Run To Rome

Ten minutes later, Halli was expecting him, yet she still nearly jumped out of her skin when Trent appeared next to the driver’s side door of their borrowed car. Because he’d had her move behind the wheel while he was gone, “just in case,” she scrambled back across to the passenger seat so he could get in.

“All set,” he said, flashing a newly purchased, throwaway cell phone. “Anything new going on over there?”

“No.” She hadn’t taken her eyes off her sister more than a few seconds every so often to check the mirrors around the car. Trent had caught her in between sweeps and in the middle of a prayer, since she was still unsure of his plan.

“What if there’s more than just those two?” she worried out loud.

“Have you come up with a better idea in the past fifteen minutes?”

“No.”

“Then let’s hope to God there isn’t.”

“That’s reassuring.”

“Anytime I can help.”

He didn’t look at her, but she saw the corner of his mouth crook up. Her back teeth clenched together. Easy for him to joke when it wasn’t his sister and brother dangling on the hook. Just as quick, she thought of his deceased brother, Sean, and his cop friend, and took the thought back.

After a deep breath, she eyed the phone and asked, “You really think it’s okay to involve the police now?”

“For a distraction only, we’ll have to chance it. Besides, the phone call will be completely anonymous and I don’t plan on saying anything more than it looks like a drug deal going down.” He lifted the phone as if to make the call.

“Do you think it’ll take long for them to get here?”

“Illegal activities this close to a foreign consulate? I suspect they’ll be here in minutes. In fact, you should get in the back now.”

A frisson of resurgent fear threatened to override her earlier determination. She climbed between the seats and sat directly behind Trent like they’d talked about, so she’d be on the side closest to Rachel. The deep breath she sucked in and immediately released ended up much louder than she expected.

Trent’s head jerked up, catching her gaze in the review mirror. “What’s the matter?”

She hated to admit it after having just decided to stop being a victim, but there was no denying the tremble in her hands. “I’m scared.”

A split second smile softened his expression. “I’d be scared if you weren’t.”

She tried to smile back, but it felt all wobbly. Focus, Halli. She looked past Trent at Rachel to bolster her courage and resolve, only to have her heart thump in her chest. Clenching the headrest, she pulled herself forward.

“Something’s going on.”

Trent’s attention shifted as well. Rachel stood in front of the blond man, hands on her hips, in what Halli recognized as her stubborn stance. It appeared the two were arguing. It also appeared Rachel won when the blond man spoke toward the car his partner sat in and pointed across the street, down the block away from where Trent and Halli were parked.

The man in the car turned his face and Halli gasped. “That’s the guy from last night! I scratched his face when he tackled me.”

Trent straightened in his seat as the blond man took hold of Rachel’s elbow and escorted her in the direction he’d pointed. Halli immediately noticed her sister’s pronounced limp. Rachel jerked free of the man’s grip, but continued walking at his side.

Halli’s attacker from the night before remained in the car, even after Rachel and her guard disappeared inside a corner café.

Without warning, Trent started the car and navigated back into the one-way traffic. “Change of plans, sweetheart. Give me the jacket and get down on the floor.”

Halli ducked down below the window level and struggled to remove Trent’s windbreaker in the close confines. “What are we doing?”

“I’m leveling the playing field to one on one. If I can get inside that shop, maybe I can take out one of these guys without drawing the attention of the other. Roll down that back window a little so you can hear when your sister is on her way.”

She pushed the jacket to him between the seats before spinning the handle for the window a half dozen times. It was hard to resist the urge to poke her head up to see where they were. A second later, Trent braked hard enough to throw her against the front seats. Once she stabilized herself, a peek through the seats revealed him knotting the jacket sleeves around his waist. Over the gun.

When she heard the driver’s door open, she said, “Trent?”

“Yeah?”