Bunny Elder Adventure Series: Four Complete Novels: Hollow, Vain Pursuits, Seadrift, ...and Something Blue

by J. B. Hawker

  “"...and the money in the duffle bag?” Tamagni asked, weakly. “What about that?”

  “It sounds to me as though that bag of cash is completely unrelated to this business with the tourists. They have no knowledge of it and do not make any claim to the money. It would seem to be a subject for your Lost and Found department. What do you usually do with such unclaimed property, eh?”

  The policeman took only a few moments to consider this not too subtle message before seeing the wisdom in the attaché’s suggestions.

  Chapter 24

  Gather yourselves together…Genesis 49:2

  “Max! Are you okay? Where have they been keeping you?”

  Bunny blinked sleep from her eyes and tried to straighten the crick in her neck resulting from her brief nap.

  “Howdy, ladies. I suppose I’m none the worse for wear. Just tired and eager to put Italy behind me, same as I suppose you are. How’s your face feeling, Bunny? I think it looks even worse, now, than when I saw you back at the warehouse.”

  “Thanks a heap for the compliment. I almost forget about it until I try to smile. My head doesn’t hurt as much since I slept for a few minutes. How long was I out, Taffy?”

  “About forty-five minutes, but a minute incarcerated in here feels like an hour.”

  “They must be through interrogating us, since they put us together. What do you think will happen, now? Will we be hauled before a judge or just disappear into the Italian equivalent of Siberia?” Bunny asked Max.

  “Did you speak to that guy from the American Consulate? He interviewed me at least a couple of hours ago. I’ve been alone until just now when the guard came to get me.”

  “Yes, we spoke to him, too.” Taffy replied.

  “He was very pleasant, quite attractive, too, but pretty noncommittal. I got the impression there wasn’t much he could do.”

  “I was hoping when he opened the door salvation was at hand. However, put your trust in no man is always good advice,” Bunny offered.

  “You’ve got a Bible quote for every situation, haven’t you?” Max sneered.

  “You needn’t be so disagreeable, Max. I quote what I know. If I spent hours reading Mad magazine I would probably think of quotations from Alfred E. Newman or Spy versus Spy. Surely that would be worse, even from your perspective.”

  “Oh, stop bickering, you two! I couldn’t take it if you decided to kiss and make up, after all I’ve been through already,” Taffy grumbled.

  “You’re right, Linda. We have all been through hell the past few days. We shouldn’t take it out on each other. We may be the only allies we’ve got around here.”

  “Max, please remember my sister wants to be called Taffy, now.”

  “You know, Sis, I’ve been thinking about that. Right after Walt died it made me feel closer to him when you and others used his pet name for me. Also, I have to admit I sort of enjoyed insisting on my own way. After a while, it started to seem sort of silly, but I didn’t know how to back down gracefully. Now, all things considered, I think I’m ready to be myself, again. But thanks so much for humoring me all this time, Bunny.”

  Linda, no longer “Taffy,” gave her sister a hug which was warmly returned.

  “It took me a long time to get used to calling you Taffy, so I hope I can switch back without hurting myself,” Bunny grinned. “Maybe I’ll just call you ‘the sister formerly known as Taffy' from now on.”

  Bunny got up from her cramped position on the hard interview chair and began walking around the small room, trying to alleviate her stiffness.

  When she reached the corner farthest from her sister, Max joined her.

  “Can we talk a minute, Buns?”

  “Well, sure. What is it?”

  “In spite of my snarky comment about the Bible earlier, I really have been thinking about what you said up on the roof garden yesterday.”

  “About why I believe, you mean?”

  “Yeah. Some of that stuff made sense. You know, we’ve been through a lot together. When I left Clark’s Hallow, I thought I wanted to spend the rest of my life sailing the Caribbean, but it wasn’t what I expected. I think maybe I missed you. What I’m trying to say is, when we get out of this current mess we’re in, I want to still have you in my life. I think if we spend enough time together, I might even get on board with the God thing. What about it?”

  Bunny was speechless with surprise.

  “Well, say something,” Max prompted.

  “I don’t quite know what to say. If you’d said some of those things a few years, or even a few days, ago, I would have been in your arms. Now you’ve forced me to face how unhealthy my obsession with you is, I don’t know what to do. But, I am so pleased, more than you know, that you are giving God another chance, so to speak.”

  “I didn’t mean it like that, Bunny, honest.”

  “Oh, that’s okay, what I’m trying to say is I don’t want to be that teenaged groupie, again. If we have any kind of future together, I need to be sure I’m having mature emotions, you know? I’m not explaining it very well, but that’s because everything still isn’t clear in my mind, either. I can’t believe I spent most of my life deluded about myself. I think I still love you, but how can I know?”

  Bunny shook her head, ruefully.

  Max was silent for a moment.

  “So, we’ve got a bit of a muddle. Okay, I see that. Maybe you just need some time and a little space to get your head on straight.”

  “Maybe.”

  “Okay. So what I think is we need to keep in touch, take it slow and just see what develops. How does that sound?”

  Bunny smiled her thanks and gave Max a quick hug, then returned to her seat at the interview table.

  Max remained where he stood, gazing absently at a crack in the plaster wall.

  The door opened as Jennings and a police officer entered the room.

  “Signora Brackett, signora Elder, signor Banks, it is my pleasure to tell you the Italian government wishes to thank you for your invaluable assistance in the recovery of our national treasures. We regret you were inconvenienced during our investigations, but you will be happy to know everything is now straightened out. You are free to go, with our gratitude.”

  “I believe you mentioned a reward?” Jennings prompted.

  “Ehi, scusi! Certamente! You will each be provided first class tickets on Alitalia to the destination of your choice. Along with my country’s thanks you will also receive a small cash reward of five hundred euros, each, to compensate you for your inconvenience. An officer will be here shortly to get the information about your itineraries and to escort you to one of Napoli’s premier hotels, where you will stay as our guests until your flights can be arranged.”

  There was much relieved shaking of hands and many exclamations of thanks before their escort arrived and carried the stunned trio off to the four-star Millennium Gold Hotel, just a ten minute walk from the airport, the Aeroporto Internazionale di Napoli.

  After agreeing to meet in the bar before having dinner in the hotel restaurant, they went to their rooms, where Bunny and Linda found the luggage from L’Attico awaiting them.

  The rooms were modern, bright and colorful, with a private bath.

  The luxurious beds tempted the sisters to lie down on their satin duvets, but Bunny and Linda resisted for fear they would sleep right through and miss their dinner.

  “This is not the way I feared today would end, I must say,” Linda remarked, as she pulled a clean outfit from her suitcase.

  “I’m so grateful to the Italian authorities for putting us up here and providing our flights home. I wish they hadn’t forced us to endure that day-long ordeal, though,” Bunny replied, before stepping into the bathroom for a much needed shower.

  After freshening up, they felt almost normal when they entered the elevator (no coins needed!) to go down and meet Max at the bar.

  

  All of Max’s things had been stowed on Zeemeermin and sailed away with Tenny.
>
  He was surprised to find shopping bags in his room, along with a sturdy carryon case.

  Inside the shopping bags he found the usual toiletries, a stylish leather bomber jacket and two changes of clothing. Even the sizes were close enough.

  He cleaned up and changed into the dressier of his new outfits and went to join the ladies for their “got out of jail free” celebration.

  Max was hoping to spend a bit of private time with Bunny, so they might iron out a few of the peskier wrinkles in their relationship, before flying away in opposite directions.

  He wanted to get a firm commitment for their next meeting, too.

  As the elevator carried him to the lobby, Max was remembering the things he revealed to Bunny which caused her current diffidence.

  He mentally kicked himself for giving in so uncharacteristically to that momentary compulsion to unburden himself about his feelings.

  Chapter 25

  His left hand is under my head, and his right hand doth embrace me.

  Song of Solomon 2:6

  Dinner was a chance for the three to relax and catch their breath.

  The trio was feeling the physical and emotional effects of their recent ordeal. Although their appetites were well able to appreciate the excellent food and drink, aching muscles, bumps, bruises and the after-effects of hours of tension and fear were making themselves known.

  Linda went up to the room immediately after finishing her meal, but, although Bunny was equally fatigued, the adrenaline hadn’t left her system and she wasn’t ready to try to sleep.

  Once the remnants of her veal Marsala were cleared away, she leaned back in her chair sipping wine; the experiences of the past two days playing on a loop in her mind.

  Max nursed a rum and tonic and gazed across the table at Bunny.

  “What is love, anyway?” Bunny asked, abruptly breaking her reverie.

  “Huh? Where did that come from?”

  “Oh, everything from the past few days is going round and round in my head. When I think about our talk in the interrogation room, it makes me wonder how anyone ever knows if their feelings are love or some sick, self-serving obsession. You’ve been married several times, so I thought you might know.”

  “I’m afraid that just proves I’m no expert on the subject,” Max chuckled.

  “But, seriously. How can I know? While growing up, I adored the stories of Cinderella, Snow White and Sleeping Beauty. In my fantasies you were always my Prince Charming. The first day I saw you in the third grade, it seems I imprinted on you like a baby duck; you became my definition of everything masculine. When we married right after high school, I expected us to live happily ever after. But, when you left me, it was as if I’d bitten that poisoned apple and my emotions went into some sort of suspended animation. I guess I just never grew up and I’ve been waiting for a prince to kiss me back to life.”

  Max didn’t know what to say.

  The couple sat sipping their drinks for many minutes, each lost in thought.

  “I’m sorry!”

  They broke the silence simultaneously and laughed.

  “What are you sorry for, Buns?”

  “For being emotionally retarded, for one thing, but I meant that I’m sorry for being such a downer. I’m pretty much worn out, I’m afraid.”

  “I was going to say I am sorry for hurting you. Sorry, too, that when we got back together after you were widowed, my kisses didn’t do the trick, Sleeping Beauty,” Max said with a sideways grin.

  Bunny smiled in response, then changed the subject.

  “What will you do now, Max? Your friend sailed away without a backward glance. Did you lose much?”

  “Tenny wasn’t much of a friend, obviously. But if he did get away from those mob guys, I’m happy for him. I don’t mind losing a few pairs of jeans and a razor.”

  “Did the police say if there has been any word about him since he left Naples? Do you really think it is possible Parma’s men killed him and scuttled the boat?”

  “I wouldn’t put anything past that bunch. When I look at your poor face, I could gladly strangle them all.”

  “I’d almost forgotten what a frightful sight I am. There isn’t as much pain as before. What really hurts is the scrapes on my back from sliding out of that window. I haven’t been able to take a proper look at them, but when I changed my blouse, it felt like I removed another layer of skin, as well.”

  “Didn’t the police take you to the doctor? I thought Linda said something about being at the hospital.”

  “She had the good sense to faint on them, so they had to get her seen to. Like the idiot I am, I did my best to grin and bear it.”

  “That’s terrible! Come on, Bunny. We’re going up to my room and take a look at your injuries. I’ll stop at the front desk for a first aid kit on the way. If your scrapes are deep, or infected, I’m taking you to the doctor myself.”

  Max helped Bunny up and hustled her out to the lobby where he asked for a first aid kit to be sent up to his room right away.

  Bunny loved it when Max took charge this way

  There were very few times in her life when she felt so protected.

  She grew up feeling she was completely responsible for herself, even being proud of it, but she yearned to be coddled, now and then, and for someone else to make the decisions.

  The wine was going to her head and she swayed as the elevator doors opened at their floor.

  Max reached out to steady her and Bunny leaned into him for support.

  Inside the room, Max eased Bunny into a chair and brought a wash cloth and towels from the bathroom, just in case her wounds needed cleaning.

  Bunny watched his preparations with a serene expression.

  In only a few moments the first aid supplies arrived from room service.

  “Honey, can you lift the back of your shirt, so I can get a look at your scratches?”

  Bunny stood and pulled the back hem of her shirt up around her shoulders.

  It was painful to move her back and shoulders as, once again, the cloth pulled off newly formed scabs.

  “Good gawd, Bunny! Why didn’t you tell me you were hurt like this? I never should have made you climb out that window. You’d better lie down on your stomach on the bed. Just take off that bloody shirt. You can borrow the hotel’s robe to cover up once I’ve got dressings on these cuts.”

  Bunny obeyed without hesitation. She was being taken care of, that’s all that mattered.

  When she was lying on the bed, clutching a pillow for support, she looked over her shoulder.

  “Is it really so terrible? Don’t you think it just looks bad because I keep tearing the scabs off?”

  “I think it looks bad because it is bad, and because it has been neglected for two days while those blasted policemen kept us locked up like criminals!”

  Bunny smiled when Max hesitated before selecting an appropriate adjective for the police. She knew how colorful his vocabulary could be and appreciated him modulating it for her benefit.

  “I’m going to unhook your bra, Buns, in order to get to the deepest scratches. Don’t get any funny ideas, now,” he teased.

  “I hope none of these need stitches.”

  Max tenderly swabbed the scrapes and tears that ran from Bunny’s shoulders to slightly below the waistband of her slacks, then applied antibiotic salve from the first aid kit.

  “I don’t think any of this is deep, Hon. Looks sort of like road rash from falling off a motorcycle. You’ve got a couple of gashes, but they aren’t too serious. They may take longer to heal, though. Be sure to have your doctor look at this when you get home, okay?”

  Bunny had been dozing and enjoying Max’s gentle touch. Even the painful moments had not been enough to break the spell.

  Max finished bandaging Bunny’s back and sat down beside her on the bed.

  “I hope I didn’t hurt you too badly. I sure wish I hadn’t made you go out that window, Bunny. It’s all my fault your poor back got chewed up.
”

  “Oh, for goodness sake, Max! You were trying to save our lives. I don’t blame you for the scratches. If I weren’t so clumsy, I wouldn’t have gotten hurt. Please, forget all about it. Thank you so much for your tender care, just now. I feel so much better.”

  Bunny sat up and reached for the hotel robe Max was loaning her.

  Max made a sound in his throat and she glanced up.

  He was looking at her in a way she remembered so well.

  Wine, weariness and Max’s TLC overwhelmed her and a moment later the robe was forgotten.

  Romantic Italy was finally living up to its reputation.

  Chapter 26

  Sing to the Lord, all the earth; proclaim his salvation day after day. 1 Chronicles 16:23

  Bunny slipped into their room without waking Linda. The bedside clock displayed 0500.

  Upon first arriving in Italy it had been surprising to Bunny to learn the whole country used military time, but she was getting used to the twenty-four hour clock.

  Bunny was ravenous.

  It was too early to go down for breakfast and too late to go back to sleep, but she slipped into her nightgown and climbed into bed to muss the covers, in order to avoid lengthy explanations and possible recriminations from Linda.

  Lying in bed, settling gently against the pillows to spare her back, Bunny wondered what exactly the past night meant. Was this going to destroy her resolution to get over her fixation on Max?

  As she slipped out of his room, earlier, Max rose up on his elbow and asked her why she was bothering to keep up appearances.

  “We are sure to go to hell, now, Sweetie, so we might as well enjoy ourselves, don’t you think?”

  Bunny sat next to Max before responding.

  “I’m as sure of Heaven today as ever. Jesus died for all my sins, even the ones I haven’t committed, yet. But that doesn’t mean I can just do whatever I want. One day I will have to look my Lord in the eyes and see his disappointment for every time I’ve failed him. I expect my heart to be seared and then healed, all in that moment, and when it passes I will be clean and pure. But, I don’t want to make his disappointment any greater than necessary, so I try to be obedient. I’m just so weak, sometimes…”