by Jack Higgins
“Are we having fun yet?” Dad said quietly to Jade.
“I suppose,” she admitted.
“I’ll take that as a yes then.” He smiled at her and she couldn’t help but smile back.
“It’s fine, Dad. Great. Church, paintings, everything.” Jade’s smile widened into a grin. “Can we go now?”
They were getting towards the end of their stay in Venice and Jade had found herself relaxing into the slow pace of the holiday. Perhaps she was adapting to the ways of the city. Or perhaps it was the heat. But by their last couple of days, Jade was as happy as her brother and father to sit outside the small café and let the day go by.
“I think that woman is following us,” Rich said quietly as he drank his Coke. Jade was on mineral water, while Dad had an espresso that was like syrup.
“Describe her,” Dad said at once, not looking round. Jade glanced where Rich was looking, then away again, pretending to be admiring the small square they were in. It was just like a hundred other small squares they’d been to.
“Tall, slim. Smartly dressed. Long hair that’s a sort of auburn colour. I’m sure the same woman was a couple of tables away from us at dinner last night.”
Dad frowned. “Sounds like a woman I noticed the other day in the casino.”
“So you were in the casino?” Jade said.
“I mean the hotel. At the casino. I told you – I heard the alarms and nipped down to see what was happening.”
“Climbing out the window and down the wall?” Jade pointed out.
Dad shrugged. “Force of habit. Anyway, it was a lot of fuss about nothing. False alarm or something. And it’s probably a completely different woman. Just a coincidence.”
“What if it isn’t?” Rich asked. “What if she’s… I don’t know, an agent or something?”
Jade laughed at that. “More likely she’s a tourist. If we go to the obvious boring touristy places, we’re going to see some of the same obvious boring tourists, aren’t we?”
Dad drained his coffee and pushed a couple of bank notes under the saucer to pay the bill. “Easy enough to find out.”
“So what’s the plan?” Jade asked.
“You’re complaining you’re bored, Jade – what do you want to do for the rest of the afternoon?”
“Not churches,” Jade said at once. “There was that little street of decent shops you wouldn’t let us stop at yesterday.”
“Because we’re here on holiday not to buy new trainers and T-shirts,” Rich reminded them.
“OK,” Dad said. “And you, Rich?”
“I’m happy to wander. Browse the shops a bit. We splitting up?”
Dad nodded. “We’ll see if she follows any of us. I’ll go first and double back round so I can follow her.”
“Sneaky,” Rich said. “But what if she follows you?”
“She won’t. She won’t realise I’m leaving.” As he spoke, Dad stood up. “Meet back here in an hour, OK?”
“OK,” they both agreed.
Dad walked slowly, almost lazily into the café. Jade risked another quick look at the woman. She was reading a book, maybe a guide book – a small paperback. She didn’t seem to have reacted to Dad leaving the table. But then she was probably expecting him to come back and for all three of them to leave together.
“You really think she’s following us?” Jade asked.
Rich shrugged. “We’ll soon know.”
Jade grinned. “If she is, I reckon it’s just because she fancies Dad.”
“That’s so gross.”
They stood up together, then headed off in opposite directions out of the little square. If the woman with the auburn hair noticed, she gave no sign.
After ten minutes, Rich was bored of wandering round on his own. He considered returning to the café, but that might spoil whatever Dad was up to. So instead he went looking for Jade. He remembered the street where she’d wanted to look at the designer clothes and sports stuff.
It was only a few minutes walk. Rich paused on a steep-backed, narrow bridge over a canal and admired the view. He liked the way the water and the streets seemed to exist in harmony. The tall, square buildings emerging from the water made everything seem even more narrow and closed in.
He found her in the second shop he tried. She was trying on running shoes, but hadn’t found any she liked. Jade was picky when it came to running shoes. Actually, Rich thought, she was picky about most things.
“Find any good churches then?” Jade asked as they walked slowly back along the street.
Rich shook his head. “Nothing worth mentioning.”
“There’s some weird stuff here,” Jade said. She paused outside what seemed to be an antiques shop. “I mean, look at all that.”
There were several chess sets in the window, laid out on marble boards. One of them was made of gold, and the tag hanging from the side of the board looked more like a telephone number than a price. On each side of the window display stood a figure, as if they were keeping guard. One was a woman in a brightly-coloured, flowing dress. The mannequin’s face was a smooth, white mask with a peacock painted on it in brilliant blue. Dark holes for the eyes formed part of the feathers of the peacock.
“That’s beautiful,” Jade said in surprise.
“That isn’t,” said Rich, pointing at the other figure. “It’s grotesque.”
The second figure was a man. He wore long, dark robes and held a stick as if it was a magic wand. His face too was a mask – but a plain, grey mask that jutted out like an enormous cruel beak. The only colour in the mask was the black outline of a pair of spectacles over and around the eyes.
“Who are they supposed to be?” Jade wondered.
“I don’t know, but I wouldn’t fancy meeting them outside of a shop display.”
2
Once inside the café, John Chance asked if there was a back way out. There was, out past the waste bins and down a tiny alleyway alongside a canal. He made his way rapidly, ignoring the smell from the bins, and emerged into a side street just off the back of the square.
It took him only a minute to double round and approach the square from a different direction. He hesitated at the edge of the square, looking for the young woman Rich had described. He had taken a moment to case her out from inside the café – and it was definitely the woman he had noticed at the casino. A coincidence? It was possible, but highly unlikely. So who was she and why was she following him?
But the table where the woman had been was empty. He would not get the answer to his questions just yet. Chance walked slowly round the square, looking along each of the streets leading off it in turn. There was no sign of the woman with auburn hair. Satisfied that, for now at least, he was not being watched, Chance returned to the table outside the café. He’d had enough coffee for today, so he ordered a carafe of white wine.
He was halfway through it when Rich and Jade returned.
“So?” Jade asked as she sat down. She glanced disapprovingly at the wine. It was barely lunchtime and he’d started already. Still, at least he wasn’t smoking.
“Yeah, what happened to your girlfriend?” Rich asked.
Dad took a packet of cigarettes out of his shirt pocket. “She didn’t wait for me to introduce myself. I wondered if she’d followed either of you?”
“Not so we noticed,” Jade said. “You’re not going to smoke that, are you?” She was glaring at the cigarette between Dad’s fingers.
“No, I’m going to juggle with it.”
“Funny man.”
Dad pushed the cigarette back into the packet. He was getting better, Jade had to admit. He did actually seem to listen to what she and Rich said. That was a distinct improvement.
“Talking of jugglers,” Dad was saying. “What’s with the fancy dress party?”
Rich gasped, and Jade turned quickly to see what he and Dad were looking at.
It was like the shop display had come to life and followed them. A small group of half a dozen men was walking
slowly into the little square from one of the side streets. They were all wearing dark business suits, and all had their faces covered by masks. The man at the front was wearing a savagely-beaked grey face – just like in the display.
Behind him came two men in golden gargoyle masks, then a man whose face was completely white save for a single black teardrop on one cheek. Another of them was Harlequin – like the joker from a deck of cards, a black and red face with spikes springing from his head.
The last man wore the blank-eyed grinning face of a skull. Jade shuddered. If this was someone’s idea of fun, it was pretty bizarre. And why wear the heavy, dark clothes in this heat?
“Some sort of parade,” Dad said. “Wrong time of year for Carnival.”
Rich looked at Jade and she saw how pale he was. “I don’t like this.”
“Nor me,” she agreed. At first, she’d thought, like Dad, that it was a bit of fun. Some sort of parade. Now Jade was sure it wasn’t. There was something sinister about the figures – about the way they moved, the way they had paused just inside the square. They swung slowly round, as if looking for something. Or someone. They all stopped at the same point – staring directly at Jade, Rich and their father.
Dad’s chair scraped backwards on the flagstones as he stood up. “Wait for me back at the hotel.”
“What are you going to do?” Jade asked.
“I don’t know. Get moving.”
“We can’t leave you,” Rich said. The men were walking slowly across the square towards them. The beak of the grey mask was aimed directly at Dad.
“Move it!” Dad urged. “And don’t worry. I’ll probably overtake you.”
Jade grabbed Rich’s hand and together they ran from the square.
‘We can’t leave him with them,” Rich gasped as they ran.
“What do you suggest?”
“We have to see what’s happening.” Rich slowed to a jog and Jade eased up as well. “We should go back.”
“That’s probably what they want.”
“So what – do nothing?”
“No.” Jade pointed to a small alleyway between two buildings. “If we cut through there, we can get back to the square on a different street. They won’t expect that.”
“You hope.”
“All right, Einstein – let’s hear your idea.”
Rich sighed. “Let’s try the alley,” he conceded.
Dad was talking to the man in the grey, beaked mask. He was shaking his head, turning away. Then the masked man said something which Jade and Rich couldn’t hear, but they heard their father laugh. He waved a hand as if dismissing whatever the masked man had said. Then he held up a finger – a ‘back in a minute’ gesture – and walked into the café.
“He’s all right,” Jade realised. “He’ll leg it out the back, like before.”
“If they fall for it.”
It didn’t look like they had. The grey-masked man was gesturing to the two golden gargoyles, who ran after Dad into the café. Moments later there were shouts from inside and the other masked men followed in a hurry.
“I expect he’ll be all right,” Jade said.
“Course he will.” Rich sounded more confident than Jade felt. “Think we should help him?”
“How? Come on, let’s get back to the hotel like Dad said.”
“And hope he meets us there.”
It wasn’t far and walking briskly they were back in half an hour. It probably wasn’t the quickest route – Rich had led them back the same way as they had come that morning. At least they didn’t stop at every church this time.
“You wait here,” Rich told Jade as they walked through the little foyer into the small lounge bar. “I’ll check he’s not already back in his room. Anyone who knows the way could be here before us.”
Jade slumped down on a little sofa. It wasn’t as comfortable as it looked, but she settled into it and watched the door. A large black car bumped up the narrow cobbled street outside and stopped opposite the hotel. No one got out, and Jade frowned. She was about to run up the stairs after Rich when she heard his scream. Rich took the stairs two at a time. The door to their room was standing open, and he sighed with relief. He went straight in, not thinking it might be a trap.
As soon as he was through the door, everything went black. He had time to cry out in surprise and alarm – just once. Then he was fighting against the blanket that was tight over his face and shoulders. Rich was being dragged out of the room and back down the stairs. His feet caught on the threadbare carpet and knocked painfully against the wall of the stairwell as he was bundled away.
Soon he was on level ground again, the thin lounge carpet under his feet. Then he felt the bare stone floor of the lobby, followed by the warm breeze on his hands and a brightness even through the blanket. He was struggling to speak, but his throat was clogged with dust and whenever he tried, he ended up coughing and choking. There were uneven cobbles under his feet now. His head was pushed roughly down and he was shoved forward – landing on something soft. A chair? Where was he?
An engine revved. A door slammed. Rich was in a car and it was pulling away. Jade emerged from behind the sofa. She’d been ready to fight the men to get Rich free. But a glance from her hiding place at the four men in carnival masks had been enough to tell her it was no use. She’d end up being captured herself. It made her sick to her stomach, but the best option was to leave Rich to fend for himself.
At least he wouldn’t be on his own – Jade would follow. But then she saw Rich bundled into the car opposite the hotel and her heart sank still lower. She couldn’t follow a car.
But she’d try. She wouldn’t give up and abandon her brother. Jade was out of the hotel and running after the car as it started up the street. She kept to the shadowed side of the pavement, hoping they wouldn’t spot her. Mercifully, the dark limousine was going quite slowly up the uneven street. And Jade ran every day. If it kept to this speed she might – just might – keep it in sight.
The car reached the end of the street and turned right. Almost immediately it turned again – towards the main street. Jade hesitated. Should she follow, or should she take a risk? She’d lose the car if she just followed. She’d risk it, she decided – take a shortcut she’d discovered along an alley and over a little canal bridge. That would bring her to the same junction as the car was making for. Probably making for…
At the junction, Jade paused for breath. There was no sign of the car. It couldn’t have got here already. But, after almost a minute, Jade realised it wasn’t coming. It was too distinctive for her to have missed. She’d gambled and lost. The car had not been heading for the main road at all.
With a shout of frustration, Jade turned and kicked the wall behind her.
The car stopped abruptly and Rich was thrown forward in the seat. Someone laughed as he collided with the back of the seat in front. Then the door opened and he was hauled out. If they didn’t take the blanket off soon, he’d suffocate.
Indoors again. It sounded large – echoey. Even through the blanket the place smelled old.
Suddenly the blanket was pulled off his head and Rich spluttered and coughed as he rasped for breath. The room was dim and unlit, but he blinked at the relative brightness of it.
A golden gargoyle face was close in front of his own – so close his breath misted its cheek. Then it was pulled off, just as Rich’s blanket had been. A man with short black hair and a neat pencil moustache stared at Rich through disbelieving eyes, and let loose a tirade of rapid Italian.
Rich didn’t understand a word of it, but it didn’t sound polite.
Then, in English, “You are not Chance!”
“I am,” Rich retorted. “Richard Chance.” And he gave a short laugh as he realised what had happened. Despite everything, it was almost funny. The laugh made him cough and he gasped for breath again. “You were after Dad, weren’t you? You just assumed he’d come back to the hotel, and as soon as someone came in you stuffed a blanket over them an
d bundled them off. Sorry.” He paused for another cough and was pleased to find his throat was easing a little. “You took a chance and got the wrong Chance.”
The Italian stared back at Rich. He didn’t look at all happy. Maybe Rich shouldn’t have laughed at him, but it was too late now. The man stepped back and snarled something at the others. Two of them grabbed Rich roughly by the shoulders and dragged him deeper into the old building. Jade’s foot hurt. She had no one to blame but herself – for everything. She limped slowly along the pavement, walking back the way she had expected the car to come. It must have turned off somewhere between the junction and where she had last seen it.
Five minutes later, she turned a corner and saw the car parked at the kerb. The whole area was run down and dilapidated. The walls of the buildings were crumbling and cracked. The cobbles were split or missing. In the gap between the buildings Jade could see the sunlight reflecting off the water of a canal. The dark shape of a gondola drifted by, blotting out the sunlight for a moment.
The building that the car was parked outside had once been grand and impressive. Flaking remains of gold leaf clung to weathered stone ornamentation round the entrance. The door was a rotting apology of damp wood. It creaked and complained as Jade eased it open. She stood for a moment, half expecting shouts and running men to respond to the noise.
But there was nothing. Was this the right place? Or had they just abandoned the car and gone somewhere else?
Jade went inside, pausing to allow her eyes to adjust to the lack of light. She was in a large entrance lobby. There was a booth on one side, steps leading up to a raised area at the back and then doors off. It took Jade a moment to realise where she was.
She was in the lobby of a theatre. Slowly and quietly, Jade climbed the steps. The main doors were chained shut. She gave the chain a tug, feeling the rust rubbing away on her palm. But it was secure. A side door led to a flight of steps that swept round and up impressively. Except the carpet was worn through and the heavy rope handrails were rotten and frayed.