The owl hooted again, fluttering overhead. I flinched. The dead were listening. They were close, so close—
I fought to keep myself in the present.
Focus, Chiara.
Brutally, I took my panicked memories and stuffed them deep into an emotional black hole I labeled,Things I Don’t Think About.
“You pay up, and you’ll get your lightning strike,” the man was saying. “Right from the storms.”
Proprio dalle tempeste. . . his Italian words reverberated through me, jolting all lingering memories from my mind.
No. That wasn’t quite right. I instantly reformed his phrase in my mind—right from theStorms. Capital-S.
The Tempeste family. One of the largest mafia syndicates in central Italy.
Crap.
We didn’t mess with theCosa Nostra. I needed to leave.
But . . .
They were going to hurt children? No matter their parents, kids were always innocent.
Dammit. Now I was curiousandmotivated. Not a good combo for staying out of trouble.
“Fine. Return my money, and I’ll look elsewhere,” the woman said. “Someone who doesn’t mind getting his hands dirty for the right price.”
The man laughed. He wasn’t amused. “You honestly think the boss is going to let you walk? You’re in too deep. You have until Thursday to get us the money, or the boss might find it necessary to ensure your silence. A lightning strike.”
A lightning strike. The kiss of death. That was the Tempeste’s calling card.
Crap, crap.
A pause. The sound of breathing.
“How dare you threaten me,” she hissed.
“You wanna play with the big boys, you gotta be willing to take the risks.”
“What if I don’t have the money?” Her tone altered slightly.
“Not my problem.”
“Wait—”
“Thursday. Ciao.”
Footsteps headed my direction. The sounds from my microphone merging with my normal hearing.
Not good.
So not good.
I pushed off the wall and walked toward my car, head bent over my phone.
Don’t mind me. I’m just a typical woman blowing up her boyfriend’s phone.
The clack of loafers on paving stones sounded behind me. I flicked my phone to record video. Ya know, so at least I had a record of any bad stuff going down.
