Chapter 10

The first thing McGee saw when he stepped out of the plane was the police waiting at the boarding terminal. He looked to the ground and tried to stay with the crowd of other passengers but both airport security and local police controlled passports and seemed to check it with a photo they had on an iPad. McGee tried to steal silently away but then he stumbled directly into a police officer.

He blinked twice, then looked from his Pad to McGee and back again and suddenly started shouting something in Italian. McGee didn't want to know what, he just started running away. He left the terminal area to the big corridors and tried to evade the people.

He could hardly see where he was running, the only thing he heard were the noises in his back, police officers grunting tourists out of the way and they all stumbled over rucksacks and luggage. McGee finally used the moving stairs while the officers took the normal way and except for turning right to the staircase, the NCIS agent turned left and away from the officers.

He ran about several corners and then opened the door right to him and closed it quickly. He leaned against it and breathed deeply. Police was running by, shouting some warnings. McGee had a look around. It seemed like a storeroom of cleaning powders, at least it smelled like a mixture of all available solutions. He stumbled out of the room again and watched out for security.

There weren't any uniformed men in sight and as fast and unobtrusive as possible, he headed for the exit of the airport. He was finally outside, in the spring-version of Italy, meaning heat and dust all over this city. He decided not to take a taxi downtown but walk because using any vehicles could easier be traced back. So he took a walk and just orientated by the street signs.

He had no idea where he actually was and since Ling was dead, he also didn't know what was actually planned after they arrived here. So he continued his eternal walk to Rome's downtown. It was much more crowded here with tourists and he could better disappear and be anonymous. He had no European money, he couldn't use his credit card and he was wanted by Italian police.

He knew it was time for him to go to the darker world of the city but he was definitely not trained for this. He knew which districts not to enter in Washington by night but how could he get there here? Mafia would be everywhere, this was what they were always told but the only definite thing he knew was that he needed to get away from sightseeing points.

How the hell was he supposed to meet Katarina or Caroline in such a big city where he felt and was completely lost right now?

"McGee was on the plane but Ling wasn't," Caroline said when she ended her phone call. Both sisters were back in Italy and right now in a small hotel room somewhere outside the city.

"What?" Katarina asked and looked up from her laptop.

"I don't know what happened," the older sister said and shrugged her shoulders.

"I'm gonna search McGee," she answered and stood up.

"God, do you know how many cops are looking for him already?"

"I can watch myself," Katarina said nerved and pushed her sister out of the way.

"Why? Because you still love Ling?" Caroline asked and tried to read anything in her eyes.

"Of course I do," Katarina hissed back and went over to grab the room key.

"And what do you think you'll do when you encounter McGee? We have no idea where Tony is and the only one who could find out was Ling. She had the connections to Mossad."

"Isn't it already bad enough that we used her to act against her nation?"

"Since when are you interested in someone's national feeling, by the way, she was Chinese."

"She grew up in Israel!" Katarina answered back and shut the door behind her, leaving Caroline alone in the room. She looked at the door until she noticed Scarlet beneath her. "Hey, what's up?" she asked smilingly in Italian and kneed down to her daughter.

"Are you having a fight again?" she asked with a worried face.

"Oh, I wouldn't call it a fight, we have different opinions." Caroline fondled her little daughter's dark brown hair. She looked so much like Yassen, her eyes were exactly his.

"Mummy, when will we go home?"

"Oh, soon, my dear. Then we go back to Potenza, okay?" Caroline said but Scarlet still stood waiting in front of her. Caroline sighed and helped her daughter on the bed. "Listen, Scarlet, there is this man I met. And although we should actually not become friends, he is very important for me. And this man has problems right now," she tried to explain the current situation.

"Is he in danger?" she asked directly, showing that she indeed understood what was going on.

Caroline nodded sadly. "A few bad men brought him here to Italy against his wish. Now, his best working colleague came here to help his best friend. But he can't do this alone. So Katarina and I have to help."

Scarlet nodded silently, "I want to know more."

Her mother laughed shortly and hugged her. "How can you help?"

"Do you remember that your aunt had a girlfriend, Cui? She has the means to find out where this man, Tony, is. But right now, only Tony's friend Tim arrived here in Rome and we can't find Cui."

"Is that why Katarina was angry?"

Caroline nodded.

"This Tony…is he Italian?"

"Yes, but he lives in America."

"Do you like him because he's Italian?"

Caroline was speechless by her little's daughter answer. "Listen…" she started but didn't know what to say or how to explain it. "I don't think that you should yet think about such things…you still have all the time in the world," she whispered in Scarlet's ear and hugged her again deeply, thinking that she was the best that could have ever happened to her and how much she actually missed Yassen.

Not knowing why she was so angry, Katarina left the 'hotel', rather a ruin and walked down the street. She covered her face with a scarf for not aspirating all the dust and smog of this district. This was more her home than always being on the run with her sister in America, she wanted to stay here and live her own life, meet who she wanted to meet and be free from all those concerns about relationship.

She wanted to forget Edoardo but she knew that she could never do so. It already seemed as if they were haunted, she and Edoardo, her sister and Yassen, and now probably Ling. She was so lost in thoughts that she nearly ran into a shadow. When she looked up, her mouth dropped open and so did the one of the man opposite to her.

"McGee?" she asked in surprise.

"Katarina…I was looking for you," McGee answered and tried to remember why he was there.

"What happened to Ling? All I heard is that she wasn't on the plane?" she wanted to know curiously, already expecting the worst.

"We…we were nearly caught by intelligence service agents, she…I'm sorry, Katarina, she…died…"

Katarina quickly looked to the ground, she hesitated but caught herself and asked: "How?"

McGee sighed, still a bit confused about everything that has happened, "she got shot. There was nothing I could do for her…but she asked me to give you these." He handed her over the two USB-sticks, she took them and dropped them into her trousers' pocket.

Katarina didn't answer and if McGee didn't know it better, he would have thought to recognize a silent tear shimmering on her cheek.

"She also told me…that I should tell you that…she loved you and regretted splitting up with you," McGee added, hoping to find out an explanation for this message.

Katarina looked up with a surprised face. She wiped the tear from her cheek. "What?"

"I hoped you'd know what it meant…?" McGee asked and raised his eyebrows.

Katarina nodded slowly, "she and I were lovers…"

"Lovers?"

"Before I met Edoardo, we've been together for over a year. She's a Mossad agent and I've been hired by the agency for…not very legal affiliations. I met Ling by chance, actually, I had had the objective to kill her work partner at Mossad but we fell for each other immediately, so I killed my client. She helped me to not been hunted by Israeli cops and I got protection from Mossad and even did some dirty work for them. Finally, she split up with me because she had found someone else and I had to flee again, back to Italy. There I met Edoardo little while later," she explained and sighed deeply.

"Edoardo…was the man you wanted to marry?" McGee asked because Tony had only talked little about what he knew about the sisters.

"Yes…but right now, it is more important to find Tony. The plan was that Ling contacted her friends at Mossad and find out where they had brought Tony but we can forget this."

"Then what shall we do now?" McGee asked feeling the heat of Italy on his skin. Has he come all the way for nothing.

"Then it's time for plan B," Katarina answered with a short smile and he followed her back to the hotel ruin.