“Yeah. That’s worse than you ruining our stuff.” Kate huffed.
“I’m sorry, but I’m going to be in Italy.” He held back a grin.
“What?” Ellie screamed. “You got in?” This was great news.
“Yep.” He let the grin fill his face. “Someone dropped out of the science program. He got totally sick or something. So, I’m in. I’m heading to Bologna University.”
“The first alternate wins. Sucka. Take me with you.” Ellie bounced on her seat.
“That’s the thing. You guys could come.” His eyes glinted with merriment.
“Oh my gosh. We could?” Both Ellie and Kate squished their bodies close to the table, leaning toward him.
“I mean wait a week or something, but yeah.” He took a bite of his salmon.
“We have our painting class. We can’t miss it. We only have next week off,” Ellie complained.
“I understand that, but you might have to make a sacrifice.”
“Mom’s not going to let us miss one of our last weeks of class. No way. We’ll have to go next week.”
“Do you think she’d let you stay in a hotel?”
Both their eyes flicked to Kate.
“That would be a no for my mom and dad.”
“I’ll be settling in.” He gave Ellie the stink eye.
“Fine, we won’t come the first day. When do you go?” Ellie was a freight train. They’d be going next week for sure. If Kate’s parents allowed it.
“Sunday night and I get there on Monday morning.”
“Then we’ll come Wednesday.” She patted her hands on the table like all had been decided.
“Thursday.” Colby pressed his lips together.
“Fine. We’ll come Thursday.” She squealed. “Looks like we get to go to Italy after all.” She bumped shoulders with Kate.
“Yep.” Colby set his glass down. “That will be good, because if you leave here Thursday, then you’ll get there Friday and be there for the weekend.”
“We’d have to miss class on Monday then. No. We’ll arrive Wednesday.” Ellie set her jaw. “We need at least four full days there.”
Colby scoffed.
“We’ll be jetlagged and all that stuff the first day. You won’t even notice us.”
“Alright, arrive on Wednesday, but be warned, I’ve heard the accommodations are Spartan.”
Ellie waved her hand in the air. “Ah, it’s Italy.”
“Like you’ve been,” he said, teasing her.
“No, I’ve heard and I don’t care.” She turned to Kate. “Now we have to convince your parents.” It was like she could read Kate’s mind.
“Yeah, I guess saying I’m in one place and going to another is out.” Kate shifted in her seat and contemplated letting her parents think their plans hadn’t changed and she was simply camping. Her insides squirmed thinking about how she’d told her parents last spring that she was going to Mexico with Ellie’s family when in truth she went with them to New Jersey to find her birth parents. It hadn’t ended well.
“Let’s not repeat that little adventure,” Colby said, his eyes sad, but resolute.
“I bet they’ll let you.” Ellie grinned. “It’s only a couple of days.”
“You think? I’ll also have to find the money. I spent it all in Jersey, remember?” She slouched in her seat.
Ellie rolled her eyes. “No, your parents spent it all on that fake PI, trying to keep you from your birth parents. In truth, they owe you. By the way, I’m glad you stopped calling them by their first names. That was weird.”
“Yeah. It was weird for me, too, but I thought I was making a point. Taking a stand that they couldn’t lie to me or I wouldn’t consider them my parents.” Kate didn’t want to do anything to rock the boat at home right now. When she had come back from New Jersey and had her talk with her adoptive parents, they had been so relieved to see her. They had worried buckets over her. She’d forgiven them and didn’t want anything to get in the way of their relationship again. Maybe there was another solution. “Okay. I’ll ask them, but they won’t like me being away.”
“You were going to be away anyway.”
Kate nodded, sitting up straighter. “You’re right. Okay. I’ll ask.” It would work out. It had to.
***
Ellie had taken the self-defense class with Kate for a good month, but opted out when Kate said she wanted to keep it up and take it every day. It made her feel powerful somehow and she was glad her parents had forced her to take the class in the first place. After only a few weeks of the class, her nightmares had become less frequent. Eventually, the nightmares had totally stopped. The first few weeks at home, Kate could hardly go outside without thinking the Marconis would find her. FBI Special Agent Johansen had reminded her that she was relatively safe for two reasons: The first was the fact that while the mafia guys had seen Kate was flying to Dallas from New Jersey, they had no idea she lived two hours away. The second was that they didn’t know her last name. Without those two things, he assured her, they would not be able to find her. Kate was too common a name in Texas.
Kate grabbed her duffle from the backseat and hurried inside to change into her workout gear. She was totally excited to see she would be sparing with Jake today. She looked down the row of students and easily spotted his tall, bulky frame five students down. Her heart raced thinking of ways to overpower him, but first they had to do warm-ups. Her newly muscled legs and arms stretched and contracted as she went through the practiced movements. It seemed her muscles had lengthened since she’d started running every morning three weeks ago. She’d never felt better.
Everyone split up, moving to their assigned section of mats to spar with their assigned opponent.
“You ready for all of this?” Jake said, his gloved hands indicating his muscled body.
“I was wondering the same thing,” Kate said, grinning as she slipped her protection on her legs and hands.
He chuckled and said, “Don’t worry. I’ll go easy on you.”
That was the last thing Kate wanted. She desperately wanted to know if she was ready to face a Marconi or Bellini goon. If they ever found her, she wanted to be ready and Jake was built like one of them. If she could disable Jake, she knew she’d be ready for them. “You’ll be sorry if you do.”
He chuckled, but after they bowed to each other, she let loose on him, her speed and agility working to her advantage. She danced around him, getting in a jab here and a punch there for several minutes. He swung and kicked, but she moved out of his way before there could be any contact, until there was. His right cross connected with her chin and she went down. It had been a solid, powerful hit. He lunged toward her, prepared to finish the job. She wasn’t ready to let that happen, however. She rolled, shaking her head slightly to get rid of the ache in her jaw. He landed hard on the mat on his hands and knees. She stood and pounced on him, her arm around his neck and the other swiping his arms out from under him. His face hit the mat with a thud. She whipped her legs around his, immobilizing them, and pinned his arms under him. He struggled, but couldn’t move. She had done it. He relaxed, so she did too. They got to their feet, both breathing hard, and bowed to each other. He put his hand on her shoulder and said, “Good job. I hate losing, but that was good.”
“Thanks,” she said as their instructor came over to join them.
“Good fighting, you two,” then he went on to give them advice about the fight and what to work on next. Sweat dripped down between her breasts and down her back as she listened, a sense of euphoria hitting her. She knew now that if she had to, she could face a Marconi or Bellini and actually have a chance. She worked still harder for the rest of the class, taking instruction and insisting on her body performing to its maximum.
As she drove home, she thought about Colby and sparring with him again. He would like the new moves she had learned. She had been practicing some moves with Colby when he had a spare minute here or there. His strong soccer legs kept her on her toes, but
it was fun to teach him stuff and watch him progress. She realized that her previous sparring session with him would probably be her last, though. After he went to Italy, he would be heading off to school in New York. The thought twisted inside her gut and made her tired, but then thoughts of Italy dashed them away. She needed to ask her parents.
3
“Mom. Dad. I have exciting news.” Kate’s parents sat stiffly across from her on the sofa, smiles plastered on their faces. Her dad’s dark eyebrows shot up in question. “Remember that science study abroad program that Colby applied for?”
They nodded.
“He got in.”
“Good for him. What does this have to do with us?”
“Yes,” her mom said. “Why the whole, let’s go talk in the living room? This is something you could have told us anywhere.”
“Well, you know how he was taking us camping next week? Well, he’s leaving for Italy on Sunday and can’t take us anymore.” She could have ended there and led up to the Italy thing, but she felt it best to treat the situation like she was ripping off a Band-Aid and do it fast and clean. “But he wants us to come and visit him.” She set her elbows on her knees and cradled her chin to stop her hands from shaking.
Her mom’s blue eyes widened for a fraction of a second. Her dad’s hand landed on her mom’s knee and squeezed.
“I don’t know. What about your art class and your self-defense classes?” her dad asked after clearing his throat. “I’m not excited about throwing all that money away.”
She sat up. “We’ll go on Tuesday night and be back Sunday night. We won’t miss anything. There’s no school next week. And it’s not like you were expecting me to be here. We were supposed to be camping all week. You’ll have me an extra two days all to yourselves. I’ll be safe. This isn’t like last time. We’re truly going to Italy.” She smiled and tried to slow her slamming heart. She wanted to address all the possible objections at once.
Her dad leaned forward. She was sure it was in an attempt to seem relaxed, but there was something about his movements that seemed stiff. He looked anything but relaxed. Her mom’s face paled. They couldn’t think she’d go behind their backs again. “Seriously. I learned my lesson. No more sneaking around. You can trust me.”
Her mom’s lips turned up into a slight smile, but it was her dad who spoke. “We are trying to, honey, but there are other concerns too, like money and supervision and where exactly you’ll be.”
“We’ll be at the University of Bologna. The oldest university in the world. That alone should make you want me to go.”
Her mom did seem to relax, her shoulders rounding slightly, her stiff posture leaving her.
“And, I was thinking, it’s a good way for you to pay me back for the PI.” A zing of fear whipped through her at saying something so bold when her parents could easily say no and completely end her chances of going to Italy, but she tried to say it in a nonchalant way, so as to seem normal and right.
Red climbed up her dad’s neck and her mom’s cheeks were suddenly blotchy. Not a good sign.
“The only cost will be food and airfare. We can stay in the house that Colby is staying in. We’ll be with him the whole time. You trusted him to take us camping.”
“What about his program? Won’t he be in classes or something?”
Kate knew Colby would be in class a majority of the time, but she chose to deflect the question and not really answer it. “It’s only really four days. Tuesday and Sunday will be travel days. Please. You’ve got to let me go. I’m sorry for springing it on you, but Colby only found out yesterday.”
“As for the money, we were going to put the money back into your savings account.” Shame laced her dad’s words.
“Yes, and I can do with it what I please, right?” She sucked in her lips. She hadn’t meant to say that out loud. Her nerves were making her reckless.
“For school.”
“There will still be some left. Besides, hello, oldest University in the world? Another country? Educational opportunities abound.” She flung her hands around in the air, desperation setting in.
Her dad looked at her mom, raising his eyebrows. She didn’t say anything. It must have been more than she could bear to let Kate go without them again.
“Come on, Mom. Please. I know what you’re thinking. The original Bellinis may have come from Italy, but that was forever ago. I’ll be clear across the Atlantic. My dad and all his crazy mafia relatives are in New Jersey. If I survived Jersey with them, I can definitely survive Italy without them.”
Her mom gave an almost imperceptible nod.
Her dad frowned but then nodded as well, narrowing his eyes at her mom for the briefest of moments before turning to Kate. “I guess that’s an okay.”
Kate stood up and hugged them. “Thank you for trusting me. You won’t regret it.”
“Make sure we don’t,” her dad said.
She kissed them both on their cheeks and rushed out of the living room and up the stairs. Then she remembered she needed to tell them to get with Ellie’s mom to arrange the flight and headed back. She slowed as she heard her parents’ loud and tense whispers. She stopped to listen.
“What was I supposed to say? If I said no, she’d just go running there anyway ‘cause she’d know we wanted to keep something from her.” Her mom’s voice sounded totally exasperated.
“She couldn’t go without us allowing it.”
“You seriously didn’t just say that after what happened this spring and New Jersey. She’s smart. Resourceful. And almost eighteen.”
“Well, maybe you should tell her.”
“No. There’s no need. We don’t want her to have any reason to go searching while she’s there. She’s better off not knowing.”
“But—” her dad started to say.
“No!” Her mom’s voice was harsh, firm. “Not happening.” Then she said something Kate couldn’t understand. “It’s far away from there anyway. She’ll be fine. She’s going for fun this time. Let’s allow her some fun. We both know that didn’t happen in Jersey.”
“But she’s going to be in Italy. You must see the problem here.”
“I don’t. She was right. The Bellinis and Marconis who know her are all in New Jersey.”
“We told her no more secrets.”
“No more secrets that involve her. This doesn’t. ”
Kate thought about just barging in and making them tell her—no secret was a good secret. Then she took a step and the floor squeaked. The whispers went silent. Startled, she carefully backed away and ran down the hall and up the stairs, grabbing a few things to make herself look busy if her parents decided to come check on her. Only moments later, her dad walked in.
“Hi, sweetie.” He looked around as if by doing so he’d be able to ascertain how long Kate had been in the room. “We were wondering if we needed to do anything to uh, you know, book your flight and all.” He’d obviously not thought of an excuse on his way up there.
Kate worked hard to keep her voice even. “Oh, yeah. Just give Mrs. Lambert a call. She’ll make the reservations and everything. She has some lady who works for them and gets them awesome deals. And Dad, thanks again for letting me go to Italy. I know you guys are worried about me traveling with the Lamberts because of Jersey, but you don’t need to be. I’ll be safe and there’s nothing for me to hunt down in Italy. And so you know, I’ve stopped actively searching for my birth mother. There are no leads and if there were any they’d be in Jersey.” She was speed talking without realizing it.
He stepped toward her. “I know, sweetie. We trust you. Just remember that your mom is still a bit fragile from what happened in Jersey. I know you would end up going with or without my permission sooner or later, and since your mom doesn’t object, neither do I. You’ve seen what can happen when you don’t follow our advice. All we want to do is keep you safe.”
A shudder rushed through her as she thought about being imprisoned by the Bellinis. “Keeping me from
Italy is not going to keep me safe.”
“I realize that. Please honor this one thing—call us daily. Email. Send pictures. I know Special Agent Johansen has been watching the airport and stuff, but we must remember that people are still looking for you.”
“I know, but it’s been three weeks since any Marconi or Bellini goon landed anywhere in Texas. Johansen said he thinks they’ve given up on searching for me right now. And, I will call every day. I promise.”
“I’m sure he’s right,” he said and cleared his throat. “And I’m glad you’ve given up your search.” He pressed his lips into a smile. “I’m sure it wasn’t easy to make that decision.”
“Thanks for trusting me, because I know it scares you.”
“Yes. It does, but we are working on that.”
Kate nodded. “And, I’m really sorry about New Jersey, Dad.”
“You don’t need to continue to apologize for that. It’s over and done. No more living in the past. Life is for the living. Live, Kate.”
“I intend to, Dad. Thanks.” He often had such words of wisdom. And he was right, she hadn’t been living, she’d been buried in the past.
“We’ll pay for your plane ticket. Everything else is on you. You’ll have to use some of that PI money we’re putting back into your savings.”
“Really? The plane ticket won’t come out of my money? And you’re paying me back?”
He smiled. “Yep!” It seemed a weight lifted from his shoulders and that he grew several inches.
“Thank you!” She popped off the bed and gave him a big hug. His strong arms surrounded her and lifted her a couple inches off the ground for a few seconds.
“We’ve seen some real positive changes in you since you got back from Jersey and we want to support that. I can’t believe you will officially be an adult in less than two months.”
“I can’t believe it either.” He let her down and she took a step back. “This time next year I’ll be getting ready to leave for college.”
“Don’t remind me. Oh, and promise me you’ll stay with Colby and Ellie and not go anywhere on your own. ”
Kate Concealed Page 2
