Chapter 4: Operation Scorfano

Luca and Giulia start searching for clues. Daniela asks Massimo to help her put a stop to it.

"Segnor Marcovaldo! SEGNOR MARCOVALDO–"

The garden door swung open before Luca reached it. Giulia looked at him, her eyes the size of dinner plates. "Luca! What is it, what's wrong?"

Luca leaned on his knees, gasping. "Is your dad home? I need to talk to both of you!"

"Okay, okay, just– take it easy," Giulia took Luca's wrist and brought him through the yard. In the entryway, she frowned. "Did you swim all the way from home?"

"I'm fine," Luca dismissed. They had bigger things to worry about.

The kitchen smelled of wonderful Italian cuisine. However, Massimo wasn't busy at the stove or countertop. Instead he was standing by the window, watching, waiting. For a second Luca felt like he was intruding.

"Papà?" Giulia began tentatively, and Massimo faltered before turning. His surprised face sunk into one of realization, and he quickly straightened his shoulders.

"Giulia– Luca," He ended the statement with the sound of a question. Luca looked beyond Massimo at the open window, where he had set a fresh plate of trenette al pesto.

"Um…" Suddenly Luca found it hard to form his words together. Seeing Massimo and Giulia's increasingly worried faces, he recollected himself with a deep breath. "I need to talk to you. It's about Alberto. I think I might know what happened to him."

At once, Massimo and Giulia rushed forward. If Luca didn't have their attention before, he definitely did now.

"You do? But– how?" Giulia exclaimed.

"Tell me everything you know," Massimo urged.

Luca told them everything from what he discussed with his grandma. Once he had finished, he gauged both their reactions. Giulia was processing this information, though by the way her eyes dawned in understanding, Luca knew he had her convinced. Massimo's usual stoic behavior was harder to read. At the very least, he digested the theory.

"Santa mozzarella," Giulia breathed. "You might be right."

Massimo leaned forward. "Are you certain that is what happened? Do you have any proof?"

He asked this so seriously that Luca became slightly unnerved. He swallowed. "No, sir. I don't. But I'm ready to go find out."

Giulia was bouncing in nervous energy. "Why didn't I think of that? This town is FULL of witnesses. Someone must have seen something!"

Luca deeply appreciated Giulia's support. Massimo however remained guarded. "We don't know that it's true," he reminded her, but it was too late. Giulia was completely on board.

"Hey, at least we have something to work with," Luca said in an attempt to reason with him. "Before, we were just searching without a clue. Now we can ask people if they might have seen something suspicious."

Massimo was shaking his head. "Maybe. But, if your theory is correct, you are also accusing someone in this town of kidnapping."

The room seemed to darken at his words. Luca hadn't thought of it like that. Who in this town could be capable of such a thing? Names and faces that Luca had grown to trust flicked through his mind in fast succession. He was at once very afraid of his theory being right.

He supposed there was one person he couldn't trust, not from the very beginning. A fiery sensation fizzled in his stomach. Luca was going to get to the bottom of this. He was going to find Alberto.

He was so lost in his thoughts he hadn't noticed Giulia and Massimo continuing the conversation. "...per favore, this is the only lead we've got… you don't actually believe Alberto left on purpose, do you?"

By her tone of voice, she was expecting him to refute her. But Massimo hesitated. In fact, he didn't react at all, only lowering his chin dolefully. Then, slowly, he met their eyes again.

"Just promise me one thing."

"Si, papà, anything," Giulia blurted.

"You will only ask questions, and not jump to conclusions." Massimo's gaze swung from his daughter to Luca. "Capisci?"

"Capisco," they said at once, and Giulia hugged her father. Luca heard her whisper, "Don't worry– we'll find him. We'll get him back to us."

Massimo hugged her a little closer. Once they parted, Massimo stood to his full height, surveying the two of them. "Be careful," he said, his voice tight. "And be smart."

"SÌ, papà," Giulia said rapidly. "We'll let you know what we find out!"

On their way out the door, Luca paused by the clothing rack. Alberto's flat cap hung there, and without a second thought Luca set it firmly on his own head.

Giulia rode on the back of her bicycle while Luca pedaled through Portorosso.

"We could start at the edge of town, and work our way back in," Giulia was saying, jotting down notes on a clipboard. "We can ask questions like: 'Where were you at sunset three nights ago? What were you doing? Why was it so important that it couldn't wait until morning?' I'm thinking of calling it 'Operation Scorfano'! What do you think?"

Giulia waited for Luca's response to no avail. She peered over her shoulder. "Um, Luca. Are you listening to me?"

"Huh? Yeah." Luca lied, having only heard half of what she said.

"Luca– Luca, I said we could start at the edge of town," Giulia pressed. They were slowing down on a seemingly random street. Luca skidded the bike to a stop and hopped off, leaving the bike and Giulia to topple sideways.

"Hey!" Giulia squawked as she clumsily tried to catch herself. Luca was stomping across the street, and Giulia called, "What are you doing?"

"I'm getting answers!" Luca threw over his shoulder, and he strided up the stairs to the front door of a house. He raised his fist to knock, but stopped upon hearing an elderly woman screaming angry Italian words. A more familiar voice answered her.

"They're NOT my friends, Nonna! I will NOT apologize to them– they should apologize to me! I will NEVER speak to them again!"

The door was thrown open to reveal Ercole. Ercole slammed the door behind him, then paused to take a deep breath. Seemingly calmer, he took one step forward only to freeze at the sight of Luca and Giulia, who were staring at him blankly. His shocked face melted into a scowl.

"Oh– it's you. Finally came back to town, eh? I thought something smelled like fish." He wrinkled his nose in disgust. "So what do you want? Come to gloat? Well, get it over with, so you can get out of my sight faster."

Giulia was too dumbfounded to say anything. Luca however was confident, more confident than he'd ever been in his life.

"Oh, we'll leave." He marched right up to Ercole, his chest puffed out and his index finger pointing up the taller boy's chin. "Right after you tell us what you did to Alberto!"

Ercole backed up, but more out of surprise than anything. "Wow, look who's suddenly not afraid of anything!" With ease, he pushed Luca aside. "Stand down, piccoletto. That's a fight you're not going to win."

Giulia finally got her tongue to work again. "We're not here to fight," she blurted, sending a meaningful look at Luca. "We just want to ask a few questions–"

"–about what you did to Alberto," Luca growled, ignoring Giulia's glare.

Ercole narrowed his eyes on Luca. He glanced at Giulia, then back at Luca. "I have no idea who that is."

"Alberto," Luca repeated with emphasis. "He helped us beat you in the race!"

Ercole snapped. "That was NOT a fair match! Sea monsters can't enter human races!" He leaned back in a relaxed gesture. "Anyway, I don't know what you're talking about. Why would I do anything to him? I don't even like him, or any of you."

"That's exactly why you WOULD do something–" Luca countered, and he felt a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"Luca–" Giulia began, but Luca shrugged her hand off.

"Look, I had nothing to do with whatever you're talking about, okay?" Ercole insisted with an eyeroll. "If he's gone, maybe it's because he's realized how lame his friends are."

Luca clenched his hands into fists. "I KNOW you did something. Alberto wouldn't just disappear!"

Giulia tugged Luca's arm, more forcefully this time. "Luca, stop! We promised we would only ask questions, remember?"

"I am asking questions," Luca replied gruffly. "I'm asking Ercole to tell us what he did!"

"So, you're missing your sea monster friend, eh?" Ercole's irritation was now laced with amusement. "It's about time someone nabbed him. This town's better off without him stinking it up–"

Something inside Luca snapped. In less than a second he had Ercole on the ground, his fists moving in seemingly their own accord. Giulia was shouting and Ercole was shrieking, but Luca was immune to all of it until a pair of arms wrapped around his middle and tore him away.

"Luca, STOP!" Giulia wailed, and he whirled to snarl at her. She immediately backed away, her arms raised, and Luca's snarl fell short.

Meanwhile Ercole was cowering behind Giulia. "HELP! THE SEA MONSTER BIT ME! IT BARED ITS HIDEOUS FANGS AND ATTACKED ME!"

"Stai zitto, Ercole!" Giulia defended, but even then it sounded weak. People around the street were beginning to stare, and a few even gasped and were pointing at Luca.

"Did you see what that boy did?"

"That's not just a boy, amore. Don't you know? That's the… ahem… sea monster…"

"No!"

"I knew I never trusted them…"

Sure enough, a perfect Luca-sized bite mark was freshly donned over Ercole's forearm. Luca could still feel the sensation of the bite in his teeth. Dread rose from his stomach to his throat. In those few moments, he had lost complete control.

Giulia grabbed his wrist bracingly. "Come on," she breathed, and she hurried him out of sight.

Numbly Luca asked, "What about your bike–"

"I'll get it later, right now you need to get out of here!"

Luca ran with her through Portorosso. Neither said a single word until they were deep into town, far enough away where no one around them knew what had just taken place. All the same, they sought shelter under the shade of an empty coffee shop.

When they were alone, Giulia shoved Luca. "Are you crazy?" She exclaimed between gasps of breath. "Whatever happened to not jumping to conclusions? I've never seen you act that way before! What's gotten into you?"

"I'm sorry," Luca panted, and he truly meant it. The guilt was almost crushing him. "I'm so sorry– I don't know what happened, Ercole just made me so mad and I… I lost my temper." Memories of the townspeople's shock and horror sent another wave of shame in Luca. His knees wobbled and he sat on the brick street. "I can't believe this."

He put his hands over his eyes. Giulia watched him for a bit before sighing. She sat next to him, and after a moment's thought put her hand on his arm.

"It's okay–" She began, and a sudden bubble of fire flared in Luca's stomach.

"No, it's not okay," he snapped, standing up. He paced back and forth in front of her. "I can't believe I lost control. All because I let Ercole get under my skin. And you know the best part? Now everyone thinks I did it because I'm a sea monster!"

"You are a sea monster," Giulia agreed, "but it's not like none of the other kids haven't bitten each other before! Trust me– I've seen it."

Luca shook his head. "Yeah, well. I doubt anyone's going to see me that way."

Giulia didn't seem to know what to say to that. Luca felt a little worse with himself. She had stood up for him, even when he was behaving horribly. And all he could talk about was sea monster prejudice. "I'm sorry, Giulia. I should be thanking you."

The tension in Giulia's shoulders loosened slightly. She stood next to him. "Hey– we're in this together, alright? If people mess with you, they mess with me." A bit tentatively, she put her right hand forward. "Underdogs?"

Luca broke into a grin. He put his hand on hers. "Underdogs."

"Fantastico!" Giulia laughed, then pointed at him semi-seriously. "Just, follow my lead from now on, okay?"

Luca nodded sheepishly. "Okay."

Daniela still wasn't the biggest fan of her human form. She made a mildly disgusted noise as she shook the water off her body and made her way up the harbor with her husband. Lorenzo had to hurry to catch up.

"Do you really think Massimo's going to agree with this?" He asked her tentatively while tucking his shirt in his pants.

Daniela didn't hesitate. "He'll have to. Luca's our son, and Massimo respects that."

"Yeah, but Alberto…"

"Massimo will see reason," Daniela interrupted, though a troubled look wormed its way on her face. "Just let me do the talking."

She strided right up to the Pescheria. She waited for Lorenzo at the door, took in a breath, and knocked.

"Massimo?" She called. "Massimo, it's the Paguros."

There was no immediate answer. Then there was shuffling. Then the door opened. Massimo stepped aside to give them room. "Ciao, Daniela– Lorenzo. Come in," He invited, and they walked inside.

They sat at the little table in the small kitchen. A beautiful aroma relaxed any of the remaining nerves Daniela had about the incoming conversation. She had to hand it to surface dwellers, they really knew how to eat. Massimo set a plate of pasta in front of either of them, and then one for himself. Daniela wondered briefly why there was a plate sitting alone at the window, then disregarded it.

"Forgive me; I was working in the back when you came. It seems one of my fishing nets has been misplaced." Massimo said conversationally as they indulged.

"Uh-huh," Daniela hummed, only half paying attention. She was engrossed in her own mind about how she would bring up what needed to be said. She didn't want to upset Massimo, but she knew it was necessary.

"You just missed Luca and Giulia," Massimo continued. "The children took it upon themselves to start an investigation."

By the curve of his mustache, he seemed to be pleased by this fact, or at the very least impressed. Daniela couldn't even begin to think why Massimo would see that as a good idea. She swallowed the delicious pasta.

"Actually, that's what we wanted to talk to you about." She said, deciding to get right down to business. She chose her words carefully. "Have you ever thought, Massimo, why it is that no one, and I mean the whole town, seems to know where Alberto has gone?"

It was clear Massimo wasn't expecting this. "Well… it could be…"

"Not to mention he's done this sort of thing before." Daniela added. She was watching Massimo closely, doing her best to be sensitive yet firm. "He even left a letter behind to explain himself. Could it be… and just hear me out on this… that Alberto doesn't want anyone looking for him?"

Machiavelli, who had been sleeping in the corner, hissed at her words. Massimo looked as if he had a lot of things on his mind, but none of them he could get on his tongue. At last, he gave a flustered sigh. "You don't know that."

Daniela crossed her arms. She would have to change tactics. "Luca's barely sleeping. He won't eat anything. Not to mention, we already searched the whole town yesterday, what good does he think it will do this time?"

"Well… I…"

"And what about Giulia? Aren't you the least bit worried about what this might end up doing to her?" Daniela pressed. "I'm just going to say it– Luca's getting a little too obsessed with this missing sea monster case."

Lorenzo made a placating gesture. "Daniela, you know Alberto is Luca's best friend–"

"Best friend or not, Luca is going to run himself sick if we don't do something." Daniela said fiercely. She looked Massimo in the eyes. "Listen to me, Massimo– from one parent to another. Don't you agree that the kids are taking this a little too far?"

Massimo was lost for words. Daniela's shoulders slumped.

"The next time you see Luca, I want you to send him straight home to us." She scooted her chair back to stand, making a horrible squeaking noise. "No more investigating. No more chasing after someone who clearly doesn't want to be found. Thank you for the meal. Come on, Lorenzo."

She strided out of the house without another word. Lorenzo turned to Massimo, opened his mouth, thought better of it, and followed after his wife.

After the rather rocky start of their investigation, the Underdogs went back to Giulia's idea of starting at the edge of town and making their way back in. They knocked door after door, stopping a few times on the street to ask passerbyers if they knew or had seen anything suspicious. Most people slammed the door back in their face. A few others listened politely but ultimately couldn't offer any help. Giulia was trying to remain positive, but Luca was gradually losing hope in their plan.

Within an hour or so they took a break in the piazza. Portorosso was larger than Luca could ever have imagined now that they were trying to knock on every door in town. They sat on the fountain rim, Luca lost in his thoughts and Giulia watching the neighborhood kids kick a ball around.

"That could have gone worse." Giulia said optimistically. Their last confrontation was with the Aragosta Sisters, and they had left that scene with gelato on their heads.

Absently Luca licked at his gelato. "I don't understand. Someone must have seen something."

"Maybe we haven't found the right person yet." Giulia reasoned, which was rather likely. Nonetheless Luca couldn't help but feel discouraged.

They continued investigating until nightfall. Giulia had to practically drag Luca with her to leave the Portorosso streets behind.

"Just one more house…" Luca pleaded, stumbling over his feet from exhaustion.

"Luca, if we're not home in the next ten minutes, my dad will have a whole search party looking for us." Giulia's stomach growled loudly and she held her stomach. "We're not giving up. We'll go out again tomorrow, okay?"

Luca didn't want to wait until tomorrow. He was sick of waiting and not doing anything. He followed her back to the Pescheria anyway.

Luca was so wrapped up in his anxieties he didn't see Giacomo until he walked right into the barrel of fish he had been carrying.

"Oof!" Luca fell backwards and Giacomo wobbled on his feet.

"Whoa– scusi!" Giacomo said with half a laugh, managing to keep the barrel upright. "Oh, hello Luca. Giulia. Nice night for fishing, eh?"

Giacomo was one of the fishermen who had taken to Luca and Alberto quicker than anyone else. Pretty much since the day their identity had been revealed, he had been nothing but kind to them, even letting them ride on his boat and showing them a few fisherman tricks.

He smiled at them like everything was right in the world. Luca could hardly imagine smiling back. He could hardly imagine smiling ever again. Giacomo must have gotten a clue as his expression dimmed.

"Something on your minds?"

Luca glanced at Giulia, who didn't seem to have the energy to explain. Luca's voice became very small. "We were asking people if they knew anything about Alberto."

Giacomo hummed like he was now remembering. "Ah… yes, I heard about your friend going missing. I'm really sorry to hear that. No," he added when Luca opened his mouth. "I'm afraid I don't know what happened to him."

Luca didn't think Giacomo would lie. But there was some sort of hesitance in his eyes that convinced Luca he wasn't telling them everything. "Are you sure there's nothing else you can tell us?" He asked, not impolitely.

Giacomo opened his mouth, closed it, then tried again. "Listen, I– I can't be sure if it was him. But, now that you mention it, I remember I was taking my boat out for some night fishing. It's a hobby I've become rather attached to. I did see someone walking towards one of the outer beaches." He paused, then took a breath. "It could have been Alberto–"

Immediately, all the questions Luca had been hoping to ask someone came rolling off his tongue. "When? Which beach? Did he say anything, or, or give any clue about what he was doing–?"

"Slow down," Giacomo winced, as if regretting bringing it up. "We never spoke, and I told you, I'm not a hundred percent sure it was him. But it may have been. It looked as if he was coming from the direction of the Pescheria, and if my memory serves correctly, that was three nights ago."

"Three nights ago," Giulia repeated, and though they hadn't been running lately she was out of breath. "That could have been the time Alberto went missing!"

All of Luca's previous exhaustion was gone, though now his mind was racing with doubts. Alberto was heading to the beach? That wasn't looking good for his 'left by force and not by choice' theory. Then again, anyone could go to a secluded beach for any reason. It didn't have to mean they were trying to be discreet. Right?

"I wish I could help more," Giacomo said, and he sounded like he truly meant it. "If it means anything, I'll keep an eye out for your friend from now on."

Luca didn't trust his voice not to break. "Thank you," Giulia replied on his behalf, for which he was extremely grateful. "The more people who search, the faster we'll find Alberto!"

Giacomo looked ready to leave, but he hung around a bit longer. "By the way, what have you tried doing so far to find him?"

Giulia told him their rather unsuccessful day going door to door. Giacomo nodded along as she told the story. "Hmm. Not a bad idea, but it will take a long time before you talk to every person in town. Mind if I suggest something?" When Luca and Giulia nodded, he went on. "Why not put up some posters? That way, if you happen to miss anyone, the chances of them at least seeing the poster will help spread the word–"

"Santa mozzarella! I remember one of my classmates did that for her lost cat once. The next day, someone found it!" Giulia exclaimed, and Giacomo chuckled.

"SÌ, there's a good chance of finding something you've lost with posters," Giacomo agreed.

Luca was bouncing on his heels, already itching to get started. "We could put your dad's phone number on it, in case someone finds something out! And– and we could put Alberto's picture on them–"

"–I know papà has a photo of Alberto somewhere," Giulia concurred, and she grabbed both of Luca's hands. "We have to get started right away!"

"SÌ– let's go!" They broke into a run for the Pescheria, and Luca remembered to yell before they went too far, "Thank you, Giacomo! Thank you!"

Giacomo waved. "In bocca al lupo!"

A/N: Looks like Luca and Giulia have more to work with. But will they be able to continue their search with Daniela on their case?

We'll catch up with Alberto next chapter! Let me know what you think!