Claire Gulliver #03 - Intrigue in Italics Read online

  “Naturally, who else would lead the cheering section?” He laughed, explaining further, “there are a lot of us groupies who go to every event. It’s kind of like being an ice skating fan, or following gymnastics. In fact, I’m meeting some of them in Cannes before the Olympics so I will be leaving here before Chef Martin and Stephen. But I’ll catch up with them in London in time for all the action.”

  “I envy you; I’m sure it will be exciting. Will it be on the Food Channel?”

  “No, not yet, but several magazines will be reporting it and of course if he wins it will be in the U.S. papers. It is exciting.”

  “Well, I think I’m going to check on the desserts. Please excuse me.” She left the table anxious for her sweet.

  * * *

  “Oh, my god, I thought for a moment I was going over the edge.” Claire shivered. “Thanks for grabbing me.”

  “What was that, anyway?” Kristen questioned.

  “What was what?”

  “I mean, what were you doing? Karate? Kick-boxing? You moved so fast you scared me, them too, I think.”

  “Well, Brown Suit couldn’t have been too scared; you saw how fast he moved.” Claire shook her head with disgust. “I learned that at one of those women’s self-defense programs. They said move fast and aim for their balls. If that doesn’t seem possible, go for the knee.

  “I wasn’t sure I could kick high enough to reach his crotch, so I went for the knee. I just wasn’t expecting to miss. He sure moved fast. Maybe he went to one of the same kind of classes I did.”

  She raised her head off of her knees and looked at Kristen with surprise. “But, I guess it did work. At least it works when your attacker is on an unstable path in slippery shoes.”

  She thought a minute. “Maybe that wasn’t the right thing to do. If you hadn’t grabbed me I would have gone over the side. That sure wouldn’t have helped you.”

  “Claire, get real. You saved our lives. I was just thanking my lucky stars you insisted on coming with me. Otherwise it would have probably been me at the bottom of this cliff instead of them.”

  “When I came around that part of the trail and looked up to see them there, I thought I would faint. Sometimes when I get scared I just freeze. One time I blacked out completely. But they scared me so much I guess my instincts just took over. I swear that grin on Brown Suit’s face took me beyond terror. I felt so ferocious I think I could have wrestled them over the edge with my bare hands.”

  She looked at Kristen and managed a small smile. “Fortunately, I didn’t have to test that. And now I just feel like a limp dish rag...and I have to pee really, really bad.”

  Kristen laughed. “Don’t think you’ll find a toilet around here, but there was a clump of boulders down there a ways. That should serve you.”

  Claire slipped her backpack off her shoulders and set it on the ground. Then using it as a lever she struggled to her feet and then stood for a moment to test her knees before moving cautiously down the path. When she reappeared she seemed more like her usual self.

  This time instead of sitting on the dirt path she selected a large rock half buried in the cliff to perch on. “Well, Kristen, we don’t have to be running from Brown Suit any more, but I’m sure whoever sent him will send someone else as soon as they realize what happened.”

  Kristen nodded; she knew she was running from something bigger than Brown Suit and his friend.

  “But our real problem is getting off this trail...” Claire continued.

  Kristen blanched. “Oh, shit!” She said it with real feeling. “I’ve really got us into it this time. How are we going to get back to the main trail? We’re trapped here now, aren’t we?”

  “Well, I sure didn’t see a way off it, but maybe we should walk it again. We need to look carefully; perhaps there is some place where it is possible to climb out. Either up or down. What do you think?”

  Kristen stood up and turned toward Corniglia. “Let’s go, time is wasting.”

  When they returned to that wide space in the trail again they were very hot, and discouraged. Claire sought out the same stone she had used before which was in the shade of the bulge of the cliff. Now the sun was lower in the sky and the heat seemed to be attracted to the cliff. She removed her backpack and rummaged through it. “Do you have anything to eat in yours, Kristen?”

  Kristen, sitting cross-legged, Indian style, on the trail in part of the pool of shade started doing the same and came up with three energy bars and a little packet of trail mix. Claire had a package of Swiss Chocolates and part of a bottle of water.

  She took a slug of water and passed the bottle to Kristen, accepting an energy bar in return.

  “We could be here a long time.”

  “What about your friend? He was sending someone to meet us in Corniglia. Surely they’ll come looking for us when we don’t show.”

  “I hope so.”

  It was depressing. They sat there for a while and then began talking to distract themselves from their distress.

  “Kristin, I don’t understand how you ended up in Europe. I didn’t think the Witness Protection people placed their people outside the United States.”

  “I don’t think they do. But I’m not really in their program yet. I’m being held by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, and the Witness Protection people are just monitoring me. They have the system already in place so it was simpler and safer to be under their management until after the trial. Then I will go on the program. They’ll develop an identity for me and a history. Then I’ll be placed some place under their jurisdiction, in the States.”

  Claire nodded. “So how did you end up in Florence?”

  “I negotiated.” She nodded her head. “I told them I had already had my life ruined, so it was the least they could do for me while I hid out.” She shrugged. “I didn’t really think they’d go for it but they did. I had always wanted to take some art classes and my Italian was good. Of course living here these past months has certainly helped with my language skills. I call in to the Program in the States regularly and I have my emergency kit.” She patted her backpack.

  They were staring morosely out to sea, now too discouraged to even talk.

  “Did you hear that?” Claire wondered if she was hallucinating.

  There, she heard it again. She got up and moved around the bulge in the cliff to the little bit of trail now abruptly ending in the gash of fresh dirt and stones of the slide area.

  “Hello,” he called in an accent that could only be American. Close behind him, peering over his shoulder was a man in combat fatigues of the Italian Police.

  “Are you Claire Gulliver?” the man called.

  “Yes. Who are you?”

  “I’m James Martino. Bernie sent me.”

  Claire felt limp with relief. “Thank God, Kristen. He’s come to rescue us.”

  “Is there a way through at the end of the trail?” he asked them.

  “No, we’re trapped. We came over here.” She gestured to the break in the trail. “But the two guys chasing us caught up. When they came over this part they loosened a slide.” Her eyes just naturally looked over the edge into space.

  She shuddered. “They’re down there somewhere. But we ended up trapped.” She heard the anxiety in her voice and took a deep breath. Now was not the time to lose control, she told herself.

  “Okay. Okay, don’t worry. We’re going to figure out how to get you off that ledge. Was there anywhere behind you where you could get down to the water or climb up over the top?”

  This time Kristen chimed in. “We went back and checked again. We didn’t see any place that would work. That’s why we’re still sitting here.” She sounded a little cross, but Claire thought she had the right to be after the past couple of days.

  The man called James nodded, then turned and spoke with the guy behind him. The policeman then spoke rapidly into a little radio attached by a strap to his shoulder, but he was too far away for Kristen to catch any of his words.

&n
bsp; “My friend here says they are good at search and rescue. They do it all the time on these trails. His friends will be here soon.”

  They heard it before they actually saw the helicopter. Then it swept over the top of the cliff and came down about level with them hovering over the sea. The wind from the blades blew them back against the cliff. They could no longer hear anything. Slowly it moved away, the noise and wind headed down the coast toward the big slide area.

  “They’re looking for a good area to stage the rescue, “James yelled at them. He turned and spoke to the man with him who was speaking into his radio once more. After a while James yelled again, hands cupping his mouth to help project his words.

  “They’re going to have to lower a basket for you. There is a wide space back about two hundred yards. They think they can do it there.”

  Claire nodded; she remembered the place he was talking about. They moved back over the trail to where the helicopter hovered. There the trail was very high above the ocean and wider. And the cliff rose only about ten feet above the trail so the helicopter could hover without worrying about the drafts flinging their chopper against the cliff.

  Claire and Kristen arrived in time to see a contraption on cables lowering a man in fatigues slowly down to the trail level. They both grabbed the harness to help steady him as he landed. They were so glad to see him they both looked kind of weepy, but perhaps that was only the wind from the helicopter propeller blowing dust in their faces. And really there wasn’t any time for sentiment. Words were useless with the chopper hovering above them, but their rescuer’s hand signals were easy to understand.

  Claire didn’t want to go first. She really didn’t want to get in the thing that looked somewhat like the basket swing for toddlers on the playground. The whole thing was suspended from cables placed to keep it from turning over. The policeman was adamant and when Claire tried to defer to Kristen, Kristen motioned her to get in. Claire reluctantly climbed in, sliding her legs in the holes as if stepping into shorts. The policeman arranged the harness over her shoulders, strapping her in, stepped back and waved to the chopper. Before Claire could protest she was smoothly pulled up in the air and then swung away from the cliff. She didn’t dare look down. She didn’t want to see how far up she was. Her legs and feet dangling made her feel like she should pull them up out of danger. Suddenly she thought she had to pee again, but she didn’t have time to even think about it as she was quickly winched up into the belly of the chopper. Soon hands were grabbing her, pulling on her and her feet were planted on the floor of the aircraft. The solidness of it felt wonderful.

  One of the policemen led her away from the door, strapped her into a seat and gave her a bottle of cold water.

  Pretty soon there was a flurry at the opening again and Kristen appeared. She joined Claire, gratefully chugging her own water bottle.

  One more time there was activity at the open door and the man, who had come down to help them, was now on board. The helicopter banked sharply to its side and moved away from the cliff.

  The aircraft was now moving alongside the cliff, lower than the trail. When they hovered a moment, the men clustered around the still opened door pointed excitedly and Claire realized they must have located the bodies of Brown Suit and Red Jacket. Then the chopper glided into a turn rising above the cliff before lowering itself to the ground.

  Claire flashed a look of her relief toward Kristen. She couldn’t wait to get out. But they didn’t, instead James and the policeman climbed on board and the chopper rose in the sky again.

  James grinned at them and stuck his thumb in the air before putting on some headphones with a mike which apparently enabled him to talk to the others who were also wearing headphones.

  Claire had no idea how long they flew. It was so dark where they were sitting she couldn’t read her watch. But she could see through the still open door the sun was going down. The droning of the motor seemed to chase all coherent thought from her head. They were safe and someone else was worrying about where they would go. So for the moment she was content.

  Again the chopper hovered then slowly descended. The lurch when it sat on the ground stirred a bit of activity. Two of the policemen unfastened her and Kristen’s seat belts and guided them to the door. This time there was a ladder hanging out, and they followed James down to the ground. It looked to be a large field gone fallow. James motioned to them and ran hunched over out of reach of the rotating blades. They followed.

  Then turning they waved to the men crowded around the door as the helicopter rose into the air again. Turning sideways it flew off.

  The three of them stood until silence descended once more. It wasn’t quite dark even though the sun was down and everything was gray and shadowy.

  “Hey there, James. You’re later than we expected. Hope you didn’t run into any trouble.” The man behind the powerful flashlight beam emerged, grinning.

  “We didn’t, but the ladies here had a bit of a problem that took a little working out. I think it was solved rather satisfactorily.” James looked at Claire. “What do you think?”

  “I think we owe you a lot of thanks...” she started but stopped when James just walked away following the man with the light over the uneven ground.

  At the edge of the field was a small house. James flipped the switch to turn on all the lights. And after they followed him into the cottage, he introduced the man with the light.

  “This is Will; he’s a colleague of mine. Now, if you’d be so kind as to put your backpacks on the table; empty your pockets of everything, and take off your shoes.” He grinned at their stunned expressions. “We just want to make sure you’re not carrying a bug. After all we wouldn’t want to accuse someone of selling out and find that you inadvertently advertised your whereabouts through a little tracking devise planted on your person, would we?”

  It made perfect sense, but Claire couldn’t imagine where they could have picked up a bug. And they hadn’t. After Will and James went through everything in the backpacks and Will used some instrument to search for signals, they asked them to take some of their clothes from the backpack and change out of the ones they were wearing so they could examine those closely.

  “So, most likely you’re right, Claire. Someone in the Witness Protection program has to be the culprit. You haven’t contacted anyone else during this time, have you?”

  They both shook their heads, then Claire remembered. “Well, just my mother. But I didn’t talk to her. She’s at a cooking class at the Villa Tuscany and, since I couldn’t reach her, I left a message on the answering machine in her room. But I didn’t tell her where I was. Wait.” She thought a moment. “I told her I was in Sienna but didn’t tell her about Vernazza. That’s right.” She looked to Kristen for confirmation.

  “What’s her name, and do you have the phone number and room number of where she is staying?”

  Claire gave it to Will, who wrote it down. Nodding, he said, “We’ll check it out. We don’t want to leave any loose ends.

  “Okay, folks. Let’s get going.”

  “Where are we going? I thought we were already here.”

  James and Will smiled as they shook their heads. “No, this isn’t safe enough. The chopper dropped us off only a little ways from here. This would be too easy for someone to track us. But, of course, we needed to make sure you weren’t bugged. Now we can head for the safe house.”

  Claire and Kristen grabbed their backpacks and checked to make sure nothing was left behind and followed the men out the door. James turned off the lights while Will hurried to the old barn set behind the house. They watched him open the doors, disappear inside and then he drove out in the dark sedan. Claire and Kristen wedged themselves in the back seat while James went back and closed the barn doors.

  The dense blackness of the countryside was cut only by the lights of the car. Will obviously knew his way around as they took a bewildering number of country lanes. Only twice did they approach a little village, but each time he
turned on the perimeter road to avoid driving through the center.

  After the first few minutes on the road, James had explained that Will and his wife, Emily, ran the safe house where they were heading. Then a hush fell on the occupants of the car as each seemed occupied with their own thoughts.

  Finally Will turned into a little lane and approached a house in the middle of nowhere. He hit a button on the visor and the garage door opened for them. They scrambled out of the car and followed Will through the side door emerging into a kitchen/family room combination filled with good smells.

  That’s when Claire realized how hungry she was.

  CHAPTER 11

  Emily wasn’t at all what Claire expected. She was slender, wearing comfortable jeans and a yellow cotton sweater which had seen better days. And she was barefoot. She was probably Claire’s age but it was hard to tell. Her dark hair could have been natural or might have had help keeping the gray out and her eyes were gray. She seemed pleased to have them here.

  “Oh, I’m so glad I cooked today. How did I know someone would be here to share it?” She moved to the stove, removed a lid and stirred the pot. A tantalizing aroma reached Claire.

  Not waiting for an invitation, Claire hung her backpack on the back of the closest chair at the table and sat down. “I’m starved. And I don’t know what’s in the pot, but it smells heavenly.”

  “Wow, that’s for sure.” Kristen joined her, then, “Oops. I need to wash up.”

  Will led Kristen away while James sat down. “Emily, this is Claire. She’s had a rough day, haven’t you, Claire?”

  Emily looked at Claire and smiled. “Well Claire, you’re welcome here and safe. We’ve never lost a guest.” Her smile lit her face.

  Emily moved around the kitchen confidently and soon there were glasses and a pitcher of wine on the table, followed closely by a large loaf of crusty bread and a crock of butter. By the time Kristen joined them, Claire had already eaten the large hunk she had torn from the bread on Emily’s directions and drank half of her glass of a very pleasing red wine.