Page 43 of Light Me Up

“Really? Why isn’t your guy talking to you?”

“Oh please. Your husband will be found exactly where I told Vilardi to take him,” Morelli said impatiently. “We will go to him now and speak of his wild accusation—”

“I’m the one who made the accusation. Noah was just passing it on. Atmy insistence.”

“It is ridiculous! Lella must speak to both of you!”

“I don’t think that’s going to happen.” Caro grabbed Morelli’s arm and tugged him to the edge of the security area where they could see the dais. “Look at Lella, Stefano,” she urged. “Take a good look at him.”

Morelli hesitated for a second, and did as she asked, turning tolook at Lella.

Lella’s face was ashy. His one eye was glassy and blank. His mouth was slack and he swayed on his feet. He was clearly on the verge of collapse.

Morelli drew in a sharp, dismayed breath.

“Listen,” she said urgently. “I think the cross is fake. My husband has disappeared. Lella is sick or drugged. Your man is not responding. Something’s seriously fucking wrong, and you should take charge and get these people out of this room until you know what’s going on.”

“But—I cannot believe—”

“If anyone gets hurt tonight, it’s on you.”

Morelli’s gaze darted around the room. “I will talk to Lella,” he said stiffly. “Then I will decide what to do.”

“Be careful. Lella might be compromised.”

Morelli looked outraged. “That is unthinkable!”

“Think it,” Caro said crisply.“Where’s Noah?”

“Up one flight, second door on the right, but I will accompany you. Wait for me.”

“Of course,” she lied. “I’ll wait right here.Please hurry.”

Morelli unhooked the velvet rope and muscled his way back into the crowd to get to Lella. Caro promptly followed him out and headed in the opposite direction, toward the door on the side nearest the stairs.

She finally got out into the corridor, which was deserted at last. Everyone had squeezed into the Sala trying to see the cross. She hurried around the corner to thehuge stairwell—

And shrank back, startled by whispers. Some trick of acoustics weirdly amplified the sounds that came from the floor above inthe stairwell.

“…bastard ran back into the fucking Sala! What the fuck is he doing in there?” The man’s accent sounded eastern European.

Caro slid into a niche behind a statue of St. George stabbing a dragon. She shrank back as the muttering got louder.

“We have to be careful. You saw what he did to Vilardi.” This man’s accent sounded Italian.

The two men were running down the stairs together. Caro held her breath,heart thudding.

“The boss said to take them both out, the woman too, but why? If they are in the Sala, they are done for. There is no need.”

“Not if he warns them in time. We must takehim down fast.”

“The crowd will be terrified. We might not get clear. And as soon as we take him down, that bastard will pulse the frequency and kill us all.”

“Don’t be a pussy. You took the money. Do the fucking job. Take the first door, I will take the third. Whoever gets the first shot, take it and run.”

Two men hustled by. Dark suits. Bluetooth devices. Each man held a pistol close to his leg. They did not see her.

Caro waited until they turned the corner and hurried back after them, staying close to the wall and darting from statue to statue. Wishing she’d opted to wear a shapeless black gown, not this blazingcrimson beacon.

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