The Abduction: A Novel Read Online Free PDF Page A

experienced on the case – not just to handle the pressure from the Americans, but to take the heat for having done so. The US might have plenty of clout in Rome and Milan, but there were few local votes in appeasing them. The protestors, on the other hand, were clearly a bloc worth courting.
    “It’s still too early to say what investigations will be appropriate, Mr Fallici,” he said. “But rest assured, whatever needs to be done, will be.” To his relief he saw Panicucci heading his way, holding a phone. “Yes, Sottotenente?”
    “It’s General Saito, sir.”
    Piola took the phone and walked outside.
    “Any progress?” Saito’s voice said.
    “Some,” Piola said, wondering what the man expected after just a few hours. “That is to say, it looks as if the protestors had nothing to do with it.”
    “Good. Aldo, I’ve had five calls already about this case, and I haven’t even had breakfast yet. One from the base commander in charge of the Vicenza garrison. One from our own generale di divisione . One from the mayor, and two from government officials in Rome who are so damn important I have absolutely no idea who they are.”
    Piola sighed inwardly. “The issue, as you’re probably aware, is that the consortium are in a hurry to get their men back to work. But first I need to establish how the remains got into the tipper truck. And that would have happened a lot quicker, frankly, if they’d cooperated from the start, instead of trying to pin it on the boy who called it in.” He hesitated. “There’s something else you should know. That politician Raffaele Fallici’s here, talking about environmental surveys, legal challenges…”
    “Oh, that’s to be expected. Where there are votes, there are vultures. We’re caught in the middle, as usual. Keep me updated, won’t you? It would be nice to have some progress to report back to Rome.”
    As Saito rang off, Piola realised it hadn’t been news to him that Fallici would be there. He had the curious feeling that he himself was like an actor at the first rehearsal of a play, being fed his lines one by one, told where to stand and when to move, precisely so that at some later date everyone could point to him and say, “There. See what he did?” But that was often the way of these things – the top brass far more concerned with making sure no one could blame them for some procedural irregularity than actually solving crimes.
    As he got into the car, spreading muddy stains over the carpet, he also realised that, sometime over the course of the morning, he’d managed to mislay that damn hat.

FOUR
    THE WOMAN SLIPPED out of bed, careful not to wake the sleeping body at her side, and stepped into the bathroom. Scanning the hotel toiletries with a practised eye, she reached for a bottle of shower gel. Bulgari’s Thé Vert, indeed. Her companion certainly hadn’t spared any expense on the room.
    She hadn’t bothered with her clothes, just her phone. Checking the screen, she saw she had four missed calls and a voicemail, all from the same person. She ignored them and turned on the shower.
    When she came out, wrapped in two big towels, the man in the bed was awake. He watched her as she dressed – quickly and efficiently, so unlike the night before, when the same clothes had come off slowly, piece by piece, their progress interrupted by kisses, sweet talk and mouthfuls of prosecco .
    “Good morning, cara ,” he said at last, when she sat on the bed to put on her stockings.
    She eased a kitten-heeled shoe over one foot. “Good morning,” she answered just as evenly.
    “I enjoyed last night.”
    “Me too.” Although her words agreed with him, her tone was casual.
    He reached out and ran a hand along her thigh. “Will we do it again?”
    “I don’t know. Perhaps. It’s difficult for me.” She stood up abruptly. As if unconsciously, she looked down at her left hand. Reaching into a pocket, she took out a wedding ring and slipped it back on.
    “Yes,