Chapter 09

Marymount International School
Via di Villa Lauchli
Rome, Italy

June 2012

This, Dave Rossi thought, is what I get for going on vacation.

He had the taxi driver wait and stepped into the school office. "Buongiorno. Lei parla inglese?" He said to the secretary behind the counter.

"Buongiorno. Yes, of course." She replied.

"I'm Dave Rossi. I'm here to pick up my granddaughter, Artemis Gilchrest." He showed his passport for ID

"All right. And her mother is using a code system..."

"Yes, I'm supposed to say we're stopping for pickles on the way home."

The secretary smiled. "That's it. Just a moment." She got up and stepped through the other door into the school.

Morgan had given him a heads up to the situation when he briefed him on the case. But when he saw who came back with the secretary he was still floored. She was small for her age, slender, perfectly healthy and well-kept in her neat as a pin school uniform. She must have gotten those fine features from her mother. But those too-intelligent hazel eyes could only have some from one source. "Artemis?" Dave asked. She nodded. "I'm here to take you to your Mom. We're supposed to pick up pickles along the way." The girl nodded and gave him a fake, polite smile.

She stepped up and took his hand as she said a polite good-bye to the nuns in the office, then she practically skipped out to the taxi with him. It wasn't until the door closed that she turned to him "I don't have a grandfather." She said.

"You do now." He said, as he handed her his badge.

She took a look and beamed a smile that transformed her face and nearly stopped his heart. "He did it!" She cried out. "I knew he would help! I knew it!" Her eyes widened. "We have to go get Mom!"

"She's going to meet us at the embassy. Don't worry. You like to be called Mia, right?" Artemis, he thought, Greek goddess of the moon. Diana to the Romans.

Mia nodded. "Yes, please. Which embassy?"

"The US Embassy."

Her eyes grew wider. "Are we going home?"

"That is the plan."

"Yesss!" She was practically bouncing with happiness at that one.

"This isn't home then?"

"Noooo. Mom's always told me about going home. She said we'll be free to do what we want there."

"And you're not now?"

Mia shook her head. "No. We have to do what Mister Maupin tells us to. Mom said if we don't the bad men will come take me away."

"What do you have to do?"

"Ummm, I have to go to school, do my homework..."

"Everyone has to do that."

"When I'm not in school I can't leave the garden."

"Most kids can't leave the garden on their own."

"Not ever."

"Ever?"

Mia nodded. "The girls in my class talk about going shopping, or to see a movie, or on vacation, but we can't do those things. We just stay home all the time. Mom said we won't make Mister Maupin angry that way."

"How would he know if you went shopping or to the movies?"

"He's always watching us?"

"Always?"

Mia nodded. "With the cameras in the house."

Dave nodded. "I see. What else does he make you do?"

"He tells Balia what to cook for us and what to buy for the house and what clothes we can wear. Or what clothes Mom can wear, I think Balia picks mine. The other girls in my school get to pick out their own play clothes. But Balia picks good ones for me."

"Balia. Nanny. Do you know her name?"

Mia shrugged. "Nope. We have a new one every two or three months. I just call them all Balia. Mom says it's polite."

"It is. Does anyone else come around?"

"Father Pieto. He comes every Sunday after church to talk to Mom. He always blesses me before he goes."

"Anyone else?"

"Just Mister Maupin sometimes. Mom makes me go to our bedroom when he comes around. She always cries all night when he goes, when she thinks I'm asleep and can't hear her." For a moment little Mia looked very cold and angry. "I don't want him around anymore!"

"I don't blame you for that."

"Mom says when we go home he won't. Is that true?"

"I think we can make that happen."

She gave a sharp nod. "Good. Do they have real breakfasts in America?"

"What do you mean by real breakfasts?" Dave asked in reply. "What do you have now?"

"Mom has black coffee and fette biscottate. I have pizza and milk. Mom insisted, even when Balia says I can have coffee. Mom said in America you can get pancakes and eggs and sausage for breakfast so you're not hungry by lunch time and you can go have adventures all day."

"Yeah, we have breakfasts in America like that. We'll see about a good lunch when we get to the Embassy."

Mia beamed. "Awesome!"

They reached the back gate of the embassy compound with no incident, not even a tail. His FBI friend was waiting next to the Marine guards along with a woman. Her red curls were escaping from a conservative bun and her very modest white blouse, cardigan and full skirt made her resemble one of the many nuns in Rome. But the backpack at her feet and the fear and worry in her eyes told him that she was the one he was looking for. Mia confirmed it when she scampered out of the taxi. "Mom!" She called out, running for the woman's arms.

The woman pulled her daughter in, a smile lighting her face, revealing a pretty, elfin beauty that could easily have captivated a certain doctor. "Dr. Shannon Gilchrest?" Dave asked.

She let out a deep breath and nodded. "Yes. Are you Dave Rossi?"

He showed her his badge. "Just call me Grandpa Dave." He said with a smile meant to reassure.

He had a sense she would appreciate that later. "Spencer said you could get us to DC?"

"That's the plan. We should have a flight waiting."

"Are we going to be able to get out of here? I was followed I'm afraid." She nodded down the street.

Dave looked and saw a small knot of men watching them. One was brazen enough to openly take a picture. "Leave that to me. I know people." He smiled and ushered them into the building. "Do you need anything from the house?"

"I've got the important things." She replied, gesturing to the backpack she carried. "The rest can be replaced. No offence but the sooner we go the happier I'll be."

Dave smiled. "I've never met anyone happy to leave Rome."

"Let me be the first then. I hate it here." She said that with a calm smile but there was cool steel behind those words. "I just hope Spencer's not angry with me."

"Why would he be?" She placed a hand on her daughter's head. "Ah. No, if I know him he's going to be quite happy."

"But he missed so much..."

"But he has the rest of his life to enjoy. Come on, let's get you two home." He led them into the lobby, just as another agent came up to him. After hearing what the other agent had to say he turned to Shannon. "We might have a problem."