Crown of Thorns by Hank Luce

Author:Hank Luce
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Salvo Press
Published: 2013-11-04T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 10

Venice, Italy

Nick Renna, sitting in a first class compartment on the Eurostar Italia, raised his eyes from his book and looked across at his traveling companions. They were about an hour north of Roma Termini, leaving them another three and a half hours or so to Venice’s Santa Lucia station. Monsignor Bruno Della Vecchia was sleeping soundly, his hands folded across his stomach, his chin resting on his chest. His aluminum crutches rested against the wall of the compartment.

Sister Alana Elizalde was a bundle of energy, her eyes wide, her face nearly pressed against the window, wearing a huge smile. She turned her head this way and that to look both at where they were headed and back at where they’d been. She’d been thrilled at the thought of train travel, but first class accommodations (Nick figured Crucible could afford it) on the luxurious Eurostar Italia were beyond her imagination.

As he looked at his companions, Nick thought, Jesus, we are some crew. A transcendently beautiful, remarkably innocent young nun; a brilliant, provocative, semi-crippled Vatican priest-scholar with God-only-knew-what on his agenda; and Nick himself, a cynical, nightmare-haunted historian and lapsed Catholic who had sworn to keep a deathbed promise, wherever it led. True, this strange fellowship had already made significant progress, just in terms of navigating their way through the Secret Vatican Archives. But that was only the beginning.

Nick believed that Crucible would very likely put someone on his tail very soon, maybe more than one team, given the intensity of Ducasse’s and LeClerc’s desire for the Crown and their undoubted lack of trust in Nick. Nick also believed that there was someone or some other element involved. The man who’d attacked him in the piazza in Rome, Victor’s secretary, and LeClerc’s new administrative assistant were all cut from the same cloth. But who were they working for? And how extensive was their reach?

He would have to be hyper-vigilant in Venice. The next big lead, if it existed, would be found there. That meant that all interested parties, whoever they were, would be converging on the city of canals. Still, anxieties and uncertainties notwithstanding, Nick was enjoying the feeling of being in the hunt, especially if it meant he could thwart the plans of Emile Ducasse, while Ducasse picked up the tab.

It was mid-morning, well after breakfast, but Nick felt in need of coffee. Not wanting to disturb Monsignor Della Vecchia, Nick leaned toward Sister Alana and whispered, “I’m going to the dining car for some coffee.”

Then, he surprised himself. Instead of asking whether she’d like him bring something back, he asked, “Would you like to join me?”

After a moment’s hesitation and a quick look at the sleeping Monsignor, she answered. “Thank you.”

The Eurostar Italia dining car was domed in glass, affording passengers a view of the passing scenery, which was gorgeous—fields and farms, small cities, and tiny, ancient villages perched on preposterous hillsides. Heading north and east, they would traverse Italy, crossing the Apennines, passing through Umbria and Tuscany, past Bologna and Florence, then across the Po River and on to Venice.

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