Page 71 of Lorenzo

“Maybe,” I say, “Or they might have killed her in that room. It would save time on setting up the scene if they just did that.”

Donna tilts her head, considering. “Either way, wouldn't have been easy to get her into that room without any cameras catching them. Trust me.”

I lift one eyebrow at her.

She looks at me innocently. “I may have tested the theory myself. But with either a kidnapped woman or a body? That's not a one-person job.”

Alessio looks up. “Why would she ask me to stay if this was the plan?”

“She knew you wouldn't,” I answer. “She obviously did know who you were, and she targeted you. And if that were the case, she would know that you wouldn't risk your duty. It was just for show.”

“In fact,” Donna says slowly, “she may have already known that you couldn't stay, and that's why she targeted you. She needed to make sure she got someone who wouldn't stay the night.”

I turn and look at her. “You're implying someone knows us well enough to know things like that.”

“Yes,” Donna says simply. “I am.”

“So who is this Rachel Monroe?” Edoardo asks.

“I don't know much yet,” Donna says. “All I have is a birth certificate and adoption records. I had to come over here before I could look too far into it. A cursory look, though, tells me that she doesn't have any social media or any publicly available information. So it'll take a deeper dive than it did with Genevieve.”

Alessio is looking at the photographs again, quiet.

“That means,” Donna says, waiting until he looks up at her before continuing, “that the woman you're supposed to have killed, the woman you took back to that hotel room, is alive and walking around.”

“And once we find her,” Edoardo says, “we can get some answers.”

“No,” Donna says. “Once we find her, we turn her into the police along with the birth certificate and adoption records so that they can absolve your brother of murder. If she dies before that point, we lose the one person who can prove that Alessio was never with Genevieve to begin with.”

“Why don't we take this information to the cops now?” Alessio says.

“Because as I said before,” I say, “it's far-fetched. We have no proof that the woman in these photographs is Rachel, and we can't guarantee that the cops are going to care enough to look into it. We need to provide indisputable evidence right to their door.”

Donna nods. “Exactly. Birth records establish that Rachel exists, but they do not establish that she was at the Halston with Alessio. We have to assume that the room has been wiped of all evidence that she was ever there.”

Donna gathers the photographs and slides them back into her bag before standing up.

“Which means I need to start looking for Rachel.”

“Let me know when you find her,” I say, standing up as well.

“I will keep you informed,” she says.

“I said,” I say quietly, “let me know when you find her.”

Her hand stills on the bag.

“I made it very clear that we need to deliver this woman alive.”

“I have no intention of killing her,” I say. “She murdered someone.”

Donna lets out a half-laugh. “Are you concerned for my safety? I think I can handle the likes of Rachel Monroe.”

“And as you said before, she isn't working alone.”

“And as I also said before, I don't go anywhere without protection.”

“Very well,” I say. “Then we will make it a condition of your employment.”