Viper - Michael Morley [15]
Alberta flinched as she watched the greedy baby latch itself into position. ‘Doesn’t that hurt?’
‘A little. Sometimes she gets too eager and chews with her gums.’
‘Oh, my God! It’s too painful to even think about.’ Alberta rubbed her own breast as though she could physically feel the pain. ‘I think I’ll go for a cigarette.’
Pia thought of saying something but checked herself. She’d only managed to kick the habit after she’d found out she was pregnant, so she knew she didn’t really have the right to preach. She smiled dotingly at her baby as her sister grabbed her coat and headed outside.
The street was short and filled with cheap apartments that wouldn’t argue at being called slums. The Spanish Quarter had beautiful historic homes but they were not in the area where Pia lived. The engine of an unmarked police Fiat idled not far from the front door, two cops in the front, as always, drinking coffee, eating junk and chain-smoking. For once they were early. It made a change. She lit up and smiled at them; the driver raised a hand in acknowledgement, blue-grey smoke clouding his face.
Alicia Madonna was beautiful. If Alberta had a child, she wanted it to be exactly like her niece. Though, given the state of her life, she knew there was little chance of her meeting someone and settling down.
The driver’s door of the Fiat opened and a detective waved her over. Dangling from his right hand was a police radio, pulled tight on a coil of black curly wire attached to the dashboard. Alberta saw a dozen cops a week, and they all had that same edgy, scruffy look to them. She’d liked the one who had driven her over from Assisi, where she’d been relocated after the Valsi trial. His name was Dario and he’d been as big as a house and smelled of pine and fruit. This new one looked similar but had an even nicer smile and wore old-fashioned Ray-Ban Aviator sunglasses. It made him look like a tall Tom Cruise from his Top Gun days.
‘Buon giorno, mi chiamo Satriano, Detective Paolo Satriano. My Capitano needs to talk to you.’ He shrugged his shoulders. ‘We have a little problem with your transport.’
‘What do I do?’ asked Alberta, staring at the police radio he put in her hand.
‘You press here. Keep it pressed while you talk.’ He created a burst of static as he showed her how to click a button on the side. ‘Please sit in the vehicle, so you can hear through the speaker.’
Alberta slid into the driver’s seat, noticing the cop’s eyes roam over her legs as she adjusted her skirt and squeezed in.
He smiled politely and closed the door. Not as handsome as the last cop she’d seen, but that smile already had her hooked.
‘Pronto? ’ she said, holding down the button in the way he’d shown her.
It didn’t work.
The radio was a fake.
So too was the policeman.
The driver leaned against the car door and drew on his cigarette. His big frame blocked any view from outside. In the same movement, a hand snaked from the rear seat and clamped across Alberta’s mouth. Simultaneously, the other man in the passenger seat slid out a gun, clicked off the safety and pushed it into her stomach.
11
Greenwich Village, New York City
‘No more Dr Seuss, not tonight,’ insisted Nancy King, doing her best to look serious as Zack begged for another bedtime story.
She kissed him on the tip of his nose, then swung her legs off his bed in the spare room at his grandparents’ home.
‘Sleep well, baby, and I’ll read you some more tomorrow.’
‘Night, Mommy! I love you.’
‘Love you too, honey.’ Nancy blew a kiss from her hand as she reached the doorway but didn’t turn out the light. Zack would no longer sleep in the dark. Not since his nightmares about Daddy’s work and the Black River Killer.
Downstairs, her father Harry sliced a slab of beef while her mom added roast potatoes and vegetables to willow-patterned plates that Nancy had been eating off since she was Zack’s age.
‘You have any mustard?’ Jack was rummaging among the dishes, glasses and bottles