Roman Sunset - Merry Farmer Page 0,1
won some contest. The boy laughed merrily and turned to stick his tongue out at the others.
The whole thing would have been a delightful show, if Thomas hadn’t felt utterly incompetent as a boy who couldn’t have been more than eight led him through the winding streets of Rome to the grand Garibaldi Hotel. He couldn’t even find his way to a hotel without help. How was he supposed to locate and rescue Asher? Only days ago, Thomas had learned that his brother was more than just the new Duke of Addlebury, he was a spy in Her Majesty’s Secret Service. According to the little Lord Beverly had told Thomas and his cousin, Lord Trent McGovern, Asher was part of a mission to keep a band of criminals from robbing a newly-discovered archeology site in Egypt that was reportedly a treasure trove just waiting to be uncovered. Not only would the antiquities there be worth a fortune, the site was important for maintaining healthy relations between the crown and the government of Egypt. It all seemed abstract to Thomas—except the idea of ancient treasures—but it didn’t matter what he thought, now that Asher was The Jackal’s prisoner.
The most confusing aspect of the mission Lord Beverly had given him was to locate a fellow agent of the crown in Rome—someone Lord Beverly had called the English Columbine. Thomas didn’t have the first clue what that meant. All he knew was that a columbine was a type of flower. Was he supposed to be looking for an Englishman wearing a sprig of columbine in his lapel?
He was relieved when the urchin led him around a corner and the grand site of the Garibaldi Hotel loomed before him, splashed with the light of the setting sun.
“Thank God,” he sighed, picking up his pace. “Thank you,” he told the lad, who didn’t seem to have any intention of leaving him. At least, not until they reached the hotel’s door and Thomas retrieved his wallet from his jacket.
The lad’s eyes went wide as Thomas pulled out a bill. He had no idea what denomination the bill was, but considering how lost he had been, the boy deserved every penny of it. “Grazie, signore!” the boy gasped, clutching the bill to his chest. He turned and bolted down the street as if Thomas would realize he’d overpaid and demand his money back.
The hotel’s doorman laughed and shook his head as he opened the door, but Thomas didn’t care. At last, he knew where he was, and with any luck, he could figure out all of the disjointed pieces of his mission and rescue Asher before it was too late.
“Reservation for McGovern,” he told the concierge at the hotel’s front desk with a sigh. Perhaps, before he rushed off into the city playing spy, he could get a bath and a good night’s rest.
“Ah, yes. Lord Landry,” the concierge said with a smile. “We’ve been expecting you.” He nodded, then stepped away, into a back room.
The hair on the back of Thomas’s neck stood up. The concierge knew exactly who he was, even though Lord Beverly said he’d put the reservation under “Thomas McGovern”. That could only mean that the man was in on whatever mystery Asher had been sucked into. Thomas couldn’t decide if that was a good thing.
When the concierge returned from the back room, he presented Thomas with a key and a sealed letter. “I trust you will enjoy your stay with us,” he said. “If there’s anything you need, please let us know.”
Thomas nodded distractedly to the man, turning the envelope over with a frown. It had no markings other than the initials “TM” printed in the upper left-hand corner. Curiosity got the better of him, and he set the room key on the desk, then opened the letter. He leaned against the desk as he took the contents out and read.
“Thomas,” the letter began. “If you are reading this, I trust you have made it safely to Rome. There is no need to tell you that time is of the essence. Below is a list of known hideouts for The Jackal’s gang. While we cannot know if your brother is being held at any of them, investigating each one is the best place to start.”
Thomas glanced down the page to a list of six addresses. His heart sank. If he couldn’t even find his way to the hotel from the train station, how was he supposed to investigate six random locations in