Page 31 of Utterly Dauntless

"I had this whole dramatic entrance planned," she called out.

At the very least, she'd stunned him. He stood frozen twenty feet away like he didn't dare come close.

He suddenly frowned and focused on something behind her. She turned to follow his gaze and saw two Italian police officers striding purposefully up the beach. At least they looked like they might be police. Their light blue pants and dark blue shirts looked official enough, but their hats and tall dark boots reminded her of the cop in The Village People.

She stood and brushed her hands together as they neared. Grey started toward her but one of the officers held up a hand to stop him.

"Signora Aries Strachan?" The taller officer's accent was thick but his English clear enough.

"Yes?"

"You are under arrest." He pulled out a pair of handcuffs while his partner read her rights in careful English, their Italian accents made her feel like she was in some sort of skit. She couldn't stop smiling.

"There must be some mistake," she said as the cold metal closed around her wrists.

"No mistake," the shorter one said. He took her arm firmly but not unkindly. "Come with us,per favore."

When Grey tried to intervene, the taller officer blocked his path. "Sir, please stay back."

"The cuffs aren't necessary," Grey insisted. "She won't run."

The officer smiled apologetically. "We would be fools to trust a tourist not to flee,signore."

They led her up the beach to where their motorcycles gleamed in the sun. She bit back a laugh. Of course they were motorcycle cops. But she stopped thinking everything was funny when a police car pulled up, its blue lights flashing.

She wasn't seriously worried, though. Clearly, they had her mixed up with someone else. Grey would sort it out. He had pretty clever friends who had made it nearly impossible to hide from them all these years. Now, she figured they owed her one.

She was carefully guided into the back seat of the car. When the door snapped shut, she twisted to look through the rear window. Grey stood a wary distance from the motorcycles with one hand raised. He was telling her she wasn't alone. She gave him a big grin to let him know she was okay while the car pulled away, leaving him diminishing in the distance.

She settled back against the seat as well as she could with her hands behind her. It wasn't exactly the reunion she'd planned,but at least she'd found him. At least she had a chance to explain everything.

Just a little delay, a little bump in the road. Nothing to freak out about. After all, how scary could the jails be in a pretty place like this?

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

The cell was chilly, poorly lit, and small as a nun's quarters. A narrow cot with a thin mattress sat against one wall, and a stainless-steel toilet occupied one corner, partially hidden by a low barrier that did little for privacy. And near the bars, a simple wood chair. But at least Aries had the space to herself.

She could imagine the plaster walls absorbing centuries of misery only to let it leak out during the night to steal hope from newcomers. She was in no hurry to find out, no hurry for the sun to set, but on the other hand, she needed two days to pass quickly.

The women in the neighboring cells were a rough lot. One kept making kissing noises at Grey whenever he walked past.

"Bello ragazzo,"she would call.Pretty boy."Come sit by me instead!"

Grey ignored them all, staying close to Aries' bars. He'd bribed the guards to let him stay and bribed them well. Besidesa folding chair, they brought him an espresso, which he shared with her.

She couldn't complain about dinner. Fine, restaurant quality food went down easily...if you could ignore the ambiance.

“Let me guess, he said,” once he was seated. “Shug let it slip that I was heading south to put to bed some ghosts, and you put two and two together?”

Aries shook her head. “Never said a word. Wouldn’t tell me anything. None of them would. So don’t think for a minute that any of The 79 betrayed you.”

“Then why did ye come here? Or was it me ye were lookin’ for? Maybe this is just a place ye visit regularly?”

She smiled and shook her head. “I would have never come here again…without you. No, it was Loretta and Lorraine who told me where to find you, in their roundabout way.South and sand, and somewhere with memories for both of us.Nice and cryptic. But it couldn’t be anywhere else, could it? I just worried I’d be too late and you’d be gone.”

“Very nearly. But I suppose ye could have asked the sisters again.”

“No. They warned me to hurry or you’d be lost. I don’t know if that meant they wouldn’t beableto help, or they wouldn’t bewillinga second time. I think they’re pretty fond of all you Highlanders, and they didn’t like ratting you out.”

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