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Humming quietly along with the music, she took the thick sea sponge which was now heavy with gardenia scented bath gel, and concentrated on sliding the warm soap over the tight knot of muscles in the back of her neck. She lathered her hair with thick shampoo then dipped her head back to rinse in the scented water. It was like a test for her; each time Valentina dipped the back of her head into the water, she stayed prone like that a little longer, pushing her head back a little deeper. Eventually, she hoped to graduate to being able to totally submerge the back of her head all at once, even just for a second. Then she would tackle what her therapist referred to asThe Big S.
That would be:Showers.
The saner, rational, more healed part of Valentina really missed showers, but the still damaged part of her recoiled at the thought of all that water trickling down on her face and onto her body. The very thought of it brought to mind the rivulets of mud and raw sewage that had been her constant companion when she was trapped. It had been like water torture—that dripping —and when the dry dust and unrelenting heat had cracked her lips and wrung every bit of moisture out of her body, she had been forced to …
Stay in the day,her inner voice gently urged her.
Obediently abandoning those dark thoughts, Valentina got out from the bath and snagged a cotton turban off the counter. While bending over at the waist, she coiled her hair in the thick, absorbent cloth. Then she padded across the tile to where she had left the bath towel warming on the wall unit. A shiver of pleasure coursed through her at being enveloped in the heated Egyptian cotton towel. As the steam slowly dissipated, she considered herself in the mirror with a critical eye and sighed.
She was just on the other side of twenty-five, and every one of those years showed. There were fine frown lines between her brows and dark smudges underneath her eyes. Her lips were red and puffy from the way she constantly bit at them, and her eyes looked sad even when she smiled. In one breathe, Valentina was worried that she would never forget about those days trapped in rubble, and in the next breath, she worried about what it would say about her if she did.
Valentina only knew that her Catholic heart was filled with guilt, and she feared that her very soul was in peril.
Center yourself.
Valentina let out a long, fractured sigh and went over to the dresser where she kept her perfume bottles. One deep sniff of Lily of the Valley and Roses kept her grounded. She had had the mixed floral scent specially made for her in Paris. The fragrance reminded her ofspring and sunshine and fat red robins tweeting their early morning song. A little drop on her pulse points went a long way to calming her.
But the perfume was not in its usual place. Thinking the bottle must have somehow fallen behind the dresser and rolled someplace, Valentina spent the next half hour growing increasingly more anxious as she searched every inch of her bedroom. To her utter confusion and dismay, she could not find the bottle anywhere. While Valentina knew for certain it could not have vanished into thin air, she couldn’t for the life of her figure out where it might have gone.
Less than an hour after that first meet up, Hal found himself knocking on the door to Prosper’s house once more. This time, it was the big man himself who answered. Silently, Hal followed Prosper to his office where Gianni had remained and was waiting.
Without preamble, Hal reached into his leather backpack and withdrew a silver cigarette lighter, a small bottle of perfume, and a flash drive.
“Cazzo!”Gianni let out the expletive as he rose from the table towards the offending items.
When Hal looked at Prosper for translation, Prosper lifted his shoulders in a shrugging gesture that clearly said, “Your fucking guess is as good as mine.”
Hal took out his pack of smokes, leaned pack in his chair and gave Gianni the minute he seemed to need to compose himself. When G sat down in his chair and focused his attention back on Hal, Hal began to speak.
“I don’t know what the hellCazzomeans, but I’m guessing it’s not good. So, before you go having a bilingual meltdown, let me give you the low down. I was in and out in twenty minutes, and that includes taking a piss in the downstairs bathroom—nice hand towels.”
“No fucking way.” Prosper looked at him in astonishment. “Evenyou’renot that good.”
Gianni shook his head in disgust, leaned forward in his chair and gave Hal his full attention.
“Getting past your security detail stationed at the front of the house—that was child’s play. You might want to have a talk with yourpaisansabout having a few glasses of import while they’re on the job.” Hal’s tone was full of repugnance.
“Good help’s hard to fucking find these days—that’s for damn sure,” Prosper muttered and gave Gianni a glance of commiseration.
“The security station itself?” Hal continued, “The building is fenced in but it isn’t guarded, and it’s not well-lit. If you’re not gonna put a rotating team on it, then you’ve got to illuminate. I found a dark corner just off the monitor grid and was able to scale over the fence, pick the lock, and gain access in under four.”
Hal paused here for questions. When none were forthcoming, he continued, “The system itself isn’t bad, but with a few tries I was able to bypass the main artery with a fairly simple encrypted Trojan. The Trojan left the perimeter security intact, but that didn’t matter because I was already inside the property. I got into the main house by jimmying open one of the windows in the atrium. From there I gained easy access to the rest of the house, took what I needed, and was out before the system fired back up.”
“You were in my daughter’s bedroom.” Gianni’s eyes held the perfume sitting on the table.
“I was in your daughter’s bedroom.” Hal confirmed unflinchingly. “I stood just outside the bathroom while she undressed and bathed. I could have just as easily walked in, raped her, and slit her throat.”
Gianni was half way out of his seat before Prosper put a restraining hand on his shoulder. “Wasn’t this the whole purpose of the exercise, G?”
Gianni’s face had turned purple with outrage. Hal didn’t blame him one bit. He understood misplaced anger when he saw it. What was really frying Gianni’s nuts was that the system and the men he put his trust in could be so easily breached.
Hard damn pill to swallow.
“Look,” Hal conceded, “I had an advantage. Back when I was out at your house watching over the women, I took some time to talk to your crew and look over your system, so it was easier for me than it might have been for someone else. And without tooting my own horn, the Marines gave me a pretty special set of skills, not easily come by. So, what I’m telling you, Gianni, is that while I was in and out quicker than a whore can shake her ass, I’m probably the exception to the rule.”
Gianni nodded wearily, then he steepled his fingers and paused while deep in thought. When he spoke, it was with heavy disappointment. “But it doesn’t change the fact that you were able to gain access to my daughter with little difficulty.”
“No, it doesn’t change that.” Hal agreed. He scrubbed his hand over his face before he continued, “I can definitely help you fix that lighting and those tech security issues. If you want, I can come by tomorrow morning and do a quick evaluation. But I’ll tell you right now, you’re gonna have to light the shit out of that security hut and surround it with barbed wire fencing. I’d put a rotating crew out in the yard too. Separate alarms should be installed on all the windows in the house. I could get that place buttoned up nice and tight for you, but it’s gonna take time and money. Money, I know you got, but I’m thinking time is going to be your problem. So, if you’re worried about retaliation against your family, I think it’s a smart idea to get the women—all the women— out.”
