Free Chasing The Dawn (Luke Temple - Book 2) (Luke Temple Series) by James Flynn

‘I hope you don’t mind if I do, she doesn’t like me drinking anymore, claims at my age health is all-important, so I keep a stash in here.” Brun’s light tone was paper-thin. He unwrapped the gold foil from around the cap, opened the colourful bottle and took a big swig.
    Luke said nothing as Brun drank; he waited for the first swigs to settle. “Names?”
    “The man who has now taken over the investigation is Carabinieri Beltrano, and he has a colleague … Officer Delvechi.”
    Luke’s mind replayed the image of the two men he had seen at the Gran Sasso Institute’s car park; the older one would be Beltrano.
    “What sort of questions have they been asking?”
    Brun thought a moment before answering. “Do you mean general or specific?”
    “I mean leading or non-leading?”
    Brun looked quizzical.
    “For example, did they give you information then look for a confirmation? Such as ‘I know two men were seen with Professor Vittorio, who were they?’ Or did they just ask plain questions like, ‘What was the last thing you remember?’”
    “The latter,” Brun replied.
    Luke figured either Beltrano didn’t know anything or, more likely, he was a professional who didn’t want to give anything away. “And were you honest with him?”
    Brun took another swig of lager. “Yes.”
    Luke paused a moment. “You were completely honest with him?’
    “Why would I lie?” Brun shrugged.
    “As you said, Professor, he is not the type to show up on your doorstep at night and threaten you with a gun.”
    Brun gave a soft nod. “I didn’t withhold anything from him, I do not know where Ernesto has gone or who may have been involved.” Brun’s voice cracked.
    Luke had seen enough people under extreme stress. He knew how to pick his way through normal and abnormal behaviour. Brun so far was a strange one, there was obvious fear, but under the circumstances Luke would expect anyone to be scared – a man shows up at the door unannounced with a gun within a few days of a close colleague going missing. Yet Brun did not seem inquisitive at all. Luke would have expected many questions pushed out by the fear and anxiety … yet Brun had none.
    “What did Professor Vittorio tend to wear every day?” Luke purposefully changed gear.
    Brun was caught off-guard; he stumbled for a second. “What did he wear? Erm … well … nothing out of the ordinary. He liked to wear smart shoes, and various combinations of shirts and jumpers.”
    “Where did he come from originally?”
    Again Brun shifted awkwardly, not understanding the line of questioning. “Well he is Italian … I assume, I mean, we never spoke about it.”
    “You were close, weren’t you? You and Vittorio worked together for many years?”
    Brun took a big swig of beer. He choked as the liquid lodged in his throat, his face reddened. “Yes … yes we were.” Emotion was bubbling up.
    “This must all be very hard …”
    Brun didn’t respond.
    “Can you think of anyone who would want to harm Professor Vittorio?”
    Brun seemingly pondered, then shook his head. “No.”
    “And any reason for him to just up and leave?”
    Brun shook his head. “No.”
    A distance had come over the professor. It was not a melancholy daydream, but he seemed to have disappeared into his head, his hands were playing incessantly with the bottle, tearing little shreds of coloured paper away.
    “I don’t know where he is, I haven’t heard from him … who are you? Why are you here?”
    Luke weighed up the professor, he was tired and looked frayed . Is it just an emotional response to losing a friend?
    “Where did Vittorio live, Professor?”
    Brun became agitated. “Somewhere in L’Aquila, what does this have to do with anything? Who are you?”
    “Did he have a wife, children, a girlfriend, a boyfriend?”
    Brun shook his head. “I don’t know, I don’t know … no, I don’t think so, I am not sure. He never spoke of them if he did.” Brun was struggling.
    “When