Kidnapped and a Daring Escape (42 page)

    
Back at the
pensione
, Maria corners her immediately, informing her
of André’s phone call, lamenting the injustice being done to him. Bianca
asks her to repeat exactly what André said. It is then that she learns about
his request to remove her computer and her share of the money from his
case. But it’s his computer, not mine. Mine is in my suitcase. Suddenly
she knows what he means. It’s his stuff he wants removed. He doesn’t
want it left in his case, should the police come by and search. They may
want to take everything of his along for checking. He put it that way
since his call was probably monitored.

    
Then another idea strikes her. It may be wise to hide his computer and
most of the US bills somewhere else. Then if the police want to see it,
she can show them hers and the twenty or so US bills she plans to keep
in her room. She asks Maria, and the latter offers to keep the two things
in their safe. At the last moment she also searches for the list of
telephone calls Franco made at the Cipriano and failed to pay. She hides
it among her own papers.

    
It is mid-afternoon and she has not eaten anything since breakfast. She
tells Maria that she will briefly step out to get something to eat. The
woman insists on offering her a cold lunch. She is finishing the prosciuto
sandwich, when two policemen arrive. They ask her to accompany them
to her room and hand over André’s belongings. They briefly rifle through
the case and remove any papers and written material. They check all
walls of the empty case. "Nothing hidden here," one comments to the
other. They even check through her things and then asked her to power
up the computer she has purposely left on the table. One of the guys
scrolls through her directory. He opens her e-mail files and briefly checks
through ‘Sent items’ and ‘Old mail’. He opens a couple and then gives
up, shaking his head. Finally one of them asks about the money. So
André’s conversation was noted down in detail. She shows him the small
wad of twenty-dollar bills.

    
"Is that all?" he questions.

    
"Yes."

    
He hands them back. They leave with André’s papers. She hopes there
is nothing indiscriminating in them and cleans up.

    
For a while she simply looks out the window, not really registering
what she sees, her mind wallowing in hatred for Franco. She has no more
doubt that Franco made the
denuncia
, rather than her father. There is one
thing she knows about her father. He doesn’t act in an underhanded way.
He is too proud and too sure of being right when he takes action. He
would have confronted André directly, nor does he yet know the full
story of her kidnapping. Only Franco knows some of it, but not the
rescue. He even received a phone call from ‘
la bête
’ the day after,
probably telling him that she was taken hostage, she reminds herself.

   
André’s words echo in her mind, words that being frightened will
not change a thing, that she must focus on the future. This equally well
applies to hatred, she reflects. Hating will only sap her energy. She
shakes her head and focuses on what she has to do next. She can do no
more today to help André, but she can front up to her father, even if the
very prospect makes her feel sick. She also needs to retrieve additional
things from home — she still sees it as home — including the car her
father gave her for her twenty-first birthday. She has no qualms keeping
it. It is registered in her name. And there are her books and the material
for her report on the archaeology tour she prepared before the trip. She
isn’t going to give Franco any additional power over her by applying for
a dispensation from the assignment. It counts for fifty percent of the
grade in his course. She will do her best on the parts she can.

* * *
 

Going by underground and bus is a two-hour trip, not something she
cherishes. She calls Gabriela’s cell phone, but her sister does not take the
call. She finally calls the mansion and asks on the whereabouts of
Antonio. He is grooming the Mercedes, Simone, the butler, tells her.
Admiring anything British, her father actually has a butler. Antonio has
no other duties to attend at the moment and agrees to pick her up.

    
While she waits for Antonio to arrive, it suddenly occurs to her that
she should let André’s parents know that he was arrested, but she does
not have their phone number, nor their address. She doesn’t even
remember the name of the village they live in. Maybe the address label
attached to his suitcase may have it. It does, including the phone number.

    
She calls. A soft woman’s voice answers in French. She likes its
sound and replies in Italian. It is André’s mother. Bianca blurts out what
happened. André’s mother listens without interrupting her. At the end she
says: "Bianca, don’t despair. André is strong. He will come out of this
unscathed. Right now, you need patience and let the lawyer do his work.
Do you have somebody to support you? Your parents?"

    
"No, my parents are no help. They are not on my side. My sister is the
only one." She surprises herself to be so open to that woman she has
never met, but her voice inspires confidence.

    
"That is sad. Would you like me to come for a few days?"

    
"Could you?"

    
"Yes, I think I can manage."

    
Bianca ponders that for a moment. It is tempting to have his mother
with her, but maybe it is too early. She says so.

    
"If you change your mind, Bianca, let me know, will you?"

    
"Yes, I will. Thank you. André always talked fondly of you."

    
"We are close, he and I. Just one other thing. Has the Swiss Embassy
in Rome been notified of his arrest? They might be willing to help."

    
"No, but I will do that. Thank you."

* * *

She mentally prepares herself for what she is going to tell her father, even
rehearses some sentences to make sure that what she says is exactly what
she intends, so that she won’t trip herself up in the heat of the exchange.

    
It is shortly after five in the afternoon when Antonio drives up to the
gates of her parents’ mansion and opens them with the remote. The
terrace is empty, but with a shudder she sees in her mind the many people
who were there, holding champagne glasses, waiting for her arrival.

    
"
Signorina
, will you need me again to return to the city?" Antonio
questions.

    
"No, thank you. I will take my own car."

    
"I had it serviced. It has a full tank."

    
"Oh, thank you, Antonio. You are always so thoughtful. I will miss
you."

    
"So your are leaving us?"

    
"Yes."

    
"I must say, I don’t blame you."

    
"Thank you, Antonio." She goes to him and kisses his wrinkled cheek.

    
Simone meets her in the hallway. "Shall I announce you to
la
padrona
," he asks after greeting her.

    
"No, thank you. I will be in my room. If my father comes before I’m
down again, I would appreciate if you called me."

    
"Certainly,
signorina
."

    
It is strange being back to her room, the room she has occupied since
her teenage years. It does not feel like coming home, as it did when she
returned from previous trips abroad or a visit to her grandparents on Elba.
She looks at the big poster of Raoul Bova, her favorite actor. It makes her
wonder what she ever saw in that man. He looks superficial compared to
André. Some of her knickknacks strike her as childish. Her eyes come to
rest on the delicately crafted golden photo frame. It carries Franco’s
picture. His dignified smile seems forced, even false to her. She rips the
picture out and tears it up. But she is going to take the frame along. It is
a present from her maternal grandmother.

    
She is just about to go and search for other photographs of Franco,
when she reminds herself that she came to pack some things she needs,
not to wallow in the past. She takes her other Louis Vuitton suitcase from
a hidden closet and searches through her wardrobe for suitable clothes for
everyday use. She selects her newest underwear and stockings, three pairs
of shoes, toiletries, perfumes, some of her jewelry, manicure items, her
second pair of sunglasses, and finally all her current university papers
and books she may need. She barely manages to close the suitcase and
struggles to carry it down to her car in the garage. She could have called
the butler to have it taken down, but does not want to bother. Back in her
room she puts other items into her handbag, including her old prepay cell
phone.

    
She scans the room one final time to see whether she has forgotten
anything that she may need. Suddenly, her mother bursts into the room.

    
"Ah, finally you have come to your senses and have returned home. It
is high time. I hope that Franco is willing to overlook your shameful
behavior the other day and take you back. He has been very kind and
conciliatory to me."

    
"
Buona sera
, mamma," Bianca manages to say when her mother takes
a breath before she continues rattling on.

    
"But it will take more than simply an apology before I will forgive
you. You embarrassed the whole family and you embarrassed me
particularly in front of the Viscontis that I will hardly ever be able to face
them again. Kind and generous Franco has assured me that they will not
hold it against me."

    
Bianca knows that once her mother gets going, there is no way to stop
her, except by shocking her. So she interrupts her in the middle of her
stream. "I have broken the engagement with Franco. It is finished. I will
not marry him. If I still had the engagement ring, I would throw it at his
feet."

    
Her mother’s mouth remains open for several seconds. Then she
screams: "You will be the death of me, you ungrateful child." She
spreads a hand to her bosom, staggers to a chair and slumps down.

    
Bianca knows that as long as her mother is capable of screaming, she
is in no physical danger. It is then simply hysterics.

    
Her mother catches her breath again. "This is how you repay us for all
our generosity and kindness we have showered on you. Humiliating us
in front of the world. This episode has affected your sanity or else you
would not behave so shamefully. I will demand that Dr. Zanni certifies
you and sends you to a clinic until you are right again. And then you will
obey and do exactly as your parents tell you to."

    
"Mamma," Bianca cuts in again, "I have packed things I may need in
the near future and I will leave this house. I will get more things later on.
I will no longer live here."

    
"You cannot. I will not allow it. I will have Simone lock you into this
room until Dr. Zanni arrives."

    
Bianca picks up her handbag and walks to the door. With surprising
agility, her mother rushes up from the chair, rips the bag from her hand
and slaps her face, shouting: "You slut, you slut, I will teach you."

    
It stings. Within a second her cheek flames hot. Before her mother
manages to hit her again, Bianca gives her a light push. The woman loses
her balance on her stiletto heels and falls onto the bed. Bianca picks up
the handbag and leaves the room, closing the door behind her. She is
almost at the bottom of the wide staircase to the entrance hall when her
mother totters down the corridor, shouting: "Hold her, don’t let her get
away, hold her."

    
Her father stands at the bottom of the stairs. His face leaves no doubt
that he is irate. "What is all that row about," he bellows in turn. "Behave
yourself, both of you. I will not tolerate such behavior in my house."

    
"She pushed me over, she pushed me over," her mother continues
ranting at full voice.

    
"Did you?" her father thunders.

    
"
Buona sera
, papà. Yes, she hit me and I pushed her away." This isn’t
the way she has planned to initiate her talk with her father.