‘Professore!’ she urged. ‘We have to get going. Please hurry.’
But unlike before, he didn’t respond. In fact, the only noise she heard was the beating of her own heart, a sound that suddenly increased in volume and rapidity.
Curious and slightly concerned, Maria crept past several wooden crates and headed toward the area where they’d slept. Unfortunately, the deeper she ventured into the building, the darker it got, and before long she found herself struggling to see even a foot in front of her.
‘Professore? Where are you? What’s wrong?’
When she heard no response, her curiosity was replaced with fear. What if someone had found him? What if he’d tripped in the darkness and hurt himself? What if someone…?
Just then Maria heard movement behind her. She ducked under several cobwebs and sidestepped a stack of boxes while heading toward the car’s headlights. To her surprise she saw Boyd sitting on the hood of the Fiat the moment she reached the alleyway.
‘Professore! I’ve been looking all over for you. How’d you get out here?’
‘With a little help, my dear.’
She smiled, glad that he was safe. ‘The lights were helpful, weren’t they?’
He sighed, ‘Regrettably, that’s not what I meant.’
‘It wasn’t? Then what are you talking about?’
At which point Payne introduced himself. ‘He’s trying to tell you I dragged him out.’
She whirled and saw his Beretta, his eyes completely hidden behind dark shades.
‘Who the hell are you?’ she demanded in Italian. ‘What do you want from us?’
But Payne refused to answer. Instead, he grabbed her by her hair and threw her against the car. She briefly resisted until he let her know that he was in charge, shoving her face against the warm metal of the Fiat. Then he strengthened his hold by ramming his knee between her thighs and pinning her in place with his body weight. From there he was able to frisk her and tie her hands behind her back with a piece of cord that he’d found inside the warehouse. Finally, once she was secured, he spoke. ‘Now, what were you asking?’
She looked at him, confused. She had assumed that Payne was with the polizia because of his dark hair and his Beretta. But the more she heard his voice, the more certain she was that he was an American. ‘Who are you?’ she demanded in English. ‘What the hell do you want?’
Payne grinned at her profanity. ‘Hey, Doc! Where’d you find her? She’s feisty.’
‘You’re damn right I’m feisty. Now answer my damn question before I start screaming.’
‘Excuse me?’ Payne took a step forward and placed his gun under her chin. ‘Listen up, lady, I’m not sure you understand the situation, so I’m going to break it down for you. First of all, what’s your name? I don’t think it’s appropriate to call you “lady” when you don’t act like one.’
‘Mmrria.’
He eased up slightly so he could understand her.
‘My name’s Maria.’
‘OK, Maria, here’s the deal: I currently have a gun buried in your throat. Do you feel it?’
She nodded carefully.
‘Good. I thought you would. It’s kind of hard to miss, huh?’
She nodded again.
‘Wow! You’re getting pretty good at this. I ask a question and you answer it. Very softly. OK? There’s no shouting, no anger, and no feistiness. Men with guns don’t like feistiness. Do you understand me?’ She nodded one more time. ‘Now then, my partner and I have a few questions that we’ve been dying to ask you guys.’
‘Your partner?’
Jones announced his presence by opening the Fiat’s door.
‘Oh,’ she grunted.
‘Oh?’ Jones mocked. ‘I make a cool-ass entrance, and all you have to say is, “Oh”?’
She looked at him and sneered. ‘What would you like me to say?’
‘I don’t know. I figured a good lookin’ lady like yourself would at least try to butter me up. You know, turn on the sexual charm to sweet-talk your way out of this. And if that didn’t work, I figured you’d club me like the security guard at the library.’
Maria turned a bright shade of red. ‘I swear to God I didn’t mean to hurt that guy. I just wanted him to let go of me. That’s all! I had to warn -’
Payne waited for her to finish, but she never did. ‘You had to warn who? Your boyfriend?’
‘Good heavens!’ Boyd snapped. ‘I’m not her boyfriend. What kind of man do you think I am? Maria is simply a student of mine! Nothing more!’
Payne said, ‘A student? A student in crime, maybe. I mean, you guys have been on quite a roll. The helicopter in Orvieto, the exploding bus, the library guard with the swollen nuts. Tsk, tsk, tsk. You should be ashamed of yourselves.’
‘Ashamed?’ she cried. ‘We haven’t done anything wrong! The helicopter and the guard were self-defense. And the bus was an attempt on our lives.’
‘On your lives? Please! Why would anyone murder so many people just to kill you?’
She was ready to answer until she noticed Boyd shaking his head.
‘Come on,’ Payne goaded. ‘We know all about the treasure in the Catacombs. Or is there some other secret that you’re trying to keep from us?’
Boyd’s mouth fell open. ‘But how? Who?… Who are you two?’
‘Now, Doc, why should we answer that? You guys won’t answer our questions, so why should we answer yours?’
Jones chuckled. ‘I don’t know, maybe we should introduce ourselves? It would be the polite thing to do.’
‘Yeah, you’re probably right.’ Payne turned toward Boyd and grinned. ‘Hi! I’m Jon and this is my buddy, D.J. We work for the CIA.’
‘The CIA?’ Boyd echoed.
Payne replied in a thick German accent. ‘Yes, Herr Doctor! And ve know you are a spy!’
‘A spy? What in the world are you talking about?’
Jones laughed. ‘Quit the games, Doc. We know all about your past.’