Page 53 of Licence To Howl
‘I suppose,’ he said. ‘If it was a short one.’
Scarlett leaned back against her seat. ‘That’s good to know. You must be on the mend.’
A minute or two passed. Then the passenger door opened from the outside. ‘Okay,’ Mark said. ‘We’re all sorted. If you want to step out and come with me, I’ll take you right up to the gate.’ He pointed at a gruff looking official standing to the side. ‘This is Antonio Scalzi. He’ll be coming with us.’
MI5 weren’t taking any chances. Sarah Greensmith – or by extension her bosses – were desperate to get both Devereau and Scarlett out of Rome and apparently he wasn’t to be trusted to leave without his own babysitters. He’d gone from being a genuine help to a vexing hindrance. MI5 should get used to it; Devereau often had this effect on people.
‘Sure,’ he said easily. He stepped out, followed by Scarlett. Then he took a moment to pause and stretch. Man, that felt good.
‘It looks like it’ll be a pretty sunrise,’ Scarlett commented. She turned to look at the horizon, squinting over the top of a nearby airport carpark.
‘They often are in Rome,’ Mark agreed.
Devereau reached across and clapped him on the shoulder. ‘You’re a good guy,’ he said, ‘doing a thankless job. I’ll make sure the higher-ups know that none of this was your fault.’
Mark’s forehead creased. ‘What do you mean?’
Scalzi, the Italian official, took a step towards them. Devereau smiled. And then a split second he pivoted round and both he and Scarlett were running away from the terminal building and towards the car park she’d been gazing at.
‘Hey!’ Mark yelled. ‘Wait! What are you doing?’
‘We really better not be going far,’ Devereau said to Scarlett. The burning pain in his legs was swiftly making a comeback and, by the sound of the heavy footsteps behind them, Scalzi had already taken up pursuit.
‘We’re not,’ she told him. ‘I promise.’ She darted down a flight of stairs and threw open the heavy car park door and beckoning him ahead. ‘Straight ahead. There should be a black BMW at the far end.’
Devereau nodded and did his best to sprint. It wasn’t easy. It was, however, enough. While Scarlett stayed by the door, slamming the heel of her hand into Scalzi’s nose when he appeared, he continued forward. Moments later, the BMW appeared, its tires squealing as it sped down the car park. It halted right in front of Devereau and the back door swung open.
‘In you get,’ Moretti grinned.
Devereau didn’t need told twice.
Scarlett appeared from behind and joined them. ‘I just assaulted a Roman official,’ she grunted. ‘This hero complex shite better be worth the effort.’
Tell me about it, Devereau thought. ‘I hate leaving a job unfinished,’ he said, reaching down to massage his calf.
‘Amen,’ she said. ‘Amen to that.’
* * *
They madeit out of the car park and away from the airport with ease. Devereau imagined that young Mark was having to make a difficult phone call right about now. He’d do what he could to smooth things over for him later. It wasn’t the kid’s fault. Right now, however, they had far bigger worries.
‘Your things are in the boot,’ Moretti told him. ‘We’ve arranged to pick up your bag as well,’ he said to Scarlett. ‘Although your presence in Rome was not heavily advertised, it’s best if you don’t go back to that same building.’
She nodded. ‘Agreed.’ Then she glanced at Devereau. ‘So what’s the plan? Presumably, we need to find out who killed Solentino and what they’re going to do next.’
‘Indeed. It’s possible our killer won’t be a threat and their sole purpose was to put Solentino and his gang out of action. It’s also possible that they wanted to steal Solentino’s plans and put them into action on their own. We need to be prepared for both possibilities.’
Scarlett gestured towards Devereau’s stomach. ‘Solentino wanted the Ring of All Seasons. I wonder if that’s still in play.’
He shrugged. ‘Maybe. I doubt it, however. I think it was supposed to be Solentino’s own insurance policy. It’s not going to be vital to whoever else might be taking up the reins.’ Alina Bonnet’s face flashed into his mind. She’d desperately wanted the ring. Unfortunately it wouldn’t do her any good now, wherever she was. He rubbed his chin, his fingertips rasping against the dark line of stubble across his jawline.
‘We have three lines of inquiry,’ he said. ‘We have to find Geraint Vissier. He’ll be able to tell us exactly what Solentino was planning, and he might have an idea about who betrayed him.’
‘I might be able to help with that,’ Moretti said. ‘The police are looking out for him as well so he’s no doubt gone to ground. But my wolves can reach the corners that the authorities can’t. I’ll put out an alert and see what turns up.’
Devereau indicated his thanks. ‘Good,’ he said. ‘We also need to see if we can locate Stefan Avanopoulos.’
Scarlett’s expression brightened. ‘The Greek. Solentino wanted his help with transport issues.’
