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I trip on something in the grass. A rock or an exposed tree root. Whatever it is, I go sprawling face-first into the dirt with the breath knocked out of me. I close my eyes and concentrate on getting my lungs to breathe again. When I open my eyes and look up, I recoil in horror at the sight before me.
Someone in the house must have switched on every single outdoor spotlight on the property. The darkness has disappeared, and the grassy landscape here, near the path ahead that leads down to the dock, is now illuminated in a bright golden glow that leaves nothing to the imagination.
I grope for my gun, pick it up, and clutch it close to my chest. I prefer the darkness to this terrifying tableau.
Men are fighting each other all across the grass, punches being thrown and bodies lunging and ducking as the thud of fists on flesh rings out. I can’t even tell which of these are Rio’s men. One of the spotlights catches on a knife, causing it to glint fiercely as the wielder raises his arm to strike.
Another shot rings out, and the knife-wielder drops to the ground. I don’t think he was one of Rio’s?
The action continues unabated. The gunshots haven’t stopped any of them from trying to kill each other.
I start to raise my weapon but instantly lower it again. I don’t even know who these people are or where my daughter is. If she’s here at all?
What the fuck should I do? Where’s Rio?
Mitch and Lee reach me then, and Lee drops to his knees beside me while Mitch rushes forward into the fray. “Ma’am, come on. We have to get you out of here.”
He tugs at me, dragging me up to my feet. I wrench my arm out of his grip.
“No. Go help my husband,” I command.
“Where…”
I wave my gun around. “In there somewhere. Go.”
He turns in the direction I point, but pauses to take a deep breath. Then he races into the press of bodies and disappears from my view. Have I just sent Lee to his death? But where the hell is…
Oh. There he is. Rio is off to one side of the melee, and it looks like he’s chasing after a small man who is heading into a scrub area along the bank of the river. It’s…
My heart skips a beat. It’s not a man. It’s Penn, dressed in trousers and with her blonde hair mostly covered by a cap. I can’t see Emilia anywhere. I start in their direction, staggering off to the side so I can skirt around the fighting men, and wincing when yet another gunshot releases. I’m still standing, still upright, so I guess it wasn’t aimed at me.
I’m close enough to call out to Rio, only when I do and his shocked face whips around to me, so does Penn’s. She turns and lifts…a gun? Does everyone have guns in this world? She aims it straight at my husband.
And then, as if the world has slowed and everything is warped, I hear the gun go off.
Hergun. Not mine. Not Rio’s. Hers. And my husband staggers and then falls to the ground with a thud.
“No!” I scream, all the pent-up terror of the day rushing out of me in that desperate sound. I raise my gun and point it at her. “You shot him. You shot Rio Agosti. The man I love.”
My gun wobbles in my hands and, far from looking afraid, she begins to laugh.
“Oh, Bianca. As if you would ever actually shoot another human being. We both know that.”
She points her gun at me, still laughing, and part of me wonders why she doesn’t just shoot and get it over with. I blink at her, unable to process any thoughts in a coherent order. But then the most important question pops into my brain.
“Where’s Emilia? Where’s my daughter?”
I walk forward, feeling like I’m in some kind of daze, until I stand beside where Rio is lying in a pool of blood. I’m only a few feet away from the nanny. Her face should be so familiar, and yet, a stranger stares back at me.
“I want my daughter back, Penn. Where is she?”
“It’s not what it seems, and you know why, Bianca. You were told.”
What does that mean? “I trusted you. I thought you loved Emilia nearly as much as I do.”
“Ididcare for her! Idocare.” She scowls at me, as if I’ve insulted her integrity. “You received that message at the club. You know you’ll be reunited with your beloved daughter soon, if you cooperate. We’ll be in touch with directions on how to get her back.”
She turns to walk away, then swivels back when Rio makes an incoherent sound obviously born of pain. “But we don’t needhim.”
