The Mafia Emblem Read online

  - 17 -

  Somewhat shakily Ben got to his feet, stumbled down the alleyway and out into the street beyond. Gasping for breath, he ran as fast as his shocked body would allow him towards the main road where he hoped he might find safety.

  Suddenly a little Alfa burst out of the traffic at the end of the street and started towards him. It screamed to a halt not five yards away, and there at the wheel was Donna, gesticulating furiously. Overwhelmed with relief, Ben scrabbled at the passenger door handle as she leaned over to open it.

  He almost fell into the seat, pulling the door shut behind him, and gasped, “For Christ’s sake, get out of here as fast as you can. There are three men after me with a knife.”

  Donna needed no further urging. With a violent lurch and a squeal of tyres she accelerated down the road, while Ben collapsed back into his seat, breathless and speechless. His last view of that place was of the three Italians rushing out of the side street and leaping for safety as the little car bore down on them at a dangerous pace.

  Donna drove through the centre of Naples like a woman demented. Ben had never seen such driving. She seemed completely fearless, both for herself and for the car. Pedestrians and animals leaped aside; other cars swerved out of her way or screamed to a halt; the drivers took one look at her smiling face and low décolleté and made way for her with a grin and a touch of the fingertips to the lips.

  As soon as he had regained his breath Ben asked the question which had occupied his mind for the last few minutes. “How on earth did you come to be in that street at that very moment?”

  “I was looking for you, of course.” She glanced at him sideways and grinned. Ben noticed a young man take a huge step backwards to avoid premature disablement as she rushed past. “Listen brother, no-one runs out on this girl. I was all set to offer you a lift. Next thing I see you running off with some grotty little Itiy. I didn’t much like the look of him.”

  Ben pulled a face. “When I came back with my case, you’d disappeared. I looked everywhere for you.”

  “I’d only gone to collect my hire-car. It didn’t take me above five minutes.” She tossed her curls. “You didn’t wait long.”

  He knew she wasn’t telling him the whole truth but he decided now was the time to be humble. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I thought you’d forgotten all about me.”

  “What, and give up holding your hand for the whole flight back to London? I told you no one passes me up that easy. Anyway, I didn’t like that spic. He seemed a nasty piece of work.”

  “You should have seen his mates. They’d give you bad dreams at night.”

  Donna nearly took six inches off the front end of an expensive sports car as they burst out of a side street into one of the main thoroughfares. “Sounds like you’ve run foul of the local mafia. This sort of thing must be a line these dodgy Italians have with new arrivals to make a few dollars on the side.”

  “But why do they have to choose me? Do I look like a soft touch?”

  She gave one of her throaty chuckles. “Brother, do you just!”

  “I suppose it was lucky I had you to keep an eye on me.”

  “I tell you it was one hell of a job trying to keep up with you. That little fellow sure knows how to drive. I thought I’d lost you a couple of streets back when our scruffy friend nipped across a main road and I had a bit of a difference with a cab driver. These guys are worst than they are in New York.”

  “Thank God you chose the right turning,” said Ben. “I reckon you saved my life.”

  Donna smiled. “You’re welcome. It seems fair recompense for what you did for me on the plane.”

  “It’s my turn to buy the dinner now. I’m the one who’s in your debt.”

  She winked at him as she swung into a gap that seemed half the size of the car. Her manoeuvre was accompanied by a fanfare of horns. “I’ve got some ideas about that,” she said.

  A thought suddenly struck Ben. “Here – I left my case behind with all my clothes in it.”

  “How the hell d’you do that?”

  “Well, one of them threw a knife at me and it hit the case instead of me. Then, when they chased after me, I threw the suitcase at them to slow them down so that I could get away.” Ben gave Donna a graphic description of his tangle with the Italians and his means of escape.

  “Gee whizz!” she exhaled when he had finished. “You sure had a narrow squeak.”

  “But now I’ve lost all my clothes and everything else,” he lamented. I remember now that I forgot my brief case and left it in the little car. That had my business papers in it. I’ve got nothing left except what I’m wearing.”

  “What about your passport?”

  Ben felt in his inside pocket. “Yes, that’s still there - and my wallet. So at least I can get some money. I’ll have to buy new clothes. This lot stink.”

  “You do smell a bit like a trash-can,” agreed Donna, wrinkling up her pretty nose. “The first thing you need is a shower and a freshen-up. That’s where we’re going.”

  The car shot out into a large piazza with a grand statue in the middle. Donna cut straight across four rows of traffic at a crazy angle. She nearly executed a young policeman as he leaped on to his traffic island for safety. Then she screamed into the magnificent entrance arch of the Hotel Excelsior. A porter rushed forward to open the car door for her and offered his hand to help her out. Ben could almost see the man drooling over her curvaceous body as she emerged from the car. She smiled devastatingly at him, handed him the car keys and addressed him in what seemed to be fluent Italian. Bowing low, the man hurried to the boot and extracted several large cases. Ben wondered where on earth they had come from.

  “This way, Benjamin.” Donna swept into the reception hall followed by the porter, staggering under the load of her baggage. Ben trailed behind, almost unnoticed and feeling a poor third.

  Donna turned to him. “You leave all this to me,” she said. “I’ll sort out something for you. Let me have your passport.”