The Sarah Roberts Series Vol. 7-9

by Jonas Saul

  Thoroughly confused, Sarah asked, “Why hack into their emails?”

  “So I can check itineraries, see where they’re going, who they’re talking to. But it’s one of the hardest things for me to do. Maybe tomorrow, the day after, next week, or next month, I’ll get into their emails. Who knows?”

  “Back up a second. Why would Marconi kill an agricultural guy?”

  “Because of the conference being held here in Umbertide next week. Three ministers have written a decree that will go live in six days to ban the use of GMOs in Italy. Those three ministers are the Agricultural Minister, deceased, the Minister of the Environment and the Health Minister. The latter two are in hiding until the conference.”

  “Why does the Minister of Finance interest you, then?”

  “Because he’s one of the loudest voices against this decree and he’s a crook. I think he gets kickbacks from the company that wants to bring GMOs into Italy.”

  “I’ve heard of GMOs, but can you elaborate in simple terms, considering the hour?”

  “Genetically modified organism. Basically, it’s the process of taking the genes of one organism and forcing it into the DNA of another, hence genetically modifying it.”

  “Why would anyone do that?” Sarah asked.

  “I asked the same question and did my research. For example, they have added fish DNA to the DNA of tomatoes.”

  “Eww, why?”

  “If you have a tomato crop and the temperatures were to drop below zero unseasonably, they would freeze and be no good to anyone. Scientists decided to look at what allowed the DNA of the Arctic Flounder, a fish that can survive in extremely cold temperatures, to withstand the cold. They then took the DNA of the fish and inserted it in the tomato seed. Now when the tomato freezes it can withstand the cold and the farmer doesn’t lose the crop.”

  “That sounds fantastic, but who would want to eat tomatoes with fish DNA in them?”

  “Exactly. And it goes deeper.”

  “You have a lot of time on your hands.”

  “You have no idea.” Darwin winked at Rosina then looked back at Sarah. “They inserted spider genes into goat’s DNA to extract the protein found in the spider web out of the goat’s milk.”

  “You’re kidding, right?” Sarah stared at Darwin who didn’t flinch. She looked at Rosina for support.

  “He’s not kidding,” Rosina said.

  A realization hit Sarah. “Is that why our kidnapper told me to watch what I eat?”

  “Kidnapper?”

  “Yeah, that staged attack at Aaron’s apartment I told you about. Where I was warned to stay out of Italy. He told me to watch what I eat.”

  Darwin and Rosina exchanged a glance.

  “I think the other two ministers are in danger. It has scared us having so many powerful people in Umbertide since we live so close. But we’re going to stay near the house for those few days until everyone leaves. We’ll be in lockdown.”

  “I’m going to have to talk to my colleague in the States to find out what the authorities are up to regarding my absence from the hotel room in Rome. After that, I want to visit this conference and see if I can find Marconi.”

  “You may be able to meet him earlier than that. He’s going to be in Umbertide for a few days before the conference.”

  “How would you know that?”

  “If you were Marconi, wouldn’t you scope the place out?”

  She agreed with a nod.

  “Also,” Darwin said, getting up from his chair. “That investigative reporter will probably be here.”

  She remembered Kierian talking about an investigative reporter.

  “I was supposed to meet a reporter in Rome.”

  “That would make sense. This guy has been all over the GMO use in corn and soy and what it’s doing to crops around the world. He’s the loudest voice in Italy against GMOs, but he’s had to go underground because of death threats. His online name is an alias. No one knows his real name or what he looks like. Some claim he’s a myth, but I think he’s real.”

  “What’s his online name?”

  “The Cowboy.”

  Shocked, Sarah sat up straighter. “You’re kidding?”

  “Why that response?”

  “A man was following me in Rome wearing a cowboy hat and boots.”

  “You can’t be sure it’s the same man, but if he was following you, and you and the FBI man were supposed to meet him, then it might be.” Darwin walked to a cabinet on the side wall. He opened a drawer and pulled out a box.

  “I’ve got something for you.” Darwin opened the box and retrieved a small black gun. “It’s a Sig Sauer Pro, semi-automatic. Weighs about twenty-seven ounces and packs a punch. The U.S. army uses them, as does the French Police.”

  “This is for me?” Sarah asked.

  “Do you have a gun?”

  Sarah shook her head.

  “Didn’t think so. Here.” He pushed the box into her hands. “Due to security reasons and the safety of our home, and our baby, you can stay the night but I’ll have to ask you to leave in the morning and not return. I don’t want to sound rude, but I’m sure you understand.”

  “Of course.”

  “Take the gun when you leave and make sure I read about your successes in the newspapers.”

  Sarah hugged Darwin and Rosina and told them she would retire to the guest bedroom. “I’ll talk to my sister, and then I’ll meet this cowboy and find out what I can. If I need to use this,” she held the box in the air, “I’ll make you proud.”

  Darwin wrapped an arm around his wife.

  “If you can, make sure Marconi has an accident. That would be present enough.”

  She wasn’t sure, but Darwin’s eyes seemed to water when he said Marconi’s name. She wondered what the connection was.

  “Good night, then,” she said.

  “Buonanotte.”

  Sarah got to her room, undressed and slipped into bed, the loaded weapon under her pillow.

  She dreamt of Aaron lost at sea. When she woke, her pillow was soaked in sweat and tears.

  Chapter 26

  The morning sun broke through the curtains of the guest room, rousing her from sleep. A rooster crowed in the distance. The soft breeze from outside the window caressed her skin. She didn’t want to get up or ever leave this house. This was the kind of peace she yearned for, but knew it would be many years until she could stop working with Vivian and enjoy a home like this.

  Sarah grabbed the paper on the table beside the bed. Nothing was written on it even though she had moved it during the night.

  I’m lost in Italy here, Vivian. Could use some help.

  She collected herself, used the bathroom, got dressed and headed down to the kitchen. Rosina was already up and feeding Bradley.

  “Good morning,” Sarah said.

  “Good morning. Fresh fruit from the market is on the table under the pergola outside. Darwin’s already out there.”

  “Thanks.” Sarah meandered around the table, a floor plant and then through the double doors that led out to the back.

  “Morning, Darwin.”

  “Sleep well?”

  “Much needed.”

  “Ready for today?”

  She shielded her eyes from the sun. “Something specific happening today?”

  “Sam Marconi is in town.”

  “How would you know that? Don’t tell me he publishes his travel itinerary online.”

  Darwin shook his head. “Nothing like that. I’ve got websites that enable me to monitor cell phones geographically. In the past few months I was able to get the cell phone numbers of two of his closest associates. They’re all moving toward Umbertide.”

  “Wow, you’re quite something.”

  “Is that a compliment?”

  “Absolutely.” Sarah grabbed a small bowl on the table and filled it with chunks of kiwi, an orange, sliced pear and apples.

  “Can you be ready in half an hour?” Darwin asked.

 
“Of course. What’s on the agenda?”

  “I’ll drive you close to town and drop you off. We’re locking the place up tight and staying inside. Only Hercules will remain on the outside. I’ll watch the house with cameras. At least until these guys depart. Until then, we’re in full lockdown here.”

  “I’m so sorry you two have to live this way.”

  “We’re happy. We have each other and Bradley. Most of the time we’re regular folks, buying groceries, watching movies and reading, always reading. Only when I detect powerful underworld criminals getting close to our city do we take certain precautions.”

  “Makes sense. I’ll be ready.”

  Rosina joined them and they ate breakfast together. Half an hour later, Sarah got in the passenger seat of the Fiat, and Darwin drove her into town.

  “You have the Sig Sauer?”

  “Right here,” Sarah patted her waist. “I wanted to thank you and your wife for such warm hospitality. You two are a class act.”

  “Sarah, we’re out of the fight. We watch and listen, but it doesn’t look like anyone even remembers us anymore. You’re still in the fight. You are the hero here. Keep it up and stay alive. We’d be pretty sad if anything happened to you.”

  She teared up. It had been many years since she had met such heart-on-their-sleeve kind of people.

  “Just remember,” Darwin added. “For the safety of my family, you can’t come back to the house.”

  She nodded, completely understanding. “No offense taken,” she said with a smile. “I wouldn’t be able to find it, anyway.”

  “Maybe one day, when Bradley is a teenager, we won’t have to live like this. On that day, we’ll have you and Aaron over. Deal?”

  “It’s a deal. I’ll look forward to it. I’ll be in my mid-thirties and ready to settle down by then.”

  “I should hope so.”

  They remained silent for the rest of the ride. Darwin pulled up short of the Tiber River and parked in an empty restaurant parking lot.

  “Walk across that bridge and stay on this road. It’ll take you into the heart of Umbertide.”

  “Where can I get an espresso?”

  “The best one in town is called Antico Caffè Giardino. He’s right on this road. Just cross the bridge and stay to the right.”

  They hugged over the stick shift.

  “Goodbye, Darwin.”

  “Goodbye, Sarah. Stay alive.”

  As she got out, she said, “Say goodbye to your lovely wife for me.”

  “I will,” Darwin shouted back as he pulled away.

  Moments later, Sarah was alone in the parking lot of a restaurant with a gun stuck in her pants by her belly button.

  Her motivation to figure everything out had been sapped by the relaxation of Darwin’s home.

  She turned and walked towards town, determined to get her head back in the game.

  At Antico Caffè, she ordered an espresso and drank it at the counter like Italians did. She also ordered a cornetto, a small croissant with apple filling.

  Then she asked the man with the curly black hair behind the counter where she could find an Internet spot.

  He directed her one block down the street.

  When she got to Infomatica, a man set her in a corner booth right up against the window that looked out onto the street.

  As she sat down, a man entered the Internet store. She reached for her gun and almost pulled it out to shoot him. It was the same man with the ponytail who had smiled at her on the train from Rome. No one followed her without consequences. He stood at the counter.

  Was it a coincidence he was here? Or was he following her?

  Before she left the Internet shop, she would find out what he was up to and who he was, or she’d send him on a guided tour of the local hospital.

  Chapter 27

  Frank had spent the entire day walking the streets of Umbertide, looking for any sign of Sarah or the cowboy. He should’ve killed the cowboy when he had the chance, but Sarah was the target.

  And now she was gone.

  He was so sure that Sarah would be in Umbertide that he did not leave the city. Marconi would be here today to attend the dinner meeting that night, leaving Frank with no choice but to wait it out.

  What other city would Sarah go to? He walked through the main piazza in the center of Umbertide as the noon sun warmed the cobblestones under his feet. He tried to see the benefit of Sarah on the run somewhere else in Italy, but couldn’t. If the only place she ever spent any time in was Umbertide and Montone, she would come here. Montone was small and off the train line. From what he read, there had been a massive shootout with some kind of militia group, and Sarah had been involved briefly before she went back to Hungary a few years ago.

  Frank passed the city’s circular church as he worked himself into a frenzy in an attempt to create an alternative for Sarah, but no matter how many times he broke it down, Umbertide had to be her destination.

  Yet she didn’t show up on that train. Nor had he seen her in any of the more popular spots for tourists.

  Before siesta came and the shops closed until later in the afternoon, he needed to call in, but he had destroyed his phone, scattered the pieces across the tracks at the train station.

  Infomatica, the only Internet store in Umbertide, came up on his right.

  He would call in to his boss who he hadn’t spoken to since yesterday and tell him everything was on track.

  As Infomatica came into view, so did a woman with blonde hair flowing over her shoulder. The woman had a familiar walk. She stopped in front of Infomatica for a moment, then stepped inside.

  What luck.

  It was destiny or fate that he decided to go to Infomatica at the same time as Sarah Roberts. He would be nonchalant. He would pretend not to notice her. He would be smooth.

  It made him irresistible. Sarah was a woman and, like any woman, could be seduced. Like the immune system discovering the code of a persistent virus, he would determine her defenses and break them down. She would melt in his hands like a box of Smarties squished in his palm on a hot day. It would only be a matter of time. Some girls took longer than others, though.

  Sarah wouldn’t be too hard.

  He smiled to himself as he approached the doors of the Internet shop.

  Won’t she be surprised, he thought.

  Maybe he could bed her down before he put a bullet through her forehead.

  Chapter 28

  Sarah kept her head down and waited to see what the man would do. He approached the counter and talked in rapid Italian to the clerk. After a moment the clerk produced a piece of paper and pointed to the open cubicle beside her.

  Perfect.

  During the exchange, the man from the train didn’t look at Sarah once. She opened the icon on her computer, brought up Skype and signed in. She put the headphones on and started the process of calling Parkman.

  From the corner of her eye, she watched as the man walked over, sat beside her, and turned his system on. He also opened Skype and slipped on headphones.

  Maybe it was just a coincidence. Just because they were on the same train two days ago could mean nothing. Dozens of people took the same train. By any other rationale, having met Darwin and Rosina, or even Jonas Saul and his wife, held a diabolical meaning of some kind. She had to be careful not to see the darker side in people first. That was a lesson the generous Darwin and Rosina had taught her in the last twenty-four hours.

  Parkman picked up at his end, but instead of talking where anyone who understood English could overhear her, Sarah typed.

  Is there anything new on Aaron?

  Nothing, Parkman typed. Can’t get anyone to tell me anything. But I am hearing a lot about you.

  Me? Like what?

  Almost every police officer and their neighbor are looking for you. They’re assuming you fled the country by now. Stay low wherever you are and stay off the streets.

  Can’t do that. She leaned back in her chair to stretch her arms in
order to see if ponytail man was watching her. Then she sat forward again. I have to figure this shit out. It’ll all come together this week.