gash in the earth. Darkness and a howling wind raged around me, the scent of rotting oranges pervading the frigid buffets of air slamming into me.
Suddenly, my legs were knocked out from under me and I hit the damp soil, its loose, fetid clay seeping into my mouth and nostrils, gagging me, as an invisible force dragged me ever nearer to the edge of that gaping maw.
I kicked and clawed at the damp earth to keep from falling over the edge and into certain death, but it was too late. I tumbled over it and into the abyss.
I wrenched awake to find Christie Gold standing in the aisle staring down at me, a few passengers nearby eyeing me with considerably less concern. “You were yelling in your sleep.”
“I—I’m good,” I lied.
Massimo appeared behind her and reached across me to cancel the attendant call button. I recoiled at the close contact, given our most recent dream encounter. “You called?”
I offered him an awkward smile. “Sorry. Must have hit the button by accident.”
He winked flirtatiously, and then made his way back to the galley.
“I think you may have a fan,” Christie said with a mischievous grin.
“Lucky me,” I smiled awkwardly back up at her.
The delicious scent of warm bread and freshly brewed coffee were wafting through the cabin. I also noticed seams of daylight seeping around the plastic window shades. Over the intercom, the First Flight Attendant announced that breakfast would be served shortly and to please lift our shades and lower our tray tables. We’d be landing in Rome in two hours.
“Rough night?” Mark asked with a yawn.
CHAPTER 9
“Try him again,” Christie urged from the edge of my hotel room sofa.
“I’ve been doing that all morning.” I began pacing in front of the tall floor-to-ceiling windows. “It’s the same recording every time. You’ve reached a number that’s not in service.”
I was so frustrated that I squeezed my fist around my iPhone and felt the metal casing pop. This was followed by a shattering sound, as small fragments of broken glass rained down onto the tops of my sneakers.
“Oh my God!” Christie sprang up from the couch and ran over to me. She raised my bloody hand with the mangled cell phone in it and examined both with a mixture of concern and shocked disbelief. She wasn’t the only one.
Mark was on his feet too. “You okay, Buddy?”
“I—I don’t know what happened.” This wasn’t a total lie. All I knew for certain was that one minute I was pissed off and in the next my iPhone was scrap metal. “It just exploded in my hand.”
“Imagine what would’ve happened if you’d had that thing up to your ear when it went off,” Christie said with wide eyes.
“Yeah, but it didn’t blow up,” Mark said with equal disbelief. “He crushed the thing!”
“That’s ridiculous.” Christie was already pulling me down the hall and in the direction of the bathroom. “We need to get that wound cleaned right now and make sure there’s no glass in it.”
“Babe, I watched him do it—”
“For heaven’s sake, Mark. Call the front desk and get them to send up a doctor.”
“No!” The opulent ivory and gold Eighteenth-Century décor was suddenly overpowering. I felt dizzy and nauseous and needed to sit down, but Christie insisted on getting me into the bathroom, where I perched on the ornate bidet while she held my tender hand under the pedestal sink’s faucet to flush the abrasions. “I’ll be fine. No doctor.”
Mark folded his arms and leaned against the bathroom doorjamb. When I looked up, he was staring intently at me. I could swear that I was hearing his thoughts. He knew what he had seen and wasn’t about to let it go. Shit .
To my considerable relief, he instead asked, “What did Laura’s sister have to say about this Riccardo guy?”
I looked from Christie to Mark and exhaled with renewed irritation. Once again, I was no-fucking-where. Every time I got close to learning something vital about my
Suddenly, my legs were knocked out from under me and I hit the damp soil, its loose, fetid clay seeping into my mouth and nostrils, gagging me, as an invisible force dragged me ever nearer to the edge of that gaping maw.
I kicked and clawed at the damp earth to keep from falling over the edge and into certain death, but it was too late. I tumbled over it and into the abyss.
I wrenched awake to find Christie Gold standing in the aisle staring down at me, a few passengers nearby eyeing me with considerably less concern. “You were yelling in your sleep.”
“I—I’m good,” I lied.
Massimo appeared behind her and reached across me to cancel the attendant call button. I recoiled at the close contact, given our most recent dream encounter. “You called?”
I offered him an awkward smile. “Sorry. Must have hit the button by accident.”
He winked flirtatiously, and then made his way back to the galley.
“I think you may have a fan,” Christie said with a mischievous grin.
“Lucky me,” I smiled awkwardly back up at her.
The delicious scent of warm bread and freshly brewed coffee were wafting through the cabin. I also noticed seams of daylight seeping around the plastic window shades. Over the intercom, the First Flight Attendant announced that breakfast would be served shortly and to please lift our shades and lower our tray tables. We’d be landing in Rome in two hours.
“Rough night?” Mark asked with a yawn.
CHAPTER 9
“Try him again,” Christie urged from the edge of my hotel room sofa.
“I’ve been doing that all morning.” I began pacing in front of the tall floor-to-ceiling windows. “It’s the same recording every time. You’ve reached a number that’s not in service.”
I was so frustrated that I squeezed my fist around my iPhone and felt the metal casing pop. This was followed by a shattering sound, as small fragments of broken glass rained down onto the tops of my sneakers.
“Oh my God!” Christie sprang up from the couch and ran over to me. She raised my bloody hand with the mangled cell phone in it and examined both with a mixture of concern and shocked disbelief. She wasn’t the only one.
Mark was on his feet too. “You okay, Buddy?”
“I—I don’t know what happened.” This wasn’t a total lie. All I knew for certain was that one minute I was pissed off and in the next my iPhone was scrap metal. “It just exploded in my hand.”
“Imagine what would’ve happened if you’d had that thing up to your ear when it went off,” Christie said with wide eyes.
“Yeah, but it didn’t blow up,” Mark said with equal disbelief. “He crushed the thing!”
“That’s ridiculous.” Christie was already pulling me down the hall and in the direction of the bathroom. “We need to get that wound cleaned right now and make sure there’s no glass in it.”
“Babe, I watched him do it—”
“For heaven’s sake, Mark. Call the front desk and get them to send up a doctor.”
“No!” The opulent ivory and gold Eighteenth-Century décor was suddenly overpowering. I felt dizzy and nauseous and needed to sit down, but Christie insisted on getting me into the bathroom, where I perched on the ornate bidet while she held my tender hand under the pedestal sink’s faucet to flush the abrasions. “I’ll be fine. No doctor.”
Mark folded his arms and leaned against the bathroom doorjamb. When I looked up, he was staring intently at me. I could swear that I was hearing his thoughts. He knew what he had seen and wasn’t about to let it go. Shit .
To my considerable relief, he instead asked, “What did Laura’s sister have to say about this Riccardo guy?”
I looked from Christie to Mark and exhaled with renewed irritation. Once again, I was no-fucking-where. Every time I got close to learning something vital about my
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