Deception of the Heart (14 page)

‘
Signorina
, you could talk to us instead,’ one of them called, his voice dripping with irony. ‘We would answer,
no
? You prefer old men,
sì
?’

Another
round of laughter followed. She wished nothing more than to get up, gather her things, and leave. But she couldn’t do so, not only because she still had to settle her bill, but also because it would mean defeat. She would not give them the satisfaction of knowing they’d managed to embarrass her so completely she fled like some weak, spineless creature.

So instead of taking off, she looked the other way, deliberately ignoring the
snide remark. Picking up the postcard, she started writing again, barely aware of the words she was using.

Why was Giovanni acting so strange? She had no answer for that, however hard she tried
to find one. She racked her brain for any possibility she might have annoyed him during her visit to his restaurant, but she came up empty. She considered the idea she had mistaken someone else for him, but she dismissed it instantly. Whatever the reason he pretended not to know her, it was still him. She would have to ask Pete about it when he returned.

She got her chance to do so only half an hour later
when Pete’s return put an end to her pointless pondering. She was relieved to see him, his golden hair and blue eyes turning plentiful heads on the patio. But he seemed completely oblivious, his handsome face slanted into a friendly smile as he took a seat across the smallish table.

‘
So here you are.’ He grinned and waved at the waiter. A glass of red wine and a basket of bread appeared in front of him almost instantly. Pete got people to do what he wanted without even trying. It just seemed so natural to want to please him. She guessed he’d be very surprised by her observation, probably the last one to notice his charisma. Even her ill-fated Italian admirers disappeared, backing out swiftly the moment they realized Melanie and Pete were sitting together.

‘
You’re back early.’ She grinned back, happy to see him. At least he seemed genuinely pleased to see her, unlike his friend.

‘
We wrapped up early today. I didn’t want to push it on my first day.’ Pete stretched his long legs out in front of him with a satisfied sigh. ‘He’s got a fascinating mind, this Spitieri.’ His eyes were distant as he shook his golden head, shaking off some unhappy thought.

If she didn’t know any better, she’d say he
seemed regretful, but that must have been just her overactive imagination. Why would he feel bad about finding Daniel interesting? Wasn’t the whole point of them being here in the first place so that he could work with the fascinating man?

‘
How did it go with Jon?’ Pete asked, his gaze observant once more. ‘No, you don’t have to tell me… It must have gone well since he came back to the Spitieris in a brilliant mood. Well done, Melanie.’

Why
did she feel like a hooker being praised by her pimp? And what exactly did he mean about Jon being so happy?

‘We had fun sightseeing, that’s all
,’ she said, hoping she sounded nonchalant. ‘Jon is quite nice, really.’

‘Good,
I’m glad to hear it. I need a day more without him, if possible. After that, I promise you won’t have to stick to this part of our bargain, I swear. All I need is one more day. After that, we can work with Spitieri together.’

She noticed h
e refused to call him Daniel. She wondered if that was because of the awe he felt for the older man or rather to distance himself from everything the other man represented and he, Pete, rejected.

‘Say, Pete
,’ she started, trying to change the topic before they got deeper into discussing her day with Jon. ‘I am pretty sure I saw your buddy Giovanni here, just moments ago. I swear he saw me, but he acted as if we’d never met. Did you know he’d be coming to Italy too?’

‘
Are you sure it was him?’ Pete looked doubtful, his golden eyebrows pulled into a straight line. ‘I mean, he looks pretty generic for an Italian, as awful as it sounds. It could be anyone, for all we know…’

‘No, it was him, I
am certain.’ Why did she have the feeling he was not telling the whole truth? He sounded sincere enough, but there was an odd stillness in his eyes, a calm that belied the fact he wasn’t surprised to hear her news. As if he already knew…

‘Well, I don’t see why wouldn’t he say hi
, then.’ Pete shrugged, his gesture helpless. ‘Unless…’ He paused, the dramatic silence stretching into seconds. ‘He was having some marital problems the last time we spoke. He accused his wife of having an affair, as far as I remember. He told me he didn’t have proof, but he was pretty sure she had a lover. She was going to visit her family in Italy because of some kind of medical emergency. Giovanni suspected she was going with the other man; at least that was what he told me. He mentioned he’d let it be and wait for her return, but I wasn’t so convinced. If it was really him, then it’s possible that he followed her here to see for himself if he was right about her cheating. Probably he was too embarrassed about being recognized and ran off before you had a chance to start asking any questions.’

She didn’t quite buy it. It all sounded very logical and such,
but she fought a stubborn feeling that Pete knew more, and his elaborate explanation was meant to keep her at bay. That was absurd, of course. She knew nothing about Giovanni and was the last person to meddle in his private affairs. But why would he go to the trouble to make up an affair? The story was just too ready, too ready and too sensible, as if it was rehearsed ahead of time.

‘
Oh, well, it doesn’t really matter.’ She shrugged, aware of his eyes watching her reaction. Some untold instinct told her to play along and leave her doubts well hidden from his cautious eyes. Plus, she didn’t want to sound irrational.

‘I
still wanted to do some work today, but I couldn’t get to my laptop.’ She smiled and changed the topic again. ‘I left it in your room. The door was locked. The maid probably felt you needed to be saved from my snooping.’ She laughed out lightly, relieved to see him respond in kind. ‘That’s why I am out here, soaking up the last of the evening sunshine. I just thought you should know, before you start wondering why you pay me at all to work for you.’

‘Don’t worry about that
.’ His blue eyes warm and enticing, he patted her hand in a reassuring gesture. ‘You are the perfect assistant; you can take my word for that. Just exactly what I wanted, so no worries there.’

They remained at the patio a bit longer
. Pete’s good mood soon dispersed some of the doubt lingering in her mind. He was pleased with her work and their collaboration. What else could she want to feel reassured? She was annoyed beyond belief with her own irrational mind because still, as they sat there sipping their wine and talking about the day, the questions kept swirling in her head.

Why couldn’t she just enjoy the evening and the fact she had just had one of the most perfect days in a long time?

And why wouldn’t the nagging sensation that she was missing something important right in front of her let go?

She had
no answers, only hope that time would tell if she was completely insane or if her premonition of something hanging over her head was right. All she could do was wait and hope she was wrong.

‘He’s made contact with his partner.’ Bernard’s voice rose dramatically, finally pulling Jon from his deep thoughts. They were sitting in the Spitieris’ living room with the other agents. ‘Can you remind me once again why didn’t you go to Melanie’s room today? I thought what you were supposed to achieve was pretty clear.’ The thunderous gaze from under his bushy eyebrows failed to impress Jon.

H
e shrugged indifferently, his face calm. ‘It was really bad timing.’ Jon made sure his voice held no trace of any emotion. Bernard was like a clairvoyant when it came to reading people’s minds, and the last thing Jon really wanted was to have the old man in his head, trampling over things too fresh and too alien to be understood, even by himself.

‘Bad timing?’
Bernard’s voice was incredulous. ‘Like in “she wasn’t interested in inviting me in”?’ He harrumphed, the noise explosive in the otherwise quiet room. ‘Jesus, Jon, you know we are running on a pretty tight schedule here. We need to retrieve the info we’ve got on Pete so far. Mike and Al here put in quite a bit of effort installing the equipment in that hotel room before he moved in. You know that.’

Of course he did. Jon wanted to yell,
‘What do you take me for?’ His impatience was about to reach a boiling point. He knew how much coordination it took to make things go smoothly, starting with setting up the room the moment they knew where Pete had booked his stay. Keeping the hotel owner blissfully unaware of the operation going on under his very nose was another trick his friends had pulled off with an ease that spoke volumes about the agency.

‘I know,
Bernard.’ He nodded, ready to make some concessions. Bernard was his boss after all, his temper usually short in the hours before the climax. Getting into a fight with him was not only pointless but also counterproductive. ‘It just didn’t work out, that’s all. Melanie isn’t that type of a woman, I guess. I can’t push her too far, or she will bolt. I decided to slow down to reel her in. I still think it was the best choice given the situation.’

It worked.
Bernard seemed mollified, his reluctant grunt of acceptance all Jon could expect and hope for.

‘
Well, tomorrow is another day.’ The older man nodded, the outburst safely over. ‘From what I understand, you are about to spend another day with our Miss Bennett. Pete seems hell-bent on having you out of the way. I wonder what exactly he’s achieving this way. Daniel, you haven’t noticed anything unusual, have you?’ He turned to Spitieri, who sat on the sofa, a bewildered look still on his face. Jon felt sorry for him, imagining how odd and surreal it all must have felt. Daniel Spitieri had spent most of his adult life advocating the rights of the poor, his writings and lectures passionately calling for justice and fairness to all. That was the ultimate irony of Pete’s planned attack. Finding himself the target of an organization that claimed to represent all the values Spitieri had been defending for so long must have been a bitter pill to swallow.

‘Well, we just worked on the article we are supposed to publish together,’ he spoke up, his brown eyes
as helpless as a child’s. ‘Absolutely nothing unusual, as I said before. Normal collaboration between colleagues in the field, one might say.’

‘
Are you sure nothing struck you as insincere or false?’ Jon probed, sensing that the older man might have been too stressed to properly look at the day’s events. Given the fact that Bernard was the first one to ask him questions, Jon wasn’t surprised. For all his mindreading expertise, Bernard retained very few interpersonal skills once he whiffed the scent of the crime he was about to track down.

‘
Did you chat about anything personal?’ Jon watched the older man contemplate his question, his gaze absent. ‘You know, an innocent question here or there while working. The distraction technique can work wonders. It lets you question people without them even noticing they are being questioned.’ Making him feel comfortable was important. The old man would be humiliated to admit spilling some info. Jon wanted to make sure Daniel understood he didn’t do anything wrong.

It worked
. Daniel nodded, slowly at first but soon vigorously, his eyes bright with excitement.

‘Now that you put it like that, he did ask me a few questions.
Mostly about my presentation at the Casa del L’Arte in two days. He asked if I still got nervous before giving a speech and how much time ahead I arrived to get ready. He joked about makeup and such things.’ His brow furrowed as he thought. He looked at Jon, the words tumbling from his lips in an excited waterfall. ‘I did mention I would usually get some sprucing up if my lecture was to be filmed. Nothing major, of course, just a dab of powder and such… He even asked if I ever got flowers from admirers.’ He smiled weakly at Bernard and the other men.

‘
That means he’s planning to get to you before the lecture.’ Bernard ran his hand through his thick, greying hair, pleased with the new bit of information. ‘We were wondering what kind of an attack he planned for you, Daniel. The Peace Brigade is usually less than subtle, but this is different. No spectacular assassination in front of everyone… That probably has to do with the fact there are more events planned at the same time. It will be about quantity this time, not quality…’

Jon felt sorry for
Daniel, only glad Sophia wasn’t with them. Listening to others discussing his imminent demise couldn’t be pleasant.

‘
This information will make it much easier to find the right response.’ Jon smiled reassuringly at Daniel, the old man’s grateful nod making his effort worth the while. Jon wanted to believe that he hadn’t lost his humanity along his way, and he was once again struck by how easy it was to forget that their work affected real people who experienced pain, fear, and doubts. In the pursuit of capturing the criminal, the human aspect paled and diminished into the background, pushed aside by other, more pressing matters. Yet, in the end, it was about people, real people who had a right to feel some kind of connection with their saviors.