“We got the pumps running right away,” Domenic was saying.
“How long, do you think, until the chamber’s dry?”
“Maybe forever. Whatever kept it dry—which Sabrina found no sign of, by the way—it isn’t working now. The pumps have probably already drained what flooded in, but there’s still going to be groundwater. Once the canal wall is permanently repaired we’ll know more, but my guess is a drainage system might need to be installed long- term.”
Geena let that sink in. Right now, as they sat there talking, the Chamber of Ten might be accessible. Who knew how much damage it had sustained? The broken wall, of course, and one of the obelisks had cracked. And then there was the urn …
“Domenic, there’s something I need you to do for me,” she said. “Now. Tonight.”
He nodded. “Of course. Anything.”
Geena spoke quickly and quietly, so that only Domenic could hear her over the din of the cafe. If he thought her request strange he showed no sign of it, only agreed to do as she asked.
“Now, tell me about this horrible thing in Dorsoduro,” she said. “What is this crypt they’ve discovered?”
“Awful, isn’t it?” Domenic said. “You saw it on the news?”
“Heard it from a waitress in a cafe, actually.”
“That’s what I love about Venice. We get our news over coffee.” Domenic smiled and then nodded toward a young guy who was one of the graduate students. “Luciano was over there today.”
Domenic got the grad student’s attention and made the introductions, though given his field of study, Luciano was well aware of Dr. Geena Hodge. It would have been almost impossible to be an archaeology student in Venice and not be familiar with her.
“Lu, Dr. Hodge was just asking about the tomb in Dorsoduro.”
Luciano nodded enthusiastically, as though being allowed to visit the site had been the best gift he had ever received.
“Dr. Schiavo sent a group of us down to observe,” Luciano said. “The city council wanted us there as consultants, or something. I’ve never seen anything like it, Dr. Hodge. Most of the building slid into the canal. No one seemed sure why. There was talk of explosives, but I overheard policemen saying there was no sign of anything like that. But if it hadn’t collapsed, the tomb wouldn’t have been discovered right away. It’s a mass grave, really. The building had a subchamber, probably 16th century. It’s similar in some ways to Petrarch’s library, but its only purpose was for burial. From what we could tell based on an initial evaluation, there’s not a single marking to indicate the identity of any of the entombed dead. Don’t you think that’s bizarre?”
Geena nodded to urge him on. “Very peculiar. And what about the tomb? Was it intact?”
Luciano had been excited to tell her his story, building up to something, but now his excitement left him in a single exhalation and he looked at her oddly.
“What have you heard?”
“Nothing. That’s why I’m asking. Why?”
He gave a small shrug. “It’s just weird that you would ask, considering.”
“Considering what?”
“I received a call just before I came over here,” Luciano said. “A couple of my classmates went down there tonight with a camera and a lighting rig to begin documenting the inside of the tomb so they would have photographs of what the site looked like before they started disturbing things tomorrow. The area around the building had been blocked off and the workers had gone home for the day. But there should have been at least a handful of police on guard, for safety if nothing else. Yet no one tried to stop them when they arrived with the equipment, or approached to ask them what they were doing. They called Dr. Schiavo and he called the police, who said there were officers posted there, but whatever their orders were, those police were nowhere to be found. My friends went inside the tomb—”
“It had been violated,” Geena said, a sick feeling spreading through her belly.
“Yes,” Luciano said, nodding emphatically. “I was just telling the others about it before you arrived. But it’s worse than that. The tomb is empty, Dr. Hodge. All of the bodies have been stolen!”
Geena stared at him, feeling vaguely nauseous.
“Disgusting, isn’t it?” Domenic said, sipping his drink. “Grave-robbers in the 21st century. In Venice! Who would do such a thing?”
Geena knew the answer. She might not trust Volpe, but he couldn’t possibly have moved all of those bodies, unless he had used magic to make them simply vanish, and she had a difficult time imagining that. She felt sure that the surviving Doges had been behind the removal of their relatives’ remains. To her, the question was not who had stolen the withered remains, but why. To give them a proper burial?
She shivered, hoping it would turn out to be something that simple, but certain it would not.
In her pocket, her cell phone vibrated. She frowned, wondering for a moment if it was Tonio calling her back. Then her pulse quickened as she realized it might be Nico. Pulling out her phone, she barely saw Ramus place her glass of red wine on the table before her.
“Hello?” she said, cupping a hand over her left ear to block out the cafe noise.
“Where are you?” he snapped, and she couldn’t be sure if it was Nico or Volpe asking the question.
“Il Bacio. With Domenic and Sabrina and Ramus and a bunch of other people,” she said.
“Good. Stay there with them. Don’t even go to the bathroom. I’m on my way right now. Please don’t go anywhere until I reach you.” He was breathing hard, so she now realized he must be running.
“Why? What’s happened? What’s wrong?” she asked, panic rising, turning to gaze at the people around her. Professor Pustizzi and two of his graduate students were watching her with obvious disdain.
“Is that Nico?” Domenic asked.
He frowned angrily and reached for the phone, but she twisted away from him.
“What’s going on?” she demanded.
“They’ve got people working for them,” Nico said, short of breath. “They’ve been watching us. And not just us—the whole team from the Biblioteca project. If you’re all there, there are probably at least half a dozen inside and outside the cafe who are there to watch you. And they’ll be after you, Geena. They’ve been watching up until now, but tonight they have orders to capture you. Just stay right where you are until I get there. Volpe can help.”
She clicked the phone shut and looked around. Sick fear twisted in her gut and radiated throughout her body. She wanted to scream but could not. Volpe? He was supposed to help? Volpe had been the start of all of this. He was a cancer inside Nico’s body, and she was supposed to trust him?
Domenic tried to talk to her but she could barely hear his voice. She knew she should try to appear calm but realized she was failing badly. As she picked up her glass of wine, her hand shook so hard that some of it spilled over the rim and down along the stem. She glanced around the cafe, searching for anyone who might be watching their table, watching her.
The man by the bar stood alone, his back to them, his eyes dark in the reflection of the mirror behind the counter. A thin man with a well-groomed goatee was sitting with a beautiful icy blond woman, neither of them speaking as they sipped coffee. The blond woman glanced at Geena, who averted her eyes, and immediately spotted the African man sitting at a small table near the front door with a book in his hand, though he didn’t have enough light to read.
Were they watching? Were these people killers in service to the Doges? Were there others? A terrible feeling came over her and she glanced around the table, at the pretty girl who reached out to push a lock of Sabrina’s hair aside, smiling at the two people with Professor Pustizzi, whom Geena assumed to be grad students. She had thought she recognized most of these people, but even if they were familiar, some were complete strangers.
Her chair scraped back and then tipped over, clacking to the floor as she stood.
“Dr. Hodge?” Ramus asked, frowning at the wine as though it might somehow be to blame.
“Geena, what is it?” Domenic asked.
“I can’t be responsible,” she said, knowing he wouldn’t understand. How could she explain that she could not live with any of them getting hurt because they were a part of her team, because they were her friends?
Nico had told her to stay put, but she could not bring violence on these people.
“Whatever happens, just do what I asked,” she said, staring at him. “Will you, please? Promise me.”
