Page 119 of Lupo

My heart stops. "What?"

"Your phone. Give it to me. Now."

"I don't..."

"Don't lie." His voice hardens. "Empty your pockets. Both of them."

"Mama?"

I look at the man. At the cold certainty in his eyes. At the way his hand moves slightly toward his jacket, toward the gun.

If I refuse, if I resist, Elena is right here. Right beside me.

With shaking hands, I reach into my pocket and pull out the burner phone. The only lifeline I had. The only way to reach Lupo.

The man takes it, looks at the screen and smiles. "Only one number programmed. I wonder who that could be?" He slips it into his own pocket. "Anything else?"

"No."

"Check her," he tells the driver.

The driver turns around, leans back. His hands are quick, efficient, patting down my jacket pockets, my other pocket. Finding nothing.

"She's clean," he says, turning back to the wheel.

The engine starts and we pull away from the market, away from the town, away from any chance of help. Away from any way to warn Lupo.

Elena is bouncing excitedly in her seat, already forgetting the strange moment. "Are we going to Daddy's work? Is it far? Will there be other kids there?"

"I don't know, baby." I pull her close, wrapping my arm around her. "Just stay close to Mama, okay?"

"Okay." She settles against me, still completely trusting. She has no idea we've just been kidnapped.

The man beside me is watching me calmly. "Smart choice. Not making a scene."

"What do you want with us?" I keep my voice low so Elena doesn't hear the fear in it.

"Like I said. Just to talk."

"About what?"

"Your man. The one you call Lupo." He smiles coldly. "Though that's not really his name, is it?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Please. Don't insult my intelligence." He leans back casually, completely relaxed. "We know who he is. We know where he's been. And we know he's planning to come for us." He pauses. "We thought we'd give him a little surprise. A reason to be very, very careful about what he does next."

They're using us as leverage against Lupo.

"He doesn't... we're not important to him. We're just..."

"You're just the woman and child he's been living with. The ones he talks about constantly. The ones he sent Ciro to protect." The man's smile widens. "We've been watching you, Signora. Watching him. We know exactly how important you are."

The car is moving fast now, heading out of Tuscany. I watch the familiar landscape blur past. The farms. The hills. Everything that was supposed to be safe.

Everything that was supposed to protect us from his world.

But his world found us anyway.