air
conditioning, her eyes fell on an old looking building…an Art
Gallery.
“ Perfecto ,”
she thought as she headed inside, sighing with relief as the cool
air conditioning fell on her sun kissed skin.
A piece of
art work caught her eye, and her audible gasps made others stop and
stare at her. Alicia, however, didn’t take any notice of anyone
else, with her shades pushed up onto her head so her angered brown
eyes could see the piece more clearly.
A crowd was
gathering behind her.
“ Excuse me
Madam, is there a problem?” The flustered Curator asked, his broken
English revealing his Italian accent.
Alicia’s head
spun around quickly as she glared up at the man. Waving her
hand up at him, she was almost jabbing him in the abdomen with her
cherry lolly.
“ No, excuse you, you imbecile! That painting is not
Spanish nor is it a 1960’s piece by whoever that name is you have
detailed up there! It is in fact by a little unknown artist called
Emiliano Placido. This piece you are falsely advertising was
painted on the 31st October of 1890, and its origin is
Sicily! You are Italian, I can tell by your accent, and yet
still you do not know the origin of this piece?” The Curator’s demeanour suddenly changed as he
stared into Alicia’s eyes and listened to her scolding. He
apologised profusely for the error and told Alicia that he would
have the painting removed from public display immediately until
further research was carried to confirm the credentials that the
little ‘Bella’ had just advised him of.
She was a
spitfire that was for sure, and also not a lady that you argued
back with. The curator felt ashamed and embarrassed. She had just
called him out in the middle of his busy gallery all the while
waving a candy stick at him! He watched in complete
astonishment as she placed the candy back into her mouth, fixed the
sunglasses that were perched on the top of her head back to cover
her eyes, and headed towards to the cashiers desk.
“ Fidiots!”
She mumbled loudly as she demanded a refund for the entrance money,
ignoring the fact that she hadn’t even paid to get in. Blinking
then nodding her head in an over apologetic manner, the cashier
handed the money over and then, after speaking to the gallery
manager, advised Alicia that the painting would be delivered to her
destination of her own choosing as an apology. A smirk crossed over
the brown eyed beauty’s lips as she headed back into the sweltering
heat, wasn’t she glad she had stopped by that
establishment?
Yawning
softly to herself she realised that she was starting to feel tired.
The heat was making her body exhausted and it was time to return to
the resort for a little nap. Tomorrow was her last day of her
vacation and it was going to be a day to remember. She had a full
itinerary planned.
Chapter Fifteen
Finally
satisfied that the security measures he had put in place were
taking shape, Xavier left his men in charge of the Belcastro
guards, taking the scenic route back to his base. Shuggie had
got word that the Pascal mansion had been hit earlier that night,
reinforcing Xavier’s thoughts that he had been hired not a moment
too soon by the old man Belcastro.
Pascal’s
mansion was the closest one to the Belcastro compound and the band
of thieves were as predictable as they were elusive. The same M.O. was in play, so he knew it was the
same gang he was looking for. They had bypassed the security
systems, raided the mansion for artwork and jewellery before
breaking into the main safe, taking the money and valuables, and
escaped. The difference this time was that the gang had left a
casualty behind. Usually, it was a clean in/out affair, but
they were getting sloppy. A heavily injured guard had been sliced
and left to bleed out on the kitchen floor. Even so, there were
still no clues left behind to help detect them. No DNA, finger
or footprints — nothing.
Xavier was
sure that it was all pointing towards being an inside job.
conditioning, her eyes fell on an old looking building…an Art
Gallery.
“ Perfecto ,”
she thought as she headed inside, sighing with relief as the cool
air conditioning fell on her sun kissed skin.
A piece of
art work caught her eye, and her audible gasps made others stop and
stare at her. Alicia, however, didn’t take any notice of anyone
else, with her shades pushed up onto her head so her angered brown
eyes could see the piece more clearly.
A crowd was
gathering behind her.
“ Excuse me
Madam, is there a problem?” The flustered Curator asked, his broken
English revealing his Italian accent.
Alicia’s head
spun around quickly as she glared up at the man. Waving her
hand up at him, she was almost jabbing him in the abdomen with her
cherry lolly.
“ No, excuse you, you imbecile! That painting is not
Spanish nor is it a 1960’s piece by whoever that name is you have
detailed up there! It is in fact by a little unknown artist called
Emiliano Placido. This piece you are falsely advertising was
painted on the 31st October of 1890, and its origin is
Sicily! You are Italian, I can tell by your accent, and yet
still you do not know the origin of this piece?” The Curator’s demeanour suddenly changed as he
stared into Alicia’s eyes and listened to her scolding. He
apologised profusely for the error and told Alicia that he would
have the painting removed from public display immediately until
further research was carried to confirm the credentials that the
little ‘Bella’ had just advised him of.
She was a
spitfire that was for sure, and also not a lady that you argued
back with. The curator felt ashamed and embarrassed. She had just
called him out in the middle of his busy gallery all the while
waving a candy stick at him! He watched in complete
astonishment as she placed the candy back into her mouth, fixed the
sunglasses that were perched on the top of her head back to cover
her eyes, and headed towards to the cashiers desk.
“ Fidiots!”
She mumbled loudly as she demanded a refund for the entrance money,
ignoring the fact that she hadn’t even paid to get in. Blinking
then nodding her head in an over apologetic manner, the cashier
handed the money over and then, after speaking to the gallery
manager, advised Alicia that the painting would be delivered to her
destination of her own choosing as an apology. A smirk crossed over
the brown eyed beauty’s lips as she headed back into the sweltering
heat, wasn’t she glad she had stopped by that
establishment?
Yawning
softly to herself she realised that she was starting to feel tired.
The heat was making her body exhausted and it was time to return to
the resort for a little nap. Tomorrow was her last day of her
vacation and it was going to be a day to remember. She had a full
itinerary planned.
Chapter Fifteen
Finally
satisfied that the security measures he had put in place were
taking shape, Xavier left his men in charge of the Belcastro
guards, taking the scenic route back to his base. Shuggie had
got word that the Pascal mansion had been hit earlier that night,
reinforcing Xavier’s thoughts that he had been hired not a moment
too soon by the old man Belcastro.
Pascal’s
mansion was the closest one to the Belcastro compound and the band
of thieves were as predictable as they were elusive. The same M.O. was in play, so he knew it was the
same gang he was looking for. They had bypassed the security
systems, raided the mansion for artwork and jewellery before
breaking into the main safe, taking the money and valuables, and
escaped. The difference this time was that the gang had left a
casualty behind. Usually, it was a clean in/out affair, but
they were getting sloppy. A heavily injured guard had been sliced
and left to bleed out on the kitchen floor. Even so, there were
still no clues left behind to help detect them. No DNA, finger
or footprints — nothing.
Xavier was
sure that it was all pointing towards being an inside job.
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