. Antonio let out a high shriek of pain and shock and the gun fell into the dust. He collapsed to his knees on the ground, clutching at his bleeding wrist with the knife deeply embedded there. Max moved forward quickly and kicked Antonio under the chin, sending him flying backward. Max was on him in an instant, but he was out of it, unconscious. Max yanked his knife loose, ignoring the sudden arterial spurt of bright crimson blood, and turned to the wheelchair. Its occupant was struggling upward, tossing aside the blanket.
Max came up behind the chair and rammed the bloody knife against its occupant’s throat.
‘Hold it,’ he said, pressing hard, and the woman in the chair froze, held her hands up. Max pulled off the hat to reveal a man’s haircut, and threw it aside. There was a gun in the ‘old woman’s’ lap, which had been hidden beneath the blanket.
‘Gina Barolli don’t need an interpreter,’ said Max. ‘She speaks perfect English. I know that because I’ve met her before. And you, my friend, are not Gina Barolli. And you’ve got bloody big feet for a woman, haven’t you.’ Max pressed harder with the knife. ‘In fact, you’re a bloke. Enough of this fucking around. Tell me where she is, or I’m going to cut you a new arsehole.’
The man started babbling in a thick Sicilian dialect. This one maybe did need an interpreter.
‘Shut up,’ snapped Max. ‘Speak English.’
More Sicilian.
‘Mate, you’re going to lose a lot of bits if this goes on,’ said Max. ‘Now come on. It’s an easy question. Where is Gina Barolli?’
And then the man did a surprising thing; he lifted the gun in his lap…
‘Don’t,’ said Max, pressing harder with the knife. A thick thread of wet red trickled down on to the baby-blue blanket.
The man ignored Max. He raised the gun to his temple, crossed himself, and blew his own brains out.
‘What did you just say?’ Annie Carter slumped down into an armchair, still clutching the phone in her hand.
‘Dolly’s dead, Mrs C. I’m sorry,’ said Tony’s voice.
For a second Annie had a wild hope that maybe this was all part of a damned dream – that she was still asleep, that this wasn’t real. But the sound of the waves on the shore was real enough. The sadness in Tony’s voice was real, too. Terribly, horribly real.
Annie gulped. Her mouth was dry and she had trouble getting the words out. ‘What happened?’ she asked faintly.
She thought he would say heart attack. Something sudden, something unexpected like that. Dolly was a fit middle-aged woman. But shit happened; Annie knew it.
