Westerham Witches and a Venetian Vendetta by Dionne Lister (top rated books of all time TXT) 📕

there is no connection to anyone that he can find with that woman and our suspects. I have to trust he’s telling the truth, but for all I know, he’s made no enquiries.”

“But why would he do that?”

“This afternoon, I learnt that they’re working on another huge case with the Rome office. It’s a dangerous case against the mafia, and they’re short-staffed. The horrible truth is that this crime and Angelica’s predicament are being shoved to the side.”

I looked up at him. “So they’re not usually this bad?”

“No. I don’t think so, which is both a relief and not a relief. I just wish they would let us take over. At least then I’d have full access to any files they’ve started and permission to look into more personal things about our victims.” He gave me a quick kiss on the mouth. “Let’s go. We have something, which is better than nothing, and we’ll start fresh tomorrow morning. I’ll call Tondato tomorrow, see if I can wrangle more permissions, and we’ll sneak into Lorenzo’s apartment. It could be the breakthrough we need.”

“Okay. At least we have a plan, but I don’t know how much sleeping I’ll be doing tonight.” Not knowing where Angelica was or what condition she was in, well, it wasn’t pleasant. If I did manage to fall asleep tonight, I’d probably have nightmares. Oh, the joy.

We locked up and left, Will reinstating the security cameras and alarm. He set the spell when we were inside but made it so it didn’t come into effect for sixty seconds. After the front door was locked, I ran to the front gate and out. He strolled, Mr Nerves of Steel. Crazy man.

As the motor droned and we neared Saint Mark’s Square, I took in the lights shining from so many windows. Was Angelica in one of those houses? Was she even still in Venice? Bloody hell. We could look forever and never find her. Dealing with witches was scary times one hundred. Damn it! Think, Lily.

I had to raise my voice to be heard above the outboard. “Maybe we should just go and see Lorenzo now and insist on going into his apartment.”

“We can’t just barge in. Besides, Tondato and his guys checked it out before and found nothing. If we’re going to have another crack at this, it has to be under the radar.”

“Yes, but they don’t have my skills.”

“I know that, Lily, but I don’t want a call from head office telling us to cease and desist. You know how much Chad hates Angelica. He might threaten firing us again if we keep looking for her.”

I sneered. “That’s insane. God, I hate that witch.” I let out a low scream of frustration.

Will’s eyes held understanding. “I know, Lily. I know.”

It didn’t take much longer, and Will was tying up the boat where we’d found it, and we were climbing out. He grabbed my hand, and we walked back to the hotel holding hands. Imagine taking a walk hand in hand with the man of your dreams through quiet Venetian streets but the romanticism being ruined by the fact that someone you loved was missing, possibly dead. Despair caught in my throat, and I swallowed my tears. I squeezed Will’s hand. “I love you.”

He smiled. “I love you too.”

We were both alert as we neared the hotel, and I opened myself to magic, just in case. My return to sender was up, and my other sight told me Will’s was too. My gaze pinged from window to window—both the hotel’s and nearby buildings’. Some lights were still on, and music and laughter came from a restaurant on the other side of the square.

It wasn’t as late as when Angelica had come home—there’d been no one around then.

We went into the hotel without incident, which I was calling a win. The reception desk was closed for the night, but there was music filtering down the hallway from the bar area.

I shrugged. I was tired because of the stress of the last couple of days, but after our mission, nervous energy had me wide awake. “Why don’t we see if anyone’s in the bar?” By anyone, I meant our friends. There was probably someone in there, but whether or not they wanted to have a drink with us was another matter.

“Not really. Sorry. I want to go and call James, update him on what we’re up to. I might get him to look up some stuff on the system. If it ends up getting back to Chad, then so be it. We need to join some dots before tomorrow if we can.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “I have a bad feeling about this.” His forehead wrinkles were as deep as ever as he stared at me.

I put my arms around him. “I know. I don’t like this either. And the longer this takes….” I didn’t need to finish what I was saying.

“It’s that and the fact that we’re missing something.” He made a bubble of silence. “Our two most-likely suspects… there’s reasonable doubt as to whether it was them. And if not, we are so far from the truth of all this as we can be. I’ve never worked on a case we couldn’t solve, but this one’s getting away from us. And so much is at stake.”

I tilted my face up, and he kissed me. If only I had the answers to help and make everything better. But I didn’t. Worst feeling ever. “Okay, well, you go upstairs. If anyone’s down here, I’ll be half an hour. Is that all right?”

He gave me a small smile. “Of course it is. I’ll be waiting for you.” He waggled his brows, and I chuckled. He gave me a last quick kiss, then turned and started up the stairs. I made my way to the bar hoping Liv or Imani were enjoying a beverage.

There were three groups scattered around—one of four people, one couple, and a large group of ten.