Chris came out of the bathroom, made an attempt to remove some of his clothes and crashed onto the bed. Ella smoothed his hair and responded in kind to his sloppy embrace. They became almost instantly still and quiet so Lucas turned off the light and sat back in his chair, staring out across the dark room.
He tried to think back to the book but the feeling had already gone. Instead, he could think only of the job at hand. In theory, the most difficult part was already behind him: he’d kept her alive, unharmed. In the morning he’d set about getting her to safety.
If Mark Hatto picked up the phone in the morning it wouldn’t be a problem, just a question of logistics. But if Hatto was dead, then the guys sent after Ella had been part of something much bigger, a hit complex and organized enough to leave Lucas out of his depth, particularly after a couple of years in retirement.
Nobody would be scared of him anymore, or of his reputation. Some of these young punks probably didn’t know he’d ever existed. She didn’t know it as she lay there sleeping, but probably the best thing Ella had going for her at the moment was the fact that no one considered him a threat anymore, that no one considered him much at all.
Chapter Four
He’d waited a couple of minutes since the first call but again, it ran onto the answering machine. He looked at his watch but it didn’t matter what the time was here, there or anywhere else. No one was answering the phone in the Hatto house and Lucas didn’t want to know why because he didn’t want to have to tell her. He wanted someone else to break the news.
He walked back to the car. The sun was fierce so he kept to the side of the street still in shadow and pressed through the tourists. He took the car back and bought tickets for the ten o’clock train. If he was handing them over, the consulate in Zurich was as good a place as any. And if it got messier, then at least he’d be playing on his home turf.
He started back to the hotel, stopping on the way to buy a duffel bag and a large backpack and toiletries. A part of him was thinking that he was going to too much trouble, that he’d be better off sending them to the police here in Florence.
And if Hatto was dead he wouldn’t even get the rest of the money. Here he was, though, determined to get her back alive, and he knew it was nothing to do with compassion, just a perverse professional pride, like a lawyer determined to win every case, no matter who the defendant was.
Lucas had the key but when he got back he could hear them talking so he knocked. ‘It’s Dad here.’ Chris opened the door. They were both dressed but looked full of sleep, unkempt. Neither of them had gone for the gun this time.
He threw the things on the bed and said, ‘Toothbrushes and stuff. Freshen up; we’re going out.’
‘Where?’
‘There’s a department store nearby. We’ll buy you both some clothes to put in these bags. Then we’re getting a train out of here.’
Ella looked troubled, confused, as she said, ‘I don’t get it. I thought you were gonna call Dad today and we’d get a plane home.’
Lucas looked at his watch, a feint, luring her away from the truth she might see buried in his eyes.
‘I’ll call him from Milan when we’re changing trains. I want to get away from here.’
Chris seemed edgy now and said, ‘So where are you taking us?’
‘Switzerland.’ He handed Ella the bag of toiletries and said, ‘And remember, when we’re out, call me Dad.’
Ella smiled in response and said, ‘You know, you don’t actually look old enough to be our father.’
‘So don’t call me anything. Just don’t call me Lucas, not in front of other people.’ Her smile dropped and he realized too late that she’d paid him a compliment, that she’d tried to be nice to him and that it might have been more appropriate to thank her, maybe say something nice in return.
Their mood lightened when they got to the department store, joking with each other as they shopped. And when Lucas paid, Ella smiled broadly at him and said, ‘Thanks, Dad.’
‘Yeah, thanks, Dad.’
He looked at them and smiled a little.
‘You’re welcome.’ He tried to smile at the girl behind the counter, but she was surly in response. She could tell, he thought, that whatever was going on here, he was no father, and not because he looked too young.
It was good to see Chris loosening up. He kept joking with Ella as they walked back to the hotel with the bags of clothes. Her good spirits were unlikely to make it through the day but Lucas reckoned on finding it easier if Chris was together enough to comfort her when the time came.
Lucas was still scanning the crowd as they walked. There seemed to be only tourists on the streets but he’d be glad to get out of Florence; he knew too well, from his own experience that tourist cities were easy places to kill someone.
When they got back, he kept it up, stepping into the lobby and glancing around before letting them pass. He looked quickly back out into the street then as Ella and Chris made towards the elevator. And then he heard her name spoken behind him, and it wasn’t Chris’s voice but somebody European.