Page 104 of Chasing Caine
When Samantha had discovered my deception about the Chagall two and a half weeks ago, I’d given her space. She said she never wanted to see me again. But she didn’t say that this time. Saidgoodwhen I told her I loved her. I’d hold on to that until I found her and ensured she was safe.
She’d insisted on returning to the gallery. I’d distracted her for hours. But now?
Samantha was too angry with me to retire peacefully to the villa. Either she would be stomping around the streets in a rage or doing the one thing I told her she couldn’t do. Going to the gallery.
And I knew that woman well enough to know her choice. If I was wrong, I would incur the wrath of whoever had joined me at our table the night before. But Samantha likely already had.
I rounded the last corner, came to a near-skidding halt at the front door to Riccardo Emanuele’s and threw open the doors.
A polite young woman greeted me.
Before one syllable was out of her mouth, I ripped my phone from my pocket and pointed the lock screen at her, showing a photo of Samantha and me from the night before, a selfie with the volcano behind us.
“Have you seen my girlfriend?”
She took a step back, likely from my raised voice. “Are you sure you’re in the right place?”
I clenched and released a fist, taking a deep breath so I was less confrontational. “Per favore. I think she may have come here.”
The woman peered at the photo, but shook her head.
“Mr. Ferraro!” Riccardo appeared from the rear of the gallery, hands out in greeting. “I understand from your girlfriend you’re looking to buy—”
“She was here?” I surely sounded crazed, but didn’t care what he thought.
He looked from me to the woman who’d greeted me.
My hands flew out when he didn’t respond. “When?”
“Fifteen minutes ago?”
“Where’s Eva? Did they speak?”
“No.” Riccardo fidgeted. “Your girlfriend came in asking to see Eva, but we haven’t heard from Eva all day. We left her a message after your girlfriend left.”
Samantha had only left the hotel ten minutes before I had, yet somehow had gained a further lead on me. I hurried out the door without another word to Riccardo, rushing to a cross-street where I’d find a taxi.
Where was I even going, though? Where would she go next? Back to the villa because Eva was not at work?
My stomach lurched. He hadn’t said Eva was off or out sick, but rather he hadn’t heard from her all day. What did that mean? Worse yet, what did it mean for Samantha and the threat against her life if she returned while Eva was not here? Did that mean she was safe?
I slowed enough to call Samantha with the same result. Niente. I texted Mario again, but he had no update. Texted her, asking where she was and if she was safe. Niente.
What other options did I have? Would she confide in Special Agent Skinner? Tell him about the threat from the man in the restaurant and her suspicions about Océane?
That was it. Océane’s hotel, close to where Samantha and I stayed. Perhaps she chose a different confrontation.
I flagged a cab and hopped in providing our hotel’s address. The driver pulled out too slowly until I urged him on with the promise of extra money. A lot of extra money. We had to catch up with her, or at least not lose more time.
The burner phone rang and I hauled it out, nearly dropping it to the floor in my haste to answer. “Cristian!”
“What happened?” His tone was serious, unlike our typical conversations.
“My girlfriend found the phone. She accused me of—” I dragged a hand through my hair, staring at my feet. It felt like that dinner at my parents’ place all over again. The hurt in her eyes. “She ran off to the gallery after I told her about the man who threatened us at Vista dell’Ovo last night, exactly as I feared she would. Tell me you have news.”
“I have a lead on the man who approached you and it’s not good.”
My heart came to an immediate and irreparable stop. “How not good?”