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has something we want.  Until we find her, you are our collateral.”
     
     
     

 
    Chapter 3
     
     
     
    Trent keyed in his security code and drove into his small estate after the gates swung open.  They closed behind them, as silent as the rigid woman in the opposite seat.  She hadn’t spoken since the moment he’d uttered the word murder .  Hadn’t asked a single question, hadn’t moved a single muscle.  He suspected she was in shock, despite her insistence that she hadn’t seen anything.
    It was better this way though.  Bold as his statement had been, he wasn’t prepared to answer any questions.  Not now that the immediate threat was gone and the reality of Lorenzo Roselli’s murder had set in.
    Whether Halli caught the crime with her video camera or not, he knew the retired cop was dead.  The recording wire his friend had been wearing, the recording he’d been listening to and slipped into his pocket, had caught every word up to that fatal moment of Lorenzo’s last gasping breath and beyond.
    And yet it still wasn’t enough.  None of it would convict the scumbags on behalf of his brother or his friend Lorenzo.  There’d been no names spoken other than the ones Lorenzo himself whispered toward the mic.  Not one slip-up by the men at the villa to corroborate Lorenzo’s valuable information about the smugglers.
    Trent parked in the garage, his hands tight on the wheel as the overhead door reversed direction until it rested against the concrete floor.  Would he ever be able to enter this house again without needing a moment to prepare?  He’d give anything to go back in time six months ago and refuse his brother’s request to use the villa while filming a new documentary about endangered animals sold on the black market.
    If he’d said no, without a free place to stay, Sean wouldn’t have been able to afford the trip to Italy.  Their father had warned him Sean was tackling a dangerous subject, but his younger brother had wanted to make a difference.  He needed to make a difference to get himself out of his spiraling depression, and had convinced Trent that if he nailed the documentary, he could save lives.
    If only he could’ve saved his own.
    The vision of their father’s grief ravaged face at the funeral swam before him, but Trent shoved aside the memory and turned toward Halli.  He couldn’t help Sean anymore, but maybe he could make up for it by keeping this woman safe now.  Responsibility weighed on his shoulders, forcing him to take a deep, silent breath before slipping back into character.
    Unfortunately, character didn’t quell the sudden tremor in the hand he reached across the seats toward her shoulder.  “Come on inside, sugar.  We both could use a drink.”
    She recoiled against the door.  Trent hesitated, unsure how to handle her reaction.  Women never pulled away from his touch.  Surely, she understood by now that he wouldn’t hurt her?
    He opened his mouth to reassure her at the exact moment her chin lifted and her gaze locked with his.  The blue of her eyes were lit with a fire the likes he’d never seen before.
    “My name is Halli.”
    Those eyes were really quite amazing, even in the dimness of the garage.  Trent blinked and focused on her words.
    “Right, you did mention that.  Halli , please come inside and I’ll fix us that drink.”
    Her eyes narrowed to a piercing glare.  “I’m not going anywhere with you.”
    One corner of his mouth crooked up.  “Hmm.  And yet here you sit, in my car, in my garage.  If you think about it, the house isn’t that much farther.”
    She immediately threw off her seatbelt and shoved open her door.  Trent followed suit, thankful she’d decided to see reason so quickly.  A swift shot, or three, of whiskey should steady his unwelcome resurgence of nerves.
    But Halli didn’t head for the door in front of them.  She bolted for the one leading out to the driveway.  Trent caught up as she yanked on the