It’s muffled, but I hear a string of what must be Italian curses because Vita holds the phone away from her ear. She taps the screen, and I see the call switch to video. She flips the camera and pans around what we can now see is an empty warehouse. It looks more like a fucking bunker. She walks over to the chairs and tilts the phone to show the ropes on the ground.
Then she returns to Cosima and me. She holds up the camera, and I turn my head from side to side before she flips the camera back around to face her. She does the same thing so her mother can see the bruise over Vita’s left cheekbone. I will cut off each finger of the hand that touched her, then I’ll disembowel the fucker.
“Toria, are you injured more than I can see?”
“No,Mamà. But I have no idea how long Alejandro and I were unconscious. We don’t know where we are either. Who did this?Ziawon’t say. We wasted enough time that Alejandro and I got free, but we’re no closer to understanding what’s happening than when the attack started.”
She flips the camera yet again, so the sisters stare at each other.
“I don’t know, but you can be sure I’ll find out. Cosima, you hurt my daughter. If there were any chance you’d survive this, I’d kill you myself. You will not take my last child from me.”
I’d forgotten Vita lost her two brothers. I know howTíoLuis andTíaMargherita still silently grieve Juan, both his death and the man he could’ve been. That was one child. To have lost two and have a third in an occupation where she could die at any time? What a fucked-up world we live in.
“Orsa, you’ve gotten too soft on your daughter.”
“Our parents may have named you for beauty, but I’m named for a bear. You’ve come after my child. You will learn what kind ofmamàI am. I’m having lunch with Aurelia and Iseppo today. Take one from me, and I’ll take both from you.”
I assume those are Cosima’s daughter and son. I can’t see her reaction, but I can see the pure hatred on Vita’s mother’s face. It’s the expression only a mother could master when her child’s in danger. I’ve seen my father andtíowhen my cousins and I have been in danger. They’re fierce as fuck. They’re both big guys who intimidate most people just by walking by.
Mymamáandtíasare tiny compared to the men in our family, but even their sweetest smiles can be terrifying. If this woman’s going to be my mother-in-law, I’ll remember what it means to run afoul of her.
“You wouldn’t.” Cosima couldn’t convince a nun to say a prayer.
“Wouldn’t I?”
The sisters glower at each other for a protracted moment before Vita steps in again.
“Mamà, get her to tell you who’s behind this.”
“Cosima.”
When the woman says nothing, I steer her to the chairs and force her to sit. I’m quick to secure her to one. My bindings aren’t coming undone unless I do them. I doubt even Vita could figure out how to release these knots.
I pull the second chair over and place it facing Cosima. I figure since we’re going to be here a while, at least Vita should be comfortable. I usher her to the seat, and she holds out the phone so her mother can see all of us. I notice Orsa’s gaze darts to me over Vita’s shoulder. She shoots me an appreciative smile, and I see approval.
“There’s nothing any of you can do. Things are too far gone.”
As though on cue, an explosion rattles the entire building. Heat rushes forward as doors at the far end blow open.
Well, shit.
“Vita, what do you want me to do?”
With my knives, I can get Cosima loose in time, but I need to know right now.
“Zia, choose. Tell me what the fuck I need to know, orMamàwill plan your memorial.”
The woman shoots her niece a defiant glare, and I see the family resemblance. Except Vita’s expression won’t get her killed.
“Mamà?”
I hear the doubt in Vita’s voice as she asks her mother whether she should save the woman’s sister.
“Alejandro, save my daughter.”
Her daughter’s just as likely to save me as I am her, but this isn’t the time for semantics. Vita and I back away from a screaming Cosima as we both search our surroundings. There aren’t any doors besides the ones we can see through. Flames block the view of anything beyond them.
“Stay here,chiquita.”
