Page 61 of Chasing Caine

“Antonio and an officer ran after him.” I pointed at the door they’d left through. “It was Umberto, one of the men on the conservation team.”

The two men shared a look, but didn’t pursue.

“And yet…” Elliot offered me a hand while Gallo spoke in Italian with the female officer who was watching me. “You’re still here, sitting on the ground?”

I waved the hand off and clenched my jaw, letting out a long exhale. The damn case. How did Umberto, mile a minute talking, Antonio-worshipping little weasel who could barely keep up with us, get the jump on me?

No, it wasn’t the jump. It was my shitty luck.

“Don’t ask.” The walking shoes Chiara bought for me weren’t designed for hand-to-hand combat. I ran fingers over my hair, prodding the lump forming above my ear. “Listen, there should be a black backpack over by the garden door by the main road. There’s a camera in there that’ll have photos of him cutting into the wall. The camera belongs to Mario De Luca. He loaned it to Antonio and me. I also have pictures on my phone.”

Elliot knelt next to me. “Cutting into the wall in broad daylight?”

I shrugged and pulled my phone out of my pocket, a thin crack running through the screen. “It’s an active conservation site. Who’d question it except someone on the team?”

He accepted the phone and scrolled through the photos I’d taken of Umberto. “We interviewed him, so I know who he is. Background check was clear.”

The female officer walked out of the Mars room, through the atrium and garden area.

I eased my neck from side to side, breathing through the painful movement. “We’ll have to check out where else he’s worked, see if there’s a history of missing items.”

Elliot frowned, pulling my hair back to look at my head. “Hurt yourself?”

“It’s just a bump. I’ll be fine.” I rolled my ankle in a circle, testing it at all angles. It was already much better. “Give me a hand up?”

He stood and offered me his hand again, which I took this time.

“And several bruises, I think.” I was sore, but slowly twisted and stretched to be sure everything really was alright.

A radio on the female officer’s shoulder squawked as she returned to us, and De Rosa’s voice came through. “No sign of him out here. Did he circle back?”

She responded in the negative and handed the pack to Elliot. Gallo joined us.

I reached in as he held it open and retrieved the camera. Scanning through the photos with Elliot and Gallo, it was clear. Photos of Umberto cutting into the wall.

Gallo nodded. “We’ll cross-reference this with any laboratory plans, but I’m sure if Dr. Ferraro didn’t know about it, we’ll find it’s an attempt at another theft.”

“Told you,” said Elliot, and the TPC officer nodded.

“Told you what?” I asked. But I didn’t really have to ask. Elliot had told Gallo about me, and hetold him,which meant it was something about Elliot wanting me to work with him.

Like usual, he just smiled, saying no more.

“I tripped on the case, Elliot. I had him, was about to take him down, but I tripped on the fucking case and was too dazed to do anything about it.” I snatched the backpack from him and unceremoniously replaced the camera.

Elliot patted my arm. “It happens to the best of us.”

“Cazzo Madre di Dio!” came Antonio’s voice from beyond the eastern wall. He stormed into the room, face red and breath heavy. He scanned the group of us and took one sharp exhale to center himself. Ran his fingers through his hair to straighten it. Narrowed eyes cutting the other three down. “Tell me someone else went after him and you didn’t leave it all to me?”

“De Rosa’s still out there somewhere,” I said.

Antonio gestured at the backpack in my hands. “Did the pictures come out, at least?”

“Very well,” said Gallo. “Exactly what we need.”

“No, what we need is a body,” growled Antonio. One dramatic heave of his shoulders, and he raised a hand to the side of my head, where it had smashed into the ground. “Are you alright?”

“A bump and a few bruises, but I’m fine.” Any flinch would catch his attention and the focus would shift from where it belonged—finding Umberto. “You didn’t see De Rosa out there? He ran off in the same direction you did.”