Chapter 85
After I made the phone call to Niccolo, I weighed my options.
I could break into the clothing shop and steal some dry clothes…
But there might be an alarm. The police would come, and I would be screwed.
Or I could wait here in town for the shops to open. That was a possibility, but it would take hours.
I could steal a car… but the last thing I needed was for it to be reported as stolen. The cops might stop me on my way back to Venice.
So I decided to go back to my own cabin.
I went to the end of town, turned down a familiar road, and started walking.This belongs to NôvelDrama.Org: ©.
Two hours later, I saw the windowless car still parked outside my cabin.
I sighed in relief. No one had found it yet.
I checked inside the broken window. The driver’s seat was sopping wet from all the rain over the last week, but I didn’t care – I only needed it for one last trip.
I walked over to the porch, found the hidden key above the door –
But before I unlocked it, I tried the doorknob.
It opened.
Someone had been here since I’d left.
I considered for a moment whether it might be boobytrapped…
But that made no sense. Zollner wanted me in San Michele; he had no reason to rig my place with explosives.
I opened the door all the way and turned on the lights…
And was hit with a flood of memories.
Since it had been our first 24 hours together, a lot of those memories were filled with arguments… but I still treasured every single one of them.
Most of all, I remembered how we had eaten breakfast at the counter…
How I’d seen her naked for the first time in the bedroom…
All the sexual tension between us…
And the way her eyes had lit up with joy when she’d seen the woods in the morning.
I pulled myself out of my reverie and began to look around.
It was obvious that someone had been there. There were things slightly out of place. Cupboard doors were open that I knew I’d left closed.
It didn’t matter. I wouldn’t be here long.
I went into the bedroom. The air still smelled the faintest bit like her perfume.
My heart ached… and then I grew angry.
I’m going to get her back… and God help any motherfucker who gets in my way.
I quickly stripped down, dried off with a towel, and put on the suit I’d arrived in.
There weren’t any weapons left in the house, but that didn’t matter; Lars would bring everything we’d need.
I grabbed a couple of dry towels, took them out to the car, and laid them over the driver’s seat.
Then I reached under the dash, fiddled with the wires, and started the engine.
I put the car in reverse. I was afraid the wheels would get stuck in the mud, but I was able to turn it around and get moving down the road.
Hang on, baby.
I’m coming.