“Oh-kay!” Rossi pulled his coat off his desk chair. “Now let’s get the hell out of here before Marino’s office opens.” He marched between them and down the hallway as fast as he could.
Chapter 25
Two miles into the tunnel, Wolf’s back pressed into the seat letting him know they were gaining altitude at a good rate. He leaned discretely, keeping a white-knuckle grip on the Jesus-bar, to grab a glimpse of Lia’s dashboard gauges.
No more than five car lengths behind Rossi, she was doing one hundred sixty kilometers per hour, a straight one hundred miles per hour. Wolf thanked Rossi for the nice round number, then held his breath and as they blew past another train of cars as if they were standing still.
They slowed to breathable speed as a series of flashing signs indicated a sharp turn, which turned out to be the end of the tunnel. The view was stunning, looking down on Lecco from what was at least a thousand feet up the steep Alpine mountain. They continued onward and upward for another few minutes.
Wolf craned his head to see the distant valley floor through the trees as they weaved through small traffic circles and switchback streets. “This seems to be far from town, and a really nice area.”
“Yes, they moved here a few years ago, when Valerio’s father died. He and his family were left an inheritance, and they didn’t hesitate to move to this nicer area. You’ll see his house. It’s quite beautiful.”
Wolf couldn’t help but think for a moment about his own father’s death, and how it had caused quite the opposite effect on his own family.
They pulled up to a bush lined property and waited. Gate lights flashed while it slowly swung inwards.
A dog pranced with wagging tail in front of Rossi’s Alfa Romeo, and Wolf sucked in a breath as Rossi pulled in, pushing it aside with the bumper of his car.
Stepping out of the car, Wolf noticed the air was crisp and clean, smelled of pinesap, and was a noticeable cooler temperature. As they rounded the side of the house to the entrance they looked straight down on the city below. Lecco sprawled like a model city on a gleaming Lake Como. It was so steep it looked like he could run and jump, and land smack in the middle of the lake below.
The yard of the house was perfectly manicured, surprisingly flat for how steep the surrounding area looked. The stucco concrete house was one story in front, with a walk out bottom level to a stone patio, where two boys were playing soccer below.
“Ciao ragazzi!” Rossi bent over the railing, then yanked the door to the side entrance.
“Ciao!”
“Ciao, Daddy!”
Inside, a male Italian singer was belting out high vibrato notes from a loud speaker system. Perfectly cooked Italian food smells saturated the moist air inside. A slightly disheveled looking woman wiped her hands and kissed Valerio quickly, then gave a loud welcome to Lia as they kissed each other’s cheeks.
“Ciao, sono Maria.” She extended a hand to Wolf.
“Ciao,” he said. “I’m David.”
“Nize-a to meet you,” she laughed. “I am terrible Eenglish.” She pointed to herself with a red faced smile.
“Not as bad as my Italian.”
Rossi’s home office had dark green ceramic tiles on the floor, and color photos of vineyards adorning the bright yellow stucco walls. Rossi turned on the tall floor lamp and ripped open the shades, revealing the view below. The sky outside was now a dark orange, high white-stoned peaks gleaned, and the city below speckled with lights. Rossi plopped down at the dark wood desk, fired up Skype, and showed Wolf how to use it.
Rossi opened the door, letting in the loud music from the rest of the house, “Take your time. We’ll be having apperitivo.”
Wolf picked up the headset and took a seat. “Thanks. I appreciate it.”
“Hello?”
“Hi, Mom, it’s me.”
“Oh thank God. What’s going on over there?”
“Well, I’m just taking care of everything. Getting John on a plane home.”
She paused. “So?”
“Well, I really haven’t got any news yet, Mom. I just wanted to check on how you were doing. Is everything okay?”
“Have you seen him?”
“Yes, I’ve seen him.”
A rustling sound filled the headset. “How did he look?”
“He looked good. What…how’s it going? Has Nate checked on you?”
“Yes, he was here last night. He made me dinner.” She sniffed. “Then I will probably go to dinner over there tonight.”
“Oh, good.”
And so it went.
They squirmed their way through a few more minutes of long silences and said their goodbyes. He would check in later. He would let her know what was going on.
He called Jack and left a message, disappointed, but thankful he wasn’t answering his “emergency cellphone” in class.
He dialed another number. “Hello?”
“Hey, it’s Wolf.”
“Hey,” Nate said. “I was wondering what this random phone number was. I hoped it was you. How’s it going over there? You find anything out?”
“Well, maybe. It’s taking some time. There’s definitely something going on that doesn’t look right.”
“Jesus, really? What’s happening?”
“Ah, I can’t talk about it now. I think we’ll find out some more stuff tomorrow though. Anyways, I talked to my mom. She says you made her dinner last night. Thanks for that.”
“Of course, man.”
“I just wanted to know if you’ve been keeping an eye on Jack? Have you seen him?”
“Yeah, he’s been here every day this week with Brian. He seems good. He keeps asking about you. Have you talked to him?”
“No, not since I left. I finally got a chance to use Skype just now. Tell him I’ll be home Sunday, and I’ll see him then, okay?”
“Yeah, sure. No problem,” he said. “I’ve been checking on things. I took him home yesterday, even though he had his bike. I insisted I drive him home. I went in and said hey to Sarah. She looked okay. Didn’t look strung out or anything. Nobody was at the house except for her. Apparently her parents were out and about doing something. Otherwise I’ve driven by the house four times. Nothing seems to be happening. But — ” He stopped.
“But
“Well, I saw her with a guy in town walking around yesterday. They weren’t with Jack, he was over here. But anyways, the guy looked, like, normal looking. Not like a junky. Had all his teeth and respectfully dressed and shit.”
“Yeah, I know. I talked to him before I left.”
“Yeah? Well so did
