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"No, for someone else."
"Anna? "The concern grew.
"No, the other person we were talking about."
"How serious?"
"She'll be all right, but someone needs to look at her in the next hour or so."
"I can take care of that."
There was a moment of hesitation before Rapp spoke again. "I need to be brought in." He wasn't used to asking for help in this way.
"I can call the office over there and have it taken care of immediately."
"Be careful who you choose, and I don't want to be taken back to the office. Do you understand?"
"Yes." Rapp was telling her he didn't want to be taken to the embassy. "Where will you be?" she asked.
"Do you remember where I'm staying?"
"Yes."
"That's where I'll be."
"All right. And by the way, something has come up on this end. We need to get you back here immediately."
"That's probably for the best, but the travel arrangements need to be very private and I'll have company."
"I understand. I'll get to work on the other stuff first and call you back in fifteen minutes."
"All right." Rapp patted Donatella on the cheek to see if she'd open her eyes, and she did. He grabbed her under the arm again and they headed off for the hotel.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN.
Rielly was at her wit's end. Her third vodka tonic had been consumed and she'd switched to water. She'd gone from concern to anger, back to concern and then back to anger. That's where she was now, her fertile imagination playing out all of the possibilities as to why Mitch was late. None of the scenarios were good. It was in this moment of despair that she made up her mind. She loved him too much to just walk away, but if she was going to marry him some changes would have to be made.
No longer did she think it was good idea for him to take the job in the CIA's Counterterrorism Center. He needed to sever all ties with that godforsaken place. If they were going to get married and have children he would have to take a normal job like normal people. Rielly made up her mind. She didn't like giving ultimatums, but she was going to. It was worth it. She couldn't live the rest of her life in fear that every time her husband was late something terrible had happened.
She was pulled from her moment of decisiveness by a sound at the door. She did not leap to her feet. She kept her cool, and calmed herself for the ensuing battle. When the door opened she stared in utter confusion at the sight of her boyfriend entering the room with an extremely attractive woman on his arm. She could tell from the look on Mitch's face that something was not right.
Rapp closed the door, turned the deadbolt and latched the chain. He continued past Rielly and into the bedroom. "Anna, I need your help." He set Donatella on the bed and moved immediately to the French doors that looked down onto the inner courtyard. Rapp shut and locked the doors and drew the curtains. He turned to find Rielly standing in the doorway, arms folded, in her defiant pose.
Rapp moved back toward the bed saying, "Honey, I'm sorry I'm late, but something came up." He bent over Donatella and forced open her eyelids. Her pupils were dilated and her skin
was getting clammy. In Italian he asked her how she felt. Donatella told him she was tired.
"What in the hell is going on, and who the hell is this?" From where Anna was standing it looked like Mitch had brought home an inebriated whore.
Before Rapp could answer Donatella blurted out, in English, a response to the second part of Rielly's question. "I am his lover."
"What?" snarled Anna.
Rapp grimaced and then began shaking his head as he went toward his girlfriend. "That's not what this is all about."
Anna seized on the fact that he didn't confirm or deny the woman's claim. "How well do you know this woman?"
He put his hands up in an effort to calm Anna. "Very well, but that's not what this is about."
