Page 72 of The Roman's Woman (A Singular Obsession)

Was that a tire track?

The hard packed road didn’t reveal much, but the dirt on the shoulder did have a tire impression and it appeared to be a recent one. Running across the grass to the other side, he looked for more tracks. There were some but they were all on top of each other, and they weren’t as defined as the set on the left side of the fork.

But what if he was wrong?Fuck, fuck, fuck. Breathe.

He had to calm down and act rationally. Bringing up his phone, he texted Enzo, telling him to send people down the right path as soon as they caught up. He needed a plan B in case he was making a mistake. The phone still had no bars, but he might drive close enough to a cell tower long enough for the message to go through.

Sprinting back to the car, he climbed behind the wheel and sped down the left road.

Please, God, don’t let me be too late.

Chapter 26

They had stopped. Outside, a car door slammed and Sophia heard Richard climb out and start walking around.

“Richard, please! Think about what you’re doing. You have to let me out of here!”

Except for footsteps, there was silence.

“I won’t tell anyone what you did, I promise! Just let me out of here.”

That finally caught his attention. “I don’t believe you.” His voice was low, a little above a whisper and it was coming from right above her.

“I swear on my father’s grave,” she said, flinching at the lie. “No one has to know.”

He didn’t answer for a long time. “You should have taken me back. Everything would have been fine. You would have done what I said. You always did what I said.”

His voice was monotonic and distant. She could picture him standing out there with his hands on the lid, looking down on her the way he always had.

“You have to let me out of here. People know I went to see you and why.”

“By that I guess you mean the Italian. Kelly, too. Doesn’t matter,” he said in the same remote tone. “I have a plan.”

This was bad. He was starting to disassociate, justifying his actions and planning his next steps after he got rid of her.

“Whatever it is, it won’t work,” she said, raising her voice, refusing to accept that her situation was going from bad to worse.

“It will work!” Richard yelled, hitting the lid for emphasis. “I’m going away for a while. I’ll tell the University someone died. When I come back, I’ll have a paper trail proving that research is mine. If anyone comes looking for you, I’ll show them my evidence and tell them you saw it. You even apologized for suspecting me of doing anything wrong. And then you drove off to meet your billionaire boyfriend. I have no idea what happened to you after that. Maybe his crazy ex-wife did something to you. You were complaining about her to me while we shared a convivial cup of tea.”

Holy fuck. That sounded totally plausible. “No one will believe that, least of all Gio. He’ll never stop looking for me. He’s probably searching for me right now.”

The words were out before she could think about them, but she instantly knew they were true. Gio loved her and he would move heaven and earth to find her.

There was no response. More footsteps sounded and the car door creaked. Then there was movement and a splash.

“What are you doing, Richard?” she asked in a panic.

The only noise was the sound of water. In less than a minute it was seeping in from underneath her.Oh, God. He was dumping the car in a lake or something, letting her drown. This trunk was going to be her coffin.

“Richard! Richard! Please, I won’t tell!” she screamed.

But he didn’t answer. She could hear more splashing, but the sound grew progressively fainter as Richard abandoned her. Water continued to pour inside. It was half-way up her torso and seemed to be coming in faster now.

Shit.I’m going to die in here.

Chapter 27

Nothing. There was nothing. Just more road and a bunch of fucking trees.I’ve gone the wrong way, Gio thought with a sickening pang. Should he turn around?

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