see if all the other pieces of the Calimala treasure resurfaced, so we could document them together. But it looks like theyâre finito .â
âItâs hard to believe over fifty ancient relics have simply vanished.â Archerâs words were laced with the tone of defeat. When he curled his arm over Rosalinaâs shoulder, his chest rose and fell with a long sigh. She softened her resolve and snuggled in.
Rosalina hadnât had much time to think about the missing treasure. But she couldnât deny that she too was disheartened that they had nothing to show for all their hard work. Ignatius had paid for the theft with his life, but whoever he was working with may have gotten away with a priceless fortune.
Chapter Eight
Noxâs luck was finally changing for the better. After heâd walked out of the Church of St Apostoli unnoticed, it had only taken him two hours to find Nurse Isabellaâs car.
Thanks to the little central-locking opener on the set of keys heâd found in her pocket, all he had to do was walk the streets around the church, pressing the button, until the lights on the silver Fiat Linear lit up. In addition to that lucky find, the car had a full tank of petrol. The ruby red stones in the antique ring offered a warm inner glow when the dashboard lit up.
It was a sign. A very good sign.
The Linear made his mission a whole lot easier. Until heâd found the car, he hadnât really processed how he was going to kidnap Rosalina.
Next on his agenda was locating that old orphanage. Heâd remembered it was on a cliff overlooking the ocean, and he remembered the day he, along with all the boys, had been loaded up into one of two buses and moved from that imposing building to the new orphanage next to the Church of St Apostoli in the middle of Florence. If his recall was accurate, the bus trip had taken just over two hours.
Armed with that information, he headed towards Livorno. It was very convenient that Livorno was also the place where the helicopter had crashed into Archerâs yacht. He just hoped that Evangeline , and in particular, Rosalina hadnât moved away since heâd seen news footage of the helicopter crash weeks ago.
Nox arrived at Livorno early on a Friday morning and, out of curiosity, went straight to the marina.
He parked the car, but on account of the serious security he could do little else other than glance from a distance at the rows and rows of boats lined up in the marina. There were so many boats. A ridiculous amount of money floated out there. He had viewed Evangeline through high-powered binoculars so often while following Rosalina and her friends in the Greek Islands that he knew without a doubt he would recognise the enormous yacht.
Not today, though.
Even so, buoyed by the reasoning that he couldnât possibly see all the boats in the marina from his position at the fence, he clung to the hope that Archerâs yacht might still be out there.
He strode back to his car, and when he noticed an information booth alongside the fancy marina shops, he headed towards it. As he glanced around, wishing for a chance sighting of Archer or Rosalina, he ran his hands through his hair in an attempt to smooth it down. Despite actually being a homeless person, he didnât want to look like one.
Nox walked past two restaurants. One looked very fancy, with double white table cloths, highly polished silver, and an abundance of waiters, eager to please. The other restaurant, with its wooden bench tables and glass canisters loaded with cutlery, was much more casual. The smells of bacon and tomato had his stomach snarling, and the urge to reach over one of the tables and snatch the food right off someoneâs plate was powerful. He did resist though, and made it to the information booth without incident.
He stepped through the door and walked up to the young brunette woman at the counter. Nox refrained from smiling. His teeth were already
âItâs hard to believe over fifty ancient relics have simply vanished.â Archerâs words were laced with the tone of defeat. When he curled his arm over Rosalinaâs shoulder, his chest rose and fell with a long sigh. She softened her resolve and snuggled in.
Rosalina hadnât had much time to think about the missing treasure. But she couldnât deny that she too was disheartened that they had nothing to show for all their hard work. Ignatius had paid for the theft with his life, but whoever he was working with may have gotten away with a priceless fortune.
Chapter Eight
Noxâs luck was finally changing for the better. After heâd walked out of the Church of St Apostoli unnoticed, it had only taken him two hours to find Nurse Isabellaâs car.
Thanks to the little central-locking opener on the set of keys heâd found in her pocket, all he had to do was walk the streets around the church, pressing the button, until the lights on the silver Fiat Linear lit up. In addition to that lucky find, the car had a full tank of petrol. The ruby red stones in the antique ring offered a warm inner glow when the dashboard lit up.
It was a sign. A very good sign.
The Linear made his mission a whole lot easier. Until heâd found the car, he hadnât really processed how he was going to kidnap Rosalina.
Next on his agenda was locating that old orphanage. Heâd remembered it was on a cliff overlooking the ocean, and he remembered the day he, along with all the boys, had been loaded up into one of two buses and moved from that imposing building to the new orphanage next to the Church of St Apostoli in the middle of Florence. If his recall was accurate, the bus trip had taken just over two hours.
Armed with that information, he headed towards Livorno. It was very convenient that Livorno was also the place where the helicopter had crashed into Archerâs yacht. He just hoped that Evangeline , and in particular, Rosalina hadnât moved away since heâd seen news footage of the helicopter crash weeks ago.
Nox arrived at Livorno early on a Friday morning and, out of curiosity, went straight to the marina.
He parked the car, but on account of the serious security he could do little else other than glance from a distance at the rows and rows of boats lined up in the marina. There were so many boats. A ridiculous amount of money floated out there. He had viewed Evangeline through high-powered binoculars so often while following Rosalina and her friends in the Greek Islands that he knew without a doubt he would recognise the enormous yacht.
Not today, though.
Even so, buoyed by the reasoning that he couldnât possibly see all the boats in the marina from his position at the fence, he clung to the hope that Archerâs yacht might still be out there.
He strode back to his car, and when he noticed an information booth alongside the fancy marina shops, he headed towards it. As he glanced around, wishing for a chance sighting of Archer or Rosalina, he ran his hands through his hair in an attempt to smooth it down. Despite actually being a homeless person, he didnât want to look like one.
Nox walked past two restaurants. One looked very fancy, with double white table cloths, highly polished silver, and an abundance of waiters, eager to please. The other restaurant, with its wooden bench tables and glass canisters loaded with cutlery, was much more casual. The smells of bacon and tomato had his stomach snarling, and the urge to reach over one of the tables and snatch the food right off someoneâs plate was powerful. He did resist though, and made it to the information booth without incident.
He stepped through the door and walked up to the young brunette woman at the counter. Nox refrained from smiling. His teeth were already
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