I licked my lips. The air in Venice tasted a little like stagnant ocean and fish, but with an overtone of fresh breeze that made it not unpleasant.
I looked around and got my bearings. We’d emerged at the corner of the piazza nearest the San Marco Basilica, with a small cafe on one side of us and a row of shuttered shops and outdoor bistros on the other. “La Serenissima doesn’t refer to any specific part of Venice, so that doesn’t give us a lot of direction,” I said, “but there’s this conspiracy theory about Alexander the Great’s bones being hidden at San Marco Basilica.” Stellan had found the book I’d asked for from the Dauphins’ library and told me the details.
“Napoleon might have heard that rumor, too. He was really interested in the church. And that over there”—I pointed across the piazza—“is called the Ala Napoleonica. The Napoleonic Wing. Though it seems to have only Venetian history these days, which is why I want to check the basilica first.”
Jack was nodding along. “Sounds like as good an idea as any.”
“Actually,” said a girl’s voice from behind us, in a light French accent, “I’ve got a better idea, but by all means continue to waste more time.”
We both spun around toward the cafe. There, leaning against a column, hundreds of miles away from Paris where she should be, was the Dauphins’ maid, Elodie.
CHAPTER 9
Jack pulled me behind his back, and I reached into my purse for my knife, like it would do much good against the throng of guards the Dauphins had probably sent to bring me back to the cell in their basement.
“Where are they?” I said, looking behind her. “Where are your guards?”
Elodie pushed off the wall, strolling a few feet out to nudge the water’s edge with her boot. The platinum highlights in her blond hair glinted in the dark. “I was beginning to think the earlier unpleasantness kept you inside for the night.”
“Unpleasantness?” I snapped. “Two people died.”
“How did you know we were here?” Jack said.
She rolled her eyes. “Can you really not guess?”
Jack tensed. “I’m going to kill Stellan—”
“He didn’t tell me. I just happened to remember the little threesome thing you all had going on, and what with his extended absences to spy on the Saxons lately, it wasn’t hard to put two and two together. Found the hidden phone he’s been using to communicate with you, and here I am. You know,” she said, glancing appraisingly at the bracelet gleaming on my wrist, “you should really be more careful.”
In a second, Jack was behind her, his gun to her back. “What do you want, Elodie?”
“Jack!” I started, but before I could say any more, Elodie wheeled around and kneed him in the crotch. He stumbled backward.
She retreated a few feet. “Don’t touch me—”
She went quiet when Jack pointed his gun at her again. Luckily, the small cafe we stood at the edge of was empty enough that no one was watching us.
“I didn’t realize things were quite so murderous around here.” Elodie raised her hands to waist-height.
“Did you not notice what happened tonight?” I nearly shrieked, and made myself quiet down. “I don’t care if you are telling the truth. You picked the worst possible time to sneak up on us.”
“I’m not here to hurt you,” she said, her palms still out, placating.
“Put the gun away,” I said to Jack.
“She could sound the alarm to the Dauphins at any second.” Jack’s eyes still roamed the piazza, but no one had approached us. “I don’t even know what they think they’d be able to do with you, but I guarantee she’s not just here to chat.”
“Just put the gun down,” I said. “Nobody else is getting shot tonight.”
He lowered it slowly, and I reached into my bag and swapped my knife for pepper spray. “It’s just mace,” I said to Elodie. “But you can’t expect us to trust you.”
“There,” Jack said, pointing to the cafe’s spindly bistro tables. “Sit.” While I held her at mace-point, he took a pair of handcuffs from an inside pocket of his jacket and cuffed her wrist to the chair.
“Are you serious?” Elodie huffed, flopping back dramatically.
“It’s just a precaution.” Once she was strapped in, I dropped the mace.
“I have to admit that after I helped you escape the wedding”—Elodie’s almond-shaped eyes got artificially wide, innocent—“I thought you’d be a little happier to see me.”
So it was on purpose. “Why did you do that, anyway?”
Elodie drummed her fingers—the only part of her able to move freely—on the arm of the chair. “I was bored. Thought I’d stir up some drama.”
“Be serious.”
“You seriously want to know why I’m here?” she said in her haughty French accent. “You could have asked before handcuffing me. As I said, I’ve been monitoring your conversations with Stellan. And I think I know things about your clues that you don’t.”