In which Cora knows exactly who has taken her. And it cannot be worse.
Cora…
When the car finally stops, I’m ready. Listening carefully, I only hear one set of footsteps. Good,I think,open the trunk you bitch, I’m going to return the favor of your blunt force cranial trauma. Let’s see how you like it.
The lid opens and I blink against the sudden light. Marietta snaps, “Get out. I’m on a schedule here.”
Sitting up, I squint my eyes and we’re at another private airstrip. This one’s desolate, though, no hangers to hide in, just a sleek-looking Dassault Falcon sitting on the tarmac and ready to go.
Faking dizziness, I complain, “Everything’s blurry, what did you hit me with?”
Rolling her eyes, she gestures impatiently with her gun. “Get. Out.”
As her gaze shifts briefly to the jet, I swing up as hard as I can with the tire iron I’d hidden under my leg. The angle isn’t good, I catch her hard in the shoulder instead of the head, but she stumbles sideways and goes down as I swing my legs over the trunk rim and leap out.
I’ve taken one giant running step when I hear the rifle cock. “Not another step,Liebste.I do not wish to put a bullet in your pretty knee, but I will do so.”
Turning, I see a beautiful older woman, holding a sniper rifle aimed at me.
“Do drop the tire iron, dear. You won’t be needing it,” she smiles pleasantly, nodding at my improvised weapon.
“Ah. The accomplice in front of the store?” I croaked, finding this hilarious for some reason, which makes me question how hard Marrietta hit me.
Speaking of that bitch, she struggles up, cursing in German, grabbing a fistful of my hair.
“Do not touch her!” the older woman snaps and for a second, it looks like her rifle is aiming at Marietta.
The grip on my hair releases and she grabs my arm instead, yanking me toward the jet. “I think she broke my shoulder,” Marietta grumbles.
“Don’t be a child,” the other woman sighed, “nowLiebste,walk to the jet like a good girl.”
That tone… I stop dead, trying to control my sudden need to vomit. I’m back in the dungeon and Schmidt has opened the door, smiling at me fondly, and calls me ‘Liebste,his favorite.’
“Who the fuckareyou?” I shout, shaking and sweating. “Shoot me, I’m not-”
With a sigh that makes it sound like I am the most annoying thing to cross off on her ‘to-do’ list, Marietta holds up her gun. “She,” she says nodding toward the silver-haired woman with the rifle, “is not the only accomplice. There’s another rifle trained on Kelli right now as she’s walking into the ER at Massachusetts General Hospital. I already killed Mattia, I’m certainly fine with killing her, too. I would happily do it just to get her to shut up.”
“Your choice,Liebste,”calls the older woman, “do I shoot you in the kneecap and drag you onto the jet, or will you walk?”
Please Dario,I think,please have another tracker on me.
I climb up the stairs and into another prison.
Dario…
“Kelli, I know this is hard, but you must help me. We can find Cora if we work together, all right?” I’m trying to hold onto my temper, watching Kelli rock back and forth with her arms wrapped around herself.
We’re in a private room right next to Mattia’s in the hospital. There wasn’t even a question from the charge nurse once she got a look at my expression.
“Mattia’s going to be okay,” I promise her.
“He’s survived worse, believe me,” Carlo snorted, which did not seem to cheer her up.
“I don’t get it,” Kelli sobs, “we were just there to sample cakes and then Marietta whipped this gun out so fast that I didn’t even see it until she had it pressed against my forehead. I don’t know why she took Cora. She didn’t say anything, even when Cora asked if this was revenge for Santos, but Marietta seemed to find that funny, I guess?”
Standing up, I walk around the room, hands behind my head, trying to stay calm.
“Boss?” Carlo said, “I have the GM for the Montecasino for you.”
