Kidnapped and a Daring Escape

by Gian Bordin

  André’s words echo in her mind, words that being frightened will not change a thing, that she must focus on the future. This equally well applies to hatred, she reflects. Hating will only sap her energy. She shakes her head and focuses on what she has to do next. She can do no more today to help André, but she can front up to her father, even if the very prospect makes her feel sick. She also needs to retrieve additional things from home — she still sees it as home — including the car her father gave her for her twenty-first birthday. She has no qualms keeping it. It is registered in her name. And there are her books and the material for her report on the archaeology tour she prepared before the trip. She isn’t going to give Franco any additional power over her by applying for a dispensation from the assignment. It counts for fifty percent of the grade in his course. She will do her best on the parts she can.

  * * *

  Going by underground and bus is a two-hour trip, not something she cherishes. She calls Gabriela’s cell phone, but her sister does not take the call. She finally calls the mansion and asks on the whereabouts of Antonio. He is grooming the Mercedes, Simone, the butler, tells her. Admiring anything British, her father actually has a butler. Antonio has no other duties to attend at the moment and agrees to pick her up.

  While she waits for Antonio to arrive, it suddenly occurs to her that she should let André’s parents know that he was arrested, but she does not have their phone number, nor their address. She doesn’t even remember the name of the village they live in. Maybe the address label attached to his suitcase may have it. It does, including the phone number.

  She calls. A soft woman’s voice answers in French. She likes its sound and replies in Italian. It is André’s mother. Bianca blurts out what happened. André’s mother listens without interrupting her. At the end she says: "Bianca, don’t despair. André is strong. He will come out of this unscathed. Right now, you need patience and let the lawyer do his work. Do you have somebody to support you? Your parents?"

  "No, my parents are no help. They are not on my side. My sister is the only one." She surprises herself to be so open to that woman she has never met, but her voice inspires confidence.

  "That is sad. Would you like me to come for a few days?"

  "Could you?"

  "Yes, I think I can manage."

  Bianca ponders that for a moment. It is tempting to have his mother with her, but maybe it is too early. She says so.

  "If you change your mind, Bianca, let me know, will you?"

  "Yes, I will. Thank you. André always talked fondly of you."

  "We are close, he and I. Just one other thing. Has the Swiss Embassy in Rome been notified of his arrest? They might be willing to help."

  "No, but I will do that. Thank you."

  * * *

  She mentally prepares herself for what she is going to tell her father, even rehearses some sentences to make sure that what she says is exactly what she intends, so that she won’t trip herself up in the heat of the exchange.

  It is shortly after five in the afternoon when Antonio drives up to the gates of her parents’ mansion and opens them with the remote. The terrace is empty, but with a shudder she sees in her mind the many people who were there, holding champagne glasses, waiting for her arrival.

  "Signorina, will you need me again to return to the city?" Antonio questions.

  "No, thank you. I will take my own car."

  "I had it serviced. It has a full tank."

  "Oh, thank you, Antonio. You are always so thoughtful. I will miss you."

  "So your are leaving us?"

  "Yes."

  "I must say, I don’t blame you."

  "Thank you, Antonio." She goes to him and kisses his wrinkled cheek.

  Simone meets her in the hallway. "Shall I announce you to la padrona," he asks after greeting her.

  "No, thank you. I will be in my room. If my father comes before I’m down again, I would appreciate if you called me."

  "Certainly, signorina."

  It is strange being back to her room, the room she has occupied since her teenage years. It does not feel like coming home, as it did when she returned from previous trips abroad or a visit to her grandparents on Elba. She looks at the big poster of Raoul Bova, her favorite actor. It makes her wonder what she ever saw in that man. He looks superficial compared to André. Some of her knickknacks strike her as childish. Her eyes come to rest on the delicately crafted golden photo frame. It carries Franco’s picture. His dignified smile seems forced, even false to her. She rips the picture out and tears it up. But she is going to take the frame along. It is a present from her maternal grandmother.

  She is just about to go and search for other photographs of Franco, when she reminds herself that she came to pack some things she needs, not to wallow in the past. She takes her other Louis Vuitton suitcase from a hidden closet and searches through her wardrobe for suitable clothes for everyday use. She selects her newest underwear and stockings, three pairs of shoes, toiletries, perfumes, some of her jewelry, manicure items, her second pair of sunglasses, and finally all her current university papers and books she may need. She barely manages to close the suitcase and struggles to carry it down to her car in the garage. She could have called the butler to have it taken down, but does not want to bother. Back in her room she puts other items into her handbag, including her old prepay cell phone.

  She scans the room one final time to see whether she has forgotten anything that she may need. Suddenly, her mother bursts into the room.

  "Ah, finally you have come to your senses and have returned home. It is high time. I hope that Franco is willing to overlook your shameful behavior the other day and take you back. He has been very kind and conciliatory to me."

  "Buona sera, mamma," Bianca manages to say when her mother takes a breath before she continues rattling on.

  "But it will take more than simply an apology before I will forgive you. You embarrassed the whole family and you embarrassed me particularly in front of the Viscontis that I will hardly ever be able to face them again. Kind and generous Franco has assured me that they will not hold it against me."

  Bianca knows that once her mother gets going, there is no way to stop her, except by shocking her. So she interrupts her in the middle of her stream. "I have broken the engagement with Franco. It is finished. I will not marry him. If I still had the engagement ring, I would throw it at his feet."

  Her mother’s mouth remains open for several seconds. Then she screams: "You will be the death of me, you ungrateful child." She spreads a hand to her bosom, staggers to a chair and slumps down.

  Bianca knows that as long as her mother is capable of screaming, she is in no physical danger. It is then simply hysterics.

  Her mother catches her breath again. "This is how you repay us for all our generosity and kindness we have showered on you. Humiliating us in front of the world. This episode has affected your sanity or else you would not behave so shamefully. I will demand that Dr. Zanni certifies you and sends you to a clinic until you are right again. And then you will obey and do exactly as your parents tell you to."

  "Mamma," Bianca cuts in again, "I have packed things I may need in the near future and I will leave this house. I will get more things later on. I will no longer live here."

  "You cannot. I will not allow it. I will have Simone lock you into this room until Dr. Zanni arrives."

  Bianca picks up her handbag and walks to the door. With surprising agility, her mother rushes up from the chair, rips the bag from her hand and slaps her face, shouting: "You slut, you slut, I will teach you."

  It stings. Within a second her cheek flames hot. Before her mother manages to hit her again, Bianca gives her a light push. The woman loses her balance on her stiletto heels and falls onto the bed. Bianca picks up the handbag and leaves the room, closing the door behind her. She is almost at the bottom of the wide staircase to the entrance hall when her mother totters down the corridor, shouting: "Hold her, don’t let her get away
, hold her."

  Her father stands at the bottom of the stairs. His face leaves no doubt that he is irate. "What is all that row about," he bellows in turn. "Behave yourself, both of you. I will not tolerate such behavior in my house."

  "She pushed me over, she pushed me over," her mother continues ranting at full voice.

  "Did you?" her father thunders.

  "Buona sera, papà. Yes, she hit me and I pushed her away." This isn’t the way she has planned to initiate her talk with her father.

  "I see, you have hardly come home and you already have a fistfight with your own mother?"

  "I have not come home to stay. I only came to fetch some of my things. And before I leave, I want to talk to you, alone. Please, tell mamma to leave us alone."

  "You are not going to talk without me," shouts her mother while she carefully climbs down the stairs on her high heels, holding on to the railing. "I have a right to be there and I want to tell that ungrateful child a few more things that she needs to hear."

  Bianca knows that this is the wrong way to talk to him.

  "I also have a few things to tell my daughter and I want to do it without you interfering," he scolds his wife. Turning to Bianca, he orders: "Come to my study."

  "No, you cannot do this to me. I have the right to hear what you say."

  "I will talk to her alone without anybody interrupting me."

  Bianca follows him into his office and closes the door. She knows her mother won’t dare to intrude. Nobody enters her father’s study without being invited.

  "So finally you have found the courage to come home. I am sure you realize that you humiliated me in front of all our friends and the Viscontis like nobody has ever humiliated me in my entire life. I don’t know what happened in Colombia, but I must say that I don’t recognize you anymore. You were always a pleasant and irreproachable girl, so different from your sister, and you come back and behave in the most shameful manner. You were outright insulting to Franco and the Viscontis."

  She cuts in: "Yes, your are right, papà, when I left I was a naive, obedient girl, eager to please and marry Franco, but over there I got to know a different Franco." His words have given her the opening that she prepared and rehearsed. She suddenly feels strong and confident. "It took only ten days for me to grow into a woman and to get to know and love the man who more than once risked his life to rescue me and bring me safe and sound back to Rome."

  "I would hardly call your behavior on Saturday sane," he interrupts her. "It was the behavior of a highly disturbed girl, who has lost her perspective and does not know her place in our society anymore. Refusing to embrace your fiancé? Running off with your so-called rescuer? In front of all these people? Not to speak of making me the laughing stock on television?"

  "Papà, I begged both you and mamma not to have a party for my return. I told you I needed time to sort some things out, that I did not want to face scores of people. But you went ahead. You went —"

  "Yes, that was the right thing to do. People expected that of us. How would it have looked if you had returned without a proper welcome and celebration for being free? There are certain things in life that one cannot avoid, as you will sooner or later learn. I also —"

  "Are the expectations of other people more important to you than the wishes of your own daughter?"

  "Sometimes one has to overcome one’s own selfishness, child."

  So far he hasn’t raised his voice and she feels reassured that maybe he may ultimately listen to her. "I had very good reasons why I did not want to meet Franco in front of all these people —"

  "Good enough reasons to insult him openly, the man you promised to marry. He was very distressed that you were kidnapped. He called us every second day to find out whether we had any news —"

  "Distressed? If he had really cared for my fate, he would have called off the tour and stayed in Popayàn to help in the search for me. But no —"

  "He is a man of high principles who puts his own concerns second to his responsibility to all the other tour members. You should admire him for that, not blame him."

  "You really want to know why he departed? Do you? Or is what your daughter saw, experienced and learned to be ignored, while Franco’s lies are believed?" She regrets what she said the moment it has crossed her lips. Her father would not let such a challenge pass.

  "Yes, you are dead right," her father cuts in immediately. "You have been traumatized by your experience to the point that you are now incapable of distinguishing fact from fiction, and you have been brainwashed by this man who claims to be your rescuer."

  "Claims? He was my rescuer. He rescued me minutes before a man was going to rape me."

  "Has it never occurred to you that all that was just staged? There was never a kidnapping. It was all a cruel farce, including your so-called rescue. It was all to create an exciting story that he could publish —"

  "Is that what Franco claims? It is utterly ridiculous. If it were true, why would André have shot his own accomplices?"

  Her father’s response comes before she has finished her sentence. "I am sure that the police will get to the bottom of that, and then you will see who is the liar and who cares for you."

  He already knows of André’s arrest, flashes through her mind. Her own father was party to the denunciation. She closes her eyes, trying to stem the tears that threaten to spill.

  "There you see! You need psychiatric help. You break into tears the moment you hear anything that contradicts the fiction you have built around this devious man."

  Anger takes over. "I cry because my own father betrayed me. You were party to that vile and unfounded denunciation, weren’t you? I cry because I loved you, because I respected you —"

  "Yes, I joined Franco. I agreed with him that this man has to be stopped. And it was not an impulsive decision. We solicited advice from the Questura. It was the only way to stop his corrupting influence on you and free you from your delusions."

  "I’m not delusional. It is Franco who is spreading lies. He contracted with these criminals to kidnap me. He even paid them 200,000 euros in advance for it —"

  "You see how insane your accusations are? This is proof that your mind has been affected, that this man has brainwashed you into believing these absurd tales. But I will take matters in hand now. I will have you committed to a clinic so that you can be restored to your senses —"

  "I am perfectly sane, saner than I was when I was blind to Franco’s falsehood. I am twenty-two. You have no more power over me. I will leave this house and I will marry André. I promise you that he will be free within days."

  "As long as I pay for your upkeep, I will tell you what to do and you will obey."

  Before he can complete the sentence, she takes out her credit card and throws it on the desk. "Here have your power. I won’t accept even a cent from you. I don’t need you," she yells.

  "See how unstable you are? You now even shout at your own father."

  She turns and flees the room, ignoring her father’s irate shouts to come back immediately, rushing past her mother who is waiting outside the study door. Two minutes later, she shoots through the gate out into the road in her Peugeot 207.

  * * *

  After Bianca returns to the pensione, Maria invites her to dinner. Both she and Carlo commiserate about the injustice done to André. Bianca constantly has to fight her tears. Back in her room, she feels utterly alone. She dreads going to bed without André’s reassuring presence. Restless, she powers up her computer. Maybe reviewing the preliminary work she did on her archaeology assignment prior to the trip might distract her. She opens the file, reads the first few sentences, but their meaning gets drowned by the silent cry of ‘why? why?’ that goes round and round in her mind. Her own father and mother are siding with Franco and colluding against her. He was not even willing to hear her side of the story, simply declared her of unsound mind. She knows that André did not stage her rescue. If he had, why would he have crushed el commandante’s foot? Why
would he have shot and wounded two of their captors? Killed ‘la bête’, if they were his accomplices? To make it look more realistic? It was absurd to think that. She does not know how long she has been staring at the screen without seeing the words. Shaking her head to clear her mind, she tries again, but it is no use, and finally gives up.

  She does her evening toilet and then goes to bed. Sleep evades her. She tosses and turns, her mind back to ‘why? why?’ In desperation, she gets up, fills a glass from the bottled water on the table, and walks back and forth, holding the glass and occasionally taking a sip. When her travel clock shows midnight, she lies down again. In the half state between consciousness and sleep, she reaches over to touch André, only to find the space next to her cold and empty. Despair returns. She feels abandoned and helpless and ends up crying herself to sleep.

  16

  Late next morning, Bianca rushes to Bocelli’s expecting to catch Gallizio’s and hear what he has to report on his first session with André.

  "I don’t have good news, Bianca," he says when she joins him at the table on the terrace where he is drinking coffee. "I have not been able to see him yet. They said that he was in the process of being transferred to the Via Appia Prison. I will only be granted access tomorrow. I’m sorry."

  She swallows hard. She so hoped to get news of how he is faring.

  "And there is another unlucky aspect. The commissario in charge is known for being difficult to deal with. She is very hard-nosed. To be blunt, she is a real bitch. It is unlucky that his case was assigned to her. I have had dealings with her before, and she put one obstacle in the way after the other. She also has a reputation for getting convictions. But I still don’t think that from what you told me they have a case, and sooner or later they will have to release him for lack of evidence."