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Medusa's laughter was wicked. "If you say so. I'm sure you're this overprotective of all your clients. I'm in his system already. I can see photos of him. He's hot, Bellona. I can see why you like him."
There were voices in the foyer outside the conference door, but Bellona thought it was probably the guy with the cameras leaving. Medusa had been saying something.
"Sorry, what?" Bellona asked.
"I said that Lola will start with the money because she's got a great little program to do the heavy lifting, and then she will dig into their personal lives."
Maria came into the conference room with a concerned look on her face.
"What is it?" Bellona asked.
"The carabinieri just came and got Mr. Asellio for questioning about the fire. They said they were going to the restaurant on the ground floor for a 'friendly chat,' but I have a bad feeling."
Bellona's vision tunneled. "What do you mean he's gone?"
"I couldn't stop them and not get arrested. I came in here as soon as they got into the elevator."
Bellona was on her feet and running for the stairs entrance. "Medusa? Are you still in his system?"
"Yes, and I heard everything. I'm just getting into his security camera feed," Medusa replied.
"Find the restaurant and see if he's there. I'm in the stairwell now," Bellona replied. Unfamiliar panic was turning her ichor to acid.
"He's not in the restaurant," Medusa said, her voice calm. "I have him exiting the elevator about two minutes ago in the parking garage."
Bellona leaped over the stairs railing and free-fell the last three stories. She landed on her feet like a cat and kicked out the fire escape door. There was no sign of them, so she got into the Audi.
"Medusa? You still there?"
"Certainly am. I'm scanning back the footage in the parking lot... Okay, they got into a black Mercedes. I'm going to get into the traffic system. Okay, they turned right outside."
Bellona drove out of the parking garage, determined to follow. She had left him alone, and he had been taken. Whoever they were, the fake carabinieri must have seemed convincing enough for Rafael not to call out to her. She was going to kill them all for using their position to take what was hers.
Medusa's concerned voice brought her out of the rage spiraling through her. "Bellona? You're going to need to turn right at the next traffic light. I have found them. They are heading towards Valco San Paolo and going fast."
Bellona put her foot down and let her internal map of the city guide her down the fastest roads.
"They are stopping on Via delle Sette Chiese? Do you know it?" Medusa asked her.
Bellona's ichor went ice cold. "I know it. It's one of the entrance points to the Catacombe di Commodilla." Bellona put her foot down harder on the accelerator. "He's being taken to the underground court."
10
Rafael's head hurt with a deep thrumming ache. He was embarrassed about being kidnapped for the second time in his life. It had taken him far too long to realize the carabinieri weren't who they said they were. They had been going downstairs to the restaurant when one had stuck a gun in his lower back.
Bellona was going to be so mad at him.
Rafael had tried to fight back and had gotten a few good hits in before his head was slammed into the side of the car, and he was shoved inside of it.
Everything after that was blurry. He'd had a black bag pushed over his head and had been half dragged somewhere. He could smell earth, and the temperature had dropped rapidly. They tied him to a wooden St. Andrew's Cross and pulled the bag off his head.
Rafael's eyes watered, making him blink rapidly to try and clear them. He was underground, and the walls had small niches carved into the earth that were stuffed with treasures. A skull grinned at him amongst the piles of coins and jewels, and he realized where he was—the Catacombs.
He took in the rest of the cavern. The ceiling had been painted with scenes of Roman life and had to be hundreds of years old. Tall metal braziers were lit around the room to give it light, and nothing seemed to indicate electricity had been fed down there. That meant the phone that his captors had taken from him couldn't be tracked.
Bellona is coming. She will be mad about it, but she will come, he tried to reassure himself.
"And what is this my little thieves have found?" a woman said, appearing in one of the room's many entranceways. Two men and another woman flanked her. She had dark brown hair, a slim build, and wore two daggers on her belt. There was an easy authority about her that made everyone watch her. She had to be their leader.
