I’d been a fool to think Blake Security had no idea where I was.

When I stepped outside the apartment I’d rented in Italy a few days after I followed up with Matthias about Pietro Luca, I found Weller and his partner Mueller leaning against a gray SUV.

When I stuttered to a stop, that earned me a rare smirk from Matthias. “Did you really think I couldn’t track you through an unsecured line? You watch too many spy movies.”

Mueller chuckled. “I love spy moves. Don’t you think The Bourne Identity is the best spy movie ever made?”

Weller glared at him. “Stop it. No one has time to even begin to tell you why that’s not true. We need to get on the road.” Weller shook his head. “Besides, everyone knows it’s La Femme Nikita.”

Mueller roiled his eyes. “Are you insane? Did you see those fight scenes?”

The two of them bickered as I stared at the pair of them.

Weller cocked his head. “Well are you getting in the car or not? If you want to find a needle in a haystack, we all have to be looking. Get in.”

I wanted to refuse, but I didn’t really have any choice. The name of the contact Matthias had located was Mario Tulley. He lived on the outskirts of the city. Oskar drove and took the corners at a pace so alarming I had to hold on to the bar.

“Why are you helping me again?” I asked Weller.

He shrugged. “Because if I don’t, you’ll get yourself killed.”

Oskar grinned. “And me and the kid are pretty much a package deal, so you get two for the price of one.”

I considered that Sebastian might be on to me. But whether Sebastian had sent him or not, my brother was letting my plan play out, so I’d take the help. Besides, beggars couldn’t be choosers.

The Italians drove like maniacs, but it seemed like the big German enjoyed the craziness of it. I mostly held on for dear life in the back, trying not to throw up. Weller, while a lot calmer about it, still looked green around the gills. The German stayed in the car when we arrived, and Matthias got out and was waiting on the curb as I approached the house. I hadn’t anticipated the babysitting, but in a way, I was glad for it considering the bridges I was attempting to burn to the ground. I figured it might be good to have some back up.

I knocked on the door, and an elderly woman answered. She was tiny, with a full shock of white hair, and she was wearing an apron over a simple gray dress. “Ciao.”

I responded in Italian and then asked if she spoke English.

She shook her head and patted my hand as if telling me to wait. Then she called back for someone.

An older gentleman, taller than her, but not nearly as tall as me came around. “Yes, how can I help you?”

Was this him? “Hello. I’m looking for a Mario Tulley?”

He patted his chest. “I am Mario. Do I know you?”

“No. I was hoping to speak with you about someone you knew a long time ago if possible.”

He nodded and put up his finger then grabbed his hat and a light jacket. The spring weather in Rome hadn’t gotten quite warm yet, but there was a promise of warmth in the air. “We’ll walk.”

“Yeah, okay.” Weller followed not too far behind as we took a trail right down near what looked like vineyards.

“We don’t have many visitors. If you would like, when we return, my wife will make us some wine and food.”

“Oh, that’s appreciated, but I’m in a bit of a hurry. I was hoping you could tell me about Pietro Luca.”

He stopped and stared at me. “Why are you asking?”

“Well, from my understanding, he’s my father. I’ve never known him. My mother only recently gave me his name.”

He rubbed his jaw. “Oh yes, I remember that one. Addie? Adele, I think?”

I nodded. “Yeah, that’s her.”

“You look like her around the eyes.”

I pursed my lips. Any resemblance to my mother wasn’t particularly welcome right now. “I’ve heard that.”

The old man shuffled some of the larger rocks on the path aside. “I will say that you don’t look anything like Pietro though.”

“Maybe, maybe not, but I do need to speak with him. Do you have any idea where he might be?”

“I only tell you this because I haven’t seen my friend in many years. I always wondered what happened to him. So once you locate him, please tell me where he is as well.”

“Sure, you got it.”

The old man rubbed his jaw again as he was trying to decide what to tell me exactly. “Years ago, he had a girlfriend. An actress, or something, I think. But then she had a child and went back to America with that child. She told him he wasn’t the father. He was never allowed to see the baby again. I think that broke his heart. He never recovered.

“Once his parents died, he moved away. He left the country and lived in Spain and then the South of France. Near Nice, Antibes maybe? His mother was French. I don’t know what happened to him after that. But his family home, if I remember correctly, is still in the city.”

“If you have an address you could share, you would be doing me a huge favor. I just want to speak to him. I’m finally unraveling the mystery after all these years.”

He nodded sagely. “It’s good that you uncovered the truth. Those people that came for him when he was looking for you and told him to stop searching scared him.”

My brows snapped down. “What people?”

He shrugged. “It was so long ago. I assumed your mother had brothers or other relatives who didn’t want a poor man without two pennies to rub together to stall their sister’s growth or something. I always assumed there was a situation like that. Something that prevented them from being together.” He stopped and put a hand on my arm. “There was one time, we were both coming home from work. We worked in a factory, you see. And out of nowhere, someone robbed us. They took our IDs and everything else we had on us. But then they said to him, ‘Stay away from the girl.’ I thought she had a boyfriend or something. But he said it wasn’t anything like that. And then he told me that they had come to him before.”

“Do you remember anything else?”

“I’m sorry. No. It’s all I remember. It was a long time ago, but you could maybe start with his family home. You’ll find him.”

It looked like I was getting a hell of a lot more traveling in.