Treasured Dreams (20 page)

Alessandro eyed him. ‘If it takes forty-one hours, then that's …' he paused, ‘that's, 164000 euro.'

‘I'll make sure it doesn't take forty-one hours.'

Chapter Twenty-Three

Alessandro sat forward on the lounge and slipped his fingers into Ginger's hand. Together, they watched in silence as Archer paced backward and forward. Jimmy didn't look too comfortable either as he sat forward in the armchair with his hands clamped together between his knees.

‘We can't fly till three p.m. tomorrow.' Archer squeezed his temples. ‘It's too late; everything is taking too long.'

‘Why is it so late?' Alessandro asked. ‘I always assumed private planes were available any time, day or night.'

‘Because of the number of passengers and the amount of gear we want to take, we need the Hawker Beechcraft 800. It's not due to return until one-thirty tomorrow afternoon, and then they have to clean it and refuel.'

‘To be honest, it'll probably take us until then to pack up all the equipment and research notes anyway. And we'll need two or three cars to transport it all.'

‘I'll arrange it.' Archer flicked Alessandro's points away with the back of his hand.

Alessandro heard the fear in Archer's voice, and felt it in his movements, too. But it was imperative that they remain smart about this. Nox had deceived them once before. Not just them, either. Everyone, it seemed. The police, the church where he lived, and probably friends and family, too. If he had any. It was impossible to imagine someone vanishing for that long and then just turning up without anyone seeing him. Alessandro clicked his fingers. ‘He's changed his appearance!'

‘Who?' Archer said.

‘Nox. That's how he was capable of walking through that church without being seen.'

‘We did it, remember?'

That was true; they'd managed to sneak in and rescue Rosalina without bumping into anyone. Until they were on their way out, that was.

‘Maybe we can work out where he's hiding.' Ginger tugged her blonde plait over her shoulder.

‘How?' Archer snapped.

‘Calm down, Archer. You're not helping.'

‘I can't. That bastard has Rosalina again, and there's nothing I can do.'

‘We
are
doing something. Let me grab the whiteboard.' Alessandro launched out of the lounge and strode to the study.

Ginger met him there. ‘Boy, is he wound up.'

‘
Naturalmente
. It's unbelievable this has happened again.'

‘Yes, but it's not like we can do anything right now.'

‘We can start by processing all the clues again, so when we reach the Solomon Islands we've documented as much information as we can.'

They each grabbed an end of the whiteboard and wheeled it to the lounge area. Archer was at least sitting now, but he looked like a caged animal about to break out.

Alessandro grabbed his whiteboard pen and divided the board into four columns. He cleared his throat. ‘By my assessment we have four options.' He wrote a heading in each column as he spoke. ‘First, we try to find Rosa and Filippo. Second option is that we find the
Awa Maru
treasure. The third choice, and in my opinion the least practical, is to find the Calimala treasure that was stolen from us. Finally, we could investigate the Egyptian angle of the Calimala treasure, but given our limited knowledge there, I don't think that's a good idea either.'

Archer looked up at him now, but from his blank expression it seemed his mind was a long way from this discussion.

‘The trouble with trying to find Rosa,' Alessandro continued, ‘is that Nox could have taken her anywhere in Italy. It seems that since we last saw him, he's been able to blend in without anyone noticing. He could've been setting up this location for weeks. Months. We can assume he's changed his appearance. Let's start with what we know. First, he grew up in Florence so—'

‘How do you know that?' Jimmy waggled his finger at Alessandro.

‘It was detailed in the news when he went missing last time. He grew up in the orphanage attached to the Church of St Apostoli.'

‘Any family?' Archer asked.

‘Not that anyone knows; he was abandoned when he was five.'

‘That's sad.' Ginger scrunched up her nose. ‘No wonder he's so screwed up.'

‘I grew up in an orphanage.' Archer glared at her. ‘And I don't go around killing people. Although that'll change when I get my hands on Nox.'

Ginger's eye's bulged. ‘Sorry, Archer. I forgot.'

Alessandro tapped the whiteboard, drawing Archer's hurtful glare from Ginger. ‘Nox was moved from the orphanage to live in the church when he was twelve. Brother Benedici became his guardian.'

‘Hey,' Jimmy said. ‘Maybe this Benedici character can tell us more about Nox. Something might come up.'

‘Brother Benedici died last year. Apparently he ate poisonous mushrooms.'

‘Yeah, right,' Archer said. ‘My guess is Nox killed him.'

Alessandro frowned. ‘Nox did disappear not long after that … The next time he resurfaced was when he started chasing us.'

Archer stood up to pace the room again. ‘So as far as we know he's lived in two places—the orphanage and the church. Is that right? Seems a little odd to me.'

‘
Correcto
. He's never moved out.'

‘How old is he?' Jimmy asked.

‘Nearly forty.'

Everyone was quiet.

Archer sat again. ‘Nox could've taken them anywhere. I can't see how this is helping.'

‘We're trying to establish what we should do next.'

Archer cocked his head. ‘I don't see how discussing Nox's fucking history can help.'

‘Okay, let's move onto the
Awa Maru
then.' Alessandro drew a line through option one on the whiteboard and pointed at column two. ‘Do you all concur that the Solomon Islands is the
correcto
place to start?' He turned to them, and all three nodded in agreement.

‘You do know the Solomon Islands is made up of hundreds of islands.'

‘We'll start at the island where the photo was taken,' Archer said.

‘
Si,
Munda Island.' Alessandro listed it on the board.

‘What do we know about that island?' Archer said.

‘Hold that thought; I need my laptop.' Alessandro raced to his bedroom and returned moments later to place his laptop on the table.

‘The Solomons was one of the focal points of the Second World War,' Jimmy said.

Alessandro glanced over at Jimmy. Jimmy wasn't usually the one revealing facts.

‘My dad did a stint there working for some Aussie bloke who had a coconut plantation. He said the place was a hell hole. Bugs galore and hot as Hades.'

‘Oh, I hate bugs, but they like me, for some reason,' Ginger said.

‘This is what we need.' Alessandro found the Solomon Islands official website. ‘Solomon Islands is known for its scuba diving and World War Two relics. There's a place called Iron Bottom Sound, which is reported to be littered with dozens of sunken warships.'

‘We don't want ships, Alex. We want planes.' Archer clenched his jaw again.

Alessandro ignored Archer's impatience and continued looking. ‘Okay, according to this scuba diving website, there are war planes everywhere, too.'

‘Alessandro!' Archer growled, and Alessandro shot him a look.

‘This kind of research takes time, Archer. Why don't you go have a shower or something? We'll keep researching.'

Archer squeezed his temples as if trying to force out whatever horror was tormenting his thoughts. Then he sighed. ‘Okay, I'll be back in a minute.'

‘Take your time.'

Archer strode off.

‘This is going to be a very long night.' Jimmy huffed.

‘Not for me. I'm already pooped,' Ginger yawned.

Alessandro nodded. ‘Me too. We have a busy day tomorrow … maybe we should try to sleep.'

‘You kids go on; I'll keep Archer company.' Jimmy tapped his fingernail on the beer can in the cup holder of his chair.

Alessandro raised an eyebrow at Ginger, seeking her thoughts, and she nodded back. She looked as exhausted as he felt. ‘Thanks, Jimmy. We'll finish this, and then we'll go to bed.'

Within five minutes, Archer strode back into the room looking only slightly refreshed in jeans and a white T-shirt. ‘What'd you find?'

Alessandro cleared his throat. ‘There are three known wrecks of Kawasaki Ki-56 planes in the Solomon Islands. One is near Wake Island, one on Savo Island, and one just off the shores of Munda Island.'

Archer clicked his fingers. ‘That's where the photo was taken of Kimoda and his brother, Hiro.'

‘
Correcto
.' Alessandro pointed his pen at Archer.

‘That's it then,' Archer said. ‘We'll check out that plane and see if it's the one Hiro flew.'

‘How will we know?' Jimmy said.

‘Each plane has a serial number, like a car's number plate,' Alessandro said. ‘It's usually on the tail.'

Archer thrust his chin out. ‘This one off Munda, how far down is it?'

Alessandro checked the dive company's website, seeking the answer. He huffed. ‘I can't see that information here.'

There were plenty of pictures of the plane and he scanned one after the other, curious to see if any highlighted the plane's serial number, but he was unsuccessful. Alessandro paused to look at Archer. ‘You do realise there's a high possibility the numbers are gone, either from the crash or rusted over from decades in salty water.'

‘We'll take that risk. Did you work out how deep it is?'

Alessandro drove his mouse around the computer, scouring the details. Finally, he found what he was looking for. ‘It's fourteen metres deep, according to this.'

‘So let's say we find the plane Hiro flew.' Ginger flicked her plait around her hand. ‘If it's lying at the bottom of the ocean, you don't really expect to find treasure still in there. Do you?'

‘Yeah, right!' Jimmy snorted.

‘It's just the next step in tracing where the treasure went.' Archer flopped onto the lounge chair, defeated. ‘If our theory is right and Hiro flew the treasure to Munda, then we'll just have to pick up the trail from there and try to figure it out.'

‘That could take ages,' Ginger said, and Archer shot her a death stare.

‘Sorry Archer, I'm just trying to be practical. Nox is nuts if he thinks this'll be easy.'

‘Nox is nuts. And he doesn't think. But this is the only thing we can do.'

Alessandro couldn't remember a time when he'd seen Archer look so deflated.

Ginger yawned, and Alessandro used it as his motivation to stand up. ‘We're going to bed now.' He reached for Ginger's hand. Alessandro decided on a quick escape. They could be up all night searching for clues, otherwise. ‘See you early in the morning. Good night.'

‘Good night,' Archer and Jimmy said in unison.

Alessandro wove his fingers between Ginger's, and he marvelled at how lovely they fit with his. Being at her side felt so comfortable, so honest. He had to remind himself they had only been together for a few months. It seemed like forever. She was the most relaxed woman he'd ever met, yet she had the power to move him in ways he hadn't experienced before—not even when he was with Rosalina. That time in his life finally felt like a distant memory.

Ginger didn't seem to have a care in the world. But then, a twenty-one-year-old travelling the globe on a multi-million-dollar yacht looking for treasure probably didn't have a care in the world. He smiled at that; he couldn't believe he himself was doing this. His entire twenty-nine years of living had been dedicated to history. First he lived amongst it in Florence. He'd studied it and followed that up with lecturing it. Now, with the treasure hunting, he was unearthing it.

He opened the door to the Fraser suite, flicked on the lights and turned to the music panel. Tonight he chose a little opera, something sensual to override the stressful day they'd had.

Ginger turned to him and placed her hand on his chest. Her azure eyes caught in the light, and he believed he could connect with her soul. ‘Will you make love to me, please?'

His heart skipped a beat. ‘Is that a trick question,
la mia bella
?'

She pouted. ‘No, it's a very serious one. I feel so bad about what's happened to Rosa, and I know I won't be able to sleep without …' She rolled her eyes, as if searching for the right words, ‘without feeling loved.' She shrugged one delicate shoulder. ‘I guess.'

Alessandro cupped her cheeks and eased forward to kiss her. Their lips met, soft and delicate, and he flicked his tongue out to taste her. He curled his fingers around the heat of her neck and pulled her closer. His tongue probed and slowly entered her mouth, savouring the sweetness. Her hands found the inside of his shirt, and his skin prickled as her fingers roamed up his back. She melted into him, pushing her breasts to his chest, and he clutched his arms around her. They kissed until all the madness in the world evaporated. There was nothing left but the two of them.

He pulled back, bent over, and lifted her into his arms. ‘You never have to worry again,
la mia bella.
' She clutched her hands around him, and her hot breath made the hairs on his neck rise as he carried her to bed. He eased her onto the covers and ran his fingers down the line of buttons on her shirt, stopping at the very bottom one. His hand was unsteady as he weaved the button through the hole. After releasing two buttons, her navel appeared, a lovely shallow dip in her perfectly sculpted torso. He bent forward and ran his tongue around her belly button. Her skin was hot as if burning with desire. A low hum thrummed from her throat as her long legs wrapped sleekly around him.

He worked the rest of the buttons free and tugged her shirt open. Her baby blue lacy bra complemented her milky smooth skin. She curled her hand behind her back and sprung the clasp free, revealing perfect mounds that wobbled delightfully with her movements. Her nipples were pink buds, as pronounced as cherries on a cupcake. She watched him explore her body, allowing him to devour every inch of her flesh with his eyes.