Run To Rome

“Why not? Shain does stuff like this all the time. What would he do?”

“I don’t know!” he shouted.

She sat back abruptly and he braked. Took a deep breath.

“I’m sorry. Just give me a minute to think, will you? This is a hell of a lot different than reading a script written by someone else.”

A memory struck like a bolt of lightning. Simone, Lorenzo’s girlfriend who was

a nurse, had offered to read lines with him after dinner one night. And he recalled Lorenzo had told him yesterday she was working the night shift all week so she’d be at her city house. After mentally placing the next couple street signs on a map in his head, Trent recognized they weren’t that far away.

He didn’t say anything to Halli lest she restart her inquisition, and she actually kept quiet as he drove. A glance in the mirror wasn’t enough time to tell if she was pissed or worried about her sister. Probably both, but since they were almost there, he refocused on the road and once they arrived at Simone’s small house, he simply said, “Wait here.” No sense getting her hopes up if Simone wasn’t home.

Urgency, hope and dread all took their turns tying his stomach in a knot as he knocked on the door. A full minute went by and he knocked again. He’d begun to think their luck had permanently changed for the worse when the door swung open.

Simone stood before him dressed, ironically, in her nurse’s scrubs. The unflattering hospital garb did nothing to diminish her beauty, still stunning in her mid-fifties. Her eyes lit up when she saw him. “Trent! Ciao. How good it is to see you.”

“Simone.” He leaned down to kiss each cheek she offered, a painful lump in his throat. One of the sweetest, most generous people he’d ever met, her kind heart had balanced Lorenzo’s brusque demeanor to perfection. Based on her happy smile of welcome, Trent knew she had no clue what’d happened yesterday morning. He wanted to hug her tight and tell her right then—get it over with—but that would be too much of a shock. Hopefully, a more sensitive opportunity would present itself.

“Renzo’s not here, but please, come in,” Simone offered. “I need a moment to change from my work clothes.”

Trent took her hand before she could back away from the doorway. “Simone, I need your help.”

She answered with a puzzled smile, but no hesitation. “Of course I will help you. Tell me what you need.”

Trent took a deep breath and battled a twinge of duplicity for not telling her about Lorenzo first. But Rachel might not have time. “A friend is in trouble. She was shot, but we can’t go to a hospital. People are searching for her.”

Simone’s eyes went wide. “Where is this friend?”

He nodded toward the car. Simone cast a furtive glance around, as if the people he’d mentioned would suddenly appear. “Bring her inside. I will prepare in the kitchen.”

Relief swept through him. “Thank you, Simone. You have no idea—”

“Go.” She waved him away. “Get her.”

Trent did a quick scan of his own as he jogged back to the street. Thankfully, it appeared to be very quiet this late in the morning and there’d be no nosey neighbors to watch them carry Rachel inside. He opened the back door closest to Rachel and was relieved to see she’d regained consciousness.

“Let’s get you inside.”

“Where are we?” Halli demanded.

“A friend’s house. She’s a nurse,” he explained briefly, reaching for Rachel.

“Remembered an ex-lover after all?”

Halli’s judgmental tone raised his hackles. “Simone is Lorenzo’s girlfriend of sixteen years.”

He saw the instant she understood the complication of their arrival when her contrite gaze met his.

“Does she know?” Halli asked.

“No,” he said, taking the brunt of her sister’s weight so she could close the door. “And I’m still trying to figure out how the hell I’m going to tell her, so keep your mouth shut.”

The sympathy in her eyes dampened from an infusion of indignation. “I wouldn’t say anything on purpose to hurt her, so don’t start acting like a jerk again.”

Trent bit back a retort as she opened the front passenger door and leaned inside. That word was starting to get on his nerves. She was right, though, his comment was uncalled for. Picking a fight with her right now would only serve to redirect his stress, not relieve it.

Seeing Halli had grabbed her camera only added to his stress with a flash of guilt. Shit. She hadn’t checked the memory card since they’d left the boat. For one, he had no doubt he’d have heard about it, and two, she wouldn’t have bothered with the useless, empty camera. Something told him now was not the time to bring it up; as they carried her wounded sister inside and waited for a call from her hostage-held brother.