Page 89 of Enduring Caine
The sympathy and regret for betraying Antonio’s family was nothing more than Stockholm syndrome. It didn’t matter Giovanni was being so nice, that I liked his daughter, or that someone had died mysteriously inside the walls of the estate. Or that Giovanni destroyed the evidence of the camera Elliot gave me. They were bad men doing the things I wanted to combat.
So why did this feel so wrong? I was still all turned around. My heart was the one stopping me when my brain told me to move forward.
A rib boat appeared, with its high roll bar in the back and a single occupant—a man in a black rain jacket pulled taut over muscled shoulders and chest, water pouring off him as he entered the protection of the cave. “The storm’s good cover, but absolutely miserable.”
“Five minutes left,” I said.
The man in the boat looked at me, eyes narrowing. “Who’s this? You’re supposed to be here alone.”
“She’s a guest who supports the TPC.” Vin stepped closer to the water’s edge. “I needed some help to meet you.”
The man nodded and reached under the boat’s controls to a cabinet, pulling out something black and cylindrical. “It’s waterproof and the right size. The tools you should need are inside.”
“Four minutes,” I said.
The man tossed the item to Vincenzo and piloted the boat around the statue at the center, water sloshing up over the edge of the walkway. “I’ll be back when I hear from you.”
“Three.”
He left as quietly as he’d entered, the rain masking any noise long before he was out at sea.
Vincenzo urged me back to the staircase and disabled his security jammer before rushing into the stairwell with me.
“What is it?”
“You remember I told you about that painting? I think it’s a case to get it out.” He nudged me from behind. “Hurry up the stairs.”
I took the steps two at a time until I was in the tasting room again. At the top of the stairs, I looked back at Vin. “You’ll have to dry off before anyone sees you.”
“Good point.” He pulled a bar towel from the cupboard and used it to dry his hair. “We’ll have to stay down here for a while.”
What were the odds Leo or Antonio would be on their way? How long could Antonio tamp down on his jealousy before he came after me?
Chapter 39
Antonio
LeonardoandIsattogether in the security control room. He knocked on camera thirteen’s display, which had gone fuzzy. “This camera’s been acting up the last couple of months. It needs replacing.”
It was the cave’s display.
Before we lost the signal, I’d glimpsed something brown at the edge of the frame. It had to be her braid. Samantha must have taken Vincenzo down there, using the tasting room door. But why? What were they doing there? Why was she spending so much time with… he was a TPC agent. That was why she was with him and I knew it, but after everything else which had happened, could she consider her safety over her need to put things right? Just for one day?
I pointed to the screen we’d been focused on prior to the cave monitor going haywire. “Johann went into the wine cellar an hour before Samantha and Henri did. No one else came in or out of the space during that time. And neither did anyone come in or out of the cave, and potentially through the secret passage.”
“And no one knows why he was down there. Nothing on his body that would provide any clues, other than the note. But it may only be a clue pointing to him being an Interpol agent, which we already know.”
“What about the small camera you found in the gallery? Giovanni said you suspect the men who brought in the crate?”
“Considering how fast they disappeared after the delivery, I do.” Leonardo stared at the fuzzy monitor. “Giovanni’s gone soft over the last two years. That’s led to many of the men doing a poor job, because he forgives almost everything. I spoke with the two who welcomed the delivery men, and no one wanded them, let alone checked the crates. It would have been too easy for them to smuggle the camera in.”
“Nothing on the recording?” It was a dangerous business bringing it up, in case Leonardo noticed something off in my actions or my mood, but I had to know if he had any suspicions about us.
He flung his hand in front of the monitors. “I’ve been telling Giovanni that this system needs to be updated for at least three years now. Too many cameras malfunctioning, files corrupting, and too many blind spots if you know what you’re doing. It wasn’t too bad originally, but now that he has this newfound respect for—” He threw his arms up in the air. “—all of humanity, he won’t listen to reason. He trusts too much.”
I’d gone back and forth every few hours while we were here, doubting Giovanni, believing the claims that he’d changed, wondering what secret game he was playing. Leonardo’s frustration was obvious and not something he’d do to try and win me over for his boss. “He’s really changed that much?”
His lip curled. “In case you forgot, I’m in charge of security, so it’s my job to doubt and worry about everything. Giovanni thinks people will believe he’s changed so long as he says he has. The world does not work that way.”