Treasured Dreams (9 page)

Ginger twisted her hands together. ‘How bad?'

‘It would absorb into your lungs first. From there it would enter the bloodstream, and then up to the brain.'

‘Then what?'

‘It can take hours'—he shrugged—‘or possibly weeks for the poison to work its way, but exposure will cause nerve poisoning. Sleep disorders. Paralysis. Death.' Sezoine actually grinned.

‘Sheez,' Ginger said. ‘How do we make sure there's none of that stuff in there?'

‘We open it up and take a peek.' Sezoine's grin bordered on crazy.

‘Yeah, right.'

He nodded. ‘Seriously. But you need to leave the room. I'll put on the Hazmat gear.'

‘Professor Sezoine,' Alessandro said, ‘how will you remove the baboon head by yourself? We tried and didn't get anywhere.'

His jaw dropped. ‘Thank heavens you didn't. You could be dying of mercury poisoning right now.'

Alessandro had no idea if he was serious or not. ‘Professor, whilst I respect your professional opinion, Ginger and I will remain in the room when you open the urn. We shall dress in the necessary Hazmat gear too.' Alessandro clenched his jaw. Standing up to a man of Sezoine's credentials was not something Alessandro had done before. But this was a unique situation and he had no intention of leaving the room until he'd seen what was inside the statue.

As Alessandro waited for Sezoine to answer, he swallowed back a lump that'd formed in his throat. He was certain everyone heard it in the silence.

Finally, the professor's grim look changed to a grin. ‘Tell me you have the necessary Hazmat gear to handle this.'

Alessandro turned to Leonardo and Lorenzo, and they each shook their heads. ‘Ginger, can you stay here with the professor while I make a call?'

‘Sure.' She tugged at her plait folded over her shoulder.

Alessandro stepped from the room and slipped into the hallway. He rang Archer and explained the situation. ‘Make the arrangements,' Archer said. ‘Then tell me who to pay.'

‘Thanks, Archer.'

Alessandro hung up from Archer and it required a further four phone calls before the arrangements were made. Forty-five minutes later, the Hazmat suits arrived, and the three of them climbed into them.

‘I don't get it.' Ginger's voice was muffled through the clear plastic covering her face. ‘If we're only worried about ingesting mercury, why don't we just cover our mouths rather than our whole bodies?'

Alessandro looked to Sezoine for the answer. ‘Because the ancient Egyptians were also brilliant alchemists. Some of the poisons they used were effective just by touching your skin.'

‘Oh. Okay then.' Through the clear plastic, Alessandro noticed Ginger's wide eyes. He wanted to reach for her hand and whisper in her ear that he'd protect her, but the suit rendered it impossible.

The threesome moved back into the room and Alessandro looked up, past the dangling lights, and saw Leonardo and Lorenzo staring down at him from the balcony.

The monkey statue faced them side-on, and Alessandro admired its brilliant craftsmanship. It was impossible to believe this piece could be thousands of years old.

He marvelled at the gold and contemplated its worth. A piece like this would bring out the who's who of antiquities buyers. The bidding would be fierce. But Alessandro had no intention of selling it. This piece was destined for pride of place in a museum.

He glanced over at the camera set up in the corner; the red light indicated it was still recording. The video replaying the opening of the statue would make an excellent addition to the museum display.

‘There's a trick to opening the urn. I've seen it before.' Professor Sezoine placed his blue plastic gloves on the neck of the statue. He leant in close and Alessandro and Ginger eased in with him. As his fingers applied pressure to the symbols on the statue, Alessandro realised he was searching for a trigger mechanism. His breath caught in his throat as Sezoine went from one symbol to the next. He gasped when a small triangle attached to a straight line, like a very simple flag, moved inwards at the professor's touch.

Sezoine moved his hands up to the monkey's head so that he could also reach the triangle with his thumb. Then as he applied pressure to the triangle, he twisted the head anticlockwise. It moved, and the ease with which he did it made it look as if the statue had been made yesterday, not centuries ago.

‘Stand back.' Sezoine spoke through clenched teeth.

They did as they were told. Alessandro didn't take his eyes off the statue; he didn't even want to blink. There was a muffled click, and ever so slowly Sezoine lifted the head off.

An explosion shattered the silence.

Ginger screamed, as did someone on the top balcony. Glass shards rained down and Alessandro yanked Ginger to the floor. As he draped his body over hers, red powder blossomed around them.

His heart thundered in his ears as he stared across the floor at Sezoine's bulging eyes. The professor remained still but his eyes darted about the chaos. Alessandro shifted his vision to the shards of fine, clear glass lying everywhere. His eyes snagged on a twisted spring of wire. It took him a while to realise it was the coil from a light bulb. Something or someone had shot at the lights. His thoughts snapped to Nox, and he covered Ginger more.

‘Are you guys okay?' It was one of the men from the balcony.

‘What was that?' Alessandro yelled.

‘Something shot out of the fucking statue.'

Alessandro blinked, trying to make sense of it. Professor Sezoine pushed up from the floor and Alessandro climbed off Ginger. ‘Are you okay,
il mio dolce
?' He wanted to cup her cheeks, to see her eyes.

She nodded. ‘I'm fine. What the hell happened?'

‘Pressure dart.' Sezoine smiled. ‘Lifting the lid off the statue triggered a dart. Ancient booby trap.'

‘Geez, lucky we weren't looking into it,' Ginger said.

Sezoine ran his finger along the red dust that caked the table. ‘Oh dear,' he said, as he stepped back.

‘What?' Even through the suit Alessandro read the fear in Sezoine's eyes.

‘Hematite powder.'

‘What's that?' Alessandro asked.

‘It's a sharp metallic dust that the Egyptians used to cover tomb floors. It would cause a slow and painful death to the grave robbers who inhaled it.'

‘Holy shit,' Ginger said, and Alessandro agreed with her.

Alessandro had to see inside the urn. His heart still thundered in his chest as he stepped forward, stood on his toes, and glanced in. A powder the colour and texture of ground coffee filled the urn three-quarters full, but it was what was centred in the middle of it that caught his attention. A circle of gold attached to a blue cylinder, about seven centimetres in diameter, protruded from the powder.

‘What's that?' He pointed inside.

‘What?' Sezoine stepped forward.

‘It looks like a cylinder.'

‘Mmm,' Sezoine mumbled. ‘An urn within an urn.'

‘Pull it out, let's see,' Ginger said.

‘No,' Sezoine snapped. ‘It may contain another trigger.'

‘How do we get it out then?' Alessandro asked.

They were all silent as they contemplated the situation.

‘Have you got any kitchen tongs?' Ginger suggested.

Alessandro looked at Sezoine for confirmation, and when the professor nodded, he glanced up at his friends.

‘I'll be back in a sec,' Leonardo said before he disappeared from view. A minute or so later, there was a knock on the door. ‘Leave it there and go back upstairs,' Alessandro instructed.

Once Leonardo was back up top, Alessandro opened the door and clutched the tongs in his gloved hand.

‘Think there'll be any more surprises?' Ginger asked, as Sezoine reached in with the tongs.

‘We're about to find out,' the professor said.

Alessandro put his arm across Ginger's waist and nudged her backwards with him. He stared wide-eyed as a cylinder the colour of the Mediterranean Sea was gradually lifted from the urn. Even from this distance, Alessandro noticed the intricate drawings painted in gold upon the tube.

Ginger let out a slow whistle. ‘Wow.'

Sezoine's fingers trembled as he lowered the cylinder to the table. He let out a huge breath and stood back. ‘It's made from lapis lazuli,' Sezoine said. ‘A semi-precious stone that's been prized since antiquity for its intensely rich blue colour. They even found it on the funeral mask of Tutankhamun.' His words were loaded with awe.

The base of the cylinder was a layer of gold, carved in a way to look like rope twisted around and around, gradually becoming narrower so it formed a cone and ended in a knot at the very tip. Sezoine turned to Alessandro. ‘This is incredible.'

‘What is it?' Alessandro asked.

He shook his head. ‘I've never seen anything like it.'

‘Do you think it has something inside?' Ginger said.

‘I'm not sure.' Sezoine rolled the cylinder over with his fingers.

‘It looks like the gold cap might come off.' Alessandro said.

Sezoine let out a gush of breath. ‘We need to clean this up first. Then we'll look.'

‘But that could take hours,' Ginger said.

Alessandro looked around. Everything was covered in coffee-coloured dust. It would take hours.

Sezoine turned to Ginger. His face was stern. ‘Whoever created this went to great lengths to protect whatever is inside.'

Alessandro stepped forward, saving Ginger from Sezoine's warning. ‘Okay, what shall we do?'

Sezoine glanced at the clock on the wall and huffed. ‘I need to go.'

‘Go! What do you mean, go?'

‘I have a flight to catch. I'm guest speaker at the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art. Sorry, but this'll have to wait until I get back.'

‘Wait?' Ginger thumped her sides with her fists.

He turned to her. ‘Yes. Wait. We can't progress without cleaning this up and …' he ran his hand over the blue cylinder, ‘I want to take my time examining this exquisite piece.'

Alessandro sighed. ‘When do you return?'

Sezoine slowly shook his head. ‘Ten days.'

Chapter Ten

Rosalina had had an emotional day. It started at the doctors, where she'd held firm hope that the plaster cast would finally come off. She didn't get the news she wanted. ‘Three more days,' the doctor had said in a chirpy voice that'd made her want to strangle him.

After leaving the Santa Maria Nuova Hospital, she'd caught the train back to Signa and hailed a taxi to take her the two kilometres to Villa Pandolfini. Rosalina was exhausted, sore and angry by the time she'd trudged up the gravel driveway.

Nonna's first words were. ‘Eat, then we talk.' It was her standard approach when she noticed someone was troubled. Rosalina knew there was no point putting up a fight. Nonna was impossible to manipulate. She slumped into the kitchen chair, and within seconds Nonna placed a plate of still steaming
sfogliatelle
pastries before her. The tension magically disappeared as Rosalina inhaled the delicious aroma. Her shoulders sagged with relief as she bit into the buttery pastry and tasted the heavenly semi-sweet ricotta mix ingeniously pillowed inside.

This was by far one of Rosalina's favourite traditional Italian sweets, and Nonna was brilliant at knowing when she needed it. Rosalina was fully aware she'd need to eat at least one full pastry before Nonna would allow her to talk, and she was grateful because she felt much better after she'd finished.

‘How are you, Nonna?' Rosalina didn't need to be specific; Nonna would be aware she was referring to their last conversation.

‘I'm fine.' Nonna wrapped her soft, pale hands around Rosalina's and drew her eyes in. Nonna's eyes were clear today, thankfully free of tears and tension. ‘You don't need to worry about me.'

‘I know. Have you seen Filippo?'

Nonna shook her head and released Rosalina's hand. ‘Not since we last spoke.'

At first, Rosalina feared that Nonna wouldn't reveal her stress even when asked, however as the hours rolled on, and Nonna showed no signs of tension, Rosalina wondered if Nonna was actually pleased to have unburdened that family secret.

Nonna loaded Rosalina up with the remaining
sfogliatelle
pastries when she kissed her goodbye. By the time the taxi returned her to the marina, Rosalina was ready for a quiet night. But as soon as she heard laughter coming from the top deck of
Evangeline
, she knew that was not to be the case. As the laughter continued, she conceded that it may be exactly what she needed.

She planted a smile on her face as she hauled herself up the last set of stairs to the sundeck. Her smile broadened when she saw what was going on. Archer, Jimmy, and Archer's mother, Helen, were all in the spa. If she'd had the rest of her lifetime to imagine this, she couldn't have pictured Helen doing that. This proved that Helen was making significant progress with her recovery.

‘Hey babe.' Archer stood up quickly, and Helen slapped his leg as she wiped away the water Archer had accidentally splashed onto her. It was exactly the silliness Rosalina needed to tip her into a better mood. She arrived at the spa and Archer wrapped his wet arms around her and drew her in for a hug.

‘The spa's finished.' He pointed out the obvious.

‘I can see that. Hello Jimmy. Helen.' She leant in and kissed Archer's mother on the cheek.

‘Still got your cast on, hey?' Jimmy screwed up his face.

‘Three more days. I should get it off on Monday.'

‘Bugger. We were hoping we could get all six of us in here tonight. Christen it, so to speak.'

The idea of sitting in that warm bubbling water was very enticing. ‘You're not helping, Jimmy.'

Rosalina slumped into the curved bench seat that met with the edge of the bar and took the pastries out of her handbag.