Special Agent Daniel Thompson stepped off the plane in Rome. He marveled at how modern the city was, despite being built more than two thousand years prior. The area around the airport was busy; people were bustling everywhere. As he walked outside, he put on his sunglasses, strapped the carry-on bag over his shoulder, and went in search of the private car that was supposed to be waiting.
Thompson had been placed on the case a few months prior. When he first heard about it, he thought it was a joke or maybe he was being punished—or worse yet—demoted. After all, black market importation of olive oil didn’t seem like that big of a deal. However, as he learned what was really going on, he was astounded by the actions taken to mass-produce the stuff. He was surprised to learn that in the late ’90s olive oil was the most tampered agricultural substance in the European Union, and only sixty-nine percent of the olive oil imported into the United States actually met the FDA’s approval rating. The oils that didn’t meet standards were often doctored with various seed and hazelnut oil. Even well-known oil production companies had been victims, causing their products to not meet standards. This was a billion-dollar industry making the Italian mobs very wealthy while providing consumers with a less-than-healthy product.
He was supposed to team up with members from the Guardia di Finanza, who were also working on the case. He was investigating from the United States; he searched for the exact location of the warehouse the olive oil was supposedly being shipped to. However, his assignment was recently changed when one of the agents and his family were killed—presumably by the cartel. The Guardia di Finanza had performed forensics on the bodies found in the house, only to find one of the sons was not identified. Massimo Bertalucci was thought to have somehow escaped. Since his family had been working with the Guardia di Finanza, and training agents how to decipher between pure and tampered olive oil, it was believed that Massimo Bertalucci was in grave danger. They needed to find him before the cartel did.
Recently, Italian authorities found videos of what was presumably Bertalucci traveling through various train stations throughout the country. If it was in fact him, Bertalucci had disguised himself, and was now traveling with an American woman identified as Katherine Anderson, a well-known food critic and heiress to the Anderson Empire, consisting of over one hundred high-end restaurants up and down the eastern seaboard. While the Anderson family had no inkling Katherine was in trouble, if the cartel found out who she was, they would certainly attempt to milk her family for all they were worth. Thompson had to get to her before they did.
He located the private car waiting for him. Inside, he came face to face with Agent Andreo Manchetti. They had been working together for several months via phone and online conferences. Thankfully, Manchetti spoke perfect English, making it easy for him to work with. Manchetti was the one who informed him about Katherine Anderson potentially being in harm’s way. He didn’t know anything about the relationship between her and Massimo Bertalucci, or how they even met. Their concern was that somehow Bertalucci might have gotten caught up with the cartel, thus explaining why his family was murdered, and perhaps, he was bringing Ms. Anderson to the cartel as payment.
“Glad to finally meet you in person. How was your flight?” Manchetti produced his hand and Thompson eagerly shook it.
“Surprisingly, it wasn’t too bad. It will be difficult to get used to this time change though.”
“I trust you slept on your flight?”
“I was able to get a couple of hours in.”
“Good because it’s going to be a long day. Let me brief you on what’s happened since you left New York.”
“Excellent.” Thompson produced a pad of paper and pen from his bag in order to take notes.
“Ms. Anderson checked out of her hotel in Florence today, and we had an agent follow her to the station where she then took a train to Siena. At that point, Ms. Anderson rendezvoused with who we presume to be Bertalucci. After that, our agent lost them. We know they took off in a cab, but we were unable to follow. We did find a three-day reservation for Ms. Anderson at the Hotel Athena. That will give us time to keep surveillance on the hotel, and learn her connection to Bertalucci.”
“I appreciate your efforts on locating Ms. Anderson. Although I don’t like the idea of waiting to find out her relationship with Bertalucci. I think we should just bring her in and question her. I don’t want to take a chance by using her as bait. If something goes wrong and she’s placed in the hands of the cartel, there could be very serious consequences—none of which I’m prepared to deal with.”
“I understand your concern, and her safety is a priority for us as well. My men are staking out the hotel as we speak, where they’ll place a tracking device in her bag. That way, we can locate her at all times, even if she somehow gets in the wrong hands.”
“I don’t know. It sounds a bit risky. I think it would be wise to get her back to the States as soon as possible.”
“We don’t know what part she plays in this. We don’t know how or why she’s involved with Bertalucci. We need to at least be able to watch her for a couple of days to make sure she isn’t involved with the cartel.”
“I disagree. We have no evidence to suggest she’s had any interaction with the cartel or Bertalucci. She’s an innocent bystander in all this. From what we’ve learned, she’s had this trip planned for several months. In addition, according to the research I’ve done, she’s supposed to be here with her ex-fiancé. Ms. Anderson has airfare and train tickets purchased for him. However, he didn’t come with her. But even still, these aren’t the actions of someone who’s conspiring with the mafia.”
“Yes, I suppose you’re right. Perhaps she doesn’t know what’s going on. Regardless, we need to let this unfold a little more before removing her from the situation.”
“Fine, I’ll go along with your plan, but only for two days. Then I’m taking her on the next plane back to America.”
“Agreed.”
Thompson rubbed his nose and eyes, trying to wipe away the fatigue. His body was stuck on east coast time where it was the middle of the night. His brain was moving at Mach speed processing all the information he’d learned so far. “I’m very interested to find out how she got mixed up with Bertalucci.”
“I am as well.”
He looked out the window as they drove through what was considered the suburbs of Rome. “How far to Siena?”
“The driver is taking us to the train station and the train trip is approximately three hours. In the meantime, I’ve prepared a folder for you to get caught up on the case.”
Thompson reviewed the contents of the folder. He studied the pictures of the Bertalucci family, including Massimo and his brother, Paolo, the agent who was working on the case. The clan stood arm in arm smiling for a family picture; they looked like the average close-knit Italian family. If he didn’t know better, he would think they were posing for a magazine cover. People didn’t look this happy in real life.
He couldn’t imagine Massimo allowing his family to be killed. Something else must be going on. If he was innocent, why didn’t he go to the police? Surely he knew who he could trust. His brother was an agent, so surely they had conversations. The fact that Bertalucci was on the lam, made him appear guilty. This man could be dangerous and Thompson needed to get Katherine away from him.