From Venice With Love

by Alison Roberts

  He could get to it first. She’d have to stop and talk to him then and he could thank her. Get her address, maybe, and then follow up on the patient and let her know the outcome. With a determined effort Nico stepped in front of a man and reached for The case. He had it in his hand when someone bumped into him from behind with such force that his hand simply opened. The case fell, bounced on the cobbles and fell again, in a graceful arc, to land in the canal. For a second or two it floated on the surface. And then it sank.

  Charlotte watched the laptop case disappear under the murky water of the canal, its disappearance hastened by the wash of the ambulance as it took off with its beacons flashing and siren sounding.

  If she took her shoes and jacket off…

  Good grief…was she actually considering diving in to try and retrieve it before it sank too far?

  The downward glance towards her shoes had hammered home the reality of what was happening. Straightening and dusting off her skirt after she’d got to her feet hadn’t cured the creases and streaks of grime. Her tights were shredded and one knee was grazed enough for a trickle of blood to be obvious.

  Her armour had been dented.

  But worse than that—far, far worse than that—her shield had been ripped away from her and destroyed.

  ‘Oh…my…God…’ Charlotte had about a heartbeat before she knew the fear would try and kick in.

  The man was turning towards her, clearly appalled at what had just happened.

  She couldn’t let him see her fear. Couldn’t let anybody see it because if they did it would become real. It would take over and she would be sucked back into that place where she was utterly powerless. Where she became nobody.

  It wasn’t going to happen. Charlotte fought back, gathering fury as if it could repair the amour. Replace the shield.

  ‘You idiot,’ she snapped. ‘Have you any idea what you’ve just done?’

  The dark eyes widened, startled by her ferocity.

  ‘I’m so sorry,’ he said. But the apology in his eyes was being replaced by something more like astonishment. Anger, even, at being attacked for something that had clearly been an accident.

  Charlotte knew that. She’d seen the person behind being pushed and stumbling, only prevented from falling by the safety barrier this man’s back had provided. It didn’t help, though, knowing that the action had not been deliberate. How could it, when the effect was the same?

  ‘That laptop has my presentation on it,’ Charlotte snapped. ‘The presentation I’m supposed to be delivering to an international symposium in…’ She jerked her gaze to her wrist. ‘In exactly ten minutes.’

  His face was changing again, along with the expression in his eyes. He was putting pieces of a puzzle together with the same kind of swiftness that had been obvious when they had become a team, working in sync to try and save the life of the unfortunate man who’d fallen from the scaffolding in the wake of his cardiac arrest.

  They weren’t a team now. They were on different sides of a battle and Charlotte felt as if she was fighting for her life. He couldn’t possibly understand how important this was to her but he obviously knew more than she would have expected.

  ‘Not by any chance the symposium on critical interventions in the emergency department? Being held at the Bonvecchiata hotel?’

  ‘Yes. I’m Dr Charlotte Highton. Due to open the symposium in…’ Charlotte had to swallow hard ‘…eight minutes.’

  ‘You’re Charlotte Highton?’

  ‘Yes.’ Charlotte glared at the stranger, who was looking at her as if he’d seen a ghost. As if he couldn’t believe she was who she’d said she was.

  He gave his head a sharp shake. And then he held out his hand. ‘Dr Nicholas Moretti,’ he told her. ‘Nico. We’ve met before. Twice, in fact. At St Margaret’s Hospital in London. And that night at The Cosmopolitan Club. It was a few years ago now…’ His voice trailed off. He was frowning and still staring as if he could barely recognise her. As if he couldn’t make sense of what he was seeing.

  Well…no surprises there. He was talking about a lifetime ago. She’d been a different person then.

  A person she couldn’t afford to be reminded of because it would only make this situation even worse. How incredibly unfortunate was this? To not only lose the protection she depended on but to meet someone who had known her back then? Before…

  Before her life had turned so sharply it had virtually doubled back on itself to take the path she was now on.

  For just a moment Charlotte could remember what it had been like at that crossroad.

  She could feel the fear.

  She didn’t remember meeting him. Oh…she’d felt the beat of familiarity when she’d seen him. She probably would remember him if she allowed her mind to go back to that time. To when she’d been the rising star of a prestigious London hospital and her academic brilliance had been enough to erase the shadows of a painfully shy youth. To when she’d had the world at her feet and she had been courted by albeit distant royalty and wined and dined at places like The Cosmopolitan Club.

  A time that it hadn’t even occurred to her that she might be reminded of today.

  Not only reminded of but stripped of any protection she would normally have to ward it off. How long had it been since she’d felt this vulnerable?

  To Charlotte’s absolute horror, she could actually feel the prickle of tears at the back of her eyes. Tears that could unleash weakness that might undo her completely. She blinked. Hard. She dragged her gaze away from yet another expression she could read in this man’s eyes. He had such an open face. He was probably a very nice person but she didn’t need anyone to be concerned about her.

  She could look after herself. And succeed. She’d learned that long ago.

  A police officer had come to stand beside them. This man who had an Italian name that matched his looks but who, curiously, spoke perfect English with an Irish accent, translated his query.

  ‘He wants to know if you need assistance of any kind.’

  A snort of something akin to laughter escaped Charlotte. She alone was the only person who could provide the kind of assistance she needed right now. Unless by some miracle a police diving team could be available within seconds and an even more impressive miracle would reveal a laptop that could survive total submersion.

  But a rapid conversation in Italian led to the police officer nodding and indicating, with a wave of his arm, that Charlotte should follow him.

  Nick was also following. ‘He’s going to take us to the symposium venue,’ he said briskly. ‘In the police launch. It will only take a few minutes.’

  Charlotte looked down at her ruined clothes. She couldn’t appear anywhere looking like this.

  ‘We will explain what’s happened.’ His hand was on her arm, guiding her through the crowd that was only now dispersing properly. ‘Please let me help if I can. I feel responsible for this unfortunate turn of events and I will do anything I can to put things right. Perhaps they can rearrange the order of the presentations. And do you have a back-up of your material?’

  Having a man step in and try and solve this problem was the last thing Charlotte needed.

  ‘Of course I do. It’s on a flash drive.’

  ‘Which is where?’

  Charlotte focused as the police officer offered her a hand to step into the speed boat. She ignored the hand, climbed aboard unaided and then turned back.

  She had to speak through gritted teeth. ‘It’s in the side pocket of the laptop case that you threw into the canal.’

  It was a totally unjustified accusation in the wake of an obvious accident. It was also an undeserved slap in the face given that he was trying so hard to help.

  But Charlotte didn’t care. She couldn’t afford to.

  ‘Please don’t concern yourself any further.’ She turned away and nodded to the pilot of the boat, who revved the engine. Waved at him imperiously enough to indicate that speed was of the essence and it was time to leave. ‘This is m
y problem and I will deal with it.’

  Nico watched the police launch speed away down the canal.

  He could walk to the venue in only a few minutes longer than the boat trip would take. He hadn’t actually told her that he was booked to attend the symposium himself so he couldn’t really take offence that he hadn’t been invited to share the ride.

  Besides…he needed a few minutes to try and get his head around this extraordinary development.

  She might not remember him but he remembered Charlotte Highton very well indeed. He’d been looking forward to seeing what that dynamic young doctor was like further down the track of her brilliant career.

  Not that she’d been his type when he’d met her all those years ago but he’d been able to appreciate her attributes. The soft femininity that had been such a delightful contrast to the skill and intelligence she’d radiated as a young clinician. The sparkle of a woman who’d had the world and most of its men at her feet.

  Now she was a female clinician who exuded power and control. There wasn’t even the slightest hint of softness.

  Or emotion, other than anger.

  Except…just for a moment there, when he’d told her that he’d met her before, Nico could swear he had seen real fear in her eyes. A vulnerability that had been so out of place with the external appearance of this woman that he’d thought he’d been imagining things.

  What he certainly wasn’t imagining was the stark contrast between the woman he remembered admiring in the past and the one he’d just encountered.

  What the hell had happened to Charlotte Highton?

  And what was she trying to hide?

  CHAPTER TWO

  ‘CHARLOTTE…THERE YOU ARE! Thank goodness…I’ve been seriously worried about what might have happened to you.’ The tall, grey-haired man was hurrying towards her. As he got closer, however, his step faltered and his eyes widened. ‘Oh, my goodness. What has happened to you?’

  The hotel Bonvecchiata had a water landing for gondolas and motorboats so Charlotte had entered the foyer moments after leaping out of the police launch. She knew she looked a fright but there’d been no chance to duck into a restroom and at least tidy her hair and sponge some of the mud from her clothing. Richard Campbell, the co-ordinator of this select symposium and the man who’d invited her to open it, must have been pacing the foyer as he’d waited anxiously for her to arrive.

  ‘Long story, Richard. I’m very sorry, but I got caught up in an emergency. A man went into cardiac arrest and fell off some scaffolding right in front of me. I had to keep up the CPR until the ambulance got there.’

  Charlotte was speaking quickly but her mind was working even faster. There were about fifty people who’d been invited to attend this symposium. Where were they? Sitting in the conference room already, drumming their fingers on the tabletops and muttering about the substandard organisation of this gathering?

  Richard was an old friend. Charlotte felt terrible about letting him down like this by being late and he didn’t even know the worst of it yet. How was she going to tell him that she’d lost her presentation material?

  He’d noticed her gaze sweep the foyer.

  ‘They’re serving coffee and cake in the restaurant for everybody. As soon as I knew you were running late I put back the start time for half an hour. There’s a couple of attendees that aren’t here yet as well.’

  ‘Oh…’ Charlotte nodded. She had been given a small breathing space. Now she had to decide if there was any way in the world she could rescue the situation. ‘Richard…about my opening address…’

  The older man smiled. ‘Catchy title. “Miracles or Mutilation?” It’s caught everybody’s attention already, I have to say. But, Charlotte…’ Richard was frowning now, looking down at her shredded tights and grazed knees. ‘Are you going to be able to deliver it?’

  Richard Campbell’s reputation was on the line here. There were people from all over the world who’d chosen to come to this satellite symposium—a breakaway group from the much larger conference that had finished in Rome yesterday—plus others who had chosen to come to this forum without attending the main conference. They were all leaders in the field of emergency medicine. Exceptionally busy people who would not be happy to have their precious time wasted.

  Charlotte’s presentation had been researched meticulously. the medical illustrations department of her university hospital had spent hours preparing the graphics that represented the facts and figures, the trends and the controversies about cost-effectiveness. It didn’t matter how phenomenal her memory was, there was no way she could do justice to her presentation.

  If she could get hold of someone at St Margaret’s they could find the presentation on her desk computer and email it to her, but that would take too much time. They only had a matter of hours to fit in the other presentations and discussions before the symposium dinner this evening. And someone needed to open the day’s programme.

  How would it look it she backed out? Even with the best excuse in the world it would still dent her reputation as a young leader in this field, and Charlotte needed that reputation. It was who she was. The professional Charlotte Highton was strong enough to hide the real Charlotte. The inadequate, shameful one who wasn’t a real woman at all.

  She was caught between a rock and a hard place here. If she explained that there was no way she could do this, she would tarnish her reputation with the taint of failure and that chink in her armour might never be mended. It might grow, in fact, and eventually split open and the whole world would know what she was hiding.

  They might look at her the way Nico Moretti had. As if they knew she was a fraud.

  Charlotte could feel her heart thumping rapidly and there was a sinking sensation in her stomach that threatened to spiral into nausea.

  ‘I’ve got a small problem,’ she confessed to Richard. ‘I’ve lost my presentation. My laptop ended up in the canal.’

  ‘Oh…Lord…’ Richard shaded his eyes with his hand. ‘Can you manage without it?’

  Charlotte opened her mouth to tell him how unlikely that was, but before she could force the words out she was distracted by the sound of her name being called from somewhere near the reception desk.

  ‘Charlotte Jane Highton…’

  The voice was as familiar to her as her own but Charlotte didn’t want to believe that there was yet another problem she had to deal with. She kept her gaze on Richard, who gave her a rueful smile.

  ‘Sorry. I hadn’t got around to telling you. Your grandmother’s here.’

  Charlotte shook her head sharply. ‘No. She’s not supposed to arrive until tonight. After the symposium. We’re travelling back to London together tomorrow.’

  But the voice was much closer now. It couldn’t be ignored.

  ‘Charlotte Jane…What on earth have you done to yourself, child? You look like you’ve been run over by a gondola.’

  Charlotte closed her eyes. She might be thirty-one years old but her grandmother could make her feel like a child again in a heartbeat. Flame-haired and larger than life, Lady Geraldine Highton was never one to stand on ceremony.

  ‘Gran…what are you doing here?’

  ‘I’m supposed to be here. I booked a room for us tonight.’

  ‘Yes, but you were flying in this evening.’

  ‘I changed my flight and arrived first thing this morning. I decided I wanted to hear you speak and this lovely man has told me I can sit in with all the translators and hear you on some headphones.’

  Richard was nodding now and his smile was intended to reassure Charlotte that this problem, at least, had been dealt with. Clearly, he had been charmed by Lady Geraldine. Or intimidated. Either way, she had made arrangements that she now deemed satisfactory.

  ‘But, Gran, you hate hearing anything about medical procedures. You’ve never wanted to hear me talk about my work.’

  ‘Today’s different.’

  Something was different. With the kind of skill Charlotte found invaluabl
e in her dealings with people in traumatic situations, she could sense that there was something important her grandmother was keeping to herself.

  ‘I might not like hearing it,’ Lady Geraldine continued, ‘and I might not understand it, but it won’t stop me wanting the chance to be proud of my granddaughter. Who knows? It might be the only chance I ever get.’

  Yes. There was a shadow there in her grandmother’s eyes. Eyes that usually sparkled with the determination to squeeze the best that life had to offer out of every opportunity. What was going on?

  Charlotte knew she was staring. She also knew that her grandmother could read her like a book.

  ‘We’ll talk later,’ Lady Geraldine said crisply. ‘What we have to do now is get you tidied up. Thankfully, I have spare hosiery in my bag. And a hairbrush. Come on, Charlotte. Where’s the nearest bathroom? There’s no time to waste. You don’t want to keep all these important people waiting, do you?’

  ‘But…’

  There was a plea on Richard’s face now. ‘You don’t have to give the presentation you prepared,’ he said quietly. ‘I have every confidence that you can think of something to say that would be an appropriate way to open this symposium. Could you do that, Charlotte? Please?’

  The space between that rock and hard place suddenly got so small that it squeezed the breath out of Charlotte’s lungs. She couldn’t think. Maybe because she had no choice.

  ‘I’ll do my best.’

  So it was that Charlotte found herself looking almost presentable again fifteen minutes later, standing in front of a room full of people who sat at a huge, U-shaped table. Some wore headphones to receive the translation service. Most had laptops or tablets on the table in front of them, along with pads of paper, pens, pitchers of iced water and even bowls of mints.

  Charlotte had nothing other than a microphone clipped to the lapel of her jacket. From the way her heart was pounding and how exposed She felt, she could have been standing here stark naked.