard. Regardless of all that, I still felt funny about sleeping with Larry with my son just feet away, and not funny in a good way.

  "Why that remark about cameras? Were you poking fun at me?"

  "No, nothing entertaining about that blonde. Now don't make yourself crazy. Kyle is on to her. Didn't you find it strange that two minutes after you pulled over on the autostrada a highway patrol was breathing down your neck? Think about it: how many highway patrol cars have we seen all the miles we've driven? None. That's right."

  "Oh my God, that explains it."

  "Explains what?"

  "He didn't ask me for anything—no proof of insurance, driver license, nothing. And I thought he was charmed by my personality. But why? He escorted me to the rest area and left."

  "That was probably Giada's caring about your safety. If we assume she had a tracking device on the car and knowing you were alone, she may have been concerned something had happened and sent the highway patrol to check it out."

  "Sent the highway patrol? What? Is she their boss or something? She snaps her fingers and voila?"

  "Pretty much so, according to the Italian detective. It isn't she but the corporation she works for that holds the power."

  "Okay, so what happened the second time when three cops showed up and chased poor Nicola then dragged us both to jail? Okay. It wasn't a jail, and we really weren't dragged, but it could have gone that way."

  He laughed that low laugh that made me want to grab him and kiss him all over. "Ah, sweetie, you have yourself to blame for that. Remember when you called from the public bathroom and wanted me to check out that license plate? How did you think I was going to do that? I might have connections in California, but here I'm just another tourist. I asked the detective to do it. The minute he entered the numbers in the system, someone must have tipped off Giada. Keep in mind she had to know who sold Cruz's picture on the boat. With their paid informers, that would be easy to find out." He moved his leg slowly so as not to bump my sore knee. I quivered at the contact. "Now the same man showed up at the rest area where you were. Warning signals must have gone off in her head. No one knew my soft-hearted sweetie had bonded with her stalker."

  "You would have done the same. The poor kid was crying his eyes out, and it was all the concierge's doing. He reminded me of Kyle."

  "I got it. But the cops didn't know any of this. Their mission was to save the damsel in distress. I doubt the swollen knee will appear in their report anytime soon. Not that a report will even be filed, the way I understand the system. After our conversation from the police station when your phone died, you had me very worried. Kyle, too. By then the cabin—baita—had been located. We were packing up, and the Italian detective decided to make a phone call. Someone owed him a favor. Right away we knew where you and Nicola were, and we got a little bonus. Giada was there also in a special room, listening to every word you two said."

  "That witch. I knew it. But why? Wait, you mean she knew I was hiding in the bathroom when she came in?"

  "You were hiding in the bathroom? What's with you and public bathrooms? Lella, honestly, this is all I know, but I have the feeling a lot more is going on. The Italian detective told Kyle where Giada was, and a lot more. Kyle and the detective seem to get along well. When their chat was over, all I can say is that Kyle looked…old.

  "When Kyle called Giada to go pick you up, he pretended not to know she was already there. Personally, I don't think this is connected to Giada's corporation. I think she orchestrated this whole thing on her own."

  "While I was hiding, I watched Giada check messages on a cell phone. I'm pretty sure it was Kyle's. But I had left his phone on the seat of the Focus, and when we got the car back it was there, just the way I left it."

  "If she was checking and possibly deleting your son's messages, she didn't know you were watching. That's what I mean. This is about Kyle. She is a very clever lady and gets paid big bucks to do what she seems to do so well. But again, I think she is using her connections to keep Kyle here. She's a woman in love." He said love as if it were a dirty word.

  "You never liked her, did you?"

  "She's a tall blonde. I'm partial to petite brunettes." He whispered in my ear. And after that I knew we weren't going to get much sleep, swollen knee or not.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  I dragged myself out of bed and into the kitchen, craving coffee in the worst way. Kyle was on his way out the door of this fabulous little house with the postcard view of everything wonderful about Lake Garda.

  His hair still damp from the shower, he seemed in a big hurry. It was barely seven a.m. Hmm, not like he had a job to go to.

  I went to hug him. "I guess I'll see you in Venice. I'll get Larry up, and we'll hit the road. Drive safely. Maybe we can get together for lunch?"

  He nodded, obviously distracted by whatever was going through his mind.

  Giada looked like she needed a good night's sleep, but was still beautiful without makeup and wearing a pale green robe. She walked him to the car.

  There was such a lingering sense of doom in the air I wanted to get out of there as fast as I could. What was going on? I hurried back to the bedroom and found Larry all packed, dressed, and ready to go. I was stunned and was sure he could tell.

  He hugged me. "Sweetie, we can have breakfast on the road if you don't mind. Did you see Kyle?"

  I nodded. "He just left."

  Larry smiled. "Let's follow his lead. Can you get dressed? I'll pack your stuff."

  My heart skipped a beat. Nick, my deceased husband, always packed for our travels, and I unpacked. I went to get some clean clothes. No way would I wear the same pants I had on yesterday when I fell and hurt my knees.

  The smell of fresh coffee came from the kitchen. Giada, still in her pale green robe, greeted us and set some cute mugs on the small kitchen table.

  I looked at Larry. I wanted some coffee. Without a word he sat and said, "I take mine black." His eyes let me know I owed him one.

  We drank our coffee quickly then went out the front door. Before Giada went back in, Larry said, "I need to get gas and maybe air in my tires."

  "Before you hit the main road, there is a gas station. You can check your tires also."

  He nodded at her sad face. I couldn't stand it. I turned around and gave her a big hug. She stood there, limp, then without a word she closed the door.

  "Let's go. She is probably on the phone calling the cavalry."

  "Oh, Larry, what are you talking about?"
/>   "Nothing. Let's get going. We need to make up time."

  "What for?" I fastened my seatbelt.

  He leaned over and kissed my lips softly. "Did I tell you how sweet you are and how much I love you?" He shifted gears, and we started down the peaceful hill, back to reality. "You know, we should come back here, just the two of us, for a real vacation." His eyes were fixed on the winding road. His hand carefully caressed my injured knee.

  "I would like that. I would like that a lot. Do you know we never flew on a plane together?"

  "We are flying back together, aren't we?"

  "What about your rented car?"

  "I can leave it at any Italian airport. It's in the lease contract."

  "Good."

  A few minutes later he pulled into a gas station with easy access. He went straight to the air compressor.

  "Don't you need gas?" I asked.

  "No."

  "But you told—"

  "I know what I told Giada." This was the voice of Detective Lawrence Devin. What was he up to? "You can stay in the car."

  Indiana Jones himself couldn't have kept me in the car. I got out and watched Larry squat down to get a good look at each of his tires. Must be serious. A few times, he knelt and ran his hand underneath the car, around the tires.

  "Okay," I said. "I may not know about cars, but I'm not that stupid. What are you doing?"

  He stood, towering over me, lifted me, smacked a kiss on my forehead, then put me back down. "Checking for bugs. I mean—"

  "I know what you mean, a car tracking device. I watch detective shows too."

  All I got from him was a spontaneous eruption of laughter. "Let's go, and no, I don't need any gas. I said that in case she is on her terrace with binoculars."

  "Okay, mister, I want to know what's going on."

  "I already told you she has help from the Italian police. According to the detective, it's not unusual. Big corporations send monthly checks to one of the higher-ups. In return, they get favors when needed. Giada is the face of De Bernardi and his corporation. She calls in the favors. However, something else is going on, a bit more serious and very personal. We're meeting Kyle before he gets on the plane."