“And what are they likely to do? This is important, Aksel. Are they likely to come and look for you?”
“No,” I reply too quickly. “I don’t know. They both have busy lives. But Josh is as close to a best friend as I have ever had. I don’t know what they might do.”
“I see. Well, Lorenzo and Mrs Bellacci will need to have a plausible story in place to feed them about you moving on and leaving no forwarding address, should that eventuality arise.Something they would swallow. You will need to help us with that.”
“That seems sensible.” I stall a moment at the thought of Josh and Nishan. Letting them believe I have gone missing—or worse—feels like a betrayal.
“Aksel,” says the doctor, becoming severe and drawing my attention to him. “Somebody knew you were here in Monticiano and sent people to try to kill you. I know you think you can trust people like Josh and Alice, but you need to let them go.”
“I understand,” I reply simply.
Dr Romano does not know that I saved Josh’s life a couple of times when we were on the streets, once from a group of three knife-wielding thugs trying to steal the weekly wage he had just been handed, and the other at a club when he overdosed. On the second occasion, I literally carried him to the accident and emergency unit of the nearby hospital. In the recovery ward, I was his only visitor in the days that followed. On one of those, in a moment of crystal clarity, he promised to clean himself up, told me he owed me his life and swore on his own that he would repay the debt one day. Moreover, I’ve survived this long by following my instincts, and I know I can trust Josh. Alice is different. We are not dissimilar. Both of us are trying to survive as best we can in a hostile world.
“And you will leave Puchinsky to me,” says the doctor out of the blue. “Do you understand?
“But if he—”
“No, Aksel. Focus on yourself. Puchinsky, I will deal with. In the right way, at the right time. In this matter, I need you to trust me.ProfessoreCallico will have his retribution.”
“But don’t you want me to speak to Dr Leblanc about the medical reports—”
“Aksel,” says Romano, with the kind of long-suffering smile reminiscent of Albert. “You forget who you’re talking to.Concentrate on yourself. That is your priority. Now, I am going to be gone for the next three weeks but I expect you to be ready to leave when I come back.”
Four days later, I know something is wrong when Mrs Bellacci interrupts our morning swim to tell us to come to the kitchen. The doctor is on his way. Everything was going too smoothly. I should have anticipated dark clouds on the horizon.
When he arrives, Romano gets straight to the point.
“A hostile assault team is being assembled and sent here. Elite Spetsnaz soldiers from Russia or one of its allies. Probably this weekend.”
“How did they find us?” asks Mrs Bellacci. “Gabriel’s lady friend?”
“No, one of Spataro’s hired hands, I believe. One of those we freed may have blabbed about our capabilities. I have no doubt his thugs work for others, many of them undesirables.” Romano turns his attention to me. “How our enemy found you is unimportant right now. We need to act fast. These soldiers will be elite professionals. We have moved your assignment in London forward, and you will leave immediately. I have all the instructions with me. Teresa and Lorenzo, go and prepare the house for an attack—”
“Should we stay together?” I say.
“Go now,” says Romano to his team, ignoring my question. “I need to speak to Aksel privately.”
Mrs Bellacci springs up and heads for the kitchen door, but stops and looks back when Lorenzo does not rise. After a few sharp words from Romano, he frowns at me and nods, before following Bellacci out of the room. Maybe they are prepared for something like this, but I still have questions. As I go to speak,Romano holds a hand up to still me before heading over and closing the kitchen door.
“The other news,” he says, lowering his voice and returning to his seat, “is that the picture of your tattoo has stirred up a hornet’s nest. Instructions from way up the ladder—about as far as it goes—have been issued that Gabriel Redbrick is a highly trained and extremely dangerous traitor, and should not be approached. Some nonsense about you being a specialised agent who recently defected and is now working for hostile intelligence services. I bought you some time telling them that you are no longer in the villa, that you left in the night without a word and that we have no idea where you went or if you will return. But I need you gone from here because they will send someone to verify.”
After everything that has happened since Albert’s death, I should have known better than to get too comfortable in my world.
“Is the job in London really on?” I ask. “Or did you say that to take me away from the villa?”
Romano smiles grimly and shakes his head before reaching to the floor and lifting a small rucksack onto the table.
“Fate has a strange way of intervening. The target has changed his plans and is flying in from South Africa tomorrow night, not in three weeks. These things happen, and we need to adjust our plans accordingly. I want you there ready for his arrival. Everything you need is in the rucksack. As soon as we are finished here, go and pack and meet me out front. I will drop you at the airport.”
I pause to process what Romano has told me and breathe deeply to centre myself. And as I do so, a plan forms in my mind, each part snapping cleanly into place like the mosaic tiles on the kitchen floor.
“Packing will take me minutes. I have very little. But let me ask you this. Have you considered the idea of manipulating your intel?” I ask him.
“What do you mean?”
“Reconfirm with your superiors that Gabriel stayed at the villa and that you have no idea of his current whereabouts. Tell them you’ve heard through reliable intelligence sources that a foreign team of elite soldiers are being dispatched to confront and eliminate your agents residing here. Suggest that this special force may have a secondary motive, to rendezvous with and extract their precious asset, Gabriel. Tell them this is pure speculation and that you have no solid proof. But suggest they check their own intel to corroborate. If they want me badly enough, they will take the bait. Then make sure you get Lorenzo and Mrs Bellacci the hell away from here. Why risk your own assets when someone at the top of the food chain can do the job for you?”
Doctor Romano reclines in his chair, folds his arms and studies me. I can almost see the wheels turning as he processes what I’ve said. Anybody else might ask me to clarify, but he understands exactly what I said.