THREE DAYS to DIE Read Online Free PDF Page B

home by any chance, is he?"
          "Oh – hi, Willy," she said, looking past him into the street. "I was hoping he was with you. He left on his bike during dinner and hasn't come home."
          She checked her watch. 9:45 p.m.
          "I'm starting to worry," she said, and then her heart was lifted by an idea. "What about your grandparents? Maybe they've heard from him."
          Willy shook his head sadly. "Sorry, Mrs. Quinn," he said. "They wouldn't know it if Aaron walked in the house and sat on the couch with them."
          Ashley cringed. "I'm sorry, Willy," she said. "Aaron never tells me anything."
          Willy wasn't surprised – Aaron never told him anything either.
          "I'd better go," he said. "I'm sure he'll show up." He was fibbing about the last part, but he hoped like everything it was true. He turned and trotted down the steps.
          I hope you're right, Ashley said to herself, watching him leave. She liked Willy – he was always the perfect little gentleman. She called after him. "If you see him, send him home right away, okay?"
          "Will do," Willy said, then with a little wave, "Good night, Mrs. Quinn."

Chapter 9
    Gran Cavallo
          The ancient, cage-style freight-elevator rattled its way toward the top floor of Michael's apartment building. Aaron grinned as pipes and cables rushed past his face, giving him an exhilarating sense of speed.
          "This old elevator sold me on the property," Michael said. "My dad had one in the mill where he worked, and he'd let me ride it whenever I visited."
          The cage jerked to a stop. Michael pulled on an oiled leather strap, raising the wooden gate that served as a door.
          The elevator opened onto a spacious rooftop garden and a long, brick walkway canopied by a yachting-blue awning hung on heavy, polished-brass arches. The walkway was flanked by stone benches and large pots full of fresh flowers and lead to an exquisite pair of huge, hand-tooled copper doors.
          Aaron stopped to check them out. The doors depicted a magnificent horse.
          "That's Leonardo Da Vinci's Gran Cavallo ," Michael explained, "the magnificent, twenty-four foot high clay equestrian model he completed in 1492. I found the doors in Milan and had them shipped back here by boat."
          "I can't believe I've never heard of that," Aaron said, running his fingers over the highly detailed copper relief. He had read many accounts of Da Vinci's life, but none had mentioned this.
          "It's an amazing story," Michael said. "The Gran Cavallo was one of Da Vinci's greatest and most unknown masterpieces. Seventy tons of bronze were set aside for the casting of that horse, but before De Vinci could use it, the precious bronze was sent off and used to make cannons. Then, in 1499, during France's invasion of Italy, French archers used Leonardo's beautiful clay model for target practice, dashing Da Vinci's hope of ever having it cast in bronze, and breaking his heart in the process."
          He keyed in the entry alarm code and invited Aaron into his loft with a chivalrous bow and wave of his arm.
          "That's an unbelievable story," Aaron said as he stepped through the doors. "To have something that is such a huge part of your life destroyed like that. It's sad."
          Michael could relate. "It's very sad," he agreed.

Chapter 10
    The Loft
          Aaron's eyes went wide; never in his wildest dreams had he imagined living anywhere as cool as Michael's outrageous loft apartment. He stood in the entry area craning up at the high ceilings and admiring the eclectic blend of fine original artwork mixed with movie and exotic-car posters.
          Next to him, from high in the rafters, a broad sheet of clear water flowed down the face of a polished travertine wall before disappearing into the floor. He poked his finger into the silvery fluid, creating a tiny arcing wave.
          The