Treasured Secrets (15 page)

‘You impressed me. But take a closer look at the lion in the copy.'

Archer lifted the photocopy. He reacted as if he'd been stung by a bee. ‘Holy shit,' he yelled. This time Rosalina didn't offer an apology to the guard below. Beneath the feet of the knight in the photocopy lay a roaring lion. Around the lion's neck was Archer's pendant.

‘Holy shit, Alex, do you realise what this means?'

A sly grin twinged at the sides of Alessandro's lips. ‘You owe me an apology.'

‘Okay. I'm sorry.' Archer reached for his pendant, drawing it out from beneath his shirt. He ran his thumb over the finger of gold as she'd seen him do thousands of times before. But this time he looked as if he were drawing some kind of energy from it, as if the gold was finally speaking to him.

Archer tapped the photocopy with his finger. ‘Someone went to a lot of trouble to create a replica of the first sarcophagi but deliberately removed the necklace from the lion. This's the first clue in over twenty years.' Archer pulled Alessandro in for a quick hug. ‘Thank you, man.' He clapped him on the back.

Rosalina giggled at the shock written all over Alessandro's face.

‘All right, that's enough.' Alessandro pushed back but beamed a satisfied grin. ‘We have work to do.'

Archer punched his fist into his hand. His smiled at Rosalina and for the first time in a long time, he looked genuinely happy. ‘What do we do now?'

Alessandro ran his hand through his thick hair and it fell right back into place. ‘I wouldn't mind a drink.'

‘Be serious.'

Alessandro clicked his fingers and strode away. He soon disappeared into the bookshelves again.

Archer turned to her, still smiling. ‘He's a strange one.'

‘Be nice.'

Archer palmed his chest. ‘I'm always nice. You know that.'

Alessandro looked about as happy as a puppy at the seaside when he returned a couple of minutes later with another book. He sat beside Rosalina and began scouring the pages.

‘Listen to this,' Alessandro said. ‘The Arte della Calimala guild were major textile merchants during the thirteenth century. They grew very wealthy and owned several buildings in the neighbourhood of our church, including the buildings immediately attached to it.'

‘And?'

‘Well, they were direct rivals with the Arte del Cambio guild who were also wealthy, but through banking. These guilds acted as
consorzios
, ummm, how do you say it in English…cartels. You know?'

Archer nodded, but his eyes grew darker as he frowned. Rosalina could tell he was tiring of Alessandro's long-winded history lessons. Even she began to wonder why Alessandro couldn't just get to the point. They were running out of time.

‘So although the local archbishop was the leader of the government, he depended on armed local nobles to execute the law. But of course, they only cooperated when it suited them. So…' He shrugged. ‘…the city was ultimately overrun by graft and corruption. As a consequence, many Florentines took governing into their own hands.'

Archer folded his arms. ‘Thanks for the history lesson…but it's not helping.'

‘Throughout the eleventh and twelfth century,' Alessandro carried on regardless, ‘Florence was basically a small town, but the by end of the thirteenth century it was one of the biggest and most influential cities in Europe.'

‘Come on, Einstein, we don't have much time here… What's the point?' Archer finally snapped.

‘That is the point. The Arte della Calimala guild would have amassed an extensive fortune, and with the bankers as their rivals, they had to hide their wealth somewhere.'

‘Are you suggesting the church?'

‘Well, it is interesting that they purchased much of the property around the church, and then in 1348 they sent a fake tomb to a church in Naples to stop people visiting their church.'

Archer slapped Alessandro on the shoulder. ‘You're a genius. That fits perfectly.'

‘You know what else is significant about that year?'

‘What?' Rosalina asked.

‘That's the year the black plague decimated the city. Nearly half the Florentine population perished.'

Rosalina didn't understand the significance. ‘How does that fit in?'

Alessandro leaned back and drew her eyes to his. ‘During that time, the executors of the law would have either fled the city, lived in seclusion, were dying or in high probability already dead. This meant with no one to enforce the law, people could do as they pleased.'

‘So,' Rosalina frowned, ‘the question is, why would they duplicate the tomb of Robert the Wise and keep it hidden in the Church of St Apostoli, but claim to have moved it?'

Archer clicked his fingers. ‘Because there's something hidden within it.'

‘Right.'

Alessandro shrugged. ‘So all we have to do is break into the church again and use your pendant to open the hidden vault.'

‘Exactly.'

Alessandro looked at Archer in horror. ‘I was joking.'

‘I'm not.'

As Archer climbed down the library's marble front steps, he pictured the church's layout in his mind. It was basically symmetrical, with the main aisle dividing the church in half. The oval door was halfway along the aisle and in full view of anyone. It would be a miracle if they entered unnoticed for a second time, but as far as he was concerned, he had no choice. They did have the element of surprise in their hands. No one would think they'd break in for a second time. At least, that's what he was banking on.

They stepped into the cool night air and Archer held back from the bustling crowd as Alessandro hailed a cab. Rosalina hovered between them as if she were unsure which man to go to. He didn't blame her. One minute she was cruising along with the Italian gigolo and then Archer waltzed back into her life after eight months apart. Add in all the church craziness and it was no wonder she was confused. But now, more than ever, he would do anything to win her heart again. He'd take it slowly. Whatever it took. And if, in the end, she went with Alessandro, then he'd accept that. Even if it crushed him letting her go for the second time.

Archer's suspicion was alerted when a man in the shadows of the library quickly looked away from his gaze. But either he was becoming paranoid, or the stranger wasn't interested in him, because the man simply strolled off without haste.

‘Archer,' Alessandro yelled from an open taxi door.

Archer jumped into the rear seat and stifled a laugh, as Rosalina was now squashed between the two men vying for her heart. She seemed to be taking it all in her stride though. Rosalina was like that, strong and confident. That was one of the many things he loved about her.

When he looked through the back window of the taxi, Archer noticed the stranger lift a phone to his ear. The knots of tension in his stomach wound a little tighter as he anticipated the man reporting their moves to someone in authority.

The taxi was taking forever, winding its way through the bustling Florence streets. Finally it pulled into the curb alongside the deserted Piazza del Limbo and both Archer and Alessandro were quick to offer to pay the bill. In the end Archer triumphed, and instructed the driver to keep the change.

They strode across the piazza and then Archer directed both Rosalina and Alessandro to the side of the church. ‘I know what you're going to say, Rosa, but —'

‘No.' She said it with authority.

‘You don't know what I'm —'

‘You want me to stay here while you go back into the church. The answer is no. And nothing will change my mind.' She folded her arms over her chest. It was hard to argue with a woman with a black eye; she looked mean. And angry.

Damn, she was stubborn. Time for damage control. ‘Okay, so here's the plan. This is going to be fast. Real fast. The three of us stick together, that's not negotiable. Alessandro, you look after Rosalina and don't let her out of your sight. I'll handle anyone we come across. Okay?'

Alessandro was actually grinning. Clearly he was pleased with his role in the plan.

Rosalina was a brave woman; even after all she'd been through today, she simply nodded her head as if digesting the details.

Archer puffed out his cheeks and let out a slow and steady breath. ‘Hopefully we'll be in and out before they even know it.'

Rosalina cupped his ears and drew him in to kiss both his cheeks. ‘Be careful.'

She did the same to Alessandro. ‘You too.'

There was nothing left to do but pray. Not that he was a praying man. ‘Let's go.'

Archer took the lead and ran around the corner of the church to the front door. He leapt over the raised entrance and ran down the mosaic-chequered aisle. Within seconds he was on his hands and knees and tugging on the oval door. Rosalina was right there with him and, unlike Alessandro had been earlier today, she was ready to slide her hands under the slab as soon as it released. It came quickly this time and within seconds he'd launched himself into the room below.

Rosalina was next, and as she dropped into the room he caught her. If it weren't so damn risky it could've been a romantic moment. As he carried her aside, Alessandro dropped into the room too. Archer put Rosalina back onto her feet and drew up alongside Alessandro. ‘Look after her.'

‘There's no need to say it again.' In the dim light, Alessandro's clenched jaw accentuated his look of determination and in that split second, Archer wondered if he'd underestimated the professor. Maybe Alessandro was a whole lot more of a man than Archer had defined him as.

Right now, he was grateful for that thought. Because with what they were about to do, he may need Alessandro more than he cared to admit. Archer strode to the door and willed it to be open like last time. It was. Within seconds, the three of them were running along the same passage they'd travelled hours earlier. Every tunnel looked identical and Archer hoped he could remember the way to go. They moved fast and, thankfully, quietly. Maybe, just maybe, they'd be back out again before anything happened.

It seemed like no time before they arrived at the room with the crypt. The three of them rushed to the stone effigy. Rosalina lowered to her knees and ran her finger over the carved necklace on the lion. She then pointed out the groove where half of the pendant was missing. ‘See what I mean?'

Archer's heart hiked a notch or two as he reached behind his neck and unclipped his necklace. After a moment's hesitation he slid his pendant into the slot and held his breath as he pushed the piece into place. A whoosh of air sounded as a secret door popped beneath the lion's feet.

‘Wow,' Rosa whispered.

‘Oh,
dio mio
,' Alessandro murmured.

Crowding together, the three of them squatted to look into the tomb. Despite its vast size, the only item in the sarcophagus was a book. Obviously recognising the book could be a priceless artefact, Rosalina lifted it from the secret vault with a delicate touch.

‘A book?' Alessandro frowned.

‘A book people are willing to kidnap over,' Archer said, as he took out his phone and photographed the vault and the tomb.

Rosalina turned over the leather front cover. Centred in the middle of the first page was the date: 1
^st
January 1325. She gasped. ‘It's nearly seven hundred years old. I wonder how long it's been in here.'

‘From its appearance I'd guess most of that time,' Alessandro said.

She flipped over another couple of pages. ‘It's a diary.'

‘Time to get out of here. Alex, you hang onto that book and whatever you do, don't let go.'

Alessandro nodded, clutching the leather-bound cover to his chest.

Archer popped out his gold pendant and slipped it back around his neck.

‘Let's go.' Archer made for the door and turned left. He tracked along the same passages they'd travelled earlier. He paused a fraction outside the closed door of the hexagonal room as he waited for Alessandro to catch his breath.

Expecting the room to be empty, Archer turned the handle and burst in. It was far from it.

From that second on all hell broke loose.

Brother Nox rested his elbows on the table and pressed his fingers together until his knuckles hurt. Welcoming the pain, he studied the miserable group of men who stared at him across the table. The flickering candles enhanced their injuries but he held no sympathy. In their ineptitude, they had failed him. He was ready to strangle someone after watching the footage of Rosalina's escape. For hours he'd been trying to get a plan together and not one of the fools before him were helping.

It was only by chance that Brother Linchin had seen the woman and two men at the library; otherwise they'd have nothing. Now, once they had the details of that credit card used in the computer room, then at least they'd have the name of the Australian man. Linchin was working on that, and Nox knew he wouldn't fail him — not with the footage Nox had on the brother.

As he stared at the other three men he could almost recount every second of footage he had on each and every one of them. Not that it helped him right now; they were all completely useless.

The door burst open and Nox jumped to his feet. His jaw dropped at what he was seeing. The Australian, the woman and another man charged into the room. Nox saw what was under the stranger's arm and a raging fire burned up within him. He had a solid idea as to what it would be.

He reacted quickly, but his three counterparts sat there, wide-eyed and struck dumb. It all happened so fast. One minute the Australian was pushing the woman and the tall man past his men, who put up no resistance whatsoever. Next second the other man was urging the woman to the stairs before he followed her up to the kitchen. Nox raced to grab them but the Australian blocked his way. As Nox lunged, a growl began at the base of his stomach and released as a shrill scream. The Australian was quick on his feet. He simply ducked aside from Nox's charge. Nox turned to lunge again but he was too late. Searing pain ripped up the back of his neck. His legs crumbled.