Alicia Myles 2 - Crusader's Gold by David Leadbeater Read Free Book Online Page A

affording more people a view and recognizing that the thing they needed would need more thought.
    “Dandolo,” he mused. “Constantinople. The Horses of St. Mark. Venice.” He absorbed the display afforded by the tomb and its surrounds, the passageways leading off, the ceiling and the extensive floor. In truth the entire area was oddly bland, offering little in the way of mystery. Indeed, a wooden guard cabin stood behind them, inappropriate but probably necessary.
    Crouch let his gaze wander.
    Alicia and Russo, remaining distant, continued to guard the team’s perimeter. Caitlyn entertained a moment of irrationality where she questioned the need for a guard inside this church, then again understood just how far she had to go to become a true team member.
    Stupid girl.
    “Ya see that statue?” Alicia was bantering with her large companion. “Bet you can’t break it apart with your bare hands.”
    “Don’t you ever shut up?”
    “Only when I’m fighting.”
    Russo placed his hands together as if wishing for an adversary to turn up.
    “Careful. You do that inside here too often they’ll bronze you and stick you on a pedestal.”
    Caitlyn’s attention wandered again, back to Crouch who was staring into the middle-distance, then to Naz who was kneeling beyond the rope line, hands resting against Dandolo’s grave marker as if it might be persuaded to reveal its innermost secrets. A beam of sunlight penetrated the clouds for a moment, filling the windows and glancing across the tomb.
    The windows.
    Crouch turned to her, his face alight, sunshine not the only glow lighting his features. “The windows!” he said.

EIGHT
     
     
    Naz rose to face them, puzzled. “What are you talking about?”
    Crouch grabbed the man’s arm in his excitement. “The windows,” he whispered. “Which set looks out onto the Hippodrome?”
    “There is no Hippodrome anymore.”
    “I know. But in Dandolo’s day. When the Horses of St. Mark surmounted it.”
    Naz looked like he’d experienced a sudden revelation. “Of course! The tomb was built here, in full view of the windows that stare out at the object of Constantinople that he coveted most, and stole.” The archaeologist did a quick mental shuffle. “Those.” He pointed and raced off.
    “Slow down.” Crouch caught him fast. “If anyone is watching . . .”
    Naz’s quick exuberance dissipated. “You mean the crazy woman?”
    “Yes. And who knows what other trolls we may have picked up along the way.”
    “Trolls?” Naz’s tone was confused.
    “Trolls, yes. Those who seek to upset and destroy. From the one-star reviewers to the social media scavengers and nuisance hackers. Our intentions may be good, my friend, but that doesn’t mean those we attract feel the same. So take it steady and look like a sightseer.”
    Gradually, the group gravitated over to the group of windows in question. As Caitlyn already knew they were made of stained glass and colorful—an arch of greens and blacks forming over individual panes tinted various hues of blue, red, white and green. As a whole each window was a simply stunning vision, but taken by individual panes and dissected, each one painted a different picture. Caitlyn counted eight separate panes to each window on the wall, which amounted to thirty two different scenes. Nonchalantly, but more carefully than she could have believed possible, she examined each one.
    “Do you see it?” Healey muttered. “Anyone?”
    “It would be easier if we knew what we were looking for,” Naz admitted. “But I see nothing yet.”
    Caitlyn scanned the panes of glass, seeing dozens of religious images but nothing relevant. It took twenty minutes but eventually neither she nor Naz nor Crouch felt anything short of disappointment. The team knew they had already lingered a little too long.
    “Back to the drawing board?” Alicia asked. “Well, one thing’s for sure, all these failures will soon bore the arse off your bloody trolls.”
    It