Free Falcon's Angel by Danita Minnis

missing from the Naples Music Conservatory. We believe it is his work.”
    “You are wrong,” Angelina whispered. “Not Tony. He would not do these things.”
    The detective leaned across the table, almost in her face, his obsidian gaze piercing the fog of her brain like two pinpoints of light. “You do know that Antonio Russo is not his real name, don’t you?”
    “He would not lie to me.”
    “How long have you known him?”
    She fingered the gold bangle her father had created for her. A birthday gift studded with canary yellow diamonds that usually made her feel special every time she wore it. Except this time.
    “I see.” The detective sat back in his chair and sighed with a sympathetic smile. “I regret that I am too late. Of course, so young and beautiful, you are just as tempting to him as the Stradivarius.”
    Angelina stood. “No! He saved it! Someone tried to take it from me and he scared them away. Where were you when I needed the polizia?”
    Detective Biagi inclined his head in apology. “Signorina Natale, please lower your voice, and sit. Please.”
    She almost turned and walked away, but the glint of determination in the detective’s eyes made her sit down. He had more to say, and despite herself, she wanted to hear it. She perched on the edge of the chair to let him know his time was limited.
    His voice lowered to a conspiratorial tone. “I can protect you. But first, you must tell me everything you know about him.”
    She folded her arms across her chest in answer.
    He nodded. “So, he saved your violin. And now he is never very far from it. How convenient to happen upon a beautiful woman in distress just in the nick of time. And where is this thief now, the one he saved you from? Maybe his partner, never seen again because he is no longer needed?”
    She remembered how Tony took the earring she had wrenched out of her attacker’s ear. Was it possible that he took the evidence to shield his accomplice? She shook her head, pushing away her doubt.
    “If he were a thief, why did he bring me to the station to speak with the police?” When the detective regarded her in silence, she added, “I do not remember seeing you there that day.”
    “I was unavailable at the time, but it is so significant to discover him in our midst that I had to take over the investigation. He is wanted in several countries, Signorina.”
    The detective’s words stunned her into silence, but he wasn’t finished.
    “When your father gave you that violin, did he tell you that someone was after it? Giovanni knew this.”
    He thinks the Maestro is my father?
    “The man you know as Antonio Russo has been searching for a violin just like that to add to his—how shall I say it—collection?”
    When she didn’t answer, the detective stood. “Forgive me,” he said, then took her hand and effortlessly lifted her out of the chair.
    For a moment, she expected him to lift her across his shoulder and storm off to his cave. Although she would have described someone like him as a big oaf, he wasn’t. For such a large man, his movements were too quiet, too controlled, and she felt the danger of him.
    “Forgive my blunt words. I would hate for you to become another statistic. I see you have opened your heart to him, Signorina Natale.” His lips brushed her hand before she could pull it away. “But for your own sake keep your eyes open as well.”
    They played tug of war with her hand as he held her gaze. “You have the power to send him away. I will be here if you need me.”
    Shivering, Angelina stared at the suit jacket stretched taut over the detective’s broad back as he walked out of the restaurant. More than anything, she wanted to do the same. But her aunt and uncle waited, even though lunch was the farthest thing from her mind.
    *
    “Is it him?”
    Luciano watched Angelina Natale exit il Ducato and hail a cab. “He does have a look about him,” Luciano said into the cell phone. He started the Fiat’s