The Affair by Gill Paul

Author:Gill Paul
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Published: 2013-04-15T21:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Scott was curious to find out who owned the coastal villa Helen had described to him, and his secretary told him that the register of property owners, known as the Catasto, would be held in the local council offices of the area – in this case, Anzio. He would be able to request information on the current owners, and perhaps former ones too.

As soon as he had a free morning, Scott rode out to Anzio, taking his camera and the binoculars he’d been given for Christmas. Perhaps he would find a use for them after all. He sat for long hours in a queue at the council offices before being allowed to submit his request for information on the Villa Armonioso. He was told the answer would be ready that afternoon, around five. Immediately afterwards, he headed out of town, past the port and onto the coast road. In fact, the road was some way inland from the sea, separated from it by sand dunes and the occasional building. He stopped to ask directions at an isolated roadside bar and the bartender said there was a turn-off for Villa Armonioso another half a mile further on.

It was exactly as Helen had described. He drove part way down the track past the turn-off but stopped when he saw barbed wire and security guards up ahead. The grounds of the villa were full of palm trees and lush undergrowth, but he could just see the glint of a swimming pool and, beyond the house, the blue of the ocean. When he glanced further along the coast, he could make out an old tower on a headland. This had to be the place where Luigi had brought Helen.

Scott looped back to the main road and hunted for a spot to hide his Vespa. Eventually he found an abandoned shed and slipped it inside, then scrambled over the sand dunes on foot until he reached the shore, about a hundred yards away from the villa. He found a place to sit, just behind a clump of green bushes with tiny yellow flowers on top, and took out his binoculars. Two guards were patrolling the barbed wire fence, and they had a couple of Alsatians on leashes, which was alarming. He’d claim to be a birdwatcher if they spotted the glint of his binoculars and came over, but he would be hard pressed if they asked him which birds he was looking for.

A black car pulled in through the gates and Scott used the binoculars to read the number plate and note it down. That car stayed twenty minutes and, as it left, two more pulled in. They were expensive cars; clearly their owners had money. At one stage there were six cars in the forecourt; the traffic was constant. It was obvious to any bystander that there was something illicit taking place. Why didn’t the police keep watch here? If they raided the villa, they would surely find a lucrative haul. He pictured Helen coming there at night with Luigi and the huge risk she had taken amongst those Mafioso types.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.