The Venetian Job by Sally Gould Read Free Book Online

be
sick already."
    "Yeah, he agreed, "I want to get home alive,
not in a coffin."
    He went out first. I tiptoed right behind
him. I couldn't hear a sound. Not once had I heard the phone ring.
And, except for Mr. Scarface, I hadn't heard any other person. This
had to be the strangest hotel on earth. I couldn't wait to
escape.
    "This looks like the dining room," whispered
Charlie. "Let's see if we can get through here."
    Once we were in the dining room, scary music
began to play. We both froze and my heart started to thump.
    When I turned, I saw Mr. Scarface standing
next to Mom and Dad. The three of them were laughing.
    I launched myself toward Mom. "Are you
okay?"
    She hugged me. "Never better. Santo wanted
to make sure you had a good story for when you go back to
school."
    "He's Santo!" I shrieked as I pointed to Mr.
Scarface. "Was that all a joke?" I said, looking over at
Charlie.
    "I can't believe we fell for it." Charlie
seemed devastated.
    I stared at Santo and the scar on his cheek.
He rubbed at it and the scar smeared; it was makeup. Then he ripped
off his mustache. Now he looked pretty normal.
    He gave us a big smile. "Max, Charlie, I
must thank you. That was so much fun." Even his voice was different
now.
    Finally, it really hit me that Santo, Mom
and Dad had played a practical joke on us. I stomped my foot. "I
can't believe you did that to us!" I glared at Santo, then added,
"Not that I was scared."
    They laughed at us again as though we were
the dumbest kids on the planet.
    Santo shrugged. "Your mother said you needed
a good story for school," he said. "Something unbelievable. So I
did my best."
    He was trying to help me out, I realized.
How could I tell him I didn't want a crazy hotel manager? I wanted
real bad guys, serious crime and action.
    Just then a woman appeared through a
doorway.
    Mom said, "Boys, I'd like you to meet
Santo's wife and my cousin, Caterina. She owns and runs the
hotel."
    Caterina looked pretty cool. Charlie reacted
first; he held out his hand so she could shake it. She ignored his
hand and gave him a hug. He looked embarrassed, but he hugged her.
Then she hugged me so hard it felt like all the air squeezed out of
me.
    Santo waved his hand for all of us to sit
down on some comfy sofas. "Caterina," he said, "Charlie and Max
handled themselves very well in that difficult situation. I am most
impressed."
    She shook her head. "I can't believe he put
you through that."
    "It'll be funny when we get over the shock,"
said Charlie.
    "So were you suspicious of me and my story?"
Santo asked Charlie and me.
    I nodded. "Yeah, you gave me a bad
feeling."
    He pointed his finger at me. "The question
is, why did you have a bad feeling? What did you notice that didn't
make sense?"
    Charlie said, "Well, I didn't hear a phone
ring once. That was odd."
    "We diverted calls to the hotel to my cell,"
said Caterina.
    "Smart," Charlie and me said together.
    I said, "And we didn't even check in or hand
in our passports."
    Santo slapped his knee. "Oh, I forgot to ask
for your passports."
    "And I bet there's a law against putting
contagious people with a rare illness in a hotel basement," I
added.
    Everyone laughed.
    "I expect there would be." Santo rubbed his
hands together. "So, Max and Charlie. You both know to look out for
the detail that doesn't make sense. That is excellent. That is what
policemen must do. And you can do that tomorrow when you accompany
me."
    "Good." I slid to the edge of my seat. "So
tomorrow we'll get to see some action?"
    Charlie interrupted. "Max only wants a
billionaire to be kidnapped. He's not interested in lost tourists
or sinking boats."
    I shot Charlie a dirty look and then I
noticed the worried look on Santo's face. I said to Santo, "You are
a policeman. You do solve crimes, don't you?"
    He shrugged. "Yes; however, it is very
unlikely a billionaire will be kidnapped."
    I sank back into my chair. "Why then did we
see a boatload of Carabinieri on the
canal? Surely they'd only be here if