The Traitor (The Carnivia Trilogy) (43 page)
Read The Traitor (The Carnivia Trilogy) Online
Authors: Jonathan Holt
In a filthy, freezing Venice, three strangers unearth dark secrets in Italy’s past that send shockwaves reverberating into the present.
Second Lieutenant Holly Boland of US army intelligence, in Venice on her first foreign posting, believes that in order to protect freedom, sometimes you have to break the law. Captain Kat Tapo of the Venice Carabinieri believes that it’s precisely the rule of law they should be fighting to protect.
Together with the reclusive Venetian aristocrat-turned-computer hacker Daniele Barbo, creator of the encrypted secrets-sharing website Carnivia, they unravel a web of corruption that stretches into the farthest reaches of the government, the military and the Church.
They will uncover miscarriages of justice dating back decades.
Now these unlikely allies must work together – and work fast – because there are men in the shadows of power who will do anything to ensure their secrets stay buried…
1
– The Boatman
(previously published as
The Abomination
)
The dead body of a woman priest. The powerful men who stonewall the case. The shocking truth that will rewrite history.
As fireworks crackle over Venice to celebrate the Feast of the Epiphany, the freezing tides deposit a sinister bundle on the steps of Santa Maria della Salute. It is the body of a woman, dressed in the robes of a priest – what the Vatican calls an abomination.
Captain Kat Tapo of the Carabinieri has been pressing to work on a murder case – but she never expected anything as dark as this. A tattoo on the victim’s wrist matches graffiti in an abandoned lunatic asylum on an uninhabited island. Arcane symbols hint at rites by female cults. Then a journalist investigating war crimes at a nearby US Army base is found dead – and Kat’s case is immediately shut down.
Venice has always been a city of spies. Centuries ago, citizens hid their identity behind ornate Carnival masks. Now, they log on to Carnivia, a virtual Venice where anonymity is absolute. Here, behind layers of encryption, Kat will have no protection from her badge or rank – only from a reclusive computer hacker and a young American intelligence officer who share her need for answers. They all want the truth: did the drowned woman die because of what she believed? Or because of what she knew?
2
– The Dancer
(
previously published as
The Abduction
)
It’s Carnival time, and Venice is one big party. No one notices the slim figure in the feathered mask wandering away from the crowd. No one hears her shout as a thick felt hood is pulled over her head. No one sees the van with blacked-out windows that carries her up into the hills.
Mia Elston is the daughter of a US army officer stationed near Venice. But who would snatch her, and why? Then a video appears on the anonymous website Carnivia.com. A terrified teenage girl, hanging by her shackled hands. A message scrolls across the screen: According to America, this is not torture. At 7pm, she will not be tortured…
Responsibility is claimed by an activist group demanding an end to US bases in Italy. But Captain Kat Tapo of the Venice Carabinieri isn’t so sure – and US intelligence analyst Holly Boland also has her doubts. The more the two women investigate, the more the case becomes as murky as the dark waters of Venice itself.
Reclusive hacker Daniele Barbo, Carnivia’s presiding genius, has never allowed the authorities to access his servers. But when secrets from Italy’s wartime past begin to surface, he must make a difficult choice. Will he betray his principles to help his friends? If the truth isn’t discovered in time, Carnivia itself could be in danger…
3
– The Traitor
He died in the darkness, surrounded by friends. They found him at sunrise, on Venice’s most popular beach. His throat had been cut, his tongue removed.
Captain Kat Tapo suspects a ritual murder with Masonic roots. The brotherhood won’t give up its secrets to a policewoman – but Kat won’t give up the hunt. She’ll use all the allies she has: friends, lovers, hackers, spies.
But shocking truths about the case are about to come to light. And when they do, it will be a race against time to unlock the secrets of Italy’s past – before Venice itself starts to burn...
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The story starts here.
First published in the UK in 2015 by Head of Zeus, Ltd
Copyright © Jonathan Holt, 2015
Jacket design: Anna Green at siulendesign.com
Jacket images: © Steve MacAulay/Getty Images and irisphoto1/Shutterstock
Author photo © Hugh Dickens
The moral right of Jonathan Holt to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act of 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.
This is a work of fiction. All characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
Extract from ‘Cities and Thrones and Powers’ by Rudyard Kipling, first published in Puck of Pook’s Hill (1906).
Extract from ‘The Hacker Manifesto’ by The Mentor (Loyd Blankenship), originally published in Phrack (January 1986).
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A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN (HB) 9781781853757
ISBN (XTPB) 9781781853689
ISBN (E) 9781781853740
Head of Zeus Ltd
Clerkenwell House
45-47 Clerkenwell Green
London EC1R 0HT
