“Not exactly who and where, I could only assume. I have been in this business for a long time. But my people have their eyes everywhere.”
I scoff and shake my head in disbelief.
“Are you coming?” he asks.
“I want you to kill her, Rosalia,” I say.
“And what do I get from you if I do it?”
“Nothing,” I say as I get up and walk past him. “You have a debt to pay.”
His rich chuckle resounds after me, while all I can think is that I am making a deal with the devil here. I have no idea how I managed to dig myself into a situation like this, but this will, most likely, all go over my head.
But something about it is so thrilling. All those years of my studies, I read about the cases and the minds of criminals, while secretly listening to true crime podcasts and using my knowledge of them. And now, I am in the middle of one big criminal organisation. From the other side. And the rush I feel right now might be my death, butafter living my entire life for my mother and getting good grades, breaking out feels like freedom.
The padre who let me in has vanished, and I don’t ask.
I walk.
Giuseppe has two men with him: one has horrible, dark eyes that x-ray me like I am some sort of villain; the other is muscle-only and looks like he has the same three thoughts every day.
We are walking to a pair of black Range Rovers, and the door is opened for me.
Before I get in, I turn around. I don’t know what makes me feel this way, but I still feel watched. I let my eyes sweep over the street, and then I see her. Pretending to be someone else, a local.
Kat.
I don’t see her face at first, but I’d recognise that body everywhere.
I let my eyes sweep further to not draw attention to her, because the bodyguard’s gaze follows mine.
“Is there something?” asks Giuseppe.
“I don’t know,” I say. “I felt watched all day,” I say, pointing to the opposite side of where Kat stands.
My eyes meet hers for a single second. I could tell Giuseppe she is there, and Rosalia would be gone. But there’ll be no way out if Giuseppe finds out what really happened. No. Right now, I’ll keep my options open. So I let my eyes wander further.
“Well,” Giuseppe says, “because you have been.”
I scoff, knowing it wasn’t his men, but I’ll let him in the belief and climb in the car.
I don’t know where any of this is going, so I’ll keep my options.
We are driven off, and I fish Rosalia’s phone from the jacket pocket. There is a message on it. From Kat.
Kat
He needs to die, but not right now. Make him trust you.
I stare at it and can’t quite comprehend. Who does she think I am? A killer? They are crazy people. I swipe the message away and hold the phone out for Giuseppe to take.
“It’s hers. In case she is tracking it.”
He looks at it, opens the window, and throws it out.
“My little sister knows where to find me,” he says, and I know I will fall. Hard.
8
