“Per favore! My children are innocent!”
“In the eyes of God, we all are.”
The gun fired.
The child fell to the ground like a rag doll. His blood soaked that earth just as Camillo’s had. Luca cursed beside me and stepped back, and the soldiers cowered, averting their gaze.
“MALEDETTA!” Antonio Palumbo roared, sobbing at the sight of his dead son.
The muffled cries of the other children and their mother caught my attention. This time, my legs, though weak, moved.
Palumbo screamed, “NO! NO, NO, NO!PER FAVORE!”
The gun fired once, twice, three times.
First, the children.
Then, the mother.
“AH!” the man howled.
But nothing else mattered.
I lunged toward him.
“Maledetta! Puttana maledetta!” He cried, and I smiled. I smiled with all the hatred that was eating away at my insides. I smiled, knowing there was no turning back. And my arm rose once more, blowing Antonio Palumbo’s head apart, his brains splattering all over the black SUV behind him.
Silence followed. Heavy, prolonged. The smell of gunpowder filling the air.
I turned around.
Some soldiers were pacing back and forth, their hands on the back of their heads. Others simply stood with their backs turned, smoking. Those nearby avoided making eye contact with me or my victims.
I looked for Luca and found him huddled, biting his clenched fist, wiping tears from his eyes. I approached him and placed a hand on his back.
“Take me to Camillo.”
He stood up and sniffed, regaining his composure. When he looked at me, he puffed out his chest solemnly before answering, “Sì,Signora Vicari.”
Chapter 55
Camillo Vicari
August, 2025
Calabria, Italy
Beep. Beep. Beep.
My eyelids were heavy, and it took me a moment to open them. It was a struggle to adjust to the bright, harsh light of the room. I felt a throbbing pain in my back that extended to my ribs, but I couldn’t remember what might have caused it.
I tried to move and realized I was tethered to something.
I lifted my head and saw tubes and wires snaking from my body. I was in a hospital, I realized, and reality hit me like a physical blow.
The cliff.
Accorinti.
