LITMIR.BIZ

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yes.”

      “I’ll be waiting. This is an emergency.”

      “I’ll be there in five minutes.”

      “Bless you.”

      She hung up and started throwing the things she’d need for overnight in her large tote bag. There was always money in her bank account and she had her passport. Without stopping to think, she left the apartment and hurried down the long hall of the west wing to the staircase.

      When she reached the main doors, she stopped to talk to one of the guards. “Would you see that the palace press secretary receives this immediately?”

      “Of course.”

      “Thank you.”

      Then she passed through the doors to the outside where another guard was on duty. “If the prince wonders where I am, tell him that an emergency came up at the charity foundation in town. One of my head people is picking me up so we can deal with it. I’ll phone the prince later, but he’s in meetings right now and can’t be disturbed.”

      “Capisco.”

      So far, so good. She rushed outside and waited under the portico until she saw Arianna’s red Fiat. Christiana hurried around the passenger side and got in. “You are an angel, Arianna, and I’ll give you a giant bonus.”

      “Where do you want to go?”

      “Back to the foundation.” She put on her sunglasses. It only took a few minutes to reach the building. “Why don’t you go on home? I’ll be working late and will lock up again.”

      “All right.”

      “This is for your trouble.” She handed her a hundred Eurodollars and got out of the car. When her friend drove off smiling, Christina hailed a taxi and asked to be driven to the ferry terminal. There were ferries leaving on the hour for Genoa during the summer.

      She paid the driver, then hurried inside and bought a ticket. Within twenty minutes she walked onto the ferry and sat on a bench as it made its way to the port in Genoa. From there she transferred to the train station and caught the next train going to Monte Calanetti via Siena. So far no one had recognized her because pictures of her wedding to Antonio hadn’t been given to the press.

      When it pulled in to the station, she phoned Louisa.

      “Dear friend?” she said when Louisa answered.

      “Christina?”

      “Yes. I’m in Monte Calanetti. Do you have room for a visitor?”

      “Did I just hear you correctly?”

      “Yes.”

      “Of course I have room!” No doubt Louisa figured correctly that there’d been trouble since their flight back from Tahiti. “You can stay in the bridal suite for as long as you want.”

      “Thank you from the bottom of my heart. I’ll be there soon and tell you everything.”

      As the taxi drove her to the Palazzo di Comparino, she turned off her phone. No one knew where she’d gone and that was the way she wanted things to stay.

      * * *

      Antonio had spent more time in his office than he’d meant to. He’d given Christina as much time as she needed to be with her father. After taking care of some business matters, he hurried to his wing of the palace. He planned to order a special dinner for them and eat out on the terrace. Having to come home early had robbed them of another precious night in Bora Bora, but tonight he intended to make up for everything. The need to make love to his wife was all he could think about.

      “Christina?” There was no answer. He walked through to their bedroom. She wasn’t there. Maybe she’d gone exploring, but she hadn’t left a note. It was possible that after being with her father she’d gone to visit Elena. He phoned his sister. “Does Christina happen to be with you?”

      “No.”

      “Hmm. I was doing a little business, but she’s not here.”

      “She loves the outdoors. Maybe she took a walk outside to the kennel. That’s what we usually do when she visits me. You know how much she adores animals.”

      “Thanks for the tip.”

      He put through a call to the kennel, but no one had seen her.

      Angry with himself for not putting a security detail on her first thing, he phoned the head of palace security. “Alonzo? I’m looking for Princess Christina. Find out where she is and let me know ASAP. I want surveillance on her twenty-four-seven starting now.”

      “Yes, Your Highness.”

      He put off ordering dinner and hurried downstairs to the palace’s main office. “Did anyone here see Princess Christina’s father arrive?”

      One of them nodded. “The princess asked that he be shown to your apartment. About twenty minutes later he passed by the office and left the grounds in a limousine.”

      More than frustrated at this point, Antonio headed for Alonzo’s office. “Any news about her yet?”

      Alonzo shook his head. “We’re still vetting everyone on the force. Some of them went off shift at five o’clock and we’re still trying to reach them for information.”

      He frowned. She wouldn’t have gone to his parents’ apartment, would she? He called them on the chance that she was there for some reason. But they had nothing to tell him.

      Definitely worried now, he put through a call to Christina’s parents. He should have tried there first. Her father got on the other extension. “Your Highness?”

      “I’m looking for my wife. If you have any idea where she is, I’d like you to tell me now. The last anyone saw of her was you.”

      “You mean she’s missing?”

      His anger was approaching flash point. “What did you say to her?”

      “The only thing a good father could say to his daughter. Do the right thing.”

      Antonio saw red. He clicked off and spun around in fury. It was almost nine o’clock. Could she have flown to Nairobi without telling him?

      Frantic, he asked Alonzo for his men to check the airport to see if she’d flown out. Within a few minutes the news came back that she hadn’t boarded any planes going anywhere.

      “Hold on, Antonio. There’s another report coming in. The guard at the west gate saw her leave the palace grounds in a red Fiat before he went off duty just before five. He had no idea you were looking for her. She told him she was going to the charity foundation to take care of an emergency and didn’t want you to worry.”

      His hands balled into fists. “Find out if she’s still there! We need to call all the girls working there to find out who drove the Fiat.”

      Before long the report came back that the building was closed for the night. No sign of Princess Christina anywhere. In another minute they had a woman on the line. Antonio took the call. “Arianna?”

      “Your Highness. I didn’t realize you were looking for her. When I dropped her off in front of the building, she said she was going to work in there for a while and that I should go home.”

      “So you have no idea where she went, or if she even went inside.”

      “No. I’m so sorry.”

      “What state was she in?”

      “She definitely had an agenda and asked me to hurry, but that’s all.”

      “Thank you, Arianna.”

      He handed the phone back to Alonzo.

      Where are you, Christina. What did your father say to turn you inside out?

      While he stayed there

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