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The officer who threw him into the car did so with a ruthless, angry line to his mouth.
"Call Captain Lavezzo with the Carabinieri T.P.C.," he told him."He'll tell you what this is all about."
The door was slammed in his face.He had no idea if anyone would make that call.And he hoped he was right about Lavezzo.If he wasn't, they might not be out of danger yet.
ChapterTwenty-Eight
Two inspectors, followed by a man who introduced himself as Commissario Toran questioned Isabella off and on for what felt like hours.She kept repeating what Nick had told her—that she needed them to call Captain Lavezzo with the Carabinieri T.P.C.and that she wanted a lawyer.
Finally, after midnight, she was pushed into a holding cell with one other woman sitting on a hard, narrow bench.Her heart swelled with relief when she realized it was her mother.
Her mom jumped to her feet, and they embraced for several long minutes.She held onto her mother like she'd held on to her when she was a kid, when she was scared, and her mom's tight hug was instantly reassuring and calming.
"My darling girl," her mother whispered as she stroked her back."You're all right."
"I am."She pulled away so she could look into her mom's eyes."How about you?"
"I'm no stranger to a cell," she said grimly."But I never wanted to see you in a place like this."
"I never wanted to see you in a place like this, either."
The years fell away as they both remembered her one and only visit to her mom in jail.She'd never returned, and her mother had never asked to see her again.
"I wish you hadn't seen me there," her mom said."The look on your face was worse than anything I had to endure.It broke my heart."She drew in a breath and let it out."I'm sorry if I made another mistake tonight.I didn't tell Stefano that you had gone to see Jasmine, but I did say you were looking for the stolen paintings.That was probably too much."
"He already knew that."
"But perhaps I gave away more than I thought.Obviously, he knew I'd seen you.I don't know if that helped him find you, or if he had someone follow me."
"He couldn't have followed you.He got to the school before you."
"No.I actually got to the school before you, but it was locked up, and you weren't there, so I went to a café to get a coffee.I waited about thirty minutes and thought I'd try the school again.That's when I saw the back door open, and lights jumping around the school.Stefano could have followed me to the school."
"Maybe.But I'm surprised you beat us there.The traffic was so bad."
"I drove to Rome about an hour after you left my house, and I didn't stop in Cortona."
"That makes sense.We had to wait for the rental car and then we were with Jasmine for a while.She had Tomas's final painting.That put it together for me.But you guessed the school even without it."
"I spent a lot of time in the courtyard painting those scenes, and it suddenly hit me.What better place to hide paintings than in an art school?It's strange to think I looked at those paintings dozens of times when I was a teenager, but I never imagined they were originals, just excellent copies.And they were hung on the walls for over fifty years.I guess we're lucky the school never repainted.They just covered the cracks with art."
"You should have gone to Milan like we planned."
Her mother gazed into her eyes."I came here because I didn't want you to be hurt, and I had no way to reach you because your phone was off.I also thought maybe I could help.When I walked into the school and saw Nick next to a dead body, my heart stopped."
"You're lucky Nick didn't shoot you."
"He quickly realized it was me.He wanted me to leave, but I heard you and Stefano upstairs, and I thought I could talk Stefano out of hurting you.That was stupid.He'd already killed one man.He wasn't going to stop for me.I just didn't think he was that evil.I mean, I always knew he had a darker side.Even when we were kids, he'd go a little too far in a fight or with drinking.That was one reason I left him behind.I couldn't see a life with him, but I had no idea he was capable of murder."She let out a hopeless sigh."I really don't judge people very well, especially men."
"This isn't on you, Mom.Stefano covered his tracks well.And you did help me.You distracted Stefano so he didn't see Nick.Before that, you helped when you remembered Lucinda's best friend was Jasmine.She answered a lot of questions about Tomas and Lucinda, the group they ran.They called themselves theProtettori.They were forging paintings and replacing originals with counterfeit pieces in museums and galleries across Rome.They had insider intelligence on where the thieves might strike.But when they did, they stole fakes, not originals, and the real art was saved for future generations.To be honest, I think Lucinda and Tomas were obsessively idealistic and also a little crazy.I guess that runs in the family."
Her mother gave her a faint smile."Let's sit down.We could be here a long time."
They sat on the bench together, and she was glad they were alone, that they had this time to talk."I met Louisa and Victoria when Nick and I went to the school a few days ago," she continued."I wonder if they had any idea there were valuable paintings on the walls of the school."
"I doubt it.If they did, they probably would have tried to sell them.The school has always been a passion project for Frederico's family.There was never a lot of money to run it, but no one wanted to let it go."
"They mentioned the money problems when we spoke.They also remembered you as being beautiful, wild, and very passionate."
