Page 116 of Dante

“He’s trying to build something legitimate. Something lasting.”

“He’s building bullshit.”

“You won’t survive this,” I tell him.

“Dead men can’t kill,” says Silvio. “And Dante’s a dead man.”

For the first time since I opened my eyes down here, real fear moves through me—and not for myself.

CHAPTER 46

DANTE

I’m just wrapping up my conversation with an upstate family when Chelsea rushes up to me.

She holds Biscotti with his leash.

I immediately end my call.

“Mr. Ricci, I’m sorry to interrupt.” She pauses, glancing around. “Gina went with a woman from a magazine to take some photos, but that was over half an hour ago. She’s not answering my texts.”

I look down at the dog. Then at her. “Which direction did she go?”

“Toward the far end of the hall. I lost sight of them after that.”

I nod. “Stay here. Text me if she contacts you.” I give her my card. “Keep Biscotti close.”

I move away from the crowd and pull out my phone to track Gina’s photograph trail.

The last photograph she took was from the catacombs.

The tracker shows her last ping underground, directly beneath the east wing of the building.

I know that block.

I pull up Lorenzo’s number. “Where are you?” I ask when he answers.

“Parking,” he says.

“Don’t come in the front door. Meet me at the wine shop down the street instead. I’ll be at the side entrance in four minutes.”

A pause. “Why? What’s happened?”

“Be ready for action,” is all I say as I end the call.

I find the driver Marco outside at the car. A good man. New, but my gut says he can be trusted.

When Lorenzo arrives, I tell them both that Gina’s gone missing, what the tracker reveals, and how we’re going to get her back.

“We’re going in quiet,” I tell them. “Follow my lead.”

The shop’s still open, the lights warm behind the glass. A man in jeans stacks bottles near the front window. Aaron, my favorite clerk even though we mostly communicate by email.

“Mr. Ricci,” he says with a smile. Then he spots the hard-muscled Marco and Lorenzo with his gun out behind me.

His smile recalibrates.

“We need the old access door.”