The Abduction: A Novel Read Online Free PDF

of course. Your husband. But if you ever find yourself in need of another little adventure…”
    “I’ll get in touch through the website.”
    The man, whose name was Riccardo, said, “I’ll look forward to it. I mean it. That was something really special. And people like you and me… We have to take our fun where we can.”
    She nodded, her hand already on the door handle. “ Ciao then, Riccardo.”
    “ Ciao , Rita.”
    She passed through the hotel lobby, ignoring the night porter’s polite “Good morning, signora .” When she reached the street she looked at her watch. Still time to go home and change. As she walked through the fog-filled streets she pulled off the wedding ring and put it back in her pocket, then flicked her phone off silent. She was only a hundred metres from her apartment when it rang. Glancing at the screen, she saw it was the same person who’d been calling repeatedly all night.
    Holly B.
    Clearly Holly B wasn’t going to give up. “ Pronto ,” she said in her most businesslike voice.
    “Kat?”
    “ Si , this is Katerina Tapo,” she said, pretending she didn’t already know who was calling.
    “Kat, it’s Holly.”
    “Yes?”
    At the other end of the line, Second Lieutenant Holly Boland of the US Army’s Civilian Liaison section pulled a face. She’d known this call would be awkward, but she hadn’t expected it to be quite as difficult as this. “Kat, I’m calling on a semi-official matter. We have a military family over here at Vicenza whose daughter’s gone missing. The local Carabinieri have been told, but… well, they don’t seem to be taking it too seriously. The family have asked Liaison if there’s anything we can do.”
    “How long’s she been gone?”
    “Two nights. She was meant to be on a snowboarding weekend with her class – at least, that’s what the parents thought. When the coaches came back, it turned out she hadn’t actually signed up for the trip.”
    “So she lied to her parents. And she’s how old?”
    “Sixteen. Almost seventeen.”
    “Have they checked with her boyfriend?”
    “She doesn’t have a boyfriend.” Even over the phone, Holly caught Kat’s snort of disbelief. “Apparently it’s totally out of character,” she added.
    “Well, the local officers will know what to do. Check the hospitals, call her friends. Chances are she’ll turn up.”
    “They did all that before they called it in,” Holly said patiently. “And all the local officers have done is go through her bedroom, looking for drugs.”
    “Did they find any?”
    “No. The thing is, Major Elston and his wife don’t speak Italian, so—”
    “Oh, he’s a major , is he?”
    “He happens to be an officer, yes. But they’re understandably upset, and they could really use someone who can talk them through the Italian system.”
    Kat sighed. “Who can hold their hands until their precious daughter crawls out from whichever bed she’s in, you mean.”
    “Is that so unreasonable? Put yourself in their shoes —”
    “I’d have to ask my superiors,” Kat interrupted. “And I should tell you it’s highly unlikely they’ll agree. I’m involved in a number of urgent cases at the moment.”
    “OK,” Holly said, accepting defeat. She understood the source of Kat’s hostility, and the almost permanent sense of anger the Carabinieri officer carried with her these days, but it was no easier to deal with for all that. “Let me know what they say, will you?”
    “Of course. Ciao. ”
    Kat had let herself into her apartment and started changing into her uniform while she was still on the phone. Not long ago, when she was on a homicide team, she’d worked in plain clothes. Going back into uniform – even the beautiful Valentino-designed skirt and jacket of the Arma dei Carabinieri – had felt like a snub; and, she knew, had been intended to feel that way by those who had ordered it. Nor, despite what she’d said to Holly, were the cases she was currently engaged