The Venice Job by Deborah Abela

swirled around her.
    â€˜Luca, please come up. I know I’ve been acting strange around you but that didn’t mean I didn’t like you. In fact, I think it was only because …’
    â€˜Because of what?’ Luca swam up behind her.
    Max stared back at him like a wide-mouthed fish. ‘Because …’ she thought. ‘We need you for this mission. Who else is going to help me with my Italian?’
    Luca gave her a knowing smile. ‘I’m glad to be needed.’ He swam towards a set of steps and held out his hand. Max followed and reluctantly accepted his hand only to trip on the draping wet leg of her trousers and fall straight into his arms.
    Aaaahhh! For a moment Max wasn’t sure if she’d screamed out loud or not.
    â€˜If I was a fisherman,’ Luca said, ‘I’d talk about this for years as my best catch.’
    Instead of feeling ridiculous, Max giggled. She pulled herself carefully out of his arms and squeezed water from her jacket and jumper. ‘I knew if I came to this city I’d spend a lot of time in the water.’
    Luca laughed. ‘You have a wonderful sense of humour.’
    Max’s heart did a ridiculous flip. She wasn’tknown for her sense of humour and no-one had ever said it was wonderful. She had to get out of there before Luca said anything else and she really did scream.
    â€˜We’d better get on with it.’
    â€˜Those guys were serious,’ Luca frowned. ‘What do you think they wanted?’
    â€˜Not sure, but I don’t really want to stick around to find out.’
    A man’s voice singing in Italian came out of a nearby house.
    â€˜In here,’ Max whispered as they ducked around a corner.
    The man walked over to a powerboat, lifted out a basket of tomatoes and walked back into the house.
    â€˜Let’s go.’ But as Max stepped out, the two men who’d been chasing them appeared from around a corner only metres in front of them.
    â€˜Don’t you ever give up?’ Max complained.
    Luca saw keys in the ignition of the singing man’s boat. ‘Jump in.’
    â€˜We’re going to steal a boat?’
    â€˜You have another idea?’
    Max didn’t, especially as the two guys had started running towards them. She jumped in after Luca and he started the boat.
    â€˜Can you drive this thing?’ Max shouted over the engine.
    â€˜No, but I will try.’
    â€˜Hey!’ The singing man came out of the house and ran towards them yelling and shaking his fists. Max knew they had no choice.
    â€˜All right, but if you get me killed you’re in big trouble.’
    â€˜It’s a deal.’
    Luca pressed hard on the accelerator and the boat veered away from the side of the canal sending a spray of water into the air behind them.
    â€˜Aaaah!’ This time Max knew she’d screamed out loud as she crouched down low and clung onto the passenger seat. She turned back to see the two men lift a young guy out of his boat and throw him into the canal. Within seconds, they were in pursuit.
    â€˜They’re coming!’
    Luca looked over his shoulder. ‘Looks like our little chase isn’t over.’
    He tore through the water of the narrow canal, swerving to avoid a bucket of water thrown by a young girl, and a house painter standing on a ladder in a boat. He swung into a smaller canal and turned sharply to dodge a remote-controlled yacht that was sailing in the middle.
    But what he saw next wasn’t so easy to avoid. A lavishly decorated gondola with reclining honeymooners had drifted across the canal.
    â€˜We’re going to die!’ Max looked up, then quickly sank back down again, shutting her eyes tight.
    â€˜Look out!’ Luca shouted but it was too late, their boat crashed straight through the gondola, slicing it in two.
    The honeymooners slipped into the water and only just managed to swim out of the way before the two goons tore into the