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Before she could do more than blink, he blew out a deep breath, straightened and shifted the convertible into gear. She choked down any sympathy, grimly reminded by his hands fisted on the wheel and his now inscrutable expression that while he may be known around the world, he was still a stranger.
One very capable of deception.
He donned the hat and glasses once more, effectively shutting her out. The wind whipped her hair in her face as he accelerated and she raised a hand to brush strands from her eyes. Other than a brief glance to her side of the car, he kept his gaze trained straight ahead, his jaw tight, face blank.
Unease rippled through her. The ground alongside the convertible sped by at a dizzying rate and she cursed the stupidity that had convinced her to trust her unreliable instincts.
“So, what now?” she asked over the rush of wind.
“Now we switch cars at my house, find a battery, and see if you caught a murder on that video, sweetheart.”
Chapter 2
“There! Ben, that’s it, that’s the street!”
Rachel’s shout vibrated Ben’s eardrums. He cranked the steering wheel to the right and stepped on the gas. Halli was going to kill them.
Please let her be okay.
He recalled Rachel’s gasp when she’d asked Halli a direct question, then looked into the back seat to see why she didn’t answer. Crazy thoughts raced through his head when he’d checked the empty space, and Rachel’s horrified exclamation that he might have dragged her when he floored the little rental car to take advantage of a break in the fast-moving traffic didn’t help his guilt.
Why hadn’t they realized there was never a third door slam? Since discovering her missing, the distinct sound of only two doors reverberated in his head on an endless loop.
Worse than that, they hadn’t noticed her absence for almost ten minutes. But Halli never had been much of a talker, and she’d been sulking about her vetoed itinerary off and on since they’d landed. Her silence in the back seat hadn’t even registered between the encroaching jetlag and his concentration on the narrow, unfamiliar roads. Much as Rachel wanted her hair dryer converter, he’d wanted a shower and a nap and some food.
Instead, he’d lost his baby sister!
Now he felt like a complete jerk, not even worthy to be a big brother. He prayed they’d find her, safe and sound, right where they’d left her. And from now on, they’d follow her obsessive itinerary. If only they’d done that in the first place, none of this would’ve happened. Once again, all his fault.
Brake lights flashed in front of him and he rode up on the vehicle’s back end. Swerving back and forth, he saw traffic was backed up and pounded an impatient fist on the wheel. “Come on.”
“She’s gonna be there,” Rachel whispered. “She’ll be there. Pissed off, I’m sure, but okay. She has to be.”
Ben glanced at his watch to see they’d left her behind almost thirty-five minutes ago. Halli was smart enough to wait where they’d left her. Besides, she didn’t have the guts to leave all on her own. Much as he loved his sister, reality was, she’d never been able to overcome her desperate need for complete order to combat the effects of their rootless childhood. He and Rachel had agreed to try and show her on this trip how freeing spontaneity could be, but not by leaving her behind.
Around the next bend, Lake Como would suddenly appear, like the last time when its shimmering glory with the mountainous background took his breath away and he’d swerved out of traffic to park on the wide sidewalk. And it did, only this time his lungs seized not from the beauty of the lake,
but at the sight of a crowd of people, a half dozen police cars and an ambulance.
With a body on a stretcher.
“Oh my God, Ben.” Rachel’s hands flew to her mouth, muffling a sob.
His heart pounded against his ribs. A swift jerk of the wheel landed them on the sidewalk again. He barely slammed the vehicle in park and ripped the keys from the ignition before both he and Rachel were out.
Bam. Bam. Two doors. Not three. The sound mocked him as they shoved through curious onlookers. Metal teeth of the car keys bit into his palm.
A uniformed officer caught Rachel’s arm, but Ben kept going and made it close enough to see the person on the stretcher had shorter, much darker hair than Halli. And it was a man. Relief eased the tightness in his chest.
“It’s not her,” he called back to Rachel. He pushed forward again, scanning the crowd, concentrating on the spot where Halli had been filming those damn swans. Where was she?
A hand clamped onto his arm. “Scusa signori, but for who are you searching?”
Ben turned toward the heavy Italian accent and met a pair of dark eyes that matched the hard voice behind the question. Instinctively, he pulled against the officer’s hold. “My sister. We accidentally left her behind—”
The man’s grip tightened. “You are American.”
“Yeah.”
