Her skin is pale and clammy. In her hand is a half-eaten muffin. Her eyes flutter open and she mumbles something, but I can’t hear her.
“Stay with me, Nonna.” I pull her slender frame closer to me. “Please don’t die. I need you.”
“She might have had a stroke,” Lucia whispers.
I can’t hold back anymore.
Tears run in rivers down my cheeks. My chest tightens and it feels like I’m forcing myself to breathe.
First Gigi, now Nonna.
Two attacks, hours apart.
I don’t know how to fix this.
Sirens scream, coming closer and closer.
Lucia gets up to open the door.
Within minutes paramedics are flooding the kitchen. They take Nonna from my arms and place her on the gurney. An oxygen mask covers her face as they work to stabilize her.
Lucia and I follow them outside and watch as they load her into the open ambulance doors.
“You go with Nonna. I’ll lock up everything and meet you at the hospital.” Lucia touches my shoulder.
“Take my car,” I call as I climb up into the ambulance.
Doors close and the vehicle speeds off.
Taking Nonna’s hand, I slip her rosary in between her fingers. My lips recite every prayer I know in English and Italian.
“Please, Nonna don’t die.” I sob.
My phone buzzes in my pocket. An anonymous text message appears on the screen.
One word.
Checkmate.
Chapter forty-four
“Dad please help me,” I whisper, making the sign of the cross.
I stand in the hallway of the emergency room watching them rush Nonna to ICU.
I feel paralyzed by the chain of events that have occurred in less than twenty-four hours.
Gigi getting kidnapped and drugged. Nonna possibly dying.
My family is collapsing before me.
Breadcrumbs of blood and chess pieces are scattered about, leading me nowhere.
I have never felt so helpless in my life.
“Cipi!” Lucia comes running through the doors. She stops and bends over, panting. “What is going on?”
“Nonna was rushed to the ICU. They’re trying to stabilize her now. It’s looking like she may have had a stroke. Her blood pressure is low. They’re going to try to run some tests…” My voice trails off as an idea floods my brain. “Cyanide poisoning.”
