My Masters' Nightmare, Season 1 / Episode 14 by Marita A. Hansen

 
    1
    FRANO
     
    I stared out of the car window as we
neared my home, the Mediterranean Sea glistening like stained glass
under the afternoon sun. I’d searched most of the day for Rita, but
had come up with nothing. She’d disappeared without a trace. I
didn’t know what to think—or preferred not to think the obvious:
that she’d led me around like a fool, using me to get information
for the FBI. All the evidence she’d left behind pointed to it. My
desk had been rifled through while my computer had been turned on.
Still, there was a chance that she hadn’t betrayed me, because she
couldn’t possibly have faked the way she’d touched and reacted to
me. Or maybe that was just wishful thinking on my
behalf.
    My driver steered the car into my
driveway. Numerous soldiers were out front, getting ready to leave.
We’d been radioed about it. Pedro Landi was removing his men from
my house. I had no idea why, nor did the soldiers in my car, other
than they had to get back fast. I just hoped it had to do with the
Donatelli and not the Santini.
    As the car came to a stop, I
jumped out and headed for Jagger. He was standing in front of the
entrance dressed in smart pants and a shirt, which was left open.
He had his arms locked around Camila, the two glued together. I
grimaced, unhappy with the open display of affection. It undermined
what I’d told Pedro about my supposed relationship with the troia. Though, the Landi
soldiers didn’t appear to care, their focus on leaving. One of
their three cars drove off, while the second one’s engine started.
Two of the three soldiers who had helped me search for Rita jumped
into the back of it, leaving behind only four soldiers, my driver
one of them.
    I stopped in front of Jagger and Camila.
“Do you know why the Landi are pulling out?”
    “ No,” Jagger replied, his eyes
following the second Landi vehicle as it left. “I just hope it
doesn’t have to do with the Santini.”
    “ Likewise.”
    One of the four remaining soldiers called
out “Don!” capturing my attention. He headed across the driveway,
stopping in front of me. He was a hard-looking man, with wide
shoulders and a pocked face. He gave me a respectful nod. “Three of
my soldiers will stay to guard the Donatelli woman,” he said,
“while I’ll help you search for the FBI agent. I’ve been instructed
to take her to the Landi compound. My Don wishes to talk to her
about my colleague’s death.”
    “ No, he’ll kill her.”
    “ That’s not the case; he just
wants to question her.”
    “ Don’t try to play
me .”
    “ I assure you, I’m not. We no
longer think she killed Phillipo.”
    “ Then who did ?”
    “ The blonde woman.”
    “ Honey?”
    He nodded.
    “ You have got to be joking, that
woman couldn’t kill a fly.”
    “ All the evidence points
to her.”
    “ What evidence?”
    “ One of my soldiers found her
dead in her bathroom with a head injury and blood on her clothes. I
think Phillipo tried to rape her and she defended herself, stabbing
him in the neck with a letter opener. You saw him; he had his cock
hanging out of his pants. After killing him, she would’ve gone back
to her room to clean herself.”
    “ But my desk was rifled
through.” I paused, hope now filling me. “Maybe she was the one stealing information, not
Rita.”
    “ What for?”
    “ The FBI. She was a
plant.”
    “ Why weren’t we told about
this?”
    “ I only recently found out.”
    “ Then it looks like your woman
was involved after all. The two were probably working
together.”
    “ No, I don’t think they were,” I
said, not wanting it to be true, regardless of the strong
possibility. Plus, if Rita was tied to the soldier’s death, the
Landi would kill her… I stopped mid thought, my mind going to what
she’d said about Christo, another possibility rolling around in my
head. “There’s a strong chance she went after the
Donatelli.”
    “ Why?”
    “ For vengeance. Her real name’s
Sophia Salvi.