Trigger Read online

  I had no idea that I’d been doing that, or why he would care, but due to his obvious distress, I gave it some consideration.

  “I’m not really sure. I guess I’m positioned better to get out of the way if someone is about to run into me. Every second helps in a bad situation.” I glanced at the narrow streets and the sheer walls of the buildings rising up around us. “Although it probably wouldn’t help all that much here because a lot of the time there is nowhere to go besides up a wall.”

  “Where would you pick up something like that?”

  “Pick it up how?”

  My blank expression either convinced him I was clueless or he decided to let it drop because he gestured impatiently down the street. Beyond befuddled by the whole exchange, I caught up with Anna without looking over my shoulder again. She looked like she was going to ask what the holdup had been, but after seeing our faces she must have thought better of it.

  The gelateria we entered was small but sparkling clean. It was also deserted except for the girl behind the counter. Chase asked us each what flavors we wanted. After we chose, he turned to the server and spoke to her in Italian.

  She was obviously impressed and they chatted while she scooped gelato into dishes. She continued to overtly flirt with him as he paid and we took our gelato.

  I eyed the girl critically. She was the typical Italian beauty, long dark hair, gorgeous olive skin, and a pretty smile. She was perhaps a little young for Chase, although she clearly didn’t mind the age difference. The way she was talking to him rankled me, so I went to find a seat outside.

  Gelato in hand, I crossed over to the chairs covered by shades. I chose one on the end that was up against the wall. It faced the square, giving me a clear view of any action. Anna settled into a chair a few feet away.

  Chase wandered over and took the seat between the two of us. I waited for the server girl to use some excuse to come outside to check on us, or more specifically Chase. Not that I blamed her, but just because I could see why she was attracted to him didn’t mean I had to like it. My guess was she would be outside in under a minute.

  “So, you speak Italian?” Anna asked.

  “Some,” Chase replied.

  “Some? You sounded pretty fluent to me.” She narrowed her eyes at him. “Are you trying to be modest? It isn’t necessary because modesty doesn’t go very far with me. I prefer knowing what I am working with so I can figure out how it can possibly benefit me. I would find it quite handy if you spoke Italian.”

  “If that is the case then yes, I speak Italian pretty well. Now I’m curious as to how you plan to use that to your benefit exactly?”

  “Why didn’t you just say you spoke Italian when she first asked?” I leveled a quizzical look at him.

  He flicked a glance at me while ignoring my question. I hit the count of 30 in my head. The server would appear soon.

  “I find it is better to divulge less information about myself than more; it helps keep me out of trouble.” His response, while interesting, was typically vague. “So Anna, how is my ability to speak Italian going to be used to your benefit?”

  “I plan to use you to gather information,” she was blithe. “You will listen to what is being said in Italian and then tell me.”

  “What for?”

  “Strategery,” I interjected.

  “Strategery? Is that even a word?”

  “Didn’t I just use it as a word?” I shot back playfully.

  “Let me guess, it is a type of strategy?”

  “It is like strategy only better,” I declared.

  He rolled his eyes. “So what does this strategery do for you exactly?”

  “If I know what people are saying, but they don’t know that I know, then I can use that information to my advantage!” Anna said.

  “So you want your own personal spy?” he said casually.

  “I prefer the term information conduit.”

  While they talked about the subtle differences between the definitions of spy and information conduit, I found myself wondering if he actually was modest, shy, or just plain secretive. Was it a coincidence we were in the Cinque Terre at the same time and on the hike the same day, after the incidents on the train and at the Colosseum? Or even more impossible, had he followed us here? I pondered the last question as I enjoyed my gelato. Whatever the reason, I was happy that he was here.

  The server girl came out of the shop with a towel and made a show of wiping off a few spotless tables. I had just passed my internal countdown to 60, so I mentally congratulated myself on my predictive abilities. The girl cleaned tables in a path that led her toward us. When she was close, she asked Chase something in Italian with a flirtatious grin on her face. Whatever his response was, she was unprepared for it and she retreated to the shop without another word or backward glance.

  “Now this is the perfect example of what I am talking about. I’d like to know what she just said to you and what you said back,” Anna said.

  “Why does it matter?” he responded.

  “I’m interested, so why not tell me?” Anna asked.

  I silently watched the two of them square off. To my astonishment, it was Chase that broke first.

  “She made a couple of comments about the party tomorrow night and wanted to know if we would be there.”

  “And…?” Anna prompted.

  “I told her I didn’t know.”

  It was obvious we were not getting the whole story. From the way he spoke, I knew he didn’t want to talk any more on the subject. The girl hadn’t liked whatever he had said, which pleased me. However, I was not happy to hear he might not be at the party.

  “Interesting choice,” Chase said, starting a new topic of conversation.

  “Chocolate and strawberry?” I asked, assuming he meant my gelato.

  “Interesting choice of where to sit,” he said, gesturing around the empty patio and the numerous vacant chairs.

  I was uneasy about where this question would lead after the earlier exchange. “It’s in the shade and it’s good for people-watching.”

  His eyes holding mine, he waited for more.

  Without thinking I said, “I don’t like having my back exposed and, here, it isn’t.”

  “Let me guess, something else you just do for no reason?”

  “No, I told you the reason. You are a man with odd issues.”

  I was tired of him questioning arbitrary things I did. It was almost as though he wanted to find out how my mind worked, or he thought I was being deceptive.

  He didn’t say anything for a moment, measuring me with his eyes.

  “Did you have a problem with where we are sitting?” I could hear the trace of irritation in my voice.

  “Mostly I was curious why you chose that seat because I would’ve picked it if I’d been the first one out here,” he locked his eyes with mine.

  “Great minds think alike?” Anna offered.

  “Humph,” he grunted in response.

  “Why would you have picked this seat?” My reasoning had been so intuitive I wasn’t sure I could take credit for it.

  A few long seconds dragged by before he spoke. “I would have picked this seat because it’s the best tactical position in this immediate area whether you are on the defensive or the offensive. It has a clear view of the square, my back is protected, and I have multiple exit points.”

  It seemed like he was going to continue but the looks on our faces stopped him. I didn’t know how to respond, so I sat there letting my gelato melt.

  “You must be some kind of ‘Call of Duty’ super fanatic,” Anna muttered, breaking the tension.

  Chase broke into a grin as he finished his gelato. “Is it that obvious?”

  We both laughed out loud, but I didn’t believe that he was simply a video game aficionado. He sounded like someone with years of experience and training in this area. He sounded like a professional.

  “What are you doing with the rest of your day?” he asked while glancing around t
he square.

  “We’ll probably hang out on the beach for a while and then have some dinner. The big item on the agenda was the hike and I am pretty spent,” Anna remarked.

  “Yup, totally spent,” I agreed.

  “What about tomorrow?”

  Anna shot me a look before answering. “We haven’t planned that far ahead. We could spend the day in another town.”

  “There is always the beach again, or maybe we can rent a kayak or snorkel or something?” I offered.

  “Then there is that party in the main square tomorrow night,” Anna added. “We’ll definitely be going to that.”

  “I figured you would be going.”

  “What does that mean?” Anna asked.

  “It means that I’ve no doubt that you two were here less than five minutes before you got an invitation to that party.”

  “It was at least an hour before we heard about it,” she admitted.

  He smiled. “I’m sure you’ll have fun.”

  “It sounds like it will be a good time.”

  I wanted to ask him if he was actually going to the party despite what he had told the server, but my insides were twisted up so much with worry that he would say he wasn’t going, I kept silent.

  “I know you told that girl you weren’t going, but you should,” Anna ventured.

  I waited anxiously for him to respond.

  “I am actually thinking about going.” He was staring off at something in the distance.

  “We’ll be there, so that should be reason enough for you to come,” Anna shot a look at me as she stood up.

  “Yes, you should come,” I said dully. I really wanted him to come but didn’t want to seem desperate.

  “I’d better go.” He suddenly stood up while continuing to look at something neither of us could see. “Perhaps I’ll see you later.” His eyes flickered to me and then away again.

  I glanced in the direction he had been looking, but saw nothing unusual. When I turned back he had vanished into the labyrinthine streets.

  What was it with that guy and his ability to Houdini himself whenever he wanted?

  CHAPTER 5

  AFTER A FEW MINUTES staring in the direction I thought he had gone, I turned back to Anna making a disgruntled noise.

  “Well, I am not sure what to say about all of that,” Anna said.

  “I just can’t figure him out,” I exclaimed. “One minute he is friendly and having fun, the next he is standoffish, and then, poof, he is gone!”

  “You know if he wasn’t so into you, I would say forget it,” she stated.

  “What are you talking about?” I was flabbergasted by her remark.

  “Are you kidding me? It is so obvious that he likes you. He tries really hard to hide it, but I can tell. Of course it is also ridiculously obvious you are into him, too.” She rolled her eyes at me.

  “No one is into anyone! He barely knows me and I barely know him. Not to mention, whenever I’m around him I fall into something, which I’m sure impresses him. Meanwhile, he confuses me with his split personality problems. One second he is Captain Fantastic and the next he is General Jack Ass. I can’t keep up!”

  “Whatever you say,” she shrugged, as if realizing she was getting nowhere. “Let’s get our stuff and head for the beach.”

  It was a short trek to the room where we quickly changed and headed back out. At the beach, Anna picked a spot that was away from anyone else.

  As I soaked up the Italian sun, I blocked out the events of the day and tried to relax. After I had semi-dozed off for a bit, I propped myself up to check out the beach scene. There were people everywhere but two men in pants caught my attention because I found it odd they were not in beachwear.

  “You’ve got to be kidding me!” I exclaimed when I realized who it was.

  “Is it another furball in a mankini?” Anna sat up, shading her eyes as she looked around.

  Neither of us understood why some men felt it was necessary to display their copious amounts of body hair in too-tiny speedos, but it could be vastly entertaining.

  “This may be worse. I’m pretty sure that is Marcello and Francesco.”

  “No way!” She looked in the direction I was staring.

  The two men were now waving at us.

  “We have confirmation. They have spotted us and are inbound,” I said through gritted teeth.

  “What are they doing here?” she practically hissed while waving at them energetically.

  I plastered a big smile on my face and waved as well.

  “I’m sure we’ll find out shortly,” I muttered. “Do you think they followed us here?”

  “Possibly, I am a pretty amazing kisser.”

  “You are a total dork.”

  By now the Italians had walked over to where we were. They were both dressed in slacks and button-down shirts with short sleeves, and they sported huge grins. I suddenly remembered that I was laying there in a bikini and was all shiny from sun lotion and sweat. Self-conscious, I pulled a tank top on as I sat up and tried to situate myself into a casual pose.

  “Hello there,” I said when they stopped a few feet from us.

  “Hi,” Anna chimed in, gazing up at them with a smile.

  “Ladies, it is so lovely to see you again,” Francesco said, his voice warm and his smile very friendly. “May I?” He sat next to Anna without waiting for a reply.

  Marcello looked slightly uncomfortable as he squatted in the sand next to me.

  “What are you doing here?” Anna jumped right in with the million-dollar question.

  “Aren’t you happy to see us?” Francesco asked with a laugh.

  Anna and I sat silently waiting for an actual answer.

  “Would you believe me if I said that I couldn’t stop thinking about you so I followed you here?” Francesco said, making a playful face.

  “Probably not,” she said slowly.

  I knew she really meant that she hoped not.

  “Are you here for work?” I was also uncomfortable with the idea they had followed us here.

  “Yes,” Marcello appeared anxious to set the record straight. “We are here on business, but knowing you would be here made the trip appealing rather than just necessary,” he added.

  “Well, isn’t that interesting.” I wasn’t sure I believed him. I could tell from her expression that Anna wasn’t buying it either.

  “We got the call this morning that we needed to come up here to coordinate with the local police on a case.” Francesco leaned in toward us and dropped his voice a couple decibels. “You remember the one we mentioned at dinner?” Both of us nodded that we did. “Well, we got word that the criminals that were in Roma had been spotted in this area, so we came up straightaway.”

  His openness earned him a disapproving look from Marcello, which he shrugged off. His desire to alleviate our concerns appeared to vastly outweigh his need to follow protocol.

  “Calm down, it isn’t like I’m going to tell them that you pulled some strings so it would be us that had to come up here because you knew they were here.” He flashed a devilish grin at his partner.

  Marcello snapped a retort that I was certain would translate into some creative profanities. Marcello seemed a little embarrassed, but I was sure he would get over it. I was more concerned with what the two of them being here meant regarding Chase.

  “So what exactly are you going to do here on the case?” Anna asked.

  “We are consulting with the local authorities,” Marcello explained.

  “You could have done that from Rome,” Anna pointed out.

  I could tell our less-than-enthusiastic reaction to their presence was beginning to make them nervous. Apparently, they had thought we would be overjoyed to see them.

  “Is it dangerous to be here? Should we leave?” I asked.

  The Italians shared a brief look before Marcello answered.

  “You don’t need to worry. We’re here to make sure that if they are still in the area that nothing bad
happens.

  “Like what?” Anna asked with a sudden high pitch in her voice.

  “We aren’t sure. We just know that they’re here and that something is going on. There’s no need to worry. We’re going to get to the bottom of it,” Francesco said.

  “Maybe we shouldn’t go to the party tomorrow. In fact, maybe we should get out of here altogether,” Anna said.

  “What party?” Francesco interjected.

  “There is a big party in the main plaza Saturday night,” Anna explained. “A couple of the local bars are going to be there, and there will be a DJ and dancing.”

  “The party should be fine if there’ll be lots of people there and it’s in a public place. You are perfectly safe with us around.” Francesco was confident and Marcello nodded in agreement.

  “If it’s as big an event as you are saying then, I’m sure the local polizia will be prepared and have extra people out to keep an eye on things. Still, it may be a good idea for us to offer our assistance at the party,” Marcello suggested to Francesco. “We will be working with them on this other case anyway.”

  I didn’t think the guys would tell us to stay if there was any chance it was unsafe.

  “I guess we will see how things go,” Anna said.

  I nodded in agreement.

  “I’ve had enough sun for a while. You ready to jet so we can clean up and get some food?” I asked Anna.

  “Yeah, a shower and some dinner sound great,” she said.

  We both stood up and started gathering our things.

  “We better get back to the police station,” Francesco said.

  “Perhaps we can meet up with you tonight?” Marcello seemed hopeful.

  I was pretty much over my mixed feelings at their sudden appearance, so my smile was genuine. “We’ll probably be at a restaurant down here by the beach if you want to find us later,” I offered.

  Anna nodded, “Yeah, when you’re done with work come have a drink with us.”

  “Perfetto! We will come find you. We saw you earlier eating gelato when we were on our way to the station. You were talking to someone, who was that?” Marcello asked.

  Unprepared for his question, I continued to fidget with my stuff before looking up at him.