by Jonas Saul
She got off to buy a ticket to Perugia because that’s where the conference was taking place in six days.
People were so easy to figure out.
Once this mission was over, he would kill Sarah as he was hired to do. No one got the drop on him and survived to tell about it.
At least not since the last guy who was buried in three different parts of Italy.
No, Sarah Roberts would never go down for the murder of Sam ‘The Dealer’ Marconi as planned. She would be dead before the authorities even got there.
The papers would come out the next morning with headline news about how the Mafia Don killer, Sam Marconi was killed by Sarah Roberts who then died in the explosion, too.
Such a tragedy …
Chapter 18
Sarah bought her ticket, but the next train wasn’t for another two hours. She bought lunch at a cafe down the street from the train station. Lunch consisted of some kind of uncooked ham on bread with tomatoes and a cappuccino. The sandwich tasted better than it looked.
Watch what you eat.
The warning from the driver in Toronto popped into her head. What could he mean by that? Was someone going to poison her?
Her thoughts turned to Kierian and she paused to collect herself. He had been good to her. Stood up for her in Toronto a few times and lost his partner, Agent Tower Clint, to a gang of thugs.
But then Parkman told her that Kierian wasn’t an FBI agent, and Parkman had it on good authority.
What would her continuing north accomplish? The Italian authorities would be looking for her everywhere within hours.
Maybe she should just leave Italy on the train. Go to France or Spain. Buy a plane ticket there.
Not without a passport.
Maybe Parkman could get one for her. Or she could go to the American embassy and say she lost hers. But they’d probably turn her in to the Italian authorities.
She finished her sandwich, downed the cappuccino and headed back to the train station. She would wait for the train on the fringe of the station, away from anyone else.
Once in Perugia, she would take a train to Umbertide, the city she stayed a night in with Parkman all those years ago. Maybe she could hide there for a few days, call Parkman, and work things out.
No one would expect her to be in Umbertide.
She paid for the lunch and a business card tumbled out of her pocket. She picked it up and examined Jonas’ face.
Before throwing the card away, because having it on her was a risk to Jonas, she memorized his name.
Once back in Toronto, she would look him up and read one of his books.
Even though she didn’t recognize them, there was an uncanny familiarity about those two that drove her crazy.
Maybe they would meet again one day.
She thought of Vivian and her silence since Sarah had run from Aaron’s apartment.
On the way to the train station, she stopped at a store and bought a small pad of paper and two pens.
Come on, Vivian. Talk to me …
Chapter 19
During the train ride north into Umbria, she sat alone and examined the mess she was in. She had come to Italy with Kierian to gather intel on Marconi. But Kierian was a fraud, and now he was dead. Who had he been working for? Himself? Could Marconi know that?
She had to get settled, find an Internet cafe and learn more about Marconi. Kierian conveniently never got around to giving her Marconi’s file or telling her much about him.
Maybe Kierian worked for Marconi. But if that was the case, why bring Sarah all the way to Italy? The authorities in Toronto knew of her relationship with Kierian. Questions would be asked. Unless this was planned as a one-way trip for Kierian.
The train employee came by her seat and checked her ticket. He punched a hole in it and moved on.
Her first priority was to get Parkman working on a secure exit for her. She needed to clear her name with the Italian authorities and Parkman was going to be pissed that she ran, but Kierian’s killer had probably been watching.
It was always better to analyze her options outside of prison, and to work out who was responsible for screwing with her.
Maybe that was their goal. To get her in jail and away from the pursuit. If so, was something coming up that would attract her attention? Something where Marconi was sure to attend and either killing Kierian and her or having them jailed removed them as threats?
With not a single thread of evidence of who these people were and no leads of where to go, she felt swept out to sea in a rubber dingy that was leaking air.
A name, Marconi, and a man dressed as a cowboy was all there was to work with.
She was sure as the air she breathed, the cowboy would pop up again and then she could get some answers.
If Marconi could be nailed down, she would locate him too.
Vivian, you could help, you know.
She laid her head back in the seat and watched the Italian countryside race by. They were coming up to a place called Assisi, a few stops from Perugia.
The late afternoon sun blazed through the window and warmed her.
In that moment, she missed Aaron more than ever before. She was truly alone.
Chapter 20
De Luca got off the train in Perugia and located the car waiting for him on the other side of the building.
“Don’t drive anywhere,” he said to the driver in Italian as got in the backseat. “Stay in this parking area. Just move into a back corner spot and leave it running.”
The driver did as he was told.
Frank opened the laptop waiting in the backseat for him. He signed in and attached the chiavetta to the USB port on the side and brought the computer online.
In the browser, he typed Sarah Roberts and scanned the hundreds of websites that featured her. There were too many for what he was looking for.
He refined his search to Sarah-Roberts-Italy and discovered that she had spent time in Umbria roughly three years ago working an illegal immigration case with the Americans.
She had been part of a team that attacked a hideout in a crypt in Montone, right outside a small city called Umbertide, where according to the article, she had stayed a night in the Hotel Rio before leaving for parts unknown.
He leaned back in his seat and smiled. People were predictable. He knew people and he knew Sarah. She wasn’t heading to Perugia. That was just where the train connected and would take her to Umbertide. She was going to what was familiar.
When she realized her partner Kierian was dead, she had run. Where else would she go but to somewhere familiar? She’s afraid and alone. Familiar comforts and soothes the wounded.
He constantly surprised himself at how good he was getting at this job.
“Guida,” he ordered. Drive.
“Dove?” Where?
“Umbertide.”
The car pulled away from the parking lot and dropped down from the city center.
His cell phone rang.
“Pronto?” Hello.
“Has our subject been terminated?”
Frank almost hung the phone up and tossed it against the window. It was people like his employer that annoyed him. Everyone else remained inconsequential in his life, but in order to enjoy the life he lived, people like his employer were a necessary distraction.
“She has not been terminated.”
A gasp on the other end of the line. “I’m not understanding what’s happening here.”
“You will. Within two days, all that you’ve employed me to do will be done.”
“Even The Dealer?”
“Even him.”
“You came highly recommended.”
“Assure yourself with that. Don’t allow doubts to enter your thoughts.”
“Can you at least tell me where she is?”
“Umbertide.”
“What? That’s ridiculous. The conference is less than a week away. Of all places, she can’t be there. Why is she there? We have to do something—”
<
br /> “Shhh,” Frank whispered and then waited for his employer to calm down. “Everything is under control. I will be in Umbertide in half an hour. I will meet her train. Within forty-eight hours, you will be assured of my success.”
“Okay, okay … uhm, thank you.”
The phone died.
Frank tossed it beside him and decided to limit the calls from the employer, whose doubts only served to bother and irritate him.
If it continued, there would be no good recommendation coming from this employer. Maybe the world would be a better place with this whining, sniveling bastard gone.
Frank closed the laptop on his thighs and made the decision.
When this was all over and the payment for his services had been transferred to his account, he would make an unannounced visit to his employer and give him a free ride to wherever it was dead people went.
Chapter 21
Sarah snapped awake as the train slowed at a station.
How could I fall asleep?
She did not want to sleep. Or was it Vivian who put me out?
The sign outside her window said Perugia Ponte San Giovanni.
She jumped out of her seat just as the train came to a full stop. After she got off, the train blocked traffic to the small terminal. It took another couple of minutes for the train to pull away so the people could cross the tracks and head inside.
A few dozen people waited on benches and stood around talking by the train building. This station seemed to be a conduit for many destinations.
At the Trenitalia ticket counter inside, the man behind the glass booth said tickets to Umbertide were bought at the cafe bar on the other side of the building. Trenitalia was a countrywide train. The one that went to Umbertide was a regional train.
She had to go outside to walk around to the cafe bar. There, she paid a couple of euros for a one-way ticket to Umbertide on track five that was not leaving for another twenty minutes.
Outside, no one else was waiting at track five yet. She walked over to a tree for shade and leaned against it. A young couple, not much older than her, sat on a bench close to the tree. She thought they were speaking English, but their hushed tones weren’t loud enough to discern the language.
She pulled the blank paper she had bought at the store in Terni from her pocket and flipped through the pages to see if Vivian had written anything while she had been asleep.
“On the back,” the man on the bench said.
Sarah stared for a prolonged moment at him, then turned the pad over and saw what Vivian had said.
They’re safe … go with them …
She frowned, then folded the pad up and slipped it back in her pocket.
Okay, Vivian. I’m trusting you here.
“English?” she asked. “I don’t speak a word of Italian, so it’s nice to hear a little English. I’m Sarah Robertson.” She added the suffix at the last second.
“My name is Darwin and this is my wife, Rosina,” the man said as he stood and extended a hand.
After they shook hands, Rosina did the same.
“On vacation?” Sarah asked.
They exchanged a glance. “Kind of,” Rosina said. “How about you?”
You sure about this, Vivian?
“No, not a vacation. I’m running from the police and mobster-killing hit men.” She smiled as wide as she could, hoping the truth would appear as fantastical as it sounded.
The couple looked at each other again; this time concern creased their faces.
“You two know sarcasm, right?”
“Yes, yes of course. Just, it, well … we’ve had a few bad experiences in the past.”
“Really? That doesn’t sound good.” Sarah moved closer to the bench. “Where are you from?”
“Toronto,” Darwin said. “Ever been there?”
Her eyes widened. “Yes, I just came from Toronto two days ago. Wow, what a coincidence. You’re the second couple from Toronto I’ve met in the same day.”
“Seriously? You met someone else from Toronto today?”
“Yeah, a man named Jonas Saul and his wife, Brenda.”
Darwin frowned and looked down at the ground as if he was thinking. “Why do I know that name?”
“How long are you staying?” Rosina asked.
“Just a few days. Gotta get back.”
“Here on business?” she asked.
Sarah looked down at her new clothes. “What makes you say that?”
“The only people who come all the way to Italy for only a few days are here on business. Otherwise you would stay for at least a week.”
“That’s pretty observant.” She leaned on the back of their bench. “I’m waiting for the train to Umbertide. You too?”
“Yes, we live in that area.”
“Must be nice.”
“It is,” Darwin said. “But what’s really nice is to talk to a fellow Torontonian. It’s been a long time. Sometimes we feel isolated out here.”
The three of them looked at the train coming from the north.
“Is that our train?” Sarah asked.
“Looks that way,” Darwin said.
They got up and headed to the tracks together, along with a small crowd from the train building.
“How long have you two been here?” Sarah asked.
Darwin put a comforting hand on Rosina’s shoulder. “It’s been too long,” he said. “At first we enjoyed the peace and quiet, but now that Bradley is here, we long for family, community.”
“Bradley?”
“Our baby. He’s at home with the nanny right now. We just went shopping at the Collestrada Mall here in Ponte.”
The train arrived and everyone got on. Darwin showed her how to use the small yellow machine near the doors to validate her ticket and they took a seat together.
When they sat down and the train got under way, Darwin and his wife whispered something to each other. Sarah gave them their privacy while she scanned for the cowboy.
Finally, Darwin nodded at Rosina and turned back to Sarah.
“Did I hear you right?” His face was stern, serious.
“Excuse me?”
“You said your name was Robertson, but I think it’s Roberts. Aren’t you Sarah Roberts.”
She looked around at the people close enough to hear, but no one noticed them. Vivian’s message resonated through her head.
“Yes, that’s my name.” She leaned forward. “How would you know that?”
“We experienced a few problems of our own in Toronto.” He looked at Rosina, the love in his eyes something Sarah longed to see again in Aaron’s eyes. “Since we’ve been gone, I watch the news every day. City Pulse 24, The Toronto Sun, The Star, you name it, I read them all. Your picture and name has shown up often. I thought I recognized you.”
“This is getting creepy. I’m on the other side of the ocean in Italy and you’re the second person who said they were from Toronto and that they recognized me.”
“Who was the other one again?”
“That guy, Jonas and his wife. They were on another train.”
Darwin snapped his fingers. “There’s something about that name that rings a bell. It almost feels like everything that happened to us was his fault or something.”
Chapter 22
Frank had his driver park on the road half a block up from the Umbertide train station, the car aimed to facilitate a fast exit if Sarah got suspicious when he approached her. He waited on the far side of the station. The train she should be on, according to his calculations, was due in ten minutes.
Of course she was coming to Umbertide. What better place to cool her heels in a familiar location where the authorities would never think to look.
She could stay for weeks, even months, in any number of rooms or apartments throughout the city that were empty due to Italy’s financial crisis. They had the second worst economy in the Euro zone, only beaten by Greece at the moment. Enter a city like Umbertide with cash, the people open their hearts and doors
.