Page 36 of Summer Rush

“He was so into his cooking,” Janine interjected. “I don’t think he had any idea what we were up to. He was angry when we weren’t seated in time for dessert.”

Alyssa’s nose twitched. “Maybe it was Nico? I texted him about finding the map!”

“He wouldn’t have broken into the house, would he have?” Maggie demanded.

“I don’t know! He’s a stranger!” Alyssa cried. “Gosh, I should have known. I mean, I’m pregnant! He would never date a pregnant woman. What kind of idiot am I? Oh no! Barbara must know that we took the key!”

“Don’t jump to any conclusions,” Janine urged. “Why don’t you sit down? Breathe for a second? We can figure this out.”

But over the course of the next hour, it proved very difficult to calm Alyssa down. She’d hung her hopes and dreams upon this map and the blueprints and had probably spent the entire night dreaming about what awaited them there.

“I can’t believe I didn’t even take a photograph of the map,” Alyssa muttered. “Nor of the blueprints. I feel like the biggest fool.”

“You couldn’t have known someone would take it!” Janine said, still trying to shove away her own heebie-jeebies— as her fear would only exacerbate theirs. Ultimately, if someone really had stolen from them, they probably had been watching them. Which, to Janine, meant one thing: “I think it’s about time we head back to Martha’s Vineyard, anyway. We should at least get out of Venice. I heard Capri’s nice. We could get a house down there for a week, enjoy the sun for a while, and fly home?”

Alyssa looked unconvinced, as though she wanted to stand at the front door of the villa, glaring at passers-by until they confessed to their thieving. “Maybe I’ll call Nico and see what’s up. If he can’t see me today, I’ll know it’s because he drove to Florence!”

Nancy tugged at her white curls, clearly at a loss. Janine reached for her hand, saying, “I’m sorry this is all happening right after you arrived.”

“Oh, darlings! It’s not your fault,” Nancy assured them.

“I think we should get out of the house,” Maggie suggested. “Maybe go to another museum? Eat lunch?”

Alyssa grumbled incoherently, lost in thought.

“It’s not a bad idea,” Janine said. “Until we decide what to do next.”

“We could call the police,” Alyssa suggested.

“And tell them what?” Maggie tried. “I mean, it seems like nobody knows that map or the blueprints exist in the first place. So, I can’t imagine how the police would track them down.”

Alyssa’s chin quivered, but she didn’t refute what Maggie said. “Maybe we can drive to approximately where the X on the map was?”

“We can’t circle Florence all day,” Maggie said with a sigh.

For a moment, they were quiet, the sorrow of this event pressing down upon them like a rain-filled cloud.

“Is Kostos still leaving today?” Janine asked her mother, tilting her head.

“Later this afternoon,” Nancy offered. “Maybe he’d like a last lunch with everyone before he heads out. I’ll go wake him up. I’m sure the jet lag has knocked him over.”

Nancy disappeared up the staircase, leaving Alyssa, Maggie, and Janine alone in the living room. Partially, Janine had to admit she was glad the entire scavenger hunt was over and that they could move on with their lives. But she hated to see the disappointment in Alyssa’s eyes.

“I can’t even begin to call Nico to see if he did it,” Alyssa said. “It hurts too much.”

But suddenly, from upstairs, Nancy let out a horrific scream.

Janine burst to her feet and rushed up the staircase, moving far quicker than her pregnant daughters, unsure what awaited her— yet imagining horrific things, things she didn’t want to verbalize. When she reached the guest bedroom where Kostos had been sleeping, she found Nancy seated on a mussed-up bed. The rest of the room was empty. Kostos’ suitcase was gone.

Nancy looked stricken, her cheeks blotchy.

“Mom? Where’s Kostos?”

Nancy’s eyes were hollow. “I don’t know.”

Janine felt stiff with disbelief. In the back of her mind, she played over the events of yesterday, the conversations they’d had with Kostos, the way he’d made all of the women laugh. It had seemed effortless to him.

A moment later, Maggie and Alyssa appeared in the guest bedroom, equally confused.

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