Once they reached the bottom of the staircase, Joe opened the door and stepped back out on the noisy street and bright sunlight. A rush of hot, humid air surrounded him.
He stopped on the sidewalk as the door clicked shut behind them and he scanned the busy street for signs of the man who’d broken in to Talia’s apartment. No one looked familiar, but he could be anywhere. Watching them from inside one of the other buildings or from the rooftop. Which was why for the moment he was going to focus on getting her safely to Venice and count on the local police to track down their assailant.
“This way,” he said, turning left at the light.
Talia paused on the sidewalk. “The subway’s straight ahead.”
“I know, but I think it’s safer to go the long way in case we have a tail.” Joe grabbed her hand and picked up his pace. If someone was following them, he planned to lose them before they ever hit the transit system. “It’s just a precaution.”
But while he didn’t want her to worry, he certainly felt on edge. He searched the crowded streets, looking for anyone that seemed familiar or was acting suspicious. He felt her fingers clench tighter around his, escalating his need to protect her. He knew what it was like to lose someone close to you. And he didn’t want it to happen to her again.
There was no sign of anyone following them as he led them down a narrow cobblestone lane, but he wasn’t willing to take any chances. Because what he did know is that someone was out there, watching, and at this point he had no idea who it was.
“You okay?” he asked.
“Yeah. Just scared.”
There was fear in her eyes when she glanced up at him. Her vulnerability tugged at him, but he wasn’t going there. Not this time. She was vulnerable, but he had no intention of taking advantage. He was an agent and this was a case. Nothing more.
“It’s like a game of cat and mouse,” she said, barely above a whisper as they continued walking.
“The subways should be just a couple blocks back. If whoever is after the paintings is watching, it’s more than likely they are going to assume we’re headed to the main train station. But there’s no reason to make this easy on them.”
Five minutes later, he could see the sign again for the public transport. Talia was still looking behind them as they walked, clearly afraid that the man who’d broken in to her apartment was on their tail. He clutched her hand tighter.
She shivered next to him as they took the stairs down into the subway. “I can’t shake the feeling someone’s following us.”
“Do you think you saw him?”
“I don’t know. I keep thinking I do. Like I said, I might just be paranoid, but it makes sense they’d keep track of my every move if they think I have the paintings.”
Joe glanced behind them as they went through the ticket barrier and punched their subway passes. He looked up at the ticker board as they walked onto the platform. There was two minutes until the next train appeared. It was crowded, which hopefully meant that if anyone had followed them, they wouldn’t try anything, but that hadn’t stopped their assailant from grabbing her bag at the Colosseum.
A group of Japanese tourists huddled near the edge of the platform. A woman pushed a stroller past them. A businessman talked on his phone.
“He’s here.” Talia grabbed his arm.
“Where?”
“A dozen yards or so behind us.”
“Okay, I spotted him.” Joe grabbed her hand. “Stay close to me, but keep an eye on him. Let’s see if he follows us onto the train.”
The platform was so congested they barely had enough space to move as the throng pressed toward the yellow line. The lights of the subway on the opposite side of the tracks shot through the darkness of the tunnel. Seconds later, the subway car rushed by, followed by the squealing of brakes as it came to a stop.
They still had another minute until their train arrived.
“He just slipped behind a pole,” she said.
One second she was there beside him, the next second she was gone.
“Talia...” He scanned the platform for a glimpse of her pink shirt, but she’d already disappeared into the crowd.
* * *
Talia heard Joe calling her name, but she ignored his plea and instead pushed her way across the Metro platform toward where she’d last seen the man. Something inside her had snapped. He’d broken in to her apartment, and as much as she wanted to get away from him, she needed to put a stop to this. This man had threatened not just her, but her sister, as well. She couldn’t erase the photos he’d sent her from her mind, either. The one of Thomas’s body. The one of her and Joe sitting at the café. Someone was determined to get what they wanted, but she was just as determined to put a stop to all of this.
Except she’d lost him.
She searched the crowd, breathing in the smell of cigarette smoke and body odor brought on from the hot summer temperature. Graffiti blurred along the paint-chipped walls of the Metro. The train was coming into the station. Someone pushed past her, anxious for the doors to open and the exiting passengers to alight. But she kept moving through the crowd, her focus on the man with the streak of blond she’d just seen.
Two officers who stood talking on the other end of the platform caught her attention. She swallowed any doubts that what she was doing was foolish. She’d be safe. He wouldn’t try anything here. Not with all of these people and security around them.
Her heart raced as she scanned the crowd. This wasn’t exactly the way she’d planned on spending her afternoon. Having this man grab her bag, being rescued by the FBI, finding her apartment trashed and then having the intruder threatening her with a gun. Her gut churned as she pressed her bag closer to her side and glanced back at where she’d last seen Joe. But even he couldn’t fix everything. She still couldn’t get a hold of her sister, and there were no guarantees that going to Venice was going to put an end to this. Because if she couldn’t find the paintings, nothing she did was going to matter.
Someone bumped into her from behind. While taking the Metro was the easiest way to travel, she always preferred avoiding rush hour, where it always seemed as if the entire city was riding the subway. Like right now.
She glanced around the platform, but there was no sign of the man. But he must have her in his sights. She had the same feeling of being watched as she’d felt earlier at the Colosseum.
She shifted her gaze to the left. Bingo. He was still there, lingering at the edge of the crowd. He hesitated briefly, then quickly turned around and headed for the exit. But he wasn’t getting away. Not this time.
The crowd was thinning out around her as she started running. She grabbed his arm and pulled him around to face him. The familiar gaze pierced through hers. She swallowed the lump of fear in her throat, but didn’t let go. She was right. It was him.
“Tell me who are you and who’s after my sister,” she said in Italian.
Talia caught the look of surprise in his eyes as he tried to pull away, but she just held on tighter. He’d threatened not just her, but Shelby, as well. This had to end.
“I said who are you?” she repeated when he didn’t answer.
“You shouldn’t have done this.” He grabbed her arm and pressed a gun to her side. “You should have done what you were told, because now you’ve just made me mad and made this whole situation a whole lot worse.”
“You can’t shoot me here in front of all these people. There are cameras and police officers—”
“Except I don’t have anything to lose.” He leaned closer to her. “Which means I wouldn’t test me if I were you.”
There