CHAPTER 68 - RED
CHAPTER
Red
GIVING AN IMPRESSION of appearing morose and busy concentrating on the internment, I instead scan the surroundings for a hint of any of Matteo’s avid supporters here to witness his last journey, but I think Arianna is right and knowing I’m looking for them, they don’t dare show. Nevertheless, it’s disappointing.
I meet eyes with Emiliano Galvatore, but he looks away.
As much as I’ve spent years despising the man, I do feel a shred of empathy for the bloke.
My standing at the graveside for the committal - an act reserved for close family and friends to witness - is another insult to him.
But I am here for Arianna, nothing else.
However, if death could be caused by the looks Vittoria sends in my direction, I’d be stone dead. Or are those looks reserved for her daughters?
Arianna squeezes my hand as the coffin is lowered into the hole in the earth, and I glance to the side, spotting Cal, Rob and Dario in the distance waiting by the cars. I hope this doesn’t go on much longer.
“We have entrusted our brother Matteo to God’s mercy, and we now commit his body to the ground...”
“Look.” Maria jabs her finger in my ribs. “Over there.”
Startled, I glance up. Maria isn’t pointing, but I follow the direction she’s staring. I can’t see anything unusual. “What is it?”
“Earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust: in sure and certain hope of the resurrection to eternal life...”
“What’s the matter with her?” Arianna mutters from the other side of me.
“I don’t know, but people are starting to look at us.”
“It’s him!” Maria’s panic is obvious. “Over there. Behind that tree, look. There he is again. Luca. It’s Luca!”
Stiffening, I squint into the distance, but can still see nothing.
The vicar has paused and is glaring at us, along with everyone else.
Putting my arms around both Maria and Arianna, I pull them into my chest and lower my head. “You have to stop this, Maria. There’s no one there.”
“There was... I saw him... I...”
“Shhh!”
“...through our Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our frail bodies that they may be conformed to his glorious body, who died, was buried, and rose again for us. To him be glory for ever.”
Another chorus of “Amen” is enough for me, and once the first shovel of dirt has hit the bastard’s coffin, I waste no time in leading Arianna and Maria away from the graveside. The rest can stand here as long as they fucking want, but I’m done.
But the second we’re out of earshot, Maria’s off again.
“It was him - Luca. I saw him. He was standing just... just over there by the...”
“No one was there, Maria.” I grit my teeth, exchanging looks with Arianna. I’m thinking that perhaps she was right and there’s more to this than her sister’s mind merely being overloaded.
“He was there!” Maria’s sobs ramp up again.” I’m sure he was. I...”
“Come on, let’s get you back.” Arianna places an arm around her sister and leads her to the car.
“Thank fuck for that,” I mutter after helping Maria into the back of the car and shutting the door. I wait until Cal jumps into the driving seat and Rob into the passenger seat, leaving just me, Arianna and Dario, who has traveled here alone.
I shake hands with the man who I’m beginning to like as well as trust. “I’ll give you a call later to arrange to talk about...”
“Oh, God!” Arianna mutters. “Here comes another one. We’d best move out of the way.”
I instinctively step out of the way of the hearse so it can pass through unmolested.
Except it doesn’t...
As the shiny Daimler draws level, I watch in slow-motion as a top-hatted undertaker leans out of the window, the barrel of a gun pointing at my wife.
“You traitor cunt! Marrying an English bastard!” a man screams. “Look what you do.”
Clanging in my ears deafens me, and I move to throw myself in front of Arianna but realize I’m in the wrong position to reach her. I can’t protect her. Fuck.
The gunshot cracks through the stillness of the graveyard, and a few seconds pass before screaming from behind begins, followed by a harsh, guttural roar from the pits of my lungs. Opening my suit jacket, I snatch my gun from my waistband.
Taking shots at the Daimler as it speeds away, crawl gear no longer needed, my bullets ricochet off the twin exhaust pipes of the fast-retreating vehicle. If I can shoot out a tire or put a hole in one of its petrol tanks, then...
It’s no use. I’m out of range, out of time and I’m not leaving Arianna.
Arianna...
I lurch forward to the bodies on the ground, my heart stuck somewhere near the top of my throat. “Arianna! Baby? Can you hear me?”
Oh, shit. Oh, God. If she’s hurt... What if she’s dead?
Barbed wire wraps around my heart. I think I’m going to be sick.
The knees of my trousers tear on the gravel as I fumble in the tangle of the two bodies, out of the corner of my eye, seeing Cal and Rob jump from the car.
“I’m okay.” Arianna cries. “It’s not me. It’s Dario. Dario’s been hit.”
I cup her face in my hands just to make sure I’m not imagining things and she really is alive. Thanking a God I didn’t believe existed, I then scramble to turn Dario over with Cal and Rob helping.
I barely register Maria thumping against the glass of the backseat window, her terrified face pressed up against the glass and her mouth wide in a silent scream.
The continuous screaming coming from the other mourners around Matteo’s half-filled grave grates on my ears. “This is your fault, you cunt,” I hiss to Matteo, wherever the fuck he is now. “This is all because of you.”
“Dario... he... he pulled me to the floor and threw himself in front of me as the shot went off.” A tear rolls from Arianna’s eye - the first she’s shed today. “That bullet was meant for me, Red. Dario saved my life.”