Read The Venice Conspiracy for Free Online Page B

desperate for her, desperate for how things
were
and how he hopes they will be again. He holds her tighter than he’s ever done. Kisses her so passionately they both struggle to breathe. And when she makes him come, it is more intense than he’s ever experienced.
    Lying in a warm post-coital haze, they both decide to move silently on. Tetia doesn’t mention her awful fears. Her deep, dark worries that her husband may be right, that something truly evil might be growing inside her. And Teucer says nothing of the decision he’s come to. The course of action he’s determined to follow. To kill their child as soon as it’s born.

CHAPTER 10

    Present Day
    Carabinieri HQ, Venice
    Valentina listens to everything Tom hasto say, interrupting only a couple of times to ask questions, then leaves him alone in the interview room.
    The story is an incredible one.
    Global time differences mean it will take a while to check it all out and see if Shaman really is who he says he is, and if he really did what he said he did.
    Valentina uses Google as a shortcut. ‘You’re never going to believe this!’ Pulling the printouts from the tray, she crosses the Incident Room to where her boss is. ‘Our witness – the man in Room 3 – he’s an ex-priest who killed two people.’
    ‘A killer priest?’
    ‘No, not like that. A hero.’
    Vito Carvalho laughs loudly. ‘
Hero
–
killer
–
priest
. I don’t think I’ve ever heard those three words together before.’
    ‘Well, you’re hearing them now. Look—’ She hands over the wad of papers. ‘Seems he stepped into some street incident. Three against one. Couldn’t save the girl being attacked, but killed two of the bad guys. He told me most of it but I wanted to cross-check before I said anything.’
    Vito takes the pages. ‘It’s some strange kind of Padre who can handle himself like that in a street fight. What’s he like?’
    She raises her eyes, tries to stay factual. ‘Maybe 1.9 metres tall. I guess ninety kilos, perhaps a bit more – he’s a big guy. Lean, you know, muscular. Somewhere in his early thirties.’
    Vito peers over the top of the printouts. ‘Hey, remember he’s a priest, and a witness. Not
dating
material.’
    ‘Ex-priest.’
    ‘Still a witness.’ He gives her a paternal stare. ‘And still
not
dating material. By the way, the internet’s notoriously un reliable. Make sure all these details and whatever he said to you are checked properly. Get Maria Santanni to do it, she’s thorough.’
    ‘
Si.
’ Valentina picks up aphone.
    ‘Do it later. First, let’s go and talk with your hero killer priest.’
    ‘Ex-priest!’ stresses Valentina again, as she lapdogs after him.
    Vito Carvalho doesn’t pause at the interview-room door like Valentina did. He bursts straight in. Maximum noise. Maximum surprise. Looking to see how jumpy the guy waiting on the other side is.
    Tom Shaman is slouched low on the hard-backed chair, chin comfortably resting on interlocked fingers. He looks up at the grand entrance and his eyes track Carvalho into the room. He only sits up when he sees Valentina. A sign of respect, nothing more. Her face gives away that she’s run checks on him. That’s no surprise. It’s what he’d expect a cop to do. Hopefully, they’ll let him go now.
    ‘Hello again,’ he says to Valentina.
    ‘This is my boss, Major Carvalho.’ She gestures to him as they slide into seats across the grey table. ‘He’s leading the enquiry into Monica’s death.’
    ‘Monica?’
    The major fills in the blanks: ‘Monica Vidic. Her father has identified her. She’s fifteen and came from Croatia.’
    ‘Poor guy. I imagine he’s in pieces.’ Tom momentarily recalls the horror of dragging the girl from the canal.
    Carvalho is watching every gesture, every crease on his face, every movement of his lips. ‘Why didn’t you tell us straight away that you were a priest? That you left the Church such a short time ago?’
    Tom shifts in his seat. ‘Why