“We’ve already got Ciampino covered,” Lugano said, “and we’re extending to the other Rome and Naples airports as we speak.”

“I’m going to ask the French to do vehicle checks of suspicious cars and trucks at the French/Swiss border,” Rick said.

“I’ll do the same at the Swiss/Italian border,” Jim responded.

“Our confidence is not high,” Rick said.

“Neither is ours.”

“Avoid telling Stone that, until we know more.”

“Right.” Both men hung up.

—

Stone had a progress report from both men; no trace of the cell phone. He hung up and stared out the window.

“You know the chances of getting her back are slim,” Dino said.

“Casselli will respond to money,” Stone replied. “I’ll ransom her back, no matter what it takes.”

“Stone, Casselli didn’t do this for money, his motives are two: leverage or revenge—or both. What happens to her is going to be decided by which is more important to him.”

Stone knew that Dino was right, but he couldn’t bring himself to agree with him.

“Now we wait,” Dino said. “They’ll be in touch.”

“Or they’ll dump her body somewhere they know we’ll find it.”

“There is that. We’ll do better at this if we try to remain optimistic.”

“I’ll try. It bothers me that we’re not getting anything on her cell phone. Would they have searched her that carefully?”

Viv spoke up for the first time. “They will, but if Hedy’s smart, the phone is not just in her underwear.” She walked out of the room before they could respond; two minutes later, she was back.

“If Hedy’s smart,” Viv said, “the phone is inside her. I tried it—it’s uncomfortable, but it works.”

“Good going, Viv,” Dino said, beaming at her.

“Her hands will be tied behind her back,” Viv said. “She’ll just have to relax until they reach their destination and cut her loose. Then we may get a signal. Stone, shouldn’t you think about notifying her family?”

“Jesus, I hadn’t even thought of that. Her stepfather, Arthur Steele, is a client of mine.”

“He should be notified,” Viv said. “It’s possible that they may go to him for ransom, if they find out who Hedy is.”

“How would they find out?”

“If they got her handbag, she may have the name in her passport as a person to notify. Steele is a very prominent American businessman. Casselli may even know who he is.”

Stone sighed and got out his phone. He checked his watch: it was mid-morning in New York. He pressed the button on the contact.

“Mr. Steele’s office,” a woman said.

“This is Stone Barrington. May I speak to Mr. Steele, please?”

“Hello, Stone.”

“Hello, Arthur. Have you heard from your stepdaughter recently?”

“If you mean, do I know she’s been seeing a lot of you, yes. Her mother had a note.”