The Perfect Scam by Susanna Shore

Author:Susanna Shore
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: suspense, mystery, murder mystery, amateur sleuth, cozy mystery, action adventure, crime fiction, international crime, heist crime, cons and scams
Publisher: Susanna Shore

Chapter Fourteen

~ Eliot ~

My week had been so odd and unsettling, with its thefts, deaths, and brushes with law enforcement, that I decided I deserved a relaxing weekend. Long, relaxing weekend, starting on Friday and lasting maybe until Monday.

Unplanned vacations weren’t exactly new for me, though in the past I’d used them as a pretext to visit the locations where I needed to stash IDs and money. Not that I hadn’t fully enjoyed those places once I got there.

I didn’t have to do that anymore, so no need to head to Kuala Lumpur or wherever. Moreover, I didn’t want to fly. My Italian passport and new looks were good, but why tempt fate with airport security.

I was spoiled for destinations regardless. There were dozens of places in France alone that I wanted to see, and my Italian passport ensured that I could travel through the entire EU without problems at borders. The excellent train network would make it possible without setting foot on a plane.

I spent most of Thursday listing the places I wanted to see and visit without taking a whole week off. Not that I couldn’t take a week off—or not work at all, for that matter—but I did have business related meetings scheduled for the next week, so a long weekend it was.

How had my life turned into business meetings?

Paris was only a two-hour train journey away, and it was my number one option, but there were places like Venice and Rome only an overnight’s train ride away too. I could’ve rented a car just as easily—the mountain roads around here were spectacular—but I’d set my heart on a luxury train. I would arrive rested and relaxed instead of with cramped muscles after a ten-hour drive.

Or I could go to the Riviera…

The blue Mediterranean sea and white beaches instantly began to call me. A long weekend soaking in the sun was just what the doctor ordered. Nice—or Nizza, as they called it here—was only four hours by train.

But it wasn’t to be, to my disappointment. The Cannes Film Festival was on and Nice was fully booked down to the last lousy Airbnb. And even though I didn’t know anyone in the film industry, I didn’t want to spend my weekend swarmed by American tourists. I’d had enough of my vacationing countrymen when I ran the hotel. And the chances of someone I knew being there was too big.

But it wasn’t far from Monaco, and the sea and sands of the Riviera continued there. The glitz and glamour of the European jet set would fill the famous Casino and I would fit right in.

I began instantly to search for hotels. I didn’t dare to stay by the Casino, no matter how badly I itched to see how luxury hotels there were run. Many of the whales who frequently gambled at the Casino had visited my hotel too, and I couldn’t risk being recognized. Besides, they were fully booked.

The Jewel of Monaco, a five-star hotel a couple of miles to east, looked perfect, but the film festival had filled the hotels in Monaco as well.

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