Kensy was about to climb up the chute when a sound came from near the pallet of boxes. She paused and pressed a finger to her lips, then gestured towards them. It might have only been a rat, but she had to know for sure.

Max frowned then, cottoning on, joined her in tiptoeing towards the stack. They split up, each taking one side, all the while listening out for the men in the corridor. No doubt they were going to burst in any minute now. Just as Kensy peered around the corner, a boy covered from head to toe in grime ran at her, knocking her out of the way.

‘Stop!’ she cried, hitting the floor.

As the lad scurried up the chute, Max grabbed him around the ankles and held fast. ‘Nico, we’re here to help you,’ he explained in broken Italian. ‘Please – you need to come with us. Your mother is in danger and you are too.’

The boy struggled to break free but stopped once Max’s words had registered. His chest heaved as his eyes, wide with fear, darted back and forth between Max and his sister.

‘You have to believe us,’ Max pleaded. ‘They’ll kill you otherwise.’

Nico’s eyes were wild, like an animal caught in a trap, but something Max had said must have worked because his body relaxed and he nodded.

Slowly, Max let go and introduced himself. ‘That’s my sister, Kensy,’ he added with a smile, ‘and we’re going to get you out of here.’

They could hear yelling in the corridor and the sound of pounding footsteps and crashing doors.

‘We’ve got to go,’ Kensy said. She raced ahead of the boys and shoved the hatch, hoping that the piazza was still crowded.

Nico followed after her with Max bringing up the rear. He pulled his feet through the chute as the storeroom door flew open. Max closed the hatch and secured the padlock just as someone bashed against it from the other side.

Kensy turned to Nico and placed a hand on his shoulder. ‘You have to come with us. The only way we’re going to catch those guys is if you do as we ask.’

Nico shivered then nodded his head again.

Taking his hand in hers, Kensy led the way across the piazza and into the hotel at break-neck speed. Moments later, the trio were safe and sound in Autumn and Kensy’s room. Nico sat on the end of Kensy’s bed, a mixture of terror, confusion and relief on his face.

‘You’ll be safe here for now,’ Max said to the boy in Italian.

‘Shall I get some food?’ Autumn asked, wondering what one was supposed to offer a recently rescued hostage. ‘I’m sure I can find something in the kitchen.’

‘I’ll help you,’ Misha offered.

‘I am not hungry,’ Nico replied in English, to the group’s surprise. ‘But perhaps later I may have a shower?’

‘Oh, he speaks,’ Kensy noted wryly. ‘And in our mother tongue.’

Nico managed a shy smile and shrugged. ‘I study English at school.’

This was going to make things a lot easier for everyone.

‘Please, you must tell me who are you and why were you looking for me?’ Nico asked. His eyes scanned each one of their faces in bewilderment.

It was hard to know where to start, but between the five of them, they filled Nico in on all the details and why it was crucial that he stayed with them until they worked out their plan of attack. Given the President and Diavolo were involved, there was far too much at stake to return him to his mother just yet.

‘And I think I’ve worked out the significance of Nero,’ Misha said. While the twins had ventured behind enemy lines, she had taken herself to the business centre to do some research. ‘Well, we all know the ancient ruler was an evil man. The Diavolo have used his name as their symbol. It turns out that the letters of Nero Caesar represented by numbers in Hebrew add up to 666 – the number of the devil. It’s actually not that clever because there’s heaps of information about it on the internet.’

Nico shook his head. ‘I cannot believe I was unlucky enough to have fallen through the roof of that awful place. They must have thought I was the best Christmas gift ever.’

‘If it makes you feel any better, they were planning to kidnap you anyway,’ Max said.

Kensy spun around on a chair by the desk. ‘Where were you going that night?’ she asked the boy.

‘I was running away to be with my grandfather. He and my mother don’t get along any more and I miss him so much. He was cruel to my mother when she remarried. I have been horrible to her too. My mother was a lawyer, but she had higher ambitions and wanted to help everyone. I blamed my stepfather for encouraging her into politics. She was so loved to begin with, but now the people hate her and she has made terrible mistakes. I have not made life any easier for her or my stepfather. He has tried so hard with me, but all I have done is push him away.’ Tears welled in the boy’s eyes. It was the first time he’d allowed himself to cry. He just wished it wasn’t happening now in front of three girls.

Kensy fetched him tissues from the bathroom and saved one for herself. She hadn’t thought about her own parents since the train trip, and at the mention of Nico’s mother, she’d felt a stab of despair like a punch in the stomach. There hadn’t been time to try to find out more about their grandparents either.

Max looked at her and tugged on his left earlobe – it was their secret way of saying things would be all right. She didn’t even want to think otherwise.