On the Run

9 - Predator Becomes Prey

The trio had been on the road for almost an hour; the car sped down the quiet road buried within the captivating Italian country side. They passed a small farmhouse every five minutes or so, but aside from that, they were pretty much alone, which is what they'd preferred.

The soft hums of someone singing on the radio emanated into the warm interior of Daniela's car. The tense thick atmosphere was still lingering over them, but none of them bothered to acknowledge it; doing that would only bring their morale down and they needed to stay focused and concentrated. Mia knew that losing focus for even just a split second could be the difference between life and death.

"So," Daniela said, breaking the silence, "what do you think we'll find in Craco?"

Mia thought about it for a moment. She honestly didn't know what to expect to find, but she knew that whatever it was had to be big and dangerous.

"I don't know," Mia said truthfully, "but once there we need to find out what Project Vindicta is and why Lorenzo's fratello was on a list. There's a connection there, but I'm not sure what it means."

"What do we do once we find out what exactly the progetto is?" Lorenzo piped up from the back seat. 

"We put a stop to it, obviously. But first we'll need to go in undercover to get a first-hand look," Mia explained, glancing back to Lorenzo. She could see that he had eased up a slight bit, but she could also still see the small flashes of worry that kept pulsing in his eyes. 

"Well we're in fortuna there," Daniela said, "because I know someone with experience in creating fake identities for situations like this." 

Mia turned over to Daniela and got a sense of genuineness from her; she was telling the truth, which helped in her case of trusting her more. "Eccellente, organise a meet-up with this contact of yours," the spy said, deciding to give Daniela a small bit of her own trust in return. 

 "Where will I say to meet?" Daniela asked as she returned her full focus back to the road ahead. They were starting to come into view of a small village ahead, about twenty miles away from them. It looked like the perfect place to lose the authorities that were after them. 

"Palazzo dei Poeti," Mia told her. She placed her feet on the dashboard, not paying attention to Daniela's glares and muttering about how she'll dirty her car like that. 

"What happens if we find my brother first?" Lorenzo spoke up again. 

"You're going to be our getaway driver. If we find him, we'll send him to you and you'll drive him to an off the grid location then you'll come back for us," Mia explained, once again glancing back to Lorenzo. 

"That's a very dangerous plan, Mia," Daniela stated, her voice obvious with a distaste for the plan. 

"We're doing it, Daniela," Mia said firmly, keeping her head forward. 

Daniela shook her head in clear disagreement. But she didn't say anymore about it, not wanting to make more enemies than they already had because they all knew that they only had each other from here on out until they brought down Orabella and Project Vindicta. Tense silence once again fell over them as they neared closer and closer to the village. 

 *

 Daniela drove the car into the small village of Caprarico. It was a quaint village with an essence of olden times. They noticed a market up ahead and Mia directed Daniela to it, her eyes scanning for anything that would strike up any major flags. 

The sky was still clear as it had been earlier, but the cold was still present and as vicious, nipping at their skin even from inside the car. The market itself was busy, the merry sounds of people shouting and advertising whatever items they were trying to sell off to the various townspeople and tourists. A mixture of delectable smells floated into Daniela's car, making them all hungry. Caprarico truly seemed like a hidden gem that only a lucky few knew about.