A/N: Welcome to a special one-off Saturday update! Without any further ado, let's get into it.
Chapter 4 – Fearless in Florence.
2 days later, Florence, Italy.
To give it the full tour guide spiel introduction; Florence is a large city in the Tuscany region of Italy and is renowned the world over for its culture, Renaissance art and architecture, and monuments. It attracts millions of tourists each year and is generally considered to be a beautiful city, thanks to its stunning buildings and places of interest.
Fred was especially looking forward to seeing the majestically built cathedral, Santa Maria del Fiore (otherwise known as The Duomo) famed for its spectacular domed design. There were also many other areas of interest and culture including the Uffizi Museum which houses a large collection of international and Florentine art. Of particular interest to style-conscious Daphne was some of the fashion centres which helped put Florence in the Top 20 fashion capitals of the world.
With its Renaissance architecture, the river that runs through it, spectacular monuments, the myriad of bridges and Piazzas that make up the centre of Florence; (and it was especially gorgeous at night) you might think that Florence was indeed a perfect place for Fred and Daphne's honeymoon. Only of course this was not a honeymoon. This was, well Daphne didn't know what to call it, a case? A mission? Whatever it was, it was definitely not a honeymoon, not yet anyway.
For now, the sheer beauty and majesty of all that Florence had to offer was something Fred and Daphne were not getting to see. Arriving around 5pm local time, they had been whisked straight from Florence airport to their (admittedly very lovely) hotel.
They had just about enough time to admire the beautiful room and unpack their belongings before Esposito was knocking at their door. When Fred answered, he had to admit to being a little stunned by Santo Esposito. He didn't know exactly how he had pictured a 'retired Italian cop' to look but clearly it was not this. Esposito was tall and obviously took good care of himself. He had silver peppery hair and glowing skin. Fred thought he only looked like he could be in his late forties to early fifties at the most but knew that couldn't be right. There's 'early retirement' sure, but at that age it would be ridiculous! He decided that his obviously dedicated fitness regime was what contributed to his more youthful appearance. The man stuck his hand out pleasantly and Fred took it uncertainly.
"Ah, you must be Daphne's Frederick, I'm Santo Esposito," he commented warmly in heavily accented English as he shook Fred's hand. "Is she here?"
"She's in the bathroom," Fred replied, and Esposito hovered awkwardly in the doorway. "Uh, come on in," Fred indicated and then closed the door after him.
Esposito smiled at him politely and took a seat in the renaissance inspired chair by the window, with a gorgeous view of the city below. Fred wondered if he should make small talk but was immediately relieved when Daphne suddenly swept out of the bathroom and Esposito jumped up to greet her.
"Daphne! Guardati, sei una bella donna!" Esposito uttered in Italian with a grin, causing Daphne to blush a little and Fred to frown to himself. He wished he knew what Esposito had just said, and made a mental note to check in the Italian phrase book he had brought later. "It is lovely to meet you at last!" he added in clumsy English. "Forgive me my English is not the greatest but I try."
Daphne didn't even blink at Esposito's appearance and Fred suspected she must have already seen a photo of him, or maybe it was just him who had conjured up an unrealistic impression in his head of what the Italian looked like.
Daphne now dressed in a pair of comfortable jeans and a T-shirt, sat down on the huge bed and Fred quickly sat down right beside her and then had to check himself furiously. What are you doing Jones? She's actually your wife now, and what do you have to worry about anyway? This guy is old enough to be her father! She looked at him strangely and he smiled apologetically and shuffled a little further up the bed, giving her space.
If Esposito noticed his slightly odd behaviour, he didn't react to it and Daphne was straight down to business.
"What's the latest Esposito?" She asked him expectantly.
"It is as I said. Mario, or the boy he's now pretending to be, was busking in the city earlier today. He is very popular," he said with a hint of disgust.
"I bet he is," Fred said darkly, forgetting all about his awkwardness with Esposito as soon as Mario was mentioned again. It was the reason they were here after all.
"Here," Esposito said, fumbling for his phone. "I took this from a distance." Daphne and Fred watched intrigued as Esposito showed them a video he took from the very back of the crowd. The distance to the camera made it impossible to discern the man clearly, but it was the reaction of the crowd and the voice itself that caught both Fred and Daphne's eye.
The crowd wasn't huge but everyone there was watching the young man with rapt attention and enthusiasm. It was impossible not to notice that it was largely made up of adoring females who were watching with huge grins on their faces or clapping and singing along.
As for the busker, he was sat on what looked like a small stool, playing a guitar as he sang harmoniously in Italian to huge cheers from the crowd when he finished.
"Grazie a tutti per l'attenzione!" the man called to further clapping and screaming and then the clip ended.
Fred felt his heart sink straight away. They had come all this way for nothing. There was no way that kid could be Mario Materazzi.
"That can't be him?" Daphne said incredulously when it ended. "That voice! Surely he is lip syncing!" she said, and Esposito looked at her in confusion. "Er, faked!"
"Ah, I was not too close but I think it is his true voice," Esposito admitted. "I am about 90% certain it is him but I understand your double uncertainty."
Daphne felt very conflicted in that moment; like Freddy, she had dismissed the boy immediately when he started singing, fearing Esposito had obviously made a mistake and had brought them on a wild goose chase. However, the more she had focused on the admittedly blurry figure, the more she started to actually 'see' Mario in the busker. The way he tilted his head. The way he smiled. Was it really him after all?
"I guess we will have to wait until tomorrow's performance for Fred and I to check him out then," she said with a sigh. "You said in your last message the 'pattern' seems to be five or six nights in the same location before moving on. What night is this?"
"Si. This is night two. If you want though. There is something you can check on tonight to satisfy your curiosity it is him, or no?"
"Oh?" Daphne's head shot up with immediate interest and Fred found himself listening attentively too.
"I found where he is staying. A trailer. Just outside Florence. You can go tonight and spy on him."
Daphne felt a thrill of excitement and nerves immediately shoot through her entire body. "A stakeout? Absolutely!"
Fred was more cautious in his response, though couldn't deny the thought was a little exciting. They hadn't done any proper detective work for such a long time and he did miss it. "I'm still not convinced its him," the blond admitted with a shrug, "but I guess it doesn't hurt to check it out!"
Daphne assumed Esposito would take them but he handed them the location details with a map instead. "My wife. Anniversary," he told them ruefully. "But I will try catch up later."
Fred looked at the location about 20 miles away and groaned. "Man, I wish we could have brought the Mystery Machine with us! Guess we're grabbing a taxi!"
"Ah no, my young friend," Esposito winked. "Come with me."
Daphne and Fred followed Esposito outside, where he led them to a sleek and impressive motorbike in the courtyard. "I will take the taxi home," Esposito smiled. "You ride motorcycle?" he asked Fred and Daphne.
They both did, but Daphne only felt a chill looking at a bike that was immediately reminiscent of the one that was Ethan's pride and joy. Until it ended up smashed to bits at the bottom of a cliff face. Only a sheer twist of fate had ensured that Ethan didn't end up in the ocean with it.
Fred knew exactly what she was thinking and hugged her close. "It's okay," he whispered in her ear, "I'll do it." He took the helmet Esposito handed him.
"Head straight out until you see signs for the campsite. You can't miss his massive grey trailer. Not exactly keeping his head down," Esposito said scornfully. "Good luck my young friends."
Before Daphne or Fred could reply, he was gone and Fred looked around in bewilderment for him.
"You trust that guy?" he asked her sceptically. "He could be leading us anywhere," he pointed out truthfully.
"I do trust him," Daphne admitted. "I'm just not convinced this is really Mario after all," she said with a sigh.
"Well, there's only one way to find out, I'll call you when I get there," Fred said putting on his jacket and then the helmet and climbing on, to Daphne's surprise.
"Woah, you're not going alone Fred Jones!" she said with her hands on her hips.
"But I thought..."
"I don't want to drive the bike, but of course I'm still coming with!" her eyes flashed indignantly at the thought of him riding out there alone. He held out his hand to Daphne to help her on and she carefully fastened the passenger helmet before sitting astride the bike, clutching onto Fred's waist.
"Ready?" he asked her.
"As I'll ever be," she replied softly and then Fred took off. It was a pleasant and warm early autumn evening and Daphne tried to take in the sights as they zipped along. They only made one wrong turn before setting eyes on the very campsite Esposito had mentioned.
They parked the bike carefully on the edge of the site and dragged it into bushes so it wouldn't be seen, and began walking further into the campsite. The grass was damp and their shoes squelched in mud as they got further in. The sun had been getting in its final rays of the day as they had been on the ride over, creating a gorgeous sunset, but it was fully dark now and a little chill crept in; both in the air and in Fred and Daphne's hearts.
They both harboured significant doubts that this busker was really Mario, but Esposito seemed pretty convinced and he had a clear vested interest in tracking him down too. They had to have a little confidence they were on the right track and they soon had a little more reason to think they were.
"Look!" Daphne whispered, pointing to the huge grey trailer parked all on its own in the lot. "That's got to be it."
Fred looked around and nodded in agreement. Loud music and laughter could be heard blaring out from within; there was perhaps some kind of party going on.
Daphne felt her nerves building again as they got closer and closer to the outlandish looking trailer. She stood in the darkness of the woodland with Fred, hardly daring to breathe. She suddenly gripped his hand so tightly, it actually caused him to wince but he was far too polite to tell her this. Instead, he used his free hand to squeeze her shoulder in reassurance.
"Do you think we should go up and knock on the door?" Daphne whispered; not sure she really could do that if there was even the slightest possibility, she could come face to face with Mario Materazzi. She was quickly relieved when Fred immediately shook his head.
"No," he said softly. "We just watch and wait," and she nodded in relief. They hunkered down on the slightly damp grass, sitting silently in the darkness opposite the trailer. Daphne rested her head on Fred's lap and yawned. It had been a long flight and they had barely any time to rest before jumping straight in. Fred leaned back against a tree trunk and rested his arm on her back. They figured they may as well get comfy as they didn't know how long they were going to be there.
They had been camped in those bushes for probably an hour now and Fred was beginning to bitterly regret the whole thing; it was obviously a bust. In his head he began making plans for 'normal' honeymoon days tomorrow – maybe they could visit the museum first? He was about to gently suggest to Daphne to completely give up on even getting a glimpse of this busker (if it even was their trailer!) when she suddenly sat bolt upright and his own heart began pounding loudly. Something was happening! They were alerted to the presence of someone else arriving when they heard gruff voices followed by soft giggling.
"Over there ladies!" a male voice shouted and Daphne tensed up, barely daring to make a sound as they nervously awaited the first glimpse of the newcomers. They were soon both looking on in horror as they made out the shape of two young girls excitedly approaching the trailer together, while two other men looked on approvingly. Daphne felt like her heart dropped into her shoes as she began to get a very bad impression of what was happening.
"Freddy, they're so young!" Daphne whispered to him, her revulsion obvious. "They can't be more than 17 or 18!" Fred nodded his agreement, his eyes also grimly fixed on the excited young girls as they knocked on the trailer door. One girl was blonde, her friend a brunette. The blonde pulled out a compact mirror to appraise her appearance and quickly touch up her lipstick, whilst her friend hammered louder on the door, stumbling a little on her high heels as she did so, eliciting another peal of laughter from her friend.
"Oh god," Daphne whispered horrified, her entire body going cold in an instant. "Are they drunk?"
Fred knew Daphne's panic was rising and so was his own, but he tried to calm her down, especially as her voice was rising.
"Shhh," he cautioned her quietly. "You can't overreact! It might not be what you think, we still don't know if it's him either, this could just be an innocent party..."
Daphne tried to keep her cool but could feel her pulse quicken dramatically when the door suddenly opened. This was it, the moment of truth. Fred grabbed her hand tightly, they both seemed to hold their breath as they waited to see who was going to come to the door.
A figure stepped fully onto the top step, and embraced the two girls before stepping back. The grinning young man then stopped to leer at the girls as he ushered them inside. "Welcome ladies!"
Time seemed to stand still for Fred and Daphne. They had the perfect view of the man as he leaned on the small balcony of the trailer, taking a long drag on a cigarette before following the girls inside.
It was unmistakable.
She made an involuntary squeak, her words stuck in her throat. Her panic for the vulnerable young girls instantly went stratospheric. She heard Fred curse strongly beside her, but she still couldn't say a word, it was like she was instantly stuck in a nightmare and she began to shake, her hand going to her mouth before she finally managed to speak. "Oh my god, it's him, Fuck, Freddy it's him!"
She knew Fred had reached the same grim conclusion and he pulled her into his arms as she buried herself against his strong chest. "I know, I can't believe it either," he tried to soothe, obviously still stunned himself. He had firmly convinced himself Esposito must be wrong, but there was no denying it now; he had just seen exactly what Daphne had seen. Mario Materazzi in the flesh.
The man that had emerged from the trailer didn't very obviously look like the Mario they had encountered in Venice anymore; he had actually gone to great lengths to disguise his appearance. He didn't even look like he had the same intense green irises that had haunted so many of Daphne's nightmares. They now looked a much duller blueish grey. His distinctive reddish-brown hair had also been completely transformed into a bleached blond style with little curls. If Daphne had been as young and naïve as the two women were, she supposed she might well have been taken in by the clean-cut boyish good looks of the 'singer', but for her there was no mistaking that horrific same predatory gaze. His lip had curled up into a lecherous grin as he appraised the young girls approvingly. Once Daphne had recovered from the jaw dropping shock that it really was him, her attitude changed in an instant. She pulled away from Fred so suddenly that he had to react quickly to grab her.
"Daph!" he hissed, pulling her firmly against him. "What are you doing?" He was alarmed at how quickly her horror had turned to unbridled rage and he feared she was going to do something stupid.
Fred was right, in that moment, it was taking everything Daphne possessed not to immediately launch herself at her despised attacker. Fred felt her entire body tense into a fighting stance in an instant and he had to hold her even tighter, fearing she was like a coiled spring just getting ready to attack and expose their presence. "Easy tiger," he whispered urgently into her ear.
Daphne let her body relax, showing Fred she wasn't about to just fly off into a rage. They then watched unnervingly as a second older looking man suddenly appeared at the door. He shouted something undiscernible in Italian towards the men who had brought the girls before saluting them with a grin and then sauntered back inside, the door slamming shut ominously behind him.
Fred gaped in disbelief, still struggling to take it all in. "Do you think that was his brother Daniele?"
"Almost certainly," Daphne replied emotionlessly. "I can't believe this Fred. I can't believe it's actually him. But Fred...those girls, we have to do something!" she appealed to him passionately.
Fred looked at her helplessly before they both jumped as the music suddenly got even louder. He swallowed nervously, he prayed that wasn't what he thought it was. A sinister attempt to drown out something else.
He knew Daphne was instantly thinking the same. "I can't stand this!" she said furiously. "We have to get those young girls out of there NOW!"
"But how Daph?" Fred said frantically. "We can't just march right up there! You would be putting yourself in immediate danger as soon as he recognised you! There's no telling how badly he would react, we were responsible for getting him jailed sweetheart! It's also not even about just the two of them either," he added grimly, pointing out the two security men hovering on the perimeter that were complicit in bringing the clearly inebriated 'groupies' to Mario's trailer.
"It's disgusting!" Daphne raged. "How can those men just turn a blind eye to the two of them taking advantage of those girls! Who knows how many times they've done this already!"
"You can't think like that and torture yourself Daphne. Let's just focus on the here and now. I think we have to call the police; we can't handle this alone; it would be beyond foolish."
Daphne agreed it would be foolish to challenge Mario and his brother alone but vehemently disagreed with calling in the police. "For one," she argued passionately, "it could take ages before they turn up and two, him being re-arrested is simply not enough!" she said fiercely. "Come on Freddy," she pleaded, "you always think of something, just think of it quick!"
Fred tried not to dwell on the disturbing part about Mario being re-arrested 'not being enough' for Daphne, and tried to focus on the more pressing situation; getting those young girls away from that predator and his brother.
He looked around desperately and spotted something, a reckless idea quickly forming in his brain but he knew it was now or never. He crouched to the ground, "get ready" he told her quietly.
"Get ready? For what?!" Daphne puzzled until she caught sight of the large rock now in his hand. "What are you doing?" she hissed at him in alarm.
Fred merely nodded at her resolutely before winding his arm back and launching the rock as hard as he could into one of the darkened windows like he was pitching the final winning play of a football game. It hit the trailer hard with the glass immediately shattering with an almighty bang; the music abruptly went off and screams soon pierced the night instead. Despite the disturbing nature of the screams, he knew they couldn't afford to hang about and just had to hope for the best now after serving such a loud distraction. He grabbed Daphne's hand and pulled her back through the woodland at speed as beams of light swept across the yard to find the cause of the intrusion.
"Fred, you could have killed someone!" Daphne admonished when she was sure they were a safe enough distance away and they had got their breath back.
"I deliberately picked a room in darkness," Fred assured her, even though he still knew it was undoubtedly a risk; dark or not, anything could have been happening in that room. He breathed a sigh of relief, and then grinned as he suddenly saw the same shaken up young girls emerge abruptly from the campsite, hail a passing cab from the road nearby and speed away. "But look, it worked!"
They both watched safely from their hiding place as the door of the trailer opened again, and Mario and Daniele appeared, angrily bemoaning the vandalism to the trailer that had spooked their obviously hand-picked prey. The men conversed loudly and angrily in Italian together for a few minutes before disappearing back inside the trailer. Daphne and Fred silently crept away to the motorcycle they had hidden and put on their helmets. Fred wasted no time jumping into the driver's seat and steered them back into the heart of Florence where their hotel was situated. Daphne didn't say a word on the forty-minute ride back but clung tightly to his waist, still feeling utterly shaken at laying eyes on Mario again. They walked back to their room in silence.
"Are you going to call Esposito?" Fred asked her finally as they were dressing for bed.
"No," she replied sullenly. "It's too late now, I'll call him to come over first thing in the morning."
"Okay," Fred kissed her and hugged her tightly seeing her strained and worried expression. "It's going to be okay Daph, try and get some sleep."
Daphne kissed him back and lay down in bed but she knew she wouldn't get any sleep any time soon. She couldn't get Mario's even seedier appearance out of her mind, nor the innocence of the young "fans" who had been sent to their door. Even though it was only from a distance, just seeing him again had sent such a wave of fear and revulsion crashing through her. Those eyes. Those horrible, predatory eyes that had been looking down at her on that bed as she had fought to stay conscious; to retain some kind of feeble attempt to control her own body as she succumbed to whatever drugs he had slipped her. The very last thing she remembered of that night was his cruel laugh as he leant into her ear.
She shuddered violently at the appalling memory. Next to her in bed, Fred was already sleeping pretty soundly, lightly snoring as he lay on his back. For Daphne, sleep would just not come; she just stared at the pretty ornate ceiling above them. There was no doubt left in her mind exactly what a dangerous predator Mario continued to be, and also sickeningly it seemed; his brother now too. Hiding under a new identity, Mario had been able to continue his repugnant ways undetected. Daphne didn't want to think about how many victims there might have been in the months since, all no doubt like her, afraid to come forward. She really could not afford to dwell on that now, what she could focus on was ensuring there would be no further victims.
Making sure Fred was definitely asleep, she turned away from him and grabbed her cell phone from the nightstand, shielding her screen away from his direction in case he stirred. She casually typed in the false name she now knew for sure Mario was using – Alonzo Nicoli.
She wasn't surprised to see a handful of YouTube clips pop up but she didn't dare play any of those out loud, instead she hit mute in her phone settings and watched the clips in silence, focusing solely on the busker and his mannerisms and not the crowd. At the end of one, he beckoned a besotted woman on stage and kissed her hand and Daphne's stomach instantly roiled.
She closed down the video clips and went back to Google, not expecting the search to find anything more. He was just a local busker after all. She was surprised however when the search brought up his name in an Italian music blog. She hit 'translate' and read the article; it seemed the 'travelling busker' was attracting attention with the social media crowd and he was actually gaining both traction and popularity. She noted with scorn that the list of cities he had popped up in so far, did not include Venice.
She closed her phone and lay back on the soft sheets, staring at the ceiling, her head buzzing. With the newfound knowledge of his blossoming popularity, an incredibly reckless plan began to form in her mind that she knew Fred would absolutely kill her for, but she knew now they had to be bold. It simply couldn't be enough for her just to get him re-arrested. No, she needed to expose that bastard for everything he was, and to do that she knew she had no choice but to get close. She believed she had the perfect way to do it. She doubted that she got a single minute of sleep that night.
A/N: To be continued...tomorrow :)