Treasured Lies (9 page)

As he leant against the wood panelling and swallowed back the bitter taste of bile, he listened for sounds. The helicopter. The returning tender. His friends. Anything to show signs of life. But all he heard were a couple of seagulls fighting over something as they swooped and dived overhead.

Somehow he needed to warn everyone. Regardless of the strength in his resolve, his limbs were completely useless.

Alessandro recalled the same feeling of utter helplessness when Rosalina was abducted by Nox. It was the first time he'd felt true despair. Just the thought of that madman touching Rosalina exposed emotions inside him that he'd never experienced before. The desire for revenge had tipped his sanity scales and Alessandro would've done anything to save her.

Two things happened during rescuing Rosalina from that crypt. The first was that Alessandro truly understood how much he loved Rosalina, the second was that he saw just how much she loved Archer. While his aching heart crumbled to pieces to let her go, it was ultimately gratifying to see just how happy she was in Archer's arms.

It was a bittersweet moment when Alessandro told Rosalina that he wished her all the love and joy in the world with Archer. But he also told her he'd find a way to punish the Australian if he ever broke her flawless heart. Although she'd laughed at him at the time, Alessandro was certain she knew how serious he was.

There was, however, one decent thing that came out of her capture; finding the ancient diary. Nox had left Rosalina alone in that crypt with the effigy of Robert The Wise for so long that she'd found a secret door on the tomb. The fact that it opened with Archer's pendant had been a miracle. In fact, it was more than a miracle, it was destiny. No other word could describe it. The circumstances that led to that moment were otherwise beyond comprehension and Alessandro would forever be grateful that he shared that special moment with Rosalina. Along with this treasure hunt. In spite of the mortal dangers he'd experienced firsthand, he'd never regret accepting Rosalina's offer to join her on this trip.

But now it would seem that after a tumultuous couple of months, riding a rollercoaster of unbridled excitement one day and pain and terror the next, there could be nothing to show for it. Whenever Alessandro had held a piece of that treasure in his hands it was like holding a newborn baby. Each one was unique, precious and irreplaceable. Now there was every possibility they were all gone. Ignatius may have taken it all.

Much of the information Alessandro gleaned from the web on Ignatius seemed more like fable than fact. Iggy had made it his lifetime's work to remain elusive in his business dealings. Alessandro did learn, however, that the man was an enigma who swooped in on cash strapped private vendors wanting to offload valuable treasures. Ignatius had an abundance of funds and no regard for the rightful place for any antiquities—in museums.

Based on that information, Alessandro was certain they'd never see any of the Calimala treasures they'd unearthed ever again.

A distant hum floated over the water, and through his thumping headache he tuned into it. Closing his eyes seemed to amplify his pounding headache so he opened them again and stared at a spot of blood on his shin instead. The noise was developing now, and with a flood of relief he believed it was the returning tender. The noise abruptly stopped and the silence engulfed him.

‘Help.' His voice was a feeble whisper. His eyes burned and welled up. He closed them and placed his hands over his face in an attempt to block out all light.

‘Alex. Alex, where are you?' He heard the panic in Rosalina's voice and wondered if she'd seen the helicopter and knew he'd been in danger.

‘I'm here.' He called out but his brain and tongue were poles apart in co-operation. Instead he counted to the regular throbbing beat behind his eyes as he waited for Rosalina.

‘I found him.' Rosalina materialised at his side. ‘Hey, are you okay?'

He opened his eyes and squinted against the glare. Rosalina was right there before him. Her beautiful blue eyes were stricken with panic.

‘It's okay, Alex. It's me, Rosa.' Her voice trembled. When she touched his arm he was taken back to that very brief night when they were young lovers. When nothing else mattered but exploring her glorious body with all the time in the world. He groaned at the ill-timed thought. That distant memory was a long, long way from where they were right now.

‘I'm here, Alex.' Ginger's angelic voice, twisted with concern, tugged him back to the present and added guilt to his already mounting woes. He mentally slapped himself for thinking of Rosalina when his affections were for Ginger.

Ginger crawled up to him and he felt the touch of her hand on his thigh. ‘Oh my God.' She reached up and he closed his eyes as she gently drew his hair back from his forehead and winced. ‘Jesus.'

Alessandro blinked his eyes open and stared at his hands. Blood had dribbled between his fingers like ugly tattoos. He reached up to where Ginger's gaze remained. Already a lump had formed over his eyebrow and the gash he felt there was open, bloody and sickening.

‘
Il bastardo mi ha colpito
.' He hadn't seen what Ignatius had hit him with, but with all the shattered pieces of pottery around his feet, it wasn't hard to work out what it was. The ancient ceramic urn, still adorned with intricate patterns, was probably priceless. Ignatius would have known that. Clearly he didn't care. If this was his way of making a statement, then it was loud and clear.

Archer and Jimmy joined them. ‘Is he alright?' Archer's voice was a cocktail of concern and authority.

‘Iggy hit him with one of the Calimala pots.' Ginger's hooded eyes were the picture of concern and Alessandro leant into her palm as she cupped his cheek. ‘This cut looks deep, baby. You may need stitches.'

‘
Per favore
, no more stitches.' Alessandro hoped they heard his determination over the unexpected quiver in his voice.

‘Come on, babe.' Ginger eased her arm around Alessandro's back. ‘Let's get you inside and see how bad this cut is.'

‘Did the bastard take the lot?' Jimmy's question had all four of them looking at each other.

‘Let's see to Alex first and then we'll have a look.' Archer was the picture of calm as he said it, but Alessandro knew he'd be wrestling boiling anger on the inside.

Rosalina pushed to her feet, and with her hand on Archer's chest she looked up at him. ‘Is your mum okay?'

Alessandro didn't have time to consider Helen during the attack and his stomach lurched into anxious knots as he searched Archer's face, waiting for his answer.

‘She's fine. Looks like she slept right through it. Just as well …' Archer clenched his jaw so hard his upper lip trembled.

Alessandro's relief allowed him to relax a little because, should something have happened to Helen, as much as he wanted to, he didn't have the mental strength right now to deal with it.

‘Let's get Alex inside and see to that wound.' Archer put his hand under Alessandro's armpit and helped him to stand. His knees trembled as he was drawn to his feet.

With Archer on one side and Ginger on the other, Alessandro was propped up between the two of them, led to the saloon and eased onto a lounge.

‘I'll get the first-aid kit.' Rosalina raced towards the galley.

‘Aaah, shit.' Jimmy slapped his hand on the kitchen bench so hard it sounded like a cracking whip. ‘Looks like he's taken friggin' everything.'

‘Maybe not everything,' Alessandro said. ‘Look in the cupboards. When I heard that helicopter I tried to hide as many things as I could. I just hope he didn't look in there.'

Jimmy bent to open a cupboard, whistled, then he strode over, placed his hands over Alessandro's ears and kissed the top of his head.

‘Ouch.' Alessandro winced but it quickly turned into a smile. He pointed towards the kitchen. ‘Check the fridge, oven and microwave too.'

‘I bloody love you, man.' Jimmy made short work of the distance from the lounge to the kitchen. ‘Genius. You're a dead-set genius.'

‘I don't think he even saw the monkey statue.' Alessandro couldn't believe the statue was still sitting there. ‘Hidden in plain view and all that.'

‘Thank God,' Archer said.

‘I didn't have time to hide everything.' Alessandro felt the weight of failure as he tried to mentally picture the things he didn't save.

Rosalina was looking at him and he read the empathy in her eyes. Of all of them, she knew how much every one of those pieces meant to him. History was his passion. He'd grown up surrounded by it. He made it his life pursuit to teach others the glory of it. And now he was lucky enough to be unveiling history.

‘Did you hide the diary, Alessandro?' Rosalina asked.

Alessandro nodded. ‘Yes. It's in one of the drawers.'

Ginger touched a cloth to his forehead and he winced. ‘Sorry, babe,' she said.

‘I can't believe he hit me with a thirteenth century pot.' The careless disregard for irreplaceable history was appalling. ‘
Bastardo
. That pot would have been worth a
fortuna
.'

‘I don't think he cares.' With his clenched jaw, Archer hissed the words out.

‘I did your trick, Rosa, pretended I'd passed out so he couldn't lift me.' Alessandro remembered every detail of that bloody situation like it happened yesterday. When Nox had attacked, Rosalina feigned unconsciousness so she could help everyone else. At the time Alessandro thought Nox had actually knocked her out, and if he hadn't been bleeding to death on one of the deckchairs he would have been the one who tried to save them all.

‘Jesus, I wonder what he was planning to do?' Ginger dabbed at Alessandro's wound with a feather light touch.

‘Probably demand the treasure in exchange for me, like Nox did to you in Florence, Rosalina.' Rosalina reached up and touched her left eye. The bruise had long ago vanished but the horrid memories when Nox held her captive in the crypt would probably never fade away.

Jimmy was making a mighty racket recovering all the precious pieces from the kitchen cupboards and the sound echoed around Alessandro's battered brain. ‘Jimmy,
per favore
, be careful.' Alessandro found his voice.

‘Sorry,' Jimmy said. ‘I'm just excited to see all my babies back.'

Ginger handed him a small mirror. The wound on his forehead didn't look too bad now that Ginger had wiped away the blood. It didn't look like it needed stitches either.

‘I hid the most precious pieces first. But I think there were about twenty or thirty items I couldn't hide. Like the pottery.' Alessandro hung his head with the burden.

‘You did a great job, Alex.' Archer put his hand on Alessandro's forearm. It was a relief to hear the compliment, though he didn't feel at all like a hero.

‘I'm sorry we left you alone. Didn't think that through, did we?' Archer clenched his jaw and when he blinked, his eyes turned to Rosalina's. With a deep frown and slumped shoulders, his body language was a tangle of relief and anger. But his expression quickly shifted to chiselled jaw and steely eyes, and Alessandro wondered what he was thinking now.

‘I couldn't believe his audacity when he landed on the roof.' Alessandro reached up to touch the lump on his forehead. ‘How did he know you weren't here?'

Alessandro threw the question out. But the more he thought about it, the more he realised Iggy must have been watching them all along. His eyes met with Archer and he was pretty certain he'd arrived at the same conclusion.

‘He's been spying on us.' Archer rubbed his hand across his forehead and let out a deep sigh. ‘He knew we'd left in the tender and all he had to do was come in and pick up the pieces.'

‘Bloody hell.' Jimmy clenched his jaw and anger burned his cheeks red. ‘Thank God you hid it, Alex. He would've taken the whole lot.'

‘Fortunately, I'd already photographed everything.' Alessandro smiled a lopsided grin. It was a bittersweet triumph. ‘At least we can work out what's missing now. Did you find any more?'

Archer clicked his fingers. ‘We sure did. Come on, Jimmy, we better get it aboard and take off before Iggy returns.'

‘Hang on a minute.' Jimmy held up his palms. ‘What do you mean take off? The way I see it, we need to get back down there diving before he comes back with the whole shooting match and starts diving himself.'

‘Hey, guys.' Rosalina held up her hands now in an attempt to calm Jimmy down. ‘Let's take this one step at a time. We'll get the pieces up here first, then we'll work out what to do next. Alessandro, are you okay here for a minute?'

‘I'm fine.' He took the folded up gauze from Ginger and tried to ignore the blood soaked into it. The last time he'd seen his own blood was when it was pooling onto the dive deck after Nox attacked them. This wound was miniscule in comparison.

Alessandro reached for Gingers hand. ‘I'll be okay,
la mia bella
.'

‘What's
la mia bella
?' He was treated to one of Ginger's beautiful smiles. Not just with her lips, but her eyes too. Even her skin glossed over.

He curled a thread of her long blonde hair behind her ear. ‘It means my beautiful.'

Her already delightful smile positively beamed. She cupped his cheeks, leant forward and kissed him on the lips.

She pulled back with her bottom lip between her teeth.

‘Go help them, babe. I'll be okay here.'

She nodded. ‘Okay then. But I'll be straight back.'

Alessandro was left alone with what was left of the ancient relics and Ginger's lingering scent. He detected coconut oil and peppermint. Ginger was nothing like Rosalina and he was quick to admit that was probably a good thing. To be able to look at another woman with Rosalina in the room was a giant step forward for him. Alessandro was determined to move on. It was time. Besides, Ginger was the first woman he'd met in a very long time who had captured his interest so thoroughly. Her naivety was enthralling. Maybe, by pure happenstance, she was the one he'd been waiting for all along.