CHAPTER 8: Sling Shot

 

Venice Canals

 

Delta and Kevin reached the items rooms and encountered an unexpected sight. The guards were gone and Birth of Venus was ablaze on the easel. Two Japanese men looked up momentarily, then broke for the door nearest them.

"Sunofabitch!" Delta yelled. "I paid crazy paper for that painting--!"

Kevin was already in motion and hit the door on the fly. Delta kicked off her pumps and followed. The door led to a stairway and Kevin was right behind the two men who scurried down like rats leaving a sinking ship. They burst through a door and Kevin vaulted the railing, landing at the door, and was through it instantly. Delta took the stairs two at a time in her stockinged feet. People in the plaza watched with rapt fascination and pigeons scattered into the clear sky. The two arsonists still had a bit of a lead when they emerged onto the plaza, sprinting towards the docks. Kevin closed the gap, then veered towards the hydroplane. Delta pushed through the door, doffing her long coat. She gathered the hem of her gown in one hand and broke into a sprint. The two men reached a speedboat and got it started just as Kevin reached the docks. They backed out as Kevin hopped into the hydroplane and started the engine.

"ROOOOYCE!!" Delta yelled as she closed in on the docks. Kevin was just backing the hydroplane out when Delta reached him, tossing her clutch into the cockpit. She quickly got in and Kevin jockeyed away from the quay to give chase.

The speedboat cleared the mooring poles and picked up speed. Kevin skipped the hydroplane around tethered boats until he reached mid-canal, sending a wave of water splashing on the occupants of a nearby gondola.

"Sorry!" Delta yelled as the hydroplane rocketed away.

The speedboat was free and clear in the Grand Canal and immediately went to full throttle, with the hydroplane in close pursuit. The speedboat swerved around the outside of a crowded waterbus just leaving its stop, causing a minor jam as other boats in close proximity tried to avoid collisions.

"Shit," Kevin said and yanked the hydroplane to the right.

"Kevin!!" Delta yelled.

The hydroplane shot through the narrow pathway between waterbus and the dock, soaking people in both places, who lunged back with squeals of surprise. Kevin made a hard left, narrowly missing a gondola coming out of a quay, and picked up the pursuit.

The speedboat started veering towards other boats in an effort to create more traffic jams, then turned onto a side canal. Kevin slowwed down to maneuver around the tangled knot of boats then gunned the hydroplane once he was clear.

Delta took the 5904 out of her purse and chambered a round. "Just get me a clear shot, so I can put a hole in their boat."

"Aye, Lass."

The back alleys of Venice was a world of narrow maze-like canals and bridges hidden in the shade of ancient buildings, many of which had doorways that opened out onto water.

The speedboat did a slalom through a caravan of gondolas, forcing the gondoleers, cursing, to turn their long crafts, affectively blocking the narrow canal.

"Bloody Fuck," Kevin exclaimed as he brought the hydroplane to a drifting halt near a bridge to wait for the gondolas to untangle themselves.

"The fat lady ain't sung yet," Delta said, putting her gun down. A number of tourists on the bridge watching what was happening gasped in surprise when Delta grabbed it and climbed over.

"You guys filming a movie?" one asked.

"Nope. This is for real." Delta unholstered the Seecamp on her inside thigh and chambered that round.

The arsonists made the mistake of stopping to see if their tactic had been effective. By the time they realized what Delta was up to and tried to make their escape, she had put three shots into the boat. People ducked at the sound of her gun.

"Relax," she said. "I'm a crack shot."

The arsonists found themselves quickly sinking and climbed onto a narrow walkway just in time. The gondolas had straightened themselves out and Kevin sped to the walkway before the arsonists could get away. He held Delta's gun on them.

"Damn!" Delta exclaimed, looking down at herself. "My dress is ruined!" It was dirty and she'd torn it climbing onto the bridge. She reholstered the Seecamp and walked past bewildered tourists to where Kevin held the arsonists.

"I have a few questions for you fellas..."