The Lost Relic. Scott Mariani
‘It’s a long story.’
Boonzie and Mirella waved as Ben climbed into the Shogun. He waved back, took a last glance at the tranquil haven they’d made their home and then drove off down the bumpy track towards the road.
Ben headed roughly south-southwest with the rising sun behind him, aiming more or less in the direction of Naples with the intention of veering slowly towards Italy’s west coast. From there, he’d follow the coastal road through a hundred seaside towns and villages until eventually he reached Rome.
For a man who’d been running this way and that for most of his life, always with a precisely calculated plan in mind, always battling the clock, it felt strange to be at something of a loose end. Strange, yet welcome too – because, for the first time, he wasn’t looking forward to his trip to visit Brooke in London. A month earlier, he’d have been racing to get there.
What had changed? That was the question in his mind as he drove. For the hundredth time he raked back in his mind through all their conversations, things he might have said to upset her, anything he might have done wrong. He couldn’t think of a single reason. There’d been no arguments between them. No falling out, nothing to explain why things should be less than deliriously perfect. Almost three months of what he’d thought was a happy, loving, warm relationship.
So what had gone wrong? What had been eating her lately? She’d seemed to withdraw from him, obviously preoccupied but refusing to talk about what was on her mind. Not so long ago, they’d taken every opportunity to be together, whether it was him travelling to London or her coming down to see him at Le Val. But suddenly she’d seemed less interested in leaving her place in Richmond, even cancelling the last couple of lectures in hostage psychology she’d been due to give for his clients. All of a sudden she was hard to get on the phone, and when he did manage to get through to her, he was sure he could detect a tone in her voice that hadn’t been there before. Nothing had been said. It was as though she was hiding something from him.
What exactly he thought he was going to achieve by springing this surprise visit on her in London, he wasn’t quite sure. Did he mean to have it out with her? Challenge her? Level with her about how much he cared for her and ask her to be straight with him in return?
Maybe the problem wasn’t with her, he thought as he drove on. Maybe it was with him. Wasn’t he the one who’d come to Italy looking for ways to get out of his situation at Le Val? Wasn’t he the one who wanted to walk away from the stability he’d worked so hard to build? Maybe Brooke had sensed something in him, some change in him, or a lack of commitment. That thought hurt him, and he asked himself over and over again whether there was any truth in it. Was there? He didn’t think so, but maybe there was.
A Paris cop called Luc Simon had once said something to Ben that had stayed with him ever since:
‘Men like us are bad news for women. We’re lone wolves. We want to love them, but we only hurt them. And so they walk away …’
Ben stayed on the minor roads, trying to hold himself down to a steady pace but finding the car’s speed constantly creeping up on him. After a while he just settled back and let it go as fast as it wanted. The blast from the open windows tore at his hair, and he found a radio station that was playing live jazz – hard-driving, frenetic, with shrieking saxes and thunderous drums that suited his mood.
In the few hours it took him to reach the west coast, passing through the sun-soaked hills of the rich Campania region, he’d managed to mellow somewhat. It was early afternoon when he caught his first glimpse of the blue Tyrrhenian Sea, boats and yachts dotted white on the glittering waters. He meandered on for a few more kilometres and then found an ancient fishing village just a little to the north of Mondragone, unspoilt by the tourists, where he pulled over. He checked his phone for any messages from Brooke. There were none.
After a few minutes of wandering the crumbling streets he found a restaurant that overlooked the beach – a quiet family-run place with small tables, chequered tablecloths and a homely menu that almost compared with the delights of Casa McCulloch. The wine tempted him but he drank less than a full glass before moving on.
Normally, nobody would have known or cared where the van was going. It was an ordinary Mercedes commercial vehicle, dirty white, battered and rattly with SERVIZI GIARDINIERI ROSSI in faded letters on its flanks. One of a million vans that came and went every day and attracted no attention. There was nothing remarkable or unusual about the driver and the two guys sitting up front with him in the cab, either. Their names were Beppe, Mauro and Carmine and they all worked for the small firm based outside Ánzio that sold garden supplies and landscaping materials. Their last job today was hauling a load of ornamental slabs and edging stones to the Academia Giordani, the art school place out in the sticks where they’d been delivering a lot of stuff lately.
At just after four in the afternoon they were heading down a narrow country road that was deserted apart from a black Audi Q7 behind them. It had been sticking with them for a few kilometres, and every so often Beppe glanced in his wing mirror and scowled at the way the big SUV was hanging so close up his arse. Mauro was smoking a cigarette and content-edly enjoying the peace before he’d have to pull on his work gloves and get down to unloading the heavy stuff in the back. In the window seat, Carmine was brooding as usual.
Without warning, a pickup truck lurched out of a side road thirty metres ahead and Beppe’s attention was snatched away from the irritating Audi behind them. He braked sharply. Mauro was caught unawares and spilled forwards in his seat, his cigarette falling into his lap.
‘Son of a—’
The pickup rolled out across the road and then, inexplicably, it stopped. There was no way to drive around it. It was a chunky four-wheel-drive Nissan Warrior, five guys inside. Beppe honked his horn angrily for them to get out of the way, but the only response was a flat stare from the driver. His window was rolled down and a forearm thicker than a baseball bat was draped casually along the sill. This was a guy with at least a decade of serious toil invested in the weights room. The width of his jaw hinted at steroid use. His eyes were hidden behind mirrored wraparound shades, but he appeared to be gazing calmly right at the van.
‘What the fuck are they doing?’ Mauro said.
‘Out the way, moron!’ Beppe shook his fist, fired some abuse out of the open window, and when that didn’t elicit any further response he threw open his door and jumped down from the cab. Carmine and Mauro exchanged glances and then got out and followed. The pickup truck doors opened slowly and the two guys in front stepped out and began to walk over. The driver towered head and shoulders over his passenger. Mauro swallowed as they got closer.
‘Hey, fuckhead. Can’t you see you’re blocking the road?’ Beppe shouted at them. Carmine and Mauro prepared to back him up as the pickup guys kept on approaching. Road rage, Italian style. This wasn’t the first time for them. But it wasn’t just the size of the big guy that was unsettling. It was the way all the pickup guys looked so completely calm. The three still inside the vehicle hadn’t moved a muscle, seemingly unperturbed by what was happening. Beppe’s stride faltered just a little as he drew closer. ‘So you going to move that truck out the way or what?’ Maybe negotiation was better than outright aggression.
The big guy just smiled, and then quite casually came out with a string of obscenities so appalling and confrontational that Beppe reeled as if he’d been slapped. That was when the argument kicked off in earnest, insults flying back and forth as Beppe and his companions squared up to the pickup guys, toe to toe in the middle of the road.
The three were so taken up with yelling and threatening, prodding and shoving that they’d forgotten all about the black Audi Q7 that had been following