Lanza was on the verge of tears. “Thank you for being so wonderful. I probably won’t be at your house before evening. I’ll take a taxi. Fino a tardi, Zia.”
She hurried to the bedroom and phoned the airport. There was a flight to Rome at four-thirty. If Enzo got here on time, she’d be able to make it.
Once she’d made the reservation, she phoned him and he assured her he would be there by two at the latest. After she hung up, she started packing and made her bed. Then she fixed breakfast and cleaned up the kitchen.
At quarter to two she turned off the fireplace switch and went downstairs with her bag and coat. Enzo had just pulled up to the door. He did a quick final inspection of the chalet before they left for the city.
“Stefano is so lucky to have a friend like you. I really appreciate your helping me.”
“I’m delighted to do something important for him. He was very worried about leaving you alone.”
“I’m the one who’s worried. A mine cave-in is so awful. If anyone dies, I know he’ll take it on.”
“He will, but he can handle anything. I’ve found that out over the years.”
When they reached the airport, he walked her inside with her bags. She turned to him. “You’ve done enough. Please don’t think you have to stay with me.”
“I want to and I promised Stefano I’d wait till you boarded your flight. I told him I’d arrange for someone from the palace to meet your plane.”
“No, no, Enzo. That won’t be necessary, but thank you. I’m flying to Rome to stay with my aunt. She invited me to stay with her at the wedding. Now I’m taking her up on it.”
His eyes widened.
“I’m hoping Stefano will be back in time for the two of us to arrive at the palace together.”
“I see.”
They walked to the gate for the flights going to Italy. “Please don’t tell him. When he calls me, I’ll let him know I’m in Rome.”
His eyes danced. “Your wish is my command, Your Highness.”
She laughed. “Don’t you dare Your Highness me! Since our marriage I’ve forgotten all about being titled. If I’d had the courage to tell my father I didn’t want to live a royal life, I would have been long gone like Stefano.”
Enzo’s demeanor underwent a drastic change with that comment. He looked nonplussed over what she’d said. Lanza decided she could confide in him a little more.
“Stefano and I had to give up our dreams when we were forced to marry, but we’ve worked out a solution that gives us as much freedom as possible to do our own thing without question.
“Under circumstances that could have spelled the end of happiness for both of us, we’ve found the perfect way to have freedom and I couldn’t be happier,” she asserted, keeping a smile pasted on her face while she was in agony. “I believe he’s happy, too. Of course I could be wrong. You’ve been his friend forever and would be the best judge of that.”
He went quiet just as her flight was announced for boarding. She jumped up from the seat and gave him a peck on the cheek. “Thank you for being such a good friend to him. Stefano loves you like a brother and I’ll never forget your kindness.”
* * *
It was after 8:00 p.m. when the driver from the Casale mine picked up Stefano at the Ruiz airport outside Zacatecas. He drove him to the mining office, which was on a high plateau that rose to eight thousand feet. The temperature was in the thirties. He felt right at home in the cold air as he walked inside to meet with his other mining officials.
Dozens of workers and family members milled around while Jose Ortega, the chief engineer, apprised him of everything that was happening. Teams of workers would be working through the night taking turns trying to reach the three trapped victims using the latest equipment. Safety inspectors were still trying to piece together why there’d been a collapse in the structure in the first place.
Stefano was determined to find out why all their precautions to avoid such an accident had failed. So far this had never happened before at any of his mines. He’d been proud of the safety records and would be devastated if there was a loss of life.
He stayed in the office where he could sleep on a cot in the back room. To his relief Alicia hadn’t shown up tonight. He planned to avoid her if it was at all possible and got to work at his desk.
First, he needed to look over the plans of the mine where the cave-in had happened. Many factors had to have been in play, including the strength and weight of the soil combined with the porosity and amount of moisture.
When he checked with the environmental factors like weather conditions, he discovered there’d been some ground uplifting and tilting two months ago along the Acapulco Trench that included the Tehuantepec Ridge. His mine couldn’t be found in fault, but right now he was more concerned that the miners would be rescued.
As the men came in and out giving him updates, he made a call to Enzo, wanting to know how everything went before he phoned Lanza. It was 11:00 p.m. here.
“Sorry, Enzo. I know it’s the middle of the night for you. I haven’t called Lanza yet because I wanted to talk to you first.”