Disclaimers: as before.

Cate and Sydney had been searching their target region, in the south of France, for three hours. Research had revealed that there were dozens of deserted, ruined castles in this area, most of which were tucked away on hilltops and difficult to get to. Sydney was not surprised. She knew this region had been fought over throughout the middle ages. Nevertheless, she was dismayed when she realised that, without any more leads, they were going to have to investigate each one.

Inquiries in the local villages and countryside about any of the castles turned up dozens of 'red herrings.' It seems that everybody, particularly visiting tourists, suspected that something dodgy was going on at each 'castle on the hill.' One set of English campers were convinced they had seen lamps glowing at night at a long neglected chateau. They swore that mysterious lights could be seen approaching the ruin at dusk, and were sure they were on the brink of cracking an illegal counterfeiting operation, or something of the kind. When Sydney and Cate got to the site, however, it was quite apparent that nobody had been there for ages. There was no sign of a criminal gang, and no sign of Nigel.

Seven castles later, and after having been threatened with a shotgun by an irate local farmer for trespassing, Sydney was becoming more and more desperate. Cate, concerned as she was for Nigel, was also becoming concerned for Sydney. From her position behind the steering wheel of the car, she glanced over at her companion. Sydney's face was creased with worry.

'You must be shattered. Let me drive you to a local town with a hotel so you can sleep. I'll call for backup, somebody to help me carry on the search.'

Sydney half smiled. 'I'm fine, Cate. I don't feel tired. It's not like I've not existed for days before with no sleep. I can run on pure adrenaline, you know?' She paused and her smile faded. 'Then I was just looking for relics. Now I'm looking for something much more important.' Sydney dropped her head forward into her hand, and her voice faded to almost a whisper '…he's the most important thing in the world to me.'

Cate glanced across at Sydney again, narrowing her eyes. She knew Sydney loved Nigel, but she always assumed she had upon him as a friend, or younger brother. She had not seemed to bat an eyelid when she and Nigel had, briefly, been together. She wondered what the true purport of this statement was. Had anything changed between them? She desperately wanted to ask, but didn't want to distress Sydney any more.

'We should have a whole team on this, searching all the castles at once. We'll find him…and you need some sleep.'

'I'm okay,' said Sydney, straightening herself and gathering in her emotions. 'I couldn't sleep, anyway. I might as well be here… maybe you should call for backup, though. There are still so many castles to be searched.'

Sydney had initially rejected the suggestion that Cate should get ' her people' out to all the castles in the region, worried that Bellimo, or one of his people, would realise what was going on and take drastic action. Now she relented, on the condition that Cate only asked the best agents, who would not mess anything up. Sydney hated things being out of her hands. Cate promised that these were highly trained professionals.

'We plough on, then,' stated Sydney, all of this agreed. She took over the driving as Cate made the appropriate phone calls.

The two women were now fast approaching the next chateau. Dusk was beginning to fall. They could see their destination, known as Chateau de Baron Valende, up on the hill, silhouetted against a startling, pink sunset. Sydney could tell it was much more substantial than any of the shattered structures they had ticked off their list. She felt a lump in her throat and wished that they had known to come here first.

Professor Fox swerved off the road onto the track which led to the castle, not curbing her speed despite the roughness of the surface. Cate looked aghast at Sydney as both women were jolted around roughly, and hoped they wouldn't get a puncture. Sydney stared straight ahead, her face set in grim determination. Then astonishment flashed in her eyes and her foot smashed on the break. She was out of the car before Cate had even laid eyes on the figure that had blundered from the trees, and collapsed to his knees by the side of the road.

……………….

Nigel had half run and half tumbled through the coarse undergrowth of the woods, which covered much of the side of the hill. Realising that he was now approaching flat ground, he found it incredible that he hadn't broken any bones on his desperate journey. Scratched by bushes and stung by nettles, however, he was grateful to see the track and thought he could risk following it to the public road. He had not heard the car coming up it before he had left the obscurity of the trees.

When he saw the lights of the vehicle as it approached him in the half-light, his will nearly broke. 'It must be Bellimo coming back,' he thought, and then his fear grew as he remembered what he had told the villain earlier. Maybe he thought he had…lied to him? Nigel wanted to flee, but he was drained of energy, his head was killing him. There was nothing left in the tank with which to outrun anyone. His legs gave in just before his spirit did.

'Nigel!'

When the long, slender and gentle arms enveloped him, he thought it must be a dream.

'Oh my God, what have they done to you?'

With one arm still wrapped about his shoulders, Sydney gently lifted Nigel's chin up and looked into his face with alarm. His forehead was smudged with blood, which had come from a gash just above his hairline. The bruise on his cheek was still scarlet and angry. His pallid skin emphasised his grey-blue eyes, which for a moment stared at her vacantly.

'Nigel, I'm going to kill whoever…'

Sydney was abruptly silenced as Nigel flung both his arms tightly around her and plunged into a deep, reckless and passionate kiss. Cate stood by the car, transfixed. When Nigel finally released the object of his desire, the Interpol agent felt slightly dejected. 'He never kissed me like that,' she muttered.

For the moment, the whole memory of the previous, terrible twenty-four hours had been smothered out of Sydney. She was taken aback, panting for breath, and immensely excited.

'Nigel, I never knew you could… kiss like that.'

'I read it in a book,' said Nigel, and collapsed backwards onto the grass verge, utterly spent.

…………………….

As Cate eased the car at the end of the track, Sydney was too concerned for Nigel to notice that, from a distance, they were being watched. From the battlements of the keep, a rather apprehensive Bately was making a phone call to Bellimo, as he strained to watch them drive off into the half-light. On hearing the news, his boss, who had driven barely half an hour up the road, crashed on his brakes with an enraged curse. Should he go to Venice now? Or should his priority be to track the progress of two women and a man who were currently heading up the road towards him in a small, blue-grey car?

……………………

'I'm fine, Sydney. Really, the bruises are just superficial. Nothing that bad happened…. I escaped, didn't I?'

Sydney, sitting next to Nigel in the backseat of the car, was too preoccupied to hear the hint of pride in his voice.

'You should see a doctor, just in case. You're probably suffering from concussion, at the very least.'

Nigel sighed, and looked down into his lap. 'You think that's why I….I kissed you?' he said in an undertone, not intended for Cate to hear. 'You think it was just because I'd gone a bit funny in the head?'

'No!' whispered Sydney quickly. Then she paused. 'I liked it…,' she intoned deliberately. 'I just wasn't really expecting it.'

'Oh,' said Nigel softly. He glanced away, out of the window.

Sydney unfastened her seatbelt and shuffled across the back seat so that their bodies touched, and put her arm around Nigel's shoulder. Nigel froze for an instant, and then snuggled into her, resting his head on her shoulder.

'I really liked it,' said Sydney, caressing his hair gently. 'It was nice…'

'Great,' thought Nigel. 'Friends, not lovers, kiss 'nicely.' That was the least 'nice' kiss he had ever given, and still it didn't seem to work! He shut his eyes and said nothing.

'Damn,' thought Sydney. 'Is that really what I wanted to say?'

So preoccupied were they with these thoughts, and Kate with desperately trying to overhear them, none of the occupants of the car paid much attention when a large, black BMW pulled out of a side turning and began to follow them, at a distance, up the road towards Nimes.

……………

Cate had called her team and the French police, and they'd raided the castle as soon as possible. They were in luck, to the extent that most of the stolen works of art and antiques were still there. Only a few of the more portable pieces had been quickly loaded up in a van and taken by Bately when he left. Another team were dispatched to Venice, to try and apprehend Bellimo.

A trip to the doctor for Nigel confirmed that his injuries were only slight but that he should 'take it easy' for a day or two. Then he, Sydney and Cate booked into a hotel. It wasn't really Sydney and Nigel's responsibility to catch an international crime lord but, having come so far, did they want to continue their search for the relic? Moreover, if the book was not written by Lady Hamilton, would it really lead to anything worth finding ?

The trio considered this over dinner.

'I've a feeling it still might reveal something,' said Sydney. 'After all, it looks like poor Lady Hamilton never got her locket back before she died, broken-hearted. It was probably one of the things that drove her over the edge…'

'I agree,' said Nigel. 'That book was fake… but it also had a purpose. Maybe it was written by the person who stole the locket, who felt guilty and wanted to hide it, but not have it lost forever?'

'That's exactly what I'm thinking,' said Sydney with a grin. Things felt back to normal… almost.

A phone call from Karen, who had been following the investigation into the murder of Dr Tadman, ignited their curiosity further. From inquiries made of his colleagues it had been revealed that he, indeed, had been working on the book. He was hoping that it would salvage his career. Tadman had been suffering from writer's block, and had made no great historical discoveries for ages. He drank too much, and many in his field said he had completely lost his touch. On the verge of an inglorious retirement, for which he had saved very little from his early success, the disclosures he was going to make from the Hamilton text were his last chance. He was very excited about it. Not only would it reveal the private life of one of England's greatest heroes, but he was convinced it would also lead to the whereabouts of the legendary San Josef Diamond.

A week ago, however, he had been struck by a terrible thunderbolt. Another historian, a friend, to whom he had shown the book and his work, told him that the book could never have been written by Lady Hamilton. Tadman had been beside himself, but he had muttered something about how 'it would still lead to the diamond, and that it was going to save him.' Then he had vanished. The next thing that was known of him was when his body was discovered in Rouen.

'Tadman must have gone to Bellimo for money, then,' said Nigel. 'He wanted someone to help him find the diamond, and then find him a buyer at the highest price.'

'I bet he never knew what price he would have to pay,' said Sydney. 'So,' she looked straight at Nigel, 'Do you still want to find the thing, go to Venice with Bellimo on the loose?'

Nigel smiled, and his face lit up. 'Actually, if the locket exists, it's not in Venice.'

Sydney raised her eyebrows in curiosity.

'Well,' said Nigel, slightly embarrassed. 'Bellimo isn't the only one who can tell a convincing lie! There are two bridges known as the Bridge of Sighs. The one in Venice, is the one usually thought of, but the poem is about the other one…'

'Waterloo Bridge!' said Sydney with recognition, 'of course!'

'So we can leave catching the bad guys to, err,' he glanced at Cate, 'you, if you don't mind, and we…' here he paused, glanced at Sydney, and then quickly away again, 'could take those few days in London, after all?'

Sydney laughed, and Nigel watched as her silky, black hair shook slightly and shimmered in the light. God, she was beautiful! Cate graciously made her excuses and left before Sydney gave her answer.

'Alright, then... it sounds fun. Maybe if we do find the locket, we might find out who stole it and wrote that fake book.'

Sydney was honoured with one of Nigel's most winning grins. It made her glow inside, making her wonder if she had always felt that way when he smiled at her, or whether it was something new.

Maybe if she hadn't been musing about this, her suspicions may have been aroused by the woman at the next table. The said person rose from her unfinished meal as soon as their conversation had ended, and walked urgently out into the hotel lobby to make a phone call to a certain Mr Bellimo.

Thanks for reading. I know there's quite a few of you out there, as I've been getting a guilty pleasure from watching my stats tickover. Don't be shy - please review! Katy.

Oh, and hi to Tanya...thanks!