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Taking a deep breath, Christian threw the woman a last, empathetic glance and hit the gas pedal. A few moments later, the loud van screeched away. For some reason, Christian kept his eyes on the cracked side rear mirror, watching the woman flap her hands in protest, her lips moving fast, but her words were drowned out by his backfiring engine. For some reason, Christian felt bad for her.
Then he redirected his gaze to the rearview mirror. Looking at Olivia, he chuckled with a slow shake of his head. “That was crazy, huh? I’m sorry for that. There are some smart thieves here, but don’t think that’s how we all are in Romania. Most people are good, honest, and hard-working.” His eyes went to the road and back to Olivia after he got no response from her. Hopefully, she wasn’t too shaken by the whole incident, he thought. American women were among the strongest on this planet from what he had read and seen in the movies. Something like this wouldn’t traumatize her, would it? Besides, she looked calm enough, eyes fixed ahead and lips pressed tight into a smile. Yet, something about that silence unsettled him.
“By the way, how was the flight? Is the food on board as bad as the tourists say?”
Olivia briefly looked at him and averted her gaze instantly, peering at the windshield as if the various branching cracks had something interesting to say. She smiled and nodded without looking at him.
His eyes narrowed. That was such a simple question and the Americans he’d come in contact with would never hesitate to muse about their flights’ shitty food or cheap booze.
Christian grinned into the mirror. “You don’t understand a word I’m saying, do you?”
Olivia smiled and nodded again. Christian felt his heart skip a beat and gripped the steering wheel tightly.
“Goddamn it!”
He jerked the wheel to maneuver his bus onto the safety lane and slammed his foot on the brakes. A cab behind swerved and emerged from the thick cloud of smoke, the driver laying on his horn and swearing out his window. Christian shouted back apologies and brought the bus to a complete halt.
The woman’s hands slowly fumbling with the purse while her right hand crept for the handle of the backdoor. He noticed the movement and was about to reach for her when she pushed the door open and jumped out. Reacting quickly, Christian stretched his hand and grabbed the woman’s purse, which was entangled with her arm. Her red hair bounced, and she turned and glared at him, eyes flashing. She pulled and tore at the straps of the purse, but Christian held on firmly.
“Look,” he said in Romanian, breathing hard and already tired of this day. “Just get out of here and leave what’s not yours.”
The woman hesitated, glared at him like a wild animal. Christian sighed.
“You know I’m faster than you are. Do you really want me to chase you and hold you here until the police arrives?”
She seemed to mellow at the mention of thepolice.
“Asshole!” she growled in Romanian and let go of the purse. It snapped back into the bus. She flipped him off, the red nail polish glaring, and ran off. He watched her running down the side of the road then reached for the blue purse and opened it. His brown eyes stared at the photo on the American driver’s license. It was definitely the crazy lady. His head and his heart thumped.
“This is bad, bad, bad . . . you idiot!” He’d made a humungous mistake.
“Olivia Carter,” he muttered, looking at the name on the license, the letters staring back at him accusingly.
“I can’t believe this.” He shifted the gears, turning the bus around. The wheels squeaked and screeched and churned up thick smoke as he tore back down the road, heading straight for the airport—the last place on Earth he wanted to be.
.
CHAPTER SIX
Olivia didn’t think that her day could get any worse. First her luggage and wallet had been stolen, now she found herself in a stuffy office at the airport, trying to convince the police officers that she wasn’t crazy. She’d gone over her explanation several times and now they were going to make her do it again.
“I’ve told you,” she said in a voice cracked from shouting, “I’m not crazy.”
“Yes, yes you’ve said that already,” the police officer said as he looked at her like she was a psycho.
“But explain to me again, if this woman stole all your things, how come you still have your passport? It’s the most valued item on the black market here.”
He held it up like it was proof of something, which it wasn’t!
She couldn’t help her exasperated sigh as she clasped her hands together in her lap and bowed her head. Her necklace, a gift from her parents, slid out in the process and she thought of her mother.I need strength, Mom,she prayed and took a slow breath.
“As I’ve told you a million times, I put the passport in my jeans pocket after I filled out the European customs declaration card on board. We were about to land.”
“Mm-hmm. Yes, you said that. And you didn’t even notice that your purse was gone from your coat pocket?”
She sighed again and raised her head. “Yes. That is how it was. That red-haired lady must have stolen it when I was focusing on filling out that form. Or when I used the bathroom on the plane. I think she was also working with that other guy. The handsome driver.”
The policemen exchanged quick glances. Olivia noticed and her throat clogged, coughing out the frustration. “Aren’t you supposed to help me?” she added in a much-subdued voice.
