Chapter Fourteen

“I’m going in,” Luca said, pulling out his gun.

“Luca, you can’t just bust down the door. We don’t have a search warrant.”

“The car is here, the same car that was at the villa and that drove away with my wife. You have proof that Allegretti owns the warehouse.”

“But that’s not enough to break into a building and search the premises.”

“Do you doubt the artwork is here?”

“No. I have a strong suspicion we will find what we’re looking for in this building.”

“Then we need to go in. Hadley could be in trouble.”

“We’ll sit on the building and watch it until the search warrant comes through.”

“I’m not going to sit on my hands and wait for permission when my wife’s life is at stake.”

“We have no evidence of that. We have to follow the law. Millions of dollars in artwork are on the line.”

“I don’t care about your damn artwork. I care about my wife and I’m going in.”

“Luca, I promise you. We will sit here, and if she comes out we’ll get her, but we have no idea what we’ll be walking into. We need to wait for the warrant and for backup.”

“I don’t have the patience to wait.”

“Hold on, Luca, there’s a truck pulling up. It’s some kind of food delivery.”

“I’m going to talk to the delivery guy,” Luca said, striding over.

“It would be better if you waited—Luca, come back here.” Lorenzo shook his head, knowing it was useless to stop a man in love.

Luca strode fearlessly over to the delivery vehicle and confronted the driver. He was young, in his late teens.

“Excuse me, may I ask what you’re delivering to this warehouse?”

The boy looked up at Luca. “An order from the restaurant.”

“For how many people?”

“Five.”

“I’ll give you fifty euros if you let me deliver the order.”

“Sure,” said the boy, handing over the bags and boxes of delicious-smelling food.

Luca walked to the entrance of the warehouse. He looked through the orders. If he could guess which one was Hadley’s, he could slip in a note. But he doubted the kidnapper would give his hostage a choice of entrees. If there was an order of Spaghetti alla Carbonara, Hadley’s favorite, he might risk it. But if there was a chance the kidnapper would read the note, then it wasn’t worth risking Hadley’s life.

An armed man dressed in a Nazi uniform opened the door when Luca knocked firmly. Luca stared at him in disbelief. What was going on?

“Delivery from Giuseppe’s,” Luca announced.

“I’ll take that,” said the guard. Luca handed over the order and took the opportunity to peer inside the low-lit building. It was almost nightfall and not easy to discern, but he made out hundreds of paintings propped up against the walls. He edged in closer while the guard was hunting for change for a tip. That’s when he saw her. Hadley!

Turn around, cara mia, Luca urged silently, his heart beating madly. See me. I’m right here! It took all his control not to run to her.

Hadley was facing away from him, in deep conversation with another woman.

“Dinner’s here,” said an older man, most likely the Conte Allegretti.

“Here’s your tip,” said the guard.

“Thank you,” Luca managed, his hands shaking as he grasped and pocketed the money. She was right here. He could see her, almost touch her. His first instinct was to rush to her side, to rescue her. But if he acted alone, he could put her in danger, and that was the last thing he wanted to do. He took one last longing look and turned away. Assessing the situation, he now knew what they were up against. He counted Hadley, the other woman, the Conte Allegretti, and two guards.

He rushed back to Lorenzo. “Call Giuseppe’s and see who ordered the food. That’s your proof. She’s here. She’s right inside. I saw her. I wanted to go in, but—”

“You did the right thing. I’m glad you kept your head about you. I’m expecting the search warrant to come in any minute. Backup is on the way. We’re going to do this by the book.”

Luca paced up and down the length of the car. “There’s artwork propped up against the walls all over the warehouse. I wonder how far they’d go to protect it.”

“If that’s the stash I think it is, there’s no limit to what they’d do.”

“Even murder?”

“If they have to. They’ve already kidnapped two women. They’ll want to tie up loose ends.”

“Why haven’t you tried to prosecute him before?” Luca wondered.

“We’ve had our eye on the count and his collection for some time, but his family is connected. If we can catch them with the stolen artwork, we have a chance to prosecute. Many of those paintings were not reported missing because their owners were victims of the Holocaust and there was no one left to speak for them. People who visited the villa were told many of the paintings were reproductions of the originals. It’s very complicated.”

To Luca, the situation was simple. There were no gray areas. He was going in, and nothing was going to stop him. “They delivered food for five people. Hadley and the decorator, the Conte Allegretti, and I saw two guards dressed in Nazi uniforms. We could take them by surprise, just the two of us.”

“I don’t want to risk it, Luca. I promise, we will get your wife out.”

“You can’t guarantee it.”

“I assure you, we’ve got this, Luca.”

Luca was anything but assured. He was already second-guessing himself. He should have barged in and rescued his wife when he had the chance. If anything happened to Hadley, he would never forgive himself.