John Sneeden - The Hades Conspiracy

Her pulse racing, Emily began running again. Thankfully, she saw Carmen’s dark hair just ahead. She pushed past a group of women then came to an abrupt halt. The woman she thought was Carmen was much shorter and held the hand of a child. Emily’s heart thumped wildly in her chest. She pivoted. The crowd was now a writhing mass, making it difficult to examine faces for any length of time. A few resembled Carmen, but the real one was nowhere to be seen.

Finally, she gave up. Carmen was gone.

Remembering the tall bald man was right on her heels, she did the only thing she could think of. She dashed toward a nearby vendor tent. Its two owners cowered behind a display of necklaces and bracelets — afraid, but unwilling to abandon their livelihood. Skirting the display, Emily ran to the back of the tent and crouched behind several stacks of boxes. Now hidden, she scooted over and peered through the gap between two stacks. She’d gotten there just in time. Tall Man was at the front of the tent, standing in the exact place she’d been standing just moments before. His narrow eyes panned back and forth, confident his quarry couldn’t have gone far.

Eventually, his eyes rested on the boxes where Emily hid. His brow furrowed. Could he see her? Her blood froze. If he could see her, there would be nowhere to run. He’d be on her in seconds.

A moment later, his eyes averted, and he continued down the aisle.

Emily let out a long sigh of relief and rubbed her face. She’d been that close to being caught. She just hoped Carmen had gotten safely away.

So what now? She had no idea how to find the others. They had all scattered like the wind. Sadness swept over her. Initially, she figured it was the simple fact she’d separated from her new acquaintances. But then she realized there was more to it than that. The real reason was because she knew she’d probably never see Zane again. Even the flash of his face in her mind made her heart flutter a little bit.

What was going on? Normally, it took her weeks — if not months — for her to be attracted to someone. And while she couldn’t explain why it had happened within minutes of meeting this man, she also couldn’t deny it.

Emily willed the thoughts away. The strange feelings could be examined later. Right now, she needed to get out of here alive. She looked around the area. About a block down, a street led away from the square. If she could make it there, she’d find a shop to slip into then wait for the police to get the area under control.

Having settled on a plan, she stood. As she walked off, she heard the shuffle of feet behind her. She tried to turn, but a powerful hand covered her mouth, and the muzzle of a gun pressed into her spine.

“Got you.”

Zane crossed to the window and peered through the blinds. Sirens still wailed in the distance, but the area surrounding the safe house was relatively quiet. The gunfire and chaos at the plaza still had the Venetian police buzzing around the city like angry hornets. He doubted they’d made any arrests, but at least the show of force had driven their attackers to ground.

Movement on the street drew his eyes downward. A brunette strode past their building with a cell phone pressed to her ear. Her shoulder-length dark hair made Zane think of Emily, whose whereabouts were currently unknown. He hoped she was crawling into a bed at her hotel.

“Come sit down,” Carmen called from the kitchen. “I can assure you we weren’t followed.”

“Venice has always been a tough place to practice the craft. Too many corners, too many cramped streets, and too many eyes staring out windows.”

“Like yours?”

“Like mine.”

“I actually agree with you about Venice. It’s a tough place to work. But we’d know if someone followed us. This is a quiet side of town. Strangers stick out.”

Zane abandoned the window and crossed to the island in the kitchen. Carmen hovered over the stove, preparing dinner. She’d been mostly silent since returning, a sign she was still upset at losing Emily in the crowd. According to her account, she’d searched for the girl briefly but slipped off when the police began roping off the area and conducting pat-downs. Zane assured her she’d made the right choice in leaving. If the authorities had found her with a gun, she’d be sitting in a Venetian jail now.

Zane also felt a tinge of guilt. After all, he’d fired the shots himself in an attempt to create chaos. It appeared to have worked, unless it had somehow led to Emily’s capture. For now, he held onto the belief that she was fine.

After placing a pot of water on the stove, Carmen picked up a few slices of prosciutto and tossed them into a skillet of heated olive oil. She stirred the meat briefly then added small amounts of garlic, parsley, basil, salt, and pepper. As the pungent aroma filled the room, Zane noticed an open bottle of vodka and a plate stacked with several pieces of uncooked salmon on the counter. “Is that what I think it is?”

Carmen nodded. “ Si, farfalle al salmone .”

“Oh, my.”

“I remembered you and Amanda enjoyed it at my Christmas party last year,” she said distantly.

“So nice of you not to use up all the MREs. We can tell the Oracle we did our part to cut costs.”

“You’re cooking breakfast, big guy.”

Zane figured it was time to retreat. He entered the living room and sat down next to Amanda on the couch. The book she’d found in Pauling’s library was open in her lap. It was so thick he wondered if she’d ever be able to figure out what the archaeologist was trying to communicate. He guessed it would take a week or two just to read the whole thing. Hopefully, whatever clue he’d left wouldn’t be hard to find.

Amanda looked over at him. “Where do you think Emily is?”

He wished she hadn’t brought it up — not because it was inappropriate, but because Carmen needed time to mentally recover. Then again, it did need to be discussed at some point. He returned her gaze “My guess is she’s sliding into bed at some five-star hotel right now.”

“You really think that?”

He saw concern in her eyes. “I don’t have any reason not to.”

Carmen stopped stirring for a moment and faced them. “Zane may be right. The merchant area was like a funnel, which means there was nowhere else for her to go. If I had to guess, I’d say she probably got past me. And if she did, it means she got away.” She turned back to the stove. “That’s what I’m hoping, anyway.”

“I think it would’ve been easy for her to have gotten turned around,” Amanda said, “particularly if she was looking for you.”

“So what do you think happened?” Zane asked.

“I have no idea, but I don’t rule out a worst-case scenario. Think about how many men were on that boat. We have to face the possibility one of them grabbed her.”

Zane rubbed his chin reflectively. “Let’s assume they grabbed her. Don’t you think she would’ve cried out? And if she did, don’t you think Carmen would’ve heard her?”

Carmen turned toward them. “It’s true… I might have heard her scream. Then again, a lot of people were screaming. It’s something we have to consider.”

“You didn’t see anyone being pulled away, did you?”

“No, but that doesn’t mean it didn’t happen.”

“Look, we should all be concerned,” Zane said. “To be perfectly honest, my stomach is in knots over what might have happened.” He paused for a moment, measuring his words. “I apologize if I’ve seemed uncaring, but when things happen that are out of my control, I’ve learned to block them out. Besides, Brett is trying to get her number as we speak. Once we have that, maybe we’ll be able to contact her and put all this behind us.”