“Go!” Sean snapped at Tommy.
The two Americans turned to their right and sprinted out of the corridor toward the exit. They reached the entrance to the locker room and turned back the way they’d come, heading toward the main lobby of the Stazione Termini. Ahead of them, hundreds of people began pouring onto the floor, exiting a train that had just arrived.
“Head into the crowd,” Sean ordered, pointing at the throng of people. A few seconds later, they blended into the mob of travelers in the vast terminal.
“Where are we going?” Tommy asked as they slowed their movements to better blend in with the crowd.
“Not sure yet. But we know who we need to meet.”
Chapter 19
Sean and Tommy’s driver was waiting within view of the exit when they left the building. So far, the guy was two for two with his timing. Sean hoped Carl didn’t have to bat again. In his previous line of work, he knew it was far better to handle things himself rather than rely on other people. Too many cooks in the kitchen led to mistakes. Mistakes led to big problems.
The two friends slid into the vehicle, and Carl pounded the gas, zipping the car back into traffic before thinking about where they were headed. Sean liked the guy’s style.
“Any trouble getting what you were looking for?” the man behind the wheel asked.
“A little,” Sean said, watching the lines of people and cars flash by in a blur. “Nothing we couldn’t handle.”
“Yeah,” Tommy interjected. “Where did you get that thing, anyway?”
Sean smiled mischievously and gave his old friend a wink. “A buddy of mine from DARPA sent that over a while back. Thought I would think they were cool.” He produced another metallic disc from a modified notch on the inside of his belt and handed it to Tommy.
Tommy palmed the device and eyed it carefully. “How does it work?”
“You press it like a button. It can be timed up to six seconds. Press it once for every second.” Sean continued to stare out the window. “I didn’t think I’d ever need to use them in the field, but when Yarbrough told me who he was and who he worked for, I thought I might bring a few with me just in case.”
Tommy passed the disc back to his friend after another minute of curious examination. “Well, it’s a good thing you did. Handy little diversions, those things. Couldn’t your buddy with DARPA get in big trouble for passing out government-funded toys like that?”
Sean nodded. “Probably. But it’s more like field research for him. Little things like that won’t send up a bunch of red flags if they go missing. Besides, he probably built them in his own workshop or somewhere off the clock.”
Something occurred to Sean as the car weaved through the busy city streets, zooming by pedestrians and other vehicles. They didn’t know where they were going. He pulled out his phone, opened the Google Maps app, and typed in the name he’d seen on the bottom of the bag. Sean’s memory was something that had served him well over the years. It wasn’t quite to the level of most who had an eidetic ability, but it was close. After a few seconds, the server brought back several search results, more than Sean had expected. He scanned through a few before deciding there would be a faster way to get the man’s address.
He closed the application and pulled up the text messaging app and then typed a short message to Emily. Finding someone’s address online could be easy or difficult. They didn’t have time to drive around Rome on a wild goose chase to figure out where Vincenzo Cagliari lived.
Sean looked back through the rear window. No suspicious vehicles were in pursuit. He took a deep breath and calmed his nerves for a second. “Just keep driving away from the station,” he said to the driver, doing his best to keep the tension out of his voice.
“Who were those tree trunks back in the locker area?”
For a second, Sean didn’t answer. His thoughts were on Adriana. He knew they had probably been the men who had taken her. The thought sent a chill down his spine and raised the hairs on his arms. “I’m guessing they work for the man who has Adriana.”
Tommy didn’t respond for a moment. “Dimitris Gikas?”
Sean nodded but remained silent. He didn’t want to talk about that stuff right now. At the moment, all that matter was finding the relic the Greek wanted so badly. Then Sean would consider that situation.
The driver carefully guided the car through the mayhem of Roman traffic and the haze of exhaust that lingered over the streets. In a matter of a few minutes, the mobs of people and vehicles began to thin as the driver pushed farther away from the train station. Outside, the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore passed by. Its matching blue domes and the crucifix-topped obelisk made it an easily recognizable historical landmark. Sean knew the Diocletian Baths were nearby as well, another ancient place of significance. The thoughts on local history distracted him until his phone vibrated.
He saw Emily’s name appear on the screen and quickly entered the lock code to access the text. She had not only given him the location he needed, but a short history on the name of the man they were looking for.
“Head toward Piazza Navona,” Sean said to the driver.
Tommy gave a quizzical look. “You wanting to see the Pantheon?”
“That’s where Cagliari lives.”
“Must have a lot of money, that guy,” the driver commented as he turned the car down a side street. “Navona is an expensive place to live.”
Sean scanned over the text from Emily again to make sure he got all the details right. “Vincenzo Cagliari was a professor at the world renowned Sapienza University of Rome. Seems he is one of the foremost experts on Julius Caesar.”
Tommy’s face wrinkled. “You said he was a professor. Not anymore?”
“He retired. The guy is in his seventies. I’d say after a lifetime of working in the field he probably deserves a little rest and relaxation.”
Tommy laughed louder than he’d intended and shook his head. “Well, if rest and relaxation was what he wanted, he’s sure as heck not going to want to meet us.”
Sean’s eyes squinted slightly as he nodded. “Good point,” he said, acknowledging his friend’s funny quip. “Still, we’re going to have to risk ruining the old guy’s retirement, at least for a day. If Adriana wrote his name on that bag in hopes we’d find him, it must mean that he knows something we need to know.”
“Or maybe she left something with him,” the driver interjected. The two passengers looked at him then back at each other. For a second Carl felt like he’d overstepped his bounds.
“Exactly,” Sean agreed, easing the man’s nerves. “Let’s just hope the men from the train station don’t figure out where we’re headed.”
“They didn’t strike me as the clever type,” Tommy noted.
Sean peered straight ahead. “Don’t be too quick to judge. Those men were good enough to figure out where we were headed and when we would be there. If they can do that, they might be able to figure out our next move.”
“So what do we do? Try to throw them off the trail? Go to some decoy spots?”
“We don’t have time for that kind of stuff, although I do like the idea.” Sean thought about it for a few seconds. “No, we just have to move faster and stay one step ahead of them.”
Carl swerved the vehicle past a fruit truck and back into the lane, narrowly missing an oncoming Fiat. “And what if they do figure out where we’re going?” Tommy asked, grabbing onto the hand grip above the window to brace himself.
“I don’t know. I guess we’ll just have to figure out a plan when we get there.”