Lost in Italy (16 page)

As if her thoughts conjured him, Trent strode into the room.  He carried a cardboard box in his arms and she stopped straightening the chair cushion to glare at him, noting his jaw looked to be clenched just as tight as hers. 
So what.  Let him be angry.  Let him be
hungry. 
He couldn’t pay me to follow his condescending order to—

He turned his back as he dropped the box onto the couch, completely ignoring her.  Halli wondered what he was doing, until he bent to rummage in the box.  Then she found herself checking out his butt.

What was wrong with her?  She didn’t even like the man!

Well, to be fair, she didn’t object to certain aspects of him, and his butt was certainly one of those.  But movie-star looks and an amazing body didn’t make up for his overall…jerkiness.  Was that a word? 
Who cares
, she decided, still staring at his defined, denim-clad backside.  If the pants fit…

It dawned on her when he set aside some lighting gear on the couch that the box he’d brought out contained camera equipment.  Most likely from the room his brother had used.  She thought of the tortured emotion revealed in Trent’s journal entries and the tense set of his shoulders took on a whole new meaning.  Her anger melted away.

“What are you doing?” she asked in a neutral tone.

He rummaged through the box with increasing determination.  “I’m going to make a copy of your video.  I thought for sure Sean’s stuff would have what I need.”  Muttered swear words indicated he’d thought wrong.

She wasn’t so sure she wanted the answer to her next question, but asked anyway.  “Did you watch it yet?”

“Yes.”

“Did it…um…have what you wanted?”

“What I wanted?  No.  What I need to help put these guys away?  Yes.”

Meaning she
had
filmed a murder.  Halli swallowed hard and moved closer to the couch.  Closer to him.  The entire day had had a surreal feeling about it—still did, in fact—but knowing he’d watched the murder on her film triggered an instinctive need for security in the form of human contact.

Trent abruptly switched gears and began piling cameras back into the box.  When the sound of breaking glass accompanied the next piece of equipment, she reached forward to lay her hand on his arm.

“I’m sorry.”

The solid reassurance of his warm skin beneath her fingertips ignited a longing to have his strong arms wrap around her and promise everything would be okay.

He stilled, his gaze dropping to her hand.  Her heart beat faster as she imagined him turning those intense hazel eyes her way.

His forearm muscles tightened and bunched just before he jerked away.  “I don’t need or want your sympathy, sweetheart.”

The rejection stung, along with the meaningless endearment. But it was just what she needed to wipe away the strange desire to lean on his strength and comfort him.

To combat a rising, cold loneliness, she clenched her fists at her sides and said, “Is there anything I can do to help?”

“I’m still hungry,” he snapped.

As if she would serve him.  “Then how about I copy the video while you go eat.”

He tossed the last camera into the box and gave her a skeptical look.

“Back in Wisconsin, I’m a television producer for PBS.  I think I can figure it out.”

His glance touched on the box in front of him, shifted toward a mirror on the wall across from the couch, and returned to her.  “I assume you know where everything is from your private whirlwind tour earlier?”

“Yep.” She refused to feel guilty.

“Great.  Have at it.”  He strode toward the kitchen, only to take an abrupt detour to the stairs.  Over his shoulder, he added, “I’m gonna take a shower first.  Your camera’s on the kitchen counter.”

Halli stalked into the kitchen, only to freeze at the sight of the camera.  What had possessed her to offer to make the copy?  She didn’t even want to touch the thing anymore, let alone see what she’d filmed.

I’ve gotten this far through the day without falling apart… surely I can do this one thing more?

Deep breath.  One foot in front of the other.

She grabbed the camera and returned to the cabinets in the living room that housed Trent’s home theater system.  She hadn’t really thought about it before, but looking at the mirror above, she realized it was one of those ultra cool, ultra expensive mirror TV’s.  Of course he’d have one, and with the vintage looking frame, it fit in perfectly with the villa’s décor.

“Get the copy made and then you can admire his house all you want.”

A quick check of his system confirmed she’d be able to play the video from her camera and record on his DVR.  All she needed now was one of the blank DVDs from the spindle stack in his cabinet, and the cable to connect her camera to his DVR.

Which was back in the little blue rental car with Ben and Rachel.

She checked the box of camera equipment Trent had left on the couch, then reluctantly made her way to the bedroom his brother had stayed in.  If Trent was right, the same people who’d killed his brother were the ones who were after her.

Halli fortified herself and pushed open the door.  Again, the pungent odor of the room’s facelift assaulted her nostrils.  If she had a hard time coming in here, it must’ve been ten times worse for Trent.  She couldn’t imagine losing Ben or Rachel forever.

Not that she saw them every day at home in Wisconsin.  Rachel tended to get wrapped up in her jewelry designs and art fairs, while most of the time Ben was flying around the country for his job or traveling on his motorcycle for weeks on end.  But at least things stayed ordered and there were no surprises, especially since they both called her on a regular basis.  Yes, she’d finally agreed to give up all control of her life for a week, but only because she knew she’d have the two of them as her guaranteed constant during the trip.

But nothing had been guaranteed since they’d stopped beside the lake.  And even now, though she’d left the messages on Ben’s phone, after the crazy, scary events of her day so far, a small part of her worried she would never see her family again.

Her chest tightened painfully.  Before the lump forming in her throat made swallowing impossible, she managed a deep breath.  Instead of focusing on how completely powerless she’d been throughout the day, she needed to think of meeting up with Ben and Rachel in the morning.  Life
would
return to normal—as soon as they changed their return trip to the states for tomorrow afternoon.

In the meantime, she had a video copy to make.

At the bottom of a second box in the closet, she found a cable compatible with her camera and Trent’s system.  As she closed the bedroom door quietly, she heard the very faint sound of the shower in Trent’s room at the end of the hall.

She paused and closed her eyes, only to pop them wide open and hurry back to the living room.  Last thing she needed to imagine was Trent Tomlin naked and wet—especially knowing the size of his condoms.

Her face burned as she set everything up and plugged the cable into his DVR and her camera, then inserted a blank DVD.   A quick check showed her video needed to be rewound, so she pressed the button and waited a full minute before hitting play.  Her own face appeared on screen.

“I promise, Halli, you’re going to love winging it once you get used to it.”

How ironic she’d chosen that spot to stop the video.  Rachel had confiscated the camera while Ben drove.  Her sister’s words currently prompted a wry smile, even as her on-screen self gave an uneasy laugh. 
“I’m not one of the swans on the lake at home, Ben.  My wingspan is pretty narrow.”

“Yes, but you agreed to stretch your wings this week,”
Rachel reminded
.

“I know, I know.  But you’re still going to have to be patient with me and understand my nerves may get the better of me from time to time.”

“We’ll break you in easy today,”
Ben assured her.

So much for easy.  More like a crash course.  Literally.

The laughter in her brother’s voice brought the ache back to her chest.  Tears welled.  And Rachel; what she wouldn’t give for a hug from her big sis right now.

Halli sniffed and blinked away the stinging moisture.  Tomorrow she’d see them again and get hugs.  Lots of hugs.

Ignoring the tiny bit of doubt lingering in the dark corners of her mind, she concentrated on the video and tried to figure out where they were at this point.  She didn’t think it was too much further along that Ben had parked on the sidewalk so they could check out the lake by that stone wall, so she hit record on Trent’s DVD player.

A minute later she prepared to fast forward again, but something Ben said on the video jogged her memory.  It was coming up.  A tremble wobbled the camera in her hands.

She backed up a step and absently pushed aside a couple of magazines lying on the coffee table so she could sit, still holding the camera.  Much as she didn’t want to watch, it was impossible to look away.  Trepidation remained, but she found herself determined to see what’d happened to Trent’s friend.  Maybe that’s what it would take to make this thing become real in her mind.

On screen, the large white swans moved with graceful ease across the calm water in direct opposition to the current pounding of her pulse.  Rachel complained about her filming the swans.  Ben offered a suggestion—

A loud, siren-sounding noise pierced her ears. Halli stifled a scream and leapt up from the coffee table.  What the heck was that?  When it continued to echo through the living room, she knew.

Trent’s security alarm!

A shadow moved by the window to the right of the bar area.  Halli froze.  Was it a tree branch swaying in the wind, or something more sinister?

No way she was staying to find out.

Halli yanked the connection cable from the camera in her hands and ran for the stairs.  She sprinted down the hall and threw open the door to Trent’s room just as he stumbled from the bathroom, hair dripping, chest wet, jeans low on his lean hips and unzipped.  The sight brought her to an abrupt stop, breathless from her panicked run and the fear coursing through her veins.

Trent spotted her in the middle of a hard tug on the jeans’ belt loops.  He clearly wasn’t wearing any underwear.  His attention dropped to his zipper as he groused, “I can’t take a fricken shower without you doing something stupid, can I?”

Halli tore her gaze away from the dark hair on his lower abdomen and below.  She sucked in a deep breath, suddenly too warm for the sweatshirt she still wore.

“I-it wasn’t me.”

He jerked his head up.  “You didn’t mess with the security system?”

She shook her head.

Expression tight, he strode to the nearest window as he zipped his pants and peered through the glass, cursing a string of swear words worthy of any thwarted movie villain.

The alarm went silent.

“I saw a shadow outside one of the downstairs windows,” Halli whispered.

Trent glanced over his shoulder.  “For God’s sake, get out of the line of sight then.”

Her fingers tightened on the camera clutched against her chest as she hurried to his side against the wall.

“Please tell me the memory card is still in that thing.”

“It is.”

Trent leaned forward slightly to peer outside.  “Did you get a copy made?”

“It’s still in your machine.”

He swore again.

“What—”

He cut her off with a jerk of his hand.  Her heartbeat thundered in her ears in the dead quiet.  Somewhere in the house, a door slammed.  Halli moved closer, pressing up against Trent’s wet back.  His muscles tensed.

“Okay, I’ve got a plan…”

“I like plans,” she assured him.

“Assuming this is Lapaglia, we’ve got to get the hell out of here.  My car is out—we won’t make it to the garage—but my balcony stairs lead down to the pool deck, which will take us to the lake.  Ever drive a boat?”

“My brother’s ski boat.”

“Close enough.  I have a cabin cruiser in the boat house and the key is hanging next to the light switch on the right side of the door. 
Don’t
turn on the lights.  I’ll get us in and open the front doors, you untie the boat and get it started.  Got it?”

She nodded.  Good God, she was still having a hell of a time catching her breath.

Trent reached for the window latch.  “Stick right with me, and whatever the hell happens,
do not
lose that camera.”

He shoved the window wide open, and Halli slid her arm through the camera strap and draped it around her neck and diagonally across her chest before following him onto the balcony.  Faint light from the pool glowed below, but up here, they were enclosed in darkness.  Afraid of losing him, she grabbed hold of the back waistband of Trent’s jeans.  He reached around to remove her hand, wrapping his fingers tight around hers as he led her down the stairs that descended to the patio.  The warmth of his large hand gave her a boost of reassurance.

At first they kept close to the villa, and Halli ran her free hand along the cool, coarse stones that made up the outside walls of his home.  Surprisingly, the solid mass beneath her fingers offered a sense of safety.  Then he pulled her
away
from the wall toward the pool.