Chapter Sixteen

“We’ve got the green light,” announced Lorenzo, checking his text messages. Several carabinieri cars pulled up to the warehouse, lights extinguished and sirens silenced. “Backup has arrived. I’ll brief my people on the operation. They’ll go in the back entrance and we’ll go in the front. You focus on getting Hadley and the interior designer out. We’ll worry about the guards and the count. Are you ready to go in?”

“I’ve been ready.” Luca fingered his weapon and paced the parking lot as he cautioned himself to, “Stai calmo.” But how could he keep calm when his wife was in danger? If he didn’t get his hands on Hadley soon, he was going to combust. If anyone had hurt her, he would make them pay.

When he and Lorenzo got to the front door, Luca rang the bell. The same guard he’d encountered before came to the door.

“Delivery from Giuseppe’s.”

“Che succede?”

“I’ll tell you the story,” Luca yelled, grabbing the soldier by the collar with his left hand and slamming his right fist into the man’s face, dearly hoping he’d broken something. The man collapsed in a heap on the warehouse floor. Luca grabbed the man’s weapon and pulled his own gun. While Lorenzo hurried in, shouts of “Carabinieri” and sounds of a scuffle could be heard toward the back of the room.

An elderly gentleman dressed in a suit entered the room. “Chi sei?”

“We’re the carabinieri,” Lorenzo announced, spinning the man around and securing his hands in flexi-cuffs.

“This is private property,” the man objected. “You have no right to be here.”

Lorenzo pulled out his search warrant, proceeded to read the man his rights, and called out multiple counts of kidnapping and art theft.

“Where are they?” Luca demanded, getting up in the man’s face.

“Luca?” Hadley shouted from the back of the room. She and another woman had hidden behind a large painting, until she heard his voice.

“Hadley, cara, I’m here.”

Hadley ran into Luca’s embrace. “You found me!”

Luca pocketed his Beretta 92FS pistol and lifted Hadley off the floor, twirling her around in his arms. He never wanted to let her go.

“I thought… I was worried that… When I couldn’t find you, I…”

“I’m okay. I’m okay. I’m so happy to see you!”

When he placed Hadley on the ground, Alessandra took her aside and whispered, “How could you not want to make babies with him?”

“I guess it’s true what they say. You don’t appreciate what you have until you lose it or think you’re going to lose it. I assure you I’m going to make up for lost time.”

Alessandra went over to Lorenzo. “Thank you. I thought we’d never get out of this awful place.”

Lorenzo looked into Alessandra’s eyes and couldn’t stop staring. She looked right back. Then he turned his gaze away and looked around the room in amazement, taking in the masterpieces. “I don’t believe what I’m seeing.”

“This was part of Hermann Göring’s private stash,” Hadley explained. “These masterpieces have been missing since the end of the war.”

“But I don’t understand,” Lorenzo said. “How is this possible?”

Hadley handed Lorenzo the diary and a catalogue of paintings she’d received from the count. “It’s all in here. The story and the provenances of each of the stolen paintings. You got here just in time. In a matter of days, these paintings would be on their way out the door into the underworld, sold to private dealers, brokers, and art hoarders.”

“But the war has been over for almost eighty years. Why did he wait so long to sell them?”

“From what I could gather, his mother wouldn’t allow them to be sold off until her husband died, so he would be protected. But there’s a lot more to the story. His parents repatriated as many paintings as they could. However, as soon as his parents were killed in that car accident, the count was on a mission to get rid of the remaining artwork and sell it for a profit. All but a priceless Fragonard that’s still hanging on the wall of the palazzo. The contessina had a provision in her will that it should never leave the premises. It was the key to solving the mystery.”

“He waited a long time.”

“Just like the former Prince Charles. He waited almost his whole life to become King of England.”

Lorenzo shook his head and ordered, “Lock this place up. And station guards inside and around the building. We’ll be back tomorrow morning to start the inventory.”

“I’d like to be involved,” Hadley requested.

“Of course. We’ll need your expertise.”

“Right now, I need my wife,” Luca interrupted, squeezing the breath out of Hadley. “She is going to take a few well-deserved days off.”

“Understood,” said Lorenzo. “We can go. Luca, you have your car.” He turned to Alessandra and noted she was not wearing a wedding ring. “Signorina, may I drop you somewhere?”

Alessandra blushed. “My apartment is not far from here. Could you take me there?”

“Certainly. And I’ll pick you up for breakfast before we start to make sense of this miraculous find. If you don’t mind helping with the investigation by answering a few questions, that is.”

Alessandra looked at the handsome carabinieri, whom she wanted to get to know better. And from the way he was looking at her, he had the same idea in mind.

“I will make myself available to you,” she said, meaning it in every sense of the word. “And I’d love to have breakfast.”

Alessandra smiled at Hayley, indicating that she might have met Mr. Right. And intimating that they might not be waiting until breakfast before they saw each other again.