No Place Like Rome Read online

  Ticking bomb.

  Homicidal psycho.

  No pressure.

  “He did not dump me. It was a mutual parting. Now move.”

  I took a step forward. “That’s not what he told me. When we talked about you, he said you were ah, needy, clingy. Especially cold in bed. The worst sex experience of his, um, considerable repertoire.”

  “Shut up, bitch!” She slammed the gun into my kidney with a vicious push, harder than all the previous ones. This time I leaned forward with it, using the motion to dive into the tunnel, my hand already slipping into my pocket.

  One, two, three. I fell hard on my left side just as my right hand pulled the perfume from my pocket, flicking off the top with my thumb. Four more seconds and she was in the tunnel with me, the gun held out in front of her, exactly as I had calculated. Without hesitation, I sprayed the perfume directly at her eyes as my right leg kicked at the gun in her hand. She screamed, but to my dismay did not lose her grip on the gun. I sprayed again and she fell backward, screaming. Dropping the bottle, I grabbed for the gun. It went off and a hot sensation ripped through my left hand, but I managed to wrench the gun from her. Bianca fell backward out of the tunnel just as I got control of the gun and fired it wildly in her direction. She screamed again. I pushed out of the tunnel just in time to see a flash of steel heading in my direction. I ducked but the knife sliced along the back of my shoulders leaving a burning trail. If hadn’t been for her impaired eyesight, I would have probably been skewered like a roast pig.

  For a moment, we just stood breathing hard, staring at each other. Me holding the gun. She holding the knife. Her eyes still streamed with tears from the perfume I’d sprayed and she held her side. Blood leaked between her fingers. My God, I must have hit her. My stomach heaved and my left hand was a bloody mess, but I remembered precious seconds were literally ticking away. That gave me a weird deadly calm. This was it. The moment of truth. Either do it or die. I tightened my finger on the trigger. I had no idea how many bullets were left, but I was about to find out.

  I stared at her. “Drop the knife.”

  She didn’t move so I raised the gun. I took a second to calculate distance and hold my hand steady before I shot the knife out of her hand. She screamed in shock and pain as the knife clattered to the floor.

  “Now, give me the key.”

  She bent over clutching her hand. “You’re fucking crazy. What if I don’t?”

  “I’m not a geek girl for nothing. The next shot I take is a head one. You just dumped a bomb in there with my friends. I don’t have a lot of time or options.”

  She paled and reached into her pocket. I surprised myself by how steady my finger stayed on the trigger. Life or death. Funny how that had such a sedative effect. I had maybe four or five minutes left to save my only friends in the whole world. Their lives depended on me and I would not fail them.

  She tossed me the key and I picked it up. I knew what I had to do. Trying not to fall apart, I walked over closer.

  “I’m sorry, Bianca. Really I am. I didn’t want to have to do this, but sometimes life sucks.”

  Without hesitation, I pulled the trigger.

  Chapter Sixteen

  I ran to the cave door, shaking so badly, I could barely slide the key into the keyhole. Dizziness swept through me and I couldn’t catch my breath. I finally heard the click and I threw myself against the door with all my weight. It opened with a grinding noise and astonished faces looked my way.

  Everything else seemed to happen in slow motion. The gang knelt near a small hole in the corner of the cave and I realized they had buried the bomb to try and limit its blast. They were throwing dirt on it, patting it down. But what shocked me the most was not only was Slash alive, but he was conscious and free of his hand and leg cuffs. One side of his face was dripping blood, but he was breathing and alive. Our eyes met across the cave. He gave me a grin and I burst into tears.

  Basia ran to me first, nearly knocking me over in a hug. Her shirt was missing and for an instant I fixated on the absurdity of why she wore only a purple bra. Then I snapped back to reality.

  “Hurry!” I screamed and pushed her past me. “Get out of here. Get out.”

  Elvis straightened as well staring at me in shock as if I were an apparition. He was still naked from the waist up and now covered in dirt. “Lexi!”

  “Run,” I shouted and my voice sounded funny to my ears. “God, run, Elvis. Hurry.”

  He started running, but not toward me. “Tito is still alive.” He skidded to a halt next to Tito. He was still unconscious, but it looked like someone had pressed a compress against his wound. That’s when I realized it was Basia’s shirt.

  Slash and Xavier ran to help with Tito. The twins got Tito across Slash’s shoulders and he managed to carry him out of the room on his back. Xavier pulled the door shut while Elvis and Slash got Tito into the tunnel. Elvis got in first and pulled Tito along. Slash ordered Xavier to climb in next and do what he could to help Elvis pull Tito through.

  I ran over to Bianca and tried to grip her beneath her armpits and pull her to the tunnel, but my left hand would not cooperate. It hurt like hell and I was shaking so badly, I could barely stand. Slash put a hand on my shoulder, calming me.

  I threw my arms around him, sobbing into his neck, slick with blood. “You’re alive. I thought you were dead.”

  “Get in the tunnel, cara. I’ve got her.”

  “I shot her.” I sobbed like a maniac. “I sprayed her with Nonna’s perfume and then I shot her, Slash. Three times. On purpose. She fainted or died. I don’t know which.”

  Slash leaned into me, giving me a hard kiss. “Mio Dio, I’m so in love with you. She’s still alive. Just get the hell in the tunnel. That bomb will go off any second.”

  He bent down and propped Bianca up, getting a good grip under her arms and dragging her behind him.

  He frowned when he saw me still standing there. “Damn it! I said hurry, cara.”

  I stumbled toward the tunnel and crawled in as fast as I could with my injured hand. I could hear shouting and screaming ahead of me, and Slash’s heavy breathing and grunting as he pulled Bianca. I felt light-headed from loss of blood or unimaginable stress. It was too hard to tell. Either way, I feared I’d pass out at any moment.

  I was nearly to the end of the first tunnel when a hand stretched out to me. I grasped it with my good hand and saw Elvis’s face framed in the tunnel opening as he pulled me toward him.

  I was holding his hand when the bomb exploded.

  I had time only to register the sound, the feel of the tunnel quaking beneath me, and a single curse word in Italian. Then nothing else but the feel of Elvis’s hand against mine as darkness engulfed me.

  Chapter Seventeen

  I dreamt I frolicked in a meadow with yellow and pink flowers, the sun warm on my head and shoulders. Butterflies fluttered around my hands and the wind blew through my hair, lifting it from my neck and offering a cool reprieve from the heat. I laughed as a butterfly landed on my finger. I watched in delight as it fluttered its wings in a strange dance. My delight faded when after a moment, it no longer looked like a butterfly, but a weirdly shaped spider. Surprised, I tried to shake it off my hand, but it bit my finger and held on as pain spread along my hand and up my arm.

  I twitched, shook, and then tried to open my eyes. My eyelids felt as if they weighed a hundred pounds each. Somehow, I got them open. I could see nothing but a giant blur. I blinked a few more times and then squeezed them shut as a wave of pain swamped me. As soon as the pain subsided, I opened my eyes again. I could see a bit better. It was dark, but there was a dim light. I tried to lift my hand where the spider had bit me, but a bandage completely covered it. An IV had been stuck in my arm and. someone had dressed me in a hospital gown. I patted the bed beneath me. I was in the hospit
al?

  “Lexi?”

  I blinked and turned my head. Elvis stood next to the bed. He took the hand that wasn’t bandaged and squeezed it gently. “How do you feel?”

  I opened my mouth, but nothing came out. I swallowed, my mouth dry.

  “Water.” It came out as little more than a croak.

  Elvis picked up a pink jug and poured some water into a plastic cup. He held it to my mouth and I took several greedy sips.

  I leaned back against the pillow and tried to organize my thoughts. I still felt as though I were floating. “I’m...in the hospital?”

  Elvis took my hand again and it helped anchor me to reality. “Yes. Do you remember what happened?”

  I tried to think back. Where had I been? Why was I in the hospital?

  I frowned. “I...I can’t remember.”

  “The cave? Bianca? The bomb? Anything ring a bell?”

  The bomb. There had been a bomb...in a cave. Bianca. The woman who had shot Tito and fought with...

  Memories flooded back. I gripped Elvis’s hand. “Slash?”

  “He’s alive. He just got out of surgery. He’s two doors down. Part of the tunnel collapsed on you guys when the bomb went off.

  I lifted his hand. Our fingers were linked together. “You had my hand.”

  He nodded. “I didn’t let go.”

  I sighed, closing my eyes. “I almost got you killed. Again.”

  “I don’t recall you throwing a bomb in the cave.”

  “You wouldn’t have been there...if I hadn’t called you.”

  He leaned over and kissed my cheek. “I wouldn’t have missed it for the world. You sure know how to show a guy a good time.”

  “What would I do without you?”

  “Hopefully you won’t ever have to worry about that question.”

  I smiled and then my eyes popped open. “Basia and Xavier? Are they okay?”

  “They’re fine. Shaken, of course. We all are. They’re out in the waiting room, sleeping. They’ll only let one of us in here at a time.”

  “Tito?”

  “He’s still in surgery.”

  “I still can’t believe she shot him point-blank.”

  Elvis sighed. “I know. Bianca’s dead, Lexi. She didn’t make it. Slash was dragging her behind him. The tunnel collapsed completely on top of her. Both you and Slash risked your lives for her.”

  “I shot her.” Tears filled my eyes. “Three times.”

  “You didn’t kill her. She suffocated. You saved us from her, Lexi. Geek queen saves the day. You were magnificent. I thought...” His voice caught and he paused. “I thought I’d never see you again. Then you opened the door and you were back.”

  I remembered. I remembered everything.

  Elvis, Xavier and Basia patting dirt on top of the bomb. Slash alive, standing up, bracing himself against the wall. Rutgon on his back in a pool of blood. Tito lying still on the dirt floor.

  Tears leaked down my cheeks and Elvis brushed them away with the pads of his fingers. “Rest now, Lexi. We’ll talk more later.”

  “Okay. Elvis, will you hold my hand until I fall asleep?”

  He lifted my hand and kissed it. “I’ll be around for as long as you need me.”

  I closed my eyes and held his hand tight. “I think that’s going to be a long, long time.”

  There was a pause and then he whispered, “Good.”

  * * *

  This time when I woke, my memories were intact and my hand and head hurt a lot less. I looked around, but I was alone in the room. I managed to sit up and push the sheet aside. All my limbs were intact, although my legs were black and blue, and my left hand was still hidden beneath a mitt-like bandage. I had an IV in my arm and what looked like a catheter. Jeez.

  I glanced around until I found the nurse call button. I pushed it and a woman in a white shirt and slacks appeared within seconds.

  “Uh, hi.” I didn’t know if she spoke English.

  She smiled at me. “Is everything okay?”

  “You speak English?”

  “That’s debatable. I’m from the Bronx.”

  “Ha. You’re American?”

  “Transplanted. My husband is Italian.”

  “Ah, that makes sense. Can I get this out?” I pointed to the catheter.

  She nodded. “Sure. Lie back, please.”

  It took her a few minutes to take care of it and I asked if I could get out of bed. I walked slowly around the room on wobbly legs, dragging my IV around with me. It felt good to be up and moving around a bit, even if it was exhausting. After a few minutes, the nurse helped me back into bed.

  “So, what exactly happened to me?” I asked her. “Am I okay?”

  “You’ll live. You had a gunshot wound to the hand. The surgeon repaired some of the bone and muscle damage and sewed you up. You should have full use of your hand with just some minor scarring. You’ll need an extended period of antibiotics though and some physical therapy. You also got badly banged up.” She pointed to my head and legs. “You were knocked out from falling debris. You’ve got a black eye and a couple of serious bruises on your jaw and cheeks. Looks like you had a run-in with a truck. Not to mention the six stiches from what looks like a knife wound across your back.”

  I winced remembering how much it hurt when Bianca had sliced at me.

  She touched the right side of my head. “You also had a concussion. Something fell on you, probably a rock. Apparently you were found in a partially collapsed cave.”

  “Tunnel.”

  “You’re lucky you didn’t break any other bones.”

  “Or suffocate.”

  “That, too.”

  I asked her to help me prop up the pillows. “How much longer do I have to be connected to the IV?”

  “It’s up to the doctor.”

  “Okay. There’s a patient two doors down. A man with long dark hair. He was in the tunnel with me. How is he doing?”

  “He’s currently sleeping off the effects of the surgery. He is one lucky guy. He had a bullet buzz the side of his head, a severe concussion, a broken ankle, fractured elbow and a dislocated shoulder. He was in shock by the time we got him. But he’s strong. He should pull through.”

  I let out a deep breath. “Wow. That’s good he’s doing okay. Really good. There was one more guy...”

  “Yes, you all were brought in together. Believe me, the nurses and I are dying of curiosity to find out what happened to you guys. We’ve even started a pool. But we’ve been instructed by the police in no uncertain terms that we are not to ask.”

  “The police?”

  “Yes, and apparently not the regular police. Special agent police. It’s all so exciting and super-secret. There are police and security everywhere. Half of them are in the waiting room, pacing around like caged lions. I’m supposed to let them know when you’re ready to talk. Are you?”

  I thought for a moment. “Not yet. If you don’t mind.”

  “Sure, it’s no skin off my nose. Anyway, I’m sorry to say the prognosis for the other guy is still unknown. He was in bad shape when they got him here. He was in surgery for seven hours.”

  I closed my eyes. “Can you ask the doctor when I can remove my IV?”

  “Sure. You should rest now.”

  “Sounds like a plan.”

  The next time I opened my eyes Basia stood next to an unfamiliar man in a dark blue sweater and slacks. She smoothed back the hair on my forehead and smiled at me.

  “You know you’re my hero, right?”

  “Jeez, Basia. Don’t embarrass me.”

  She laughed. “Lexi, this is Dr. Dioli. His English is limited so I’ll translate for you.”

  “Okay.”

  She said
something to the doctor and he spoke back to her. Basia turned to me.

  “He said you requested your IVs to be removed and he’s fine with that as long as you promise to take your antibiotics and pain killers. They checked your hand this morning.”

  I looked down at my bandaged hand and realized it was no longer encased in a mitt, but had only a white bandage wrapped around the middle. I could see my fingers. I tried to flex my hand, but it hurt. I winced.

  “You’ll start physical therapy tomorrow. You up for it?”

  I exhaled a deep breath. “A hacker needs her hands, right?”

  She grinned. “Right.”

  Dr. Dioli removed the IVs, checked my vital signs and then patted me on the shoulder and left.

  Basia pulled up a chair. “How are you feeling, Lexi?”

  “Glad to be alive. How are the twins?”

  “Worried sick about you.”

  “The police?”

  “They were the ones at the graveyard. They were locked onto a microchip that is apparently connected to Slash. When his vital signs went into distress, it set off the chip. The Italians were dispatched to find him. To say they were surprised the chip led them to an open crypt is an understatement. Then the bomb went off. They’ve been understandably busy since pulling us out of the crypt. We’ve been debriefed. Elvis and Xavier led them to the Vatican money in Rutgon’s offshore accounts. We told them all about Rutgon and Bianca. Two people at Maisto have already been implicated and they are talking. There may be more.”

  “Good. How did Maisto know about da Vinci’s work?”

  “Apparently a private collector of some of da Vinci’s personal papers came across a reference to a clue hidden in a painting called God’s Plague painted by none other than his protégé, Francesco Melzi. The clue supposedly pointed to a secret chemical recipe da Vinci was working on to cure a friend who had a “suppressive infection.” Melzi claimed to have concealed the recipe in a secret place, the location of which was revealed in the painting. The only problem, God’s Plague wasn’t publicly available. They couldn’t study it to find the clue. It was hidden in the depths of the Vatican archives.”