Run To Rome

“I don’t want to scare you, but you do realize that after what happened at the Torno police station, these guys know exactly who you are, right?”

Silence.

“You gave them a copy of your passport.” Voicing that fact out loud triggered a click in his brain. That must be why he didn’t feel right about leaving her. Because even after she was back with her family, she wouldn’t be safe. Not because he didn’t want to say goodbye. Not because he was going to miss her. “They’ve got your full name, your address back in Wisconsin, everything. And they know what you recorded.”

“Stop.”

“I’m serious, Halli. You’ll still have to—”

“Trent. I want to go now.”

“No, damn it!” He struck the steering wheel with the heel of his hand. Tension pulsed through the interior of the car, stimulating the hairs on his arm. “You need to listen to me and understand—”

“I understand, okay? I get it.” She took a deep breath, but stared straight ahead. “Now quit ruining everything and take me to the consulate like you promised.”

Ruining everything? All he was doing was trying to look out for her. His frustration mounted, but if she didn’t want his help, what could he do? He was done forcing anything on her.

After a quick check of the mirrors, he shot back out into traffic and made the final turn onto Via Princepe Amedeo. Buildings rose up along either side of the narrow, one-way street. Five stories high on the right, with the consulate up ahead on the left in a more modern high-rise.

Halli obviously spotted the American flag flying above a first-floor, side entrance, because she needlessly exclaimed, “There it is!”

She sat forward, and he just knew she was scanning the area for Ben and Rachel. He slowed down on his way past the consulate entrance, but didn’t see anyone resembling either of her siblings in the video.

“Pull over and I can wait for them here.” She’d already unbuckled her seat belt.

He kept driving. “Hold on. I want to take a drive around the block first.”

“Why?”

“Just humor me, okay?”

She sat back with a huff, arms crossed over her chest.

As he made a left hand turn onto the one-way Via Montebello, he noted his windbreaker folded on her lap. “Do me a favor and put that jacket on.”

“I’m not cold.”

“Just do it. And put the hood up.” He reached up to tug at the bill of his hat, though it really couldn’t go much lower.

“You’re acting like we’re on some sort of covert operation,” she complained.

That was just it, he wasn’t acting at all. Surprisingly, though, she did as he asked, and pulled the hood up over her head without further prompting.

Coming up on the next intersection, he eased his foot off the gas and flipped the lever for the left turn signal again. Like many larger cities in Italy, the narrow streets were hell to navigate with the number of cars and the endless confusion of one-ways merging into two-ways. Looked like they’d have a wait up ahead before the two-way traffic allowed them to continue.

A pedestrian with a backpack slung over one shoulder darted between two parked cars. Trent braked hard to avoid hitting the guy, automatically reaching a hand to brace Halli. Good thing, since she hadn’t refastened her seatbelt. However, his palm collided with the silky blouse and soft curves of her chest. In a different situation, he might have enjoyed the accidental contact. Now, he jerked his hand back lest she think he did it on purpose.

That’s when he spotted her sister, sitting on one of the cement barricades partitioning off the small plaza in front of the building that housed the Consulate. She sat straight and stiff, one forearm across her middle to brace the elbow of her other arm as she chewed on her thumbnail. Halli’s brother Ben was nowhere to be seen.

Red flags exploded like fireworks.

Trent’s gaze darted to the traffic ahead and back to Rachel again. Maybe Halli’s sister routinely indulged that particular nervous habit. Then again, maybe she had a specific reason to be edgy. Trent kept driving. Given the past twenty-four hours, he preferred to err on the side of caution.

“There! That’s Rachel right there.” Halli bounced in her seat like an excited kid. “I told you they’d be here!”

Trent stepped on the gas and switched the signal to a right hand turn. A horn bleeped, conveying the annoyance of the driver on their rear end who’d darted over to go around them. Rachel’s head jerked in their direction, but she focused on the car behind him. Thankfully his lane scrabble drew no more notice as more horns blared ahead and behind them.

Halli spun around as Trent drove past her sister. “What are you doing?”