‘Finally,’ Kensy muttered, as their hotel came into view. They’d barely had a second alone since leaving the restaurant as it seemed every one wanted to chat. In snatches here and there, Max had relayed the gist of what he and Carlos had encountered at the restaurant.
‘So, you think the guy who was watching you was one of the President’s bodyguards?’ Autumn said.
‘Well, I don’t know for sure, but Carlos and I saw him when we were passing Quirinal Palace the other day. He had a Glock pistol inside a shoulder holster, so we presumed he was protecting the President.’
The children hadn’t noticed that Misha was right behind them. She had one ear on their conversation while trying to filter Lola’s moaning about her sore feet. Fed up, she turned to the girl, a ripple of anger pulsing through her. ‘Seriously, Lola, could you just give up your whining for one minute?’
A stunned silence followed as everyone stopped in their tracks to look at her, their mouths agape. Lola couldn’t have been more shocked if she’d sat on an electric fence.
‘What did you say?’ she asked.
‘You heard me,’ Misha said. Her face flushed and her hands formed two small fists by her sides. ‘All you do is complain when, really, you’ve got nothing to complain about. You’re spoiled and ridiculous and I’ve had enough!’
Romilly Vanden Boom blinked in surprise. It was impossible to tell whether this was part of a larger plan or if Misha was actually sick and tired of the brat. She couldn’t have blamed her for the latter.
‘What’s the matter with you?’ Lola snapped, her eyebrows forming a sharp ‘V’. ‘I–I’m your best friend. I’m your only friend because, let’s face it, you’re a loser!’
With a cry of exasperation, Misha stalked off without so much as a backwards glance.
‘You can forget about us sharing a room!’ Lola screeched, stamping her foot. ‘Sleep in the fountain for all I care! I hate you!’
‘Mission accomplished,’ Misha muttered, and was soon joined by Autumn and Kensy.
‘You okay?’ Autumn asked, her face a picture of concern.
Misha nodded. ‘Just look like you’re worried about me and we’ll talk back at the hotel.’
Kensy gave the girl a sly wink and giggled. ‘Bet that felt good.’
Fortunately, the hotel was a hop, skip and a jump away.
‘I’ll get my things and bunk with Autumn and Kensy, if that’s okay with you,’ Misha said to Miss Ziegler as they stepped into the foyer.
Lola’s eyes bulged as if her head were about to explode. ‘Why would you want to be their friend?’ she demanded. ‘They’re horrible and stinky and . . . and they have stupid names!’
Misha considered the girl as one might consider a blood-sucking mollusc. ‘Perhaps if you stopped to think about who’s really the horrible one, you’d realise that most of the time it’s you. I’m not your puppet or your slave any more, Lola,’ she said calmly, then turned to walk up the stairs.
‘Right, I think it’s time for bed,’ Mrs Vanden Boom said, clasping her hands tightly. ‘Off to have your showers and then it’s lights out in fifteen minutes. It’s been a very long day and I’m sure we could all do with a rest. Goodnight, everyone.’
Not five minutes later, Misha had been installed with Kensy and Autumn.
‘So what was that about?’ Autumn said. ‘You know you’ll have to apologise and then she’s going to hate us even more.’
Misha shook her head. ‘Perhaps it won’t come to that. I needed some time alone with you guys after what I overheard Max saying about the bodyguard from the palace. I’d hazard that man isn’t the President’s security detail but Sergio Leonardi’s.’
Kensy and Autumn shot her confused looks. ‘Lola’s father?’ Kensy said.
Misha nodded. ‘One and the same. He also goes by Steve Lemmler back in London. I was surprised when Lola said that her parents were here in Italy, but I was absolutely stunned to see her father at Quirinal Palace the other day when we were walking back from the Colosseum. I don’t know if she saw him too, but, if she did, she isn’t saying anything.’
It didn’t take long for Max and Carlos to appear. They knocked quietly and Kensy let them in. The children sat facing each other on the two single beds.
‘I thought you were up to something,’ Max said to Misha. ‘I saw the exasperation in your eyes earlier in the day.’
Misha sighed. ‘I just had to get away from Lola. She’s like a leech and . . . Well, enough of that. I need you to go over everything. Who were the people you saw and what were they talking about?’
Max recounted what he’d told Kensy and Autumn, and added that he thought he’d seen the woman before.
Kensy hopped up and walked to the window. ‘I saw her too!’ she said excitedly. ‘I thought it was a strange picture, really – the fancy car and the orphanage . . . But now we know what those kids get up to, maybe it’s not so strange after all.’
Misha frowned. ‘The man with the terrible hair and the big nose is definitely Sergio Leonardi and the other man is Nero Rinaldi, the President of Italy. I don’t know about the woman.’
‘Nero . . . Lola’s father has that name tattooed on his forearm and I think the thug who chased us yesterday has it on his wrist,’ Max pondered aloud.
Autumn quickly filled Misha in on how they’d been pursued by three men after stumbling upon them using the children as pickpockets. ‘Is the Italian President a friend of Lola’s father?’ Autumn asked her.
‘We think they belong to the same organisation,’ Misha said. ‘We know that Sergio has his dirty fingers in lots of different pies, but we’ve never been able to pin anything significant on him. He’s as slick as Teflon and has a boatload of shelf companies and aliases. He’s never been caught for anything, but I feel as though we’re close. Intel says he’s been working on an arms deal with the Middle East, but there’s no trail.’
‘So they’re Mafia?’ Carlos said.
Misha shook her head. ‘Diavolo. They’re like a myth, though. No one has ever been able to prove their existence and I suspect they want to keep it that way.’
‘Diavolo means “devil” in Italian,’ Kensy said. ‘Are they worse than the Mafia?’
Misha nodded. ‘They’re the worst of the worst – from some of the things I’ve read, they’re the most evil group in the world and also the most difficult to trace.’
‘Do you think the tattoo means something?’ Autumn asked. ‘Why Nero? He was a Roman emperor with a very bad reputation – is it possible that he started the Diavolo?’
Misha shrugged apologetically. ‘That I don’t know.’
‘Who can stop them then?’ Kensy asked. ‘I mean, if the President is part of the group, he clearly considers himself above the law. Never mind how many other officials are in his pocket. What if the corruption goes all the way to the Police Commissioner?’
Misha bit down on her thumbnail. ‘We trust no one other than a man called Alessandro Grimaldi. He’s head of the Italian Secret Service with links to Pharos. Your grandmother thinks he’s the only one who can help bring them down.’
Max scratched his head and thought for a moment. ‘What if it’s not arms they’re dealing?’
The others looked at him.
‘What if it’s wheat and pasta? The woman said that, when the Prime Minister signs the papers, they’ll be in control of Penina. I thought they were talking about a place, but isn’t that the biggest pasta company in Italy? What if they’re blackmailing the Prime Minister to hand over control of the food? I bet Sergio’s gang are behind the crop failures too. They’ve been driving up the prices so the Prime Minister would be left with no choice and now they have her son as the ultimate bargaining chip.’
‘Wow, Max, that’s a pretty amazing theory,’ Autumn said admiringly.
Carlos looked at Misha. ‘Could it be true?’
‘Anything’s possible,’ the girl replied. ‘I contacted Dame Spencer to tell her what I’d seen, but there aren’t any agents available – whatever else is happening is taking up loads of resources. It’s just us. She said I had her blessing to mobilise if things here escalated.’
‘So, we’re on a real mission?’ Kensy said, her eyes lighting up.
Misha nodded solemnly. ‘We have a maximum of eleven agents-in-training and four dormant field agents at our disposal – but we have to make sure that the other kids are kept out of the way. We can’t blow our cover.’
Kensy felt a ripple of anticipation course through her body. ‘We have to find Nico before his mother signs those documents.’ She gasped as an idea came to her. ‘If we locate that other boy first, he can lead us to him.’ She jumped to her feet. ‘Come on, what are we waiting for?’
‘Kens, we need a strategy,’ Max said. ‘There’s no point running around the city aimlessly. What if Nico’s –’
‘Right under our noses,’ Autumn said, looking across the piazza at the orphanage. ‘That place is full of children and that boy from the photograph is bound to be there. We know he’s one of the gang . . . Would anyone notice an extra? And Miss Ziegler said that Nico ran away across the rooftops. He could have easily ended up there by chance – just like you heard that woman say. It’s not that mad an idea when you think about it . . .’
Kensy sat down on the edge of the bed and groaned. ‘Fine, party poopers, but I still think we’ve got to get out there tonight – before it’s too late.’
On that they all agreed.