Read Online Wayward Son by Tom Pollack - Free Book Online

everyone in the passenger loading area.
    “Still a show-off, I see,” she teased, playfully pretending to plug her ears. Juan Carlos merely shrugged and eased the Alfa away from the curb.
     
    ***
    It was after midnight. As they cruised through the suburbs of Rome, Juan Carlos filled Amanda in on the plan.
    “It’s about a two-and-a-half-hour drive. It’s late and you must be tired. Otherwise, we could stop in Piazza Navona for a gelato and some people watching.”
    “Let’s go direct, if you don’t mind. We won’t even get there until nearly three in the morning.” Amanda recalled her twenty-hour day in California before departure.
    “ De acuerdo . We’ll go straight to Silvio’s place in Ercolano. Of course, he’s invited you to stay with us there. Now tell me about your life in California. You know, being together again makes me realize how much I’ve missed you. It’s amazing that the scavi have been responsible for this reunion. Are you still enjoying the Getty work?”
    “Yes, I love the job. I can’t say the same for my boss, but the work is great. And I feel the same way about our reunion, Johnny. You know, I’ll always be grateful for your help when my dad died. You rescued me, but it took me quite a while to get my emotional footing. I’ve always felt guilty about the missed phone calls and closing myself off from you and the world. And then you left to join Real Madrid…”
    There was a brief pause as Johnny wove through the traffic.
    “Real Madrid was a good ride. I could never have afforded these wheels without my signing bonus. But I’ve decided my knee injury did me a favor. The team schedule is relentless. Don’t get me wrong, being a celebrity is fantastic. I enjoyed those years, but I’m happy to be back in archaeology.”
    Amanda couldn’t help but think of Luc Renard, and her own crack at celebrity. She decided not to bring it up, instead delving into what was really on her mind.
    “Well, now that you’re done with soccer, have you decided to settle down?”
    “Oh, I’m still playing the field, at least a little bit. How about you?”
    “My best friends are my papyri,” she joked. “And Plato, of course.”
    They exchanged glances with a grin.
    They were now on the autostrada . With no speed limit that any Italian driver took seriously, Juan Carlos opened up the throttle. Amanda sneaked a glance at the speedometer needle, which hovered at the 160-kilometers-per-hour mark. One hundred miles an hour—and other motorists were still passing them! Amanda allowed her mind to wander as Johnny inserted an Italian pop CD and drove into the night.
     
    ***
    It was nearing two a.m. when blinking caution lights alerted them to a motorway mishap. With a sigh, Juan Carlos braked steadily, and the Alfa soon slowed to a crawl. It looked as if the entire autostrada had been shut down in their southerly direction.
    “Where are we?”
    “Just north of Caserta,” he replied. “It’s not too far to Naples and Ercolano. But I think they’ve shut down the road. Maybe the rain caused a big accident earlier tonight.” Multicar pileups were more than occasional on Italy’s major roads.
    True enough, all traffic was being diverted at the Caserta exit. Even at this late hour, the line of cars was considerable.
    “We’re probably being diverted to Nola. Then we can take another side road back to the A1 and continue on the direct route. Here, take a look.”
    Juan Carlos switched on the car’s GPS. She saw that to get to the E841 to Nola, they would have to make a number of turns on local streets.
    It was then that he noticed the headlights.
    He murmured, “That’s funny.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “I know this area very well. To save time, I’m taking a shortcut to get to the main road. But every time I make a turn, this guy behind me does the same thing. I’m almost certain we’re being followed.”
    “Maybe he knows the same shortcut?”
    “Not likely. I think we may have the