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He nodded. “Yeah. I can’t place it though.”
Gabi slipped into a taxi and we hung back far enough so we wouldn’t add any suspicion.
“What’s her name?” Jim asked.
Turning to him, I answered, “Gabi Mandola. Do you think you know her?”
He shook his head. “I’m not sure. Has she been to Italy before?”
“I believe she used to come a lot with her family before her parents died when she was in high school.”
Jim simply nodded. “Where is she from?”
“New Jersey.”
He looked at me and narrowed his eyes. “Huh. Interesting.”
What in the fuck was that supposed to mean?
“You’re staying at the same hotel as her?”
“Yeah.”
“How will you know when she leaves?”
I felt like such an asshole. “I put a tracker in her purse.”
He laughed. “Want a job with the FBI?”
I gave him a polite chuckle. “Believe me, had you asked me that six months ago I’d probably be all over it.”
“You have military training, plus you’re SWAT. Trust me, we’d be all over you.”
This time I turned and really looked at him. “Seriously? Did Liam tell you I was in the Marines?”
“Before I agreed to do this for Liam, I ran a background check on you.”
Now I laughed. “I can’t say I don’t blame you. How long have you been here, in Italy?”
“Four years. I was in our New York office prior to that”
“Wow. You ready to come home yet?”
Jim let out a chuckle. “Sometimes.”
He pulled back and parked on the street. “There’s your hotel.”
We both watched as the bellman helped Gabi with her luggage.
I jumped when Jim started talking. Shit, my nerves were shot.
“Lynn, I’ve got a Gabi Mandola checking into the Grand Hotel Trieste. I need the room number and a room booked as close as possible to it.”
Damn FBI. I was going to owe Liam and Jim big time.
“Right. Put it under the name Nic Drivas, but I want it a private booking.”
A few minutes later he was hitting End. “She’s on the seventh floor, 723.”
I added the information to my phone.
“You’re a few rooms down. Room 718.”
“Jim, I don’t know how to thank you for your help.”
He smiled. “Liam told me what was going on and although he doesn’t agree with what you’re doing, I get why you’re doing it. Sometimes there are things we have to know first, before we deal with it head on.”
I nodded. “Yeah. Let’s hope I’m wrong.”
Reaching his hand out for me, he said, “I’m not far from here. If she leaves and you want to follow, give me a call. It will take me two minutes to get here.”
I shook his hand. “Thanks, Jim. I appreciate all your help.”
As I made my way into the hotel, I couldn’t shake the strange feeling I had. My world was about to be turned upside, and I had no idea how much so.
I SAT ON the balcony and stared out over the beautiful city of Padua. No wonder Gabi’s family returned here every year. It was breathtaking. A part of me ached that I wasn’t able to share this with her. It was my first time in Italy and it should have been spent with the woman I loved showing me where her family was from. Instead, I was hiding out in the hotel like some creeper waiting for her to leave.
As if on cue, my phone beeped. I closed my eyes and drew in a deep breath. Was I really going to do this?
Yes.
Standing, I walked back into the room and picked up my phone. I sent Jim a text and he called me back in a few seconds.
“Wait for her to leave, then come down to the front five minutes later.”
I paced my hotel room for the five minutes before I finally headed down to the lobby and out to Jim’s car.
Slipping into his black BMW again, I showed him my phone that was tracking Gabi.
“She’s heading into Padua.”
Jim hit the gas and started following the same route.
“Any idea who she is with?”
My heart dropped.
“Why? Did she leave with someone?”
“I didn’t see her walk out with anyone, but a car did pull up and she got in. I got the plates and I’m having them run.”
I swallowed hard while giving a slight nod. A part of me wanted to tell Jim to turn around. That none of this mattered and that I trusted Gabi with my whole heart. The other part was screaming to stay the course. That I needed to know who in the hell she was talking to on the phone. For all I knew, she could have hired a driver.
Jesus, this was insane.
“It looks like it stopped,” I said.
“Address?”
I called out the address and Jim pushed a little harder on the gas.
He turned the corner and found a parking spot. “There’s the car, and it looks like she’s still in it.”
