Val swallowed hard.
"You came with a driver?" Luca asked.
"Yes…" Val nodded frantically.
"You go home, get ready and leave for Italy as planned. Alright?"
"I cannot…" Valentina argued, her voice shaking. She saw beneath the stillness, Luca was afraid.
"I assure you," he said, each word steady, "I will have your sister back to you. I need you to trust me on this. Go home."
Val's lips trembled. She should have argued but she knew she was only going to get in the way. Vee was her sister, she could not just walk away and leave. But she had to. They both knew that. She nodded, tears sliding down her cheeks.
Luca turned and walked into the mall with his phone in hand, the tracker app still open on the screen.
The dot had not moved. That was what troubled him most. If Veronica still had the necklace on her, the signal should have been moving with her. But the dot remained fixed.
