Chapter Eleven
Galatea broke from the kiss and smiled, "We should find the others."
"Wait! I wanted to give you this first." Scipio pulled out a silver locket from his coat pocket.
"It's beautiful, you didn't steal this, did you?"
"No. Let me help you." He placed the locket around her neck. "It's quicker if we go this way." He dragged her though the narrow alleys back to the square. "You look for Mosca and Riccio, I'll find the rest."
"Okay." Galatea watched him leave. She spotted the two boys over at a booth where you throw darts at balloons, "Hi, guys." She walked over to them.
"Hey, Tea. Wanna try?" Riccio offered. "You get a big prize if you pop that gold balloon at the very top."
"Well…"
"Come on Tea, it'll be fun." Mosca handed her a dart.
"Fine." She had her eyes narrowed on her target. Tea blocked everything out of sight and mind except for that balloon. She suddenly threw the dart at mach speed at the balloon and watched it pop, "I did it!" She cheered as a man gave her a large stuffed bear.
"Hey, didn't we run into that guy today?" Riccio said, pointing to Victor with the carabinieri behind him.
"What?" Mosca said in surprise, "What does he want?"
"Me." Galatea said, "He said he wanted to take me in for some questioning."
"Tea, stay right where you are. We'll go find the others." Riccio ordered, "Come on, Mosca." They both ran from Galatea's sight.
Scipio, Prosper, Hornet, and Bo were walking towards the fountain until they were stopped by Riccio and Mosca, "What's wrong, where's Tea?"
"The snoop is back with police officers. They're looking for Tea." Mosca said as everyone had shocked looks on their faces.
"What? Where is she now?" Hornet asked.
"I told her to stay at the booth. I'm sure she'll be fine."
"Stop it! Let me go! Let me go!" Galatea screamed from afar.
"Maybe not." Riccio and the others ran back to the booth and saw Galatea being carried away by the carabinieri.
Scipio tried to run after her, but was stopped by Victor.
"Well, well. If it not the little thief who got me locked up today, and his little followers."
"Why are taking Galatea? She did nothing wrong." Hornet explained.
"She eluded a detective and she could be a possible suspect in a murder case. If any of you try to follow us, I'll have you locked up." Victor threatened as he walked away.
Scipio kicked a trashcan in his rage, "This can't happen!"
"It's happening right now, Scipio. Besides, there's nothing we can do, we just have to hope for the best." Hornet said. "We should go before any more trouble happens."
Scipio watched Galatea climb into the boat and speed off. He could see her smiling at him, knowing that she was going to be okay.
--
In the interrogation room, Galatea yawned at she laid her head down on the cold, steel table. "Are we finished yet?"
"We're finished as soon as you answer all the questions." Victor said.
"I did answer all your questions!"
"Really? How about we start all over again?" Victor opened the manila folder and gazed at the papers.
Galatea groaned.
"Now, do you recognize this man?" He showed her a picture of Antonio's dead body.
Galatea shuddered every time she gazed at the picture of Antonio's corpse. How his skin was wet and pale and the gunshot wound on his forehead made Galatea think. "No. Why, should I?"
"Well, there was a picture of you on his cell phone. You must've known him."
"Any man in Venice could have a picture of a teenage girl on his cellphone!" She yelled. "He could've have been a sexual predator."
"Tell me, Galatea, how did Connell manage to get your picture?"
"I don't know." She muttered under her breath.
"What was that?" Victor leaned in.
She had to come up with something quick. What would Scipio do? She thought. Scipio would lie to his heart's content. "He called out my name, I turned around and then he snapped a photo of me and ran off. Pervert." She scoffed.
"Wait, if you never knew him, how did he know your name?"
"My jacket had my name embroidered on the front. He must have noticed it."
"Do you have your jacket?"
"No. Are we finished now?"
"You may leave now, all we have to do is call your parents." Victor sighed.
Galatea's eyes widened at his words, "No, no. I know my way home."
"Nonsense. A young girl like you shouldn't be wandering the streets and shouldn't hang around with thieves. Now, about your father, what's his number?"
"He's dead." She lied. Although, she thought of it, could her father be actually dead? Or did he seem dead to her?
"I beg your pardon?"
"My father is dead. I received an urgent call from his partner in Peru."
"Peru?"
"Yes, he's an archeologist. He was excavating in an old tomb, and it closed in on him."
"A likely story, but if you were hanging with the Thief Lord, you could lie from here to the moon." Victor chuckled.
"Is that how you know I'm lying? Do you see the hurt in my eyes?" Galatea snapped at him. She gave him a serious laugh that made Victor's smile disappear. "You're too blinded by your own pride to see it."
Victor placed his hand on her shoulder, "If you'll excuse me, I have to make a phone call."
Galatea waited in the interrogation room for almost an hour until Victor came in with a nun right beside him, "What's going on?"
"Hello, Galatea, I'm Sister Antonella from the Merciful Sisters orphanage. I've come to pick you up."
"Up? I don't understand."
"You're an orphan now, Galatea. You can't stay out on the streets."
"No, I guess not."
"Well, we should go and get you into a warm bed. Come now, dear."
Galatea walked over to Sister Antonella and looked at Victor, "You're not going to tell him, are you? Any of them."
"You're a good person, Galatea. But being a thief is just beneath you and they're a bad influence."
"Come along now, dear." Sister Antonella led her out the door.
(AN) Hi, guys! I know it's been long since I've updated but I have this major project to do in history. (Does anybody know what was the impact that Anne Frank made in history?) Although, if I have time I'll to update if I'm not working on any other stories or homework. If you want to know my fictionpress name, it's bugsear8. Have a Happy New Year!