Cleopatra's Necklace (Devlin Security Force Book 3) by Susan Vaughan Page B

Centaur Task Force. We believe Centaur is involved. You can understand the other reason I want this resolved.” He didn’t need to explain. Several thefts in Venice in the past few years had alerted Castelli’s office to Centaur’s dealings.
    They reached the end of the fondamenta at a wide opening between the banks.
    “This is la Sacca della Misericordia ,” Castelli said, gesturing toward a line of moored boats. “It translates as ‘Bag of Mercy.’ Not a descriptive or elegant name, merely a small basin separating islands and used for major transportation and a marina.”
    Dusk was falling in royal shades of purple and gold. The water flowed out toward Murano. In the distance along that cluster of isles housing Venice’s glass factories, lights blinked on and details blurred to silhouettes.
    After a moment enjoying the view, the two men turned and retraced their steps.
    “And Mimi Ingram?” the detective asked.
    Castelli would learn the truth as soon as Mimi’s mother arrived for now Thomas intended to withhold a key fact. “Mimi Ingram is Cleo Chandler’s cousin. I learned from Cleo’s father that he has a brother he hasn’t seen for fifty years.”
    “A very long time. A family argument?”
    Thomas nodded, pondering the history of that turbulent time. “Over the war in Viet Nam. Cleo’s father Horace joined the navy. His brother Milton was a conscientious objector who left the U.S. for Canada. They haven’t spoken since, and Horace didn’t know where Milton lived.”
    “But you do?”
    “My personnel are top notch, Commissario . My researcher discovered him, now Milton Ingram, in Toronto. He was an attorney with Amnesty International.”
    “Was?”
    “Unfortunately he died a year ago in a helicopter crash. His wife and teenage sons still live in the family home.” As Thomas remembered telling the wife about Mimi being shot, his throat tightened. “This afternoon I spoke to his widow.”
    “I don’t envy you that conversation. I dislike delivering bad news.”
    “She’ll arrive here in a couple days. She needs time to make arrangements for the boys.”
    “And did she know how Mimi Ingram came to be in Venice?”
    “When her father died, Mimi found information about the Chandlers in her father’s papers. He’d kept track of them, although his brother didn’t. When she saw she had a cousin nearly the same age, she did her own search, found Cleo on Facebook. Mimi traveled to Venice so the cousins could meet. I have no idea how the shooting happened but I believe she was mistaken for Cleo.”
    “Because the man or men who shot Moreau think Signorina Chandler knows where the necklace is. She may or may not know, but she left behind her purse and she may have taken her cousin’s, along with her identity.”
    “I don’t want to endanger Mimi Ingram. Lucas Del Rio will remain here to guard her.” Thomas had a feeling the only way to remove Lucas from her side was to blast him loose with an RPG. “But I need a day, two at the most, to secure Cleo.”
    Castelli’s gaze dropped to the paving stones. He ran a thumbnail across his teeth. “I can give you a day or until Signora Ingram arrives, whichever is sooner. That is all.”
    Thomas could breathe again. “Thank you, Commissario . It should be enough time. After that it won’t matter whether Centaur knows where Cleo was hiding.”
    “They may already know, my friend.”
    The warning had his brows crunching. “What do you mean?”
    “My crime scene people confiscated a laptop computer from the flat she and Moreau shared. The hard drive was missing.”

Chapter 6
    Shipboard
    “THIS ROOM SAFE totally baffled me.” Cleo batted her eyelashes, channeling the ditzy babe her dad thought she was. “Thank you so much, Erik.”
    His cheeks flushed. He looked tough and his bulk filled the doorway but, jeez, he had to be barely out of his teens. And naïve, thank you very much.
    “Anytime, madame . Just call the security office and I’ll be