“Maybe…” I mused.
Sofia made another move on the board. “That was the one stupid thing about Fausto’s strategy. He never wanted to attack you here, the one place he knew you’d all be.”
“Because he didn’t want to destroy the house,” I explained. “He wanted it for himself, undamaged.”
“You think he wanted the house more than he wanted to kill you?”
“I think he wanted both, but… yes. He wasn’t willing to sacrifice the mansion.”
“Would theCamorracare about keeping your house intact?”
I looked at her with a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach.
“…no. No, they wouldn’t.”
I walked over to the desk, picked up the landline, and called the Observation Room – the hub where we monitored all 150 surveillance cameras on our property, 24 hours a day.
When the foot soldier on duty answered, I asked, “Have you seen anything unusual?”
“No, sir.”
Something was wrong.
It felt like the quiet before the storm.
“Let me know if you spotanything,”I ordered, then hung up.
I frowned at Sofia and said, “I don’t think the shooting is about scaring us back into hiding. But if that’s not the reason, then why do it?”
My wife started rearranging pieces on the board and staring at them in deep thought.
“Pincer movement… no, too far away to be effective,” she murmured to herself. “Fork… no…”
“A distraction would be the most obvious explanation,” I said.
Sofia looked up at me. “Maybe theydoknow where Dario is.”
“But Lars said that everything was peaceful at the hospital.”
“Didn’t they have a police escort, though? Maybethat’swhy it’s peaceful.”
“Yes, but…”
I froze.
Suddenly, all the random pieces made sense.
“Oh my god,” I muttered as I pulled out my phone.
110
Dario
The Hospital
Only two minutes had passed when Lars tapped on the glass again – more urgently this time.
“What’s going on?” Alessandra asked worriedly.
