Treasured Secrets (9 page)

Weighted curtains draped along sections of the walls and Archer couldn't believe he was actually looking for eyes peering out from behind the black velvet. Alessandro pointed out the oval floor decoration and as he explained its original purpose, Archer wondered how deep the pit was. He had some knowledge of the Great Plague and knew up to fifty per cent of the population in Europe died as a result of it. If the pit was where the bodies were thrown, then it would have to be quite a large area down there.

A few more steps forward revealed the stained-glass window Rosalina had talked about. His hand went to his pendant, still concealed beneath his T-shirt, and he sensed her staring at him as he took another step towards the artwork. Just as Rosalina had said, there was no mistaking it — his pendant was an exact replica of the plaque in the picture.

‘Tell me about the man in the picture.' Archer looked at Alessandro.

Alessandro approached, grinning. He pointed at aspects of the artwork as he spoke. ‘It was designed in 1288 by Duccio di Buoninsegna. He was a master artist but is remembered more for his fresco artwork than this stained-glass window. This piece symbolises Pope Pelagius's victory over the Goths and their subsequent expulsion to the Apostles, St James and St Philip.'

Archer rolled his shoulders as he grew a little impatient. ‘Tell me about this bit.' He pointed to the plaque.

‘The scales represent the victory. The lower plate is the Goths and the higher plate has a plaque inscribed with Apostle, showing they were victorious.'

‘Is this reproduced anywhere else in the church?'

Alessandro's brows joined in the middle ‘Yes, as a matter of fact. The tomb of Roberto D'Angio is in the crypt. I believe this picture is carved into his stone effigy.'

‘I need to see it.'

Alessandro chuckled. ‘Well, unless you're a man of the faith and forgot to tell —'

Archer grabbed Alessandro's arm. ‘I have to see it.'

‘Excuse me.' Alessandro pulled back. ‘What's wrong with you?'

Rosalina stepped in. ‘Is there another way to see it?'

A frown rippled Alessandro's forehead. ‘What's going on?'

Archer felt Rosalina's stare as he debated over how much Alessandro should know. Finally, he reached for the pendant and let it fall atop of his shirt. Alessandro studied it, and when recognition crossed his face he spun to the stained-glass window. ‘Where'd you get —' Alessandro reached for the pendant, but was shoved aside by a man in a dark robe.

Rosalina jumped and Archer guided her behind him.
Holy shit, where'd he come from?
The man lunged for the pendant but Archer stepped back.

‘
Dove hai preso questo
?' His hood covered his eyes.

‘What'd he say?' Archer demanded.

‘He wants to know where you found it,' Alessandro said.

‘Tell him it's none of his business.' Archer wanted to catch the man's eyes but it was impossible.

Alessandro's frown framed terrified eyes. ‘I can't say that.'

The man took another step forward, but this time Archer stood his ground and held up an outstretched arm. ‘Hey, man, you need to back off. Tell him, Alex.'

‘Let's leave. Come on, Rosalina.' Alessandro clutched her hand.

If Archer were alone he would've done anything but that. But when Rosalina placed her hand on his waist and guided him sideways, he had no choice. It was evident he wouldn't be able to look around with this guy here anyway. Reluctantly, he backed away. Moments later the threesome were striding towards the front door.

Outside, Archer paced the concrete piazza with both Alessandro and Rosalina following his every move. It was clear his pendant and the stained-glass window were connected. But for the life of him, he couldn't figure out how. He had to get back into that church to look around.

‘What time does the church close?'

Alessandro chuckled. ‘This is Florence. Churches don't close.'

Archer huffed. ‘Let's go get a drink. We'll come back a bit later. Maybe that guy will have gone by then.'

Rosalina nodded, but didn't move. He could tell she was trying to read his mind.

‘Where's the closest bar to get a beer?'

‘Oh, I know the perfect place. It's a local favourite. Follow me.' And with that, Alessandro reached for Rosalina's hand and tugged her towards the road.

The bar, if you could call the little hole in the wall a bar, wasn't trying to win any passing traffic. Unless you knew where it was, you'd never find it. And yet it was bustling with people, not one of who spoke English. Within a few minutes of their arrival, a bar table was brought out to them, along with a basket of assorted breads and dips, and their order was taken. Their drinks arrived very quickly.

Archer was impressed. ‘No wonder the locals like this joint.' Archer raised his beer glass in a toast.

Rosalina clinked her wine glass. ‘So, what do you think about the window?' The way she glared at him, anyone would think she was penetrating his brain with her beautiful big blue eyes.

Archer swigged at his beer as he formed a reply. ‘It's clearly related to my pendant, but other than that I'm buggered if I know how.'

‘That priest couldn't take his eyes off it,' Alessandro said.

Archer nodded, and as he slowly sipped his beer, he tried to make the confusing pieces fit together.

They walked back to the church by the glow of the streetlights. Rosalina's heartbeat accelerated with each step she took. She couldn't help but wonder if, by the time they went to bed tonight, they would have solved the mystery of the necklace. After what Archer had told her in the cave, she wanted more than anything to help him piece together the mystery of the pendant.

As they entered the church, she intentionally trod with caution and noted both Alessandro and Archer doing the same. They weren't breaking into the church, or breaking any law, but it didn't make her feel any more comfortable with what they were doing. It seemed weird to be creeping around the church looking for clues. But that's exactly what they did. They looked behind satin-lined decorated cloth, scrutinised the statues and artwork, and even looked behind the altar. Alessandro's eyes oozed boyish glee, but Archer's expression was a mixture of bewilderment and determination. Thankfully, the creepy priest didn't show his face again.

Rosalina pulled back one of the heavy velvet curtains and was surprised to find a small door. Its frame was barely bigger than her body. She pushed the wood with her palm and couldn't believe it when the door popped open. The door was heavy, as if weighted. She pushed it further and squinted as she peered into the opening, but it was too dark to see anything. With a quick glance over her shoulder, she noted Archer and Alessandro were too far away to call their attention without raising a ruckus. She pushed the door all the way open and stepped over the threshold. As her eyes adjusted to the darkness she heard a sharp click, and in that instant she realised her mistake. The heavy door had swung closed behind her.

The darkness enveloped her and she groped for a handle or anything to open the door with, but there was nothing. In the silence she heard her own breathing. She searched again, convinced there must be something. At the point when she was ready to give up, she felt a small opening. It took her a moment to realise it was a keyhole, one that suited a very large, old-fashioned skeleton key. Of course, the key wasn't there. Rosalina was trapped.

Her mind raced as she anguished over her stupidity. She couldn't risk calling out to the men on the other side. Trespassing in Florence churches was a very serious offence, one she'd like to avoid. She turned with her back to the door and noticed a glow in the distance. It seemed like a long way away though.

My phone!
She tugged her phone from her pocket and paused. Who to call…Archer or Alessandro?
Damn, this is awkward
. Each of them was the right and wrong choice for their own reasons. She was supposed to be angry with Archer, and at the same time, she was trying not to give Alessandro any false hope that she was interested in him. They were in this church because of Archer, but then Alessandro was the one who could probably help her out of this situation. She realised she was holding her breath and let it out slowly, and without any solid reason, she tapped Archer's name on the screen.

She heard it ring on the other side of the door and predicted Archer fumbling for his phone in his pocket. ‘Rosa?'

‘I went through a doorway and now I'm stuck on the other side.' She felt like an idiot.

‘What? Where's the doorway?'

‘It was behind one of those huge velvet curtains, next to the statue of the lady with the eagle on her arm.'

She heard his footsteps and inched back up to the door. ‘I'm in here.' She tapped on the door, but it was solid wood and her knock barely made a sound.

‘There's no handle or anything. How did you open it?' Archer's voice was a forced whisper on the phone.

‘Is that Rosalina?' Alessandro said.

‘She went in through here and the bloody door shut. She's locked in.'

‘It was already open. There's no handle here either,' she said. ‘Just a keyhole, but no key.'

‘How do we open it, Alex?'

‘Without a key, it is impossible.'

‘We'll have to find another way in,' Archer said into the phone.

‘I can see a light, down the passage.' She paused. ‘While I'm in here, I might as well look around.'

‘No, Rosa. That's not a good idea.'

‘What's not a good idea?' Alessandro's voice sounded panicked already.

‘She's going to look around.' Archer answered Alessandro.

‘I'm stuck in here anyway.' Rosalina was going to look around, whether they liked it or not.

‘Give me the phone,' Alessandro demanded, and she formed a mental picture of Archer's squared-out jaw and his reluctance to release the phone.

‘Rosalina,
per favore
stay where you are.' Alessandro sounded like a professor talking to a naughty student, and this only made her even more determined.

‘I'm not going to sit here and do nothing.' As much as the thought of running into that creepy guy in the robe scared the hell out of her, she was compelled to walk towards a dim light beckoning in the distance. Alessandro kept talking to her, but she ignored him. Soon she heard Archer and Alessandro arguing. ‘Hey, fellas,' she whispered. ‘Will you keep it down? I'm trying to sneak around here.'

The voices on the end of the phone quietened down.

She arrived at a set of stairs. It was decision time. Go down or go back. The nerves tightened in her stomach as she realised it was pointless to go back. Without a way to open that door, it was up to her to find her own way out.

‘I'm going down some stairs,' she whispered into the phone. The uneven stones had a smooth path worn down the middle. At the bottom she had a choice of left or right. There was nothing to indicate which way was best. She swallowed the lump in her throat and chose left.

The stone tunnels were clearly man-made. Sandstone blocks, fashioned into giant bricks, made up the walls. There were no windows. No doors. And nothing to indicate she was heading the right way. It was silent, too. Eerie, vacant silence. Something she wasn't used to.

The word dungeon rolled around her mind as she tried to memorise where she was going, but each twist and turn of the labyrinth looked identical to the one before: nothing but cold stone walls burdened with centuries of grime. It didn't help that the wrought-iron lamps with the bare, dangling light bulbs hung off the walls at random intervals, creating alternating dark and light shadows.

A hand darted from the darkness and latched onto her wrist. She spun around, gasping. The dark shadows made it impossible to see who had hold of her. But she smelt him, and that left no doubt about whom he was.

Rosalina forced the putrid odour into her lungs and screamed.

Rosalina's shrill scream pierced the silence.

‘Rosalina!' Archer yelled into the phone, but it was dead. He slammed his palm onto the dark, wooden door. It wasn't hollow.

‘Help me, Alex.'

‘It's pointless. That door would be six inches thick.'

‘Look for another way in then.'

Alessandro turned and raced up the centre aisle. Archer went after him, surprised by the Italian's speed. He didn't look that athletic. They leapt over the oval decoration, out the door and into the piazza. Archer followed Alessandro around the corner of the church but stopped when he saw the stone wall dead-end.

‘Where, Alex?'

‘Wait. Let me think!'

Archer threw his hands in the air. ‘Come on, man. Think. You know these buildings.'

‘I am!' Alessandro clenched his jaw. ‘Now shush!'

Somewhere below them, Rosalina screamed again. Archer looked to the concrete, searching for something, anything that resembled access. ‘You're the expert. Help me.'

Alessandro's eyebrows bounced to the middle. He began to shake his head, then he clicked his fingers. ‘Try ringing her phone again?'

Archer pulled out his phone and punched her speed dial number. With the phone to his ear, he stared at the cracks in the concrete as it rang. The phone clicked. ‘Rosalina?'

‘I want the rest of it.' His English was thick with an Italian accent, but the voice on the other end was unmistakable.

A vice gripped his heart as Archer pictured the creep in the hood holding onto Rosalina. ‘What're you talking about? Let her go, or we'll call the police.'

‘Bring me the rest.'

‘The rest of what? Listen, you bastard. If you touch —'

‘You have twenty-four hours.'

‘I don't —' The phone went dead. ‘Damn it!'

‘What happened?'