Run To Rome

“Not here. Didn’t notice anyone rushing to stop that chase, did you?”

True, the entire car chase hadn’t alerted a single officer of the law, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t be trusted.

She watched Trent from the corner of her eye. His attention constantly shifted, as if he was keeping watch, and she guessed there’d be no convincing him.

Then again, maybe he just didn’t want to get caught. That thought didn’t make her feel any better.

“Take me to the US Embassy,” she said as firmly as possible, like he didn’t have a choice.

“The embassy’s in Rome.”

Alarm undercut her bravado as she pictured the map of Italy in her mind. “But that’s hours away.”

“There’s a Consulate General in Milan.”

“What’s that?”

“Basically the same thing as an embassy.”

That’s right—she knew that. She just wasn’t thinking straight with all that’d happened. A deep breath helped quell her rising panic. Giving into her anxiety would get her nowhere. One thing she did know, she didn’t want to go back to Milan without finding Ben and Rachel first. She wasn’t sure how she’d find them, but she’d have to figure something out. If she could get out of this car and away from him.

“You know, you could just drop me off—”

“No.”

“It’s not like you need me for anything. I didn’t see a thing, and I—”

“Until I see what you’ve got on that video, you and I are best friends, honey.”

Her teeth ground together at his fake, condescending southern drawl. “It’s Halli.”

His head turned, and despite the sunglasses, she felt his gaze rake over the comfortable sweat pants and T-shirt she’d worn for the long trans-Atlantic flight. “That’s your name?”

“What else would it be? Look, you can have the video. I don’t want it, there’s nothing on it that matters to me.” She fumbled with the camera as she spoke, but her shaking hands made it impossible to extract the small SD card. Tears stung her eyes as frustration mounted. “Just take the whole thing and let me go.”

She shoved it into his lap, hating that her voice wobbled at the end. She’d saved six months to buy the camera, but hopelessness is what made her composure crumble, not the stupid camera. Before she made a complete fool of herself, she averted her head and took a couple deep breaths to get control of her nerves.

“I’m not going to hurt you.”

His quiet statement made it worse. She clutched the travel purse angled under her right arm and around her neck, aware the ripples of anxiety grew with each passing moment. Bet Ben and Rachel hadn’t figured this into their fly-by-the-seat-of-their-pants plan. Heck, even she couldn’t have planned for something like this.

A tear slipped from her lashes and out of nowhere, a laugh bubbled up. Was this what hysterical felt like? Didn’t matter, she needed some sort of emotional release, and more tears wouldn’t get her anywhere.

“Do you have a phone? Can I at least call my brother and sister?”

To her surprise, he set her camera on the console between them and then dug a phone from his pocket. Halli grabbed it like a drowning person latching onto a life-preserver. Shaking fingers forced her to start over twice before she got the number right.

Please, answer, Ben. Please.

Relief swelled when the call connected, but instead of her brother’s voice, she got some strange recording in Italian. She tried again with the same result. Biting back frustration, she dialed a third time. This time, all she got was dead air. Then a series of beeps sounded in her ear.

“The call won’t go through,” she said.

“Service is spotty around the lake,” Trent informed her. “You can try again later.”

Tears threatened yet again as she slapped the phone against his outstretched palm and leaned her head back against the seat. “I planned this to be the trip of a lifetime. Something to remember.”

His answering chuckle held a note of disbelief. “Sweetheart, if you don’t remember this, whatever you had planned didn’t stand a chance.”