A Wicked Song - Lisa Renee Jones Page 0,36
help and someone he trusts is a blessing compared to a stranger I might have called on my own. I grab a small empty bag from the shelf. “I need to go to his office on the way out. There might be something there that will help Walker find Gio.”
He smiles and grabs my suitcase. “Lead the way.”
I point at him. “I’m not promising that I’m telling them who I am.”
“You will. They’ll win you over.” And with that, he backs out of the closet, leaving me to think about those words. I don’t have to think hard. I want him to be right.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Kace and I head downstairs and my path is straight to Gio’s office and his desk. Kace props himself in the doorframe, watching me as I scoop up all the papers on top of Gio’s desk and slide them into the shoulder bag I’d grabbed from the closet. Next, I open the drawer to my right where I’d found the evidence that he’d been diving deep into a hunt for all things Stradivarius. There’s nothing here that feels helpful and Lord knows I’ve looked, and looked some more. Well, except for one thing. There is one discovery that feels important: I lift his desk calendar and remove the letter from Sofia.
I slide the letter into the bag, stand up, and turn, pausing as my gaze catches on the painting on the wall behind his desk: a famous church in Italy, but it’s not the actual painting that has my attention now. It’s the way it’s tilted right.
Kace steps to my side, eyeing it with me. “What are we looking at, besides a tilted painting of an Italian church in your hometown of Cremona?”
My look is, no doubt, incredulous. “You know that church?”
“Of course. Cremona is home to your ancestor, the great Antonio Stradivari. I know everything about that city.” He motions to the painting. “That’s the Cremona Cathedral, baby. I visited it when I was there to visit your family. It’s dedicated to the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It’s also the seat of the Bishop of Cremona. If I’d suspected who you are, that would have told me.”
“Of course, you would. I warned him not to put it up. I told him mom was going to roll over in her grave, but he didn’t listen. He claimed he needed something to connect him with home.”
“In his defense, few people would know the church like I do by sight. The violin is my life and that visit to Cremona was memorable in ways it would not be to someone else.”
I frown and settle my hands on my hips. “The painting is tilted. It wasn’t tilted.”
He eyes it and then me. “You think someone was in here and knocked into it?”
“Yes. I mean, it could have been Nancy, but why touch the painting?” I study it where it hangs over a credenza. “Actually, how would anyone even knock into it at all?”
“Maybe they moved the credenza?” he asks. “Is there anything worth inspecting inside?”
“He barely uses it,” I say. “There was nothing worth seeing inside. I’m sure of it. And the safe is a full foot from the painting. It also has nothing to help us inside.”
I glance over at him. “But there are a couple of dark spots on my security feed, as if someone turned it off. I know that could be a tech issue, but the timelines are weird.”
He arches a dark brow. “Meaning?”
“Last night after we came in and this morning before you left.”
“You think someone could have been here while we were in asleep?”
“It’s a creepy thought, but yes. When I came downstairs this morning, I smelled perfume. It wasn’t Nancy’s.”
“You’re sure?”
“Yes,” I say, without an inch of hesitation. “There was perfume in the air. I didn’t imagine it. It was a sharp floral scent that lingered but the very fact that I could smell it means the person had been here recently. Clearly, my security system was no help.”
“Which can be hacked but I’m wondering if Gio sent this Sofia person to get something for him.”
“Or she knew the code and snuck in herself. I mean why would Gio send her and not come himself?”
“Maybe he’s not in the city.”
“That would mean he’s outright avoiding me. And the blips on the camera were oddly timed.”
“Walker can check nearby camera feeds. You need to tell them everything. Make a list in advance.”
“I’ve also had a couple of weird hang-up calls. One