Seduced by Innocence by Lucy Gordon

Author:Lucy Gordon [Gordon, Lucy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

* * *

They returned to Venice in the early light. Maurizio saw her to her room, kissed her goodbye and went to throw some clothes into a bag, for his trip south. As he entered his room, his heart was high with hope. With luck, by this time next day he would have restored Leo to his sister.

The first thing he saw was a light winking on his telephone, signaling that there was a message. He dialed the switchboard and grunted, “Yes?”

“Rinaldo Passi has called you from Terranotte ten times in the last twenty-four hours,” the operator informed him. “He said it was urgent but nobody knew how to contact you.”

A cold hand clutched Maurizio’s stomach. Quickly he dialed the number of Terranotte and in a few moments was talking to his estate manager. “What is it?” he barked.

“Signore, something terrible has happened. Signor Leo is missing.”

“What the devil—you mean he’s got lost somewhere on the estate?”

“Missing. Gone. Completely vanished. He went for a stroll and when he didn’t return, we all went to look for him. He was nowhere on the estate—”

“Nonsense, he must be,” Maurizio insisted, trying to reassure himself by his own positive voice. In the pause that followed, he could hear Passi gulping, as though trying to pluck up his courage. “Is there more?” he demanded harshly.

“Signore—when we first found him gone—we thought—we thought we would find him quickly, and so—”

“How long has he been gone?”

Passi gulped again. “Three days,” he whispered.

Maurizio gripped the receiver. “It’s taken you three days to tell me this?” he demanded.

“No, signore,” Passi disclaimed frantically. “It was only two days when I called you yesterday morning, but you were away and—and it’s three days now,” he finished miserably.

“You should have told me at once.”

Passi began to gabble. “When we couldn’t find him, we searched the roads. Signor Leo was seen boarding a bus on the day he left. I checked his room. His money and some of his clothes were gone.”

“Has his memory returned?” Maurizio demanded sharply.

“No. Just a few flashes now and then, but they don’t last.”

“Which bus did he take?”

“To Rome.”

Maurizio felt himself engulfed in a nightmare. In Rome, Leo could vanish without trace. He might remember nothing and never be heard of again. Or he might remember enough to make him catch a train to Venice. Maurizio remembered Terri’s conviction that she’d seen Leo two days ago. He’d dismissed it, but now he saw she could have been right.

“Send some people to Rome,” he commanded. “They must question everyone in the bus station, and then—”

He continued to give orders for several minutes, but he knew it was a forlorn hope, and he was only putting off the moment when he must hang up and find himself alone with the truth: Terri’s beloved brother had vanished into the mist, without even a clear idea of his own identity. And he, Maurizio, was to blame. Worse. His servants had delayed telling him for fear of his wrath, thereby losing precious time.

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