Page 328 of Marcello

Reality went a little bit differently.

I was already jittery and raw from taking more speed. To stay awake, I’d had to swallow the rest of the first pill, and my nerves were almost shot.

Just a little bit longer, I told myself. Just a little bit longer and this will all be over.

When I walked in the front door, I expected things to be tense. After all, everybody was expecting the Rosolinis to show up any minute (albeit not from underground tunnels).

What I didn’t expect was gleeful commotion. Several lower-ranked guys darted past me and sprinted up the stairs, laughing, like they were about to go watch Italy in the World Cup final.

“What’s going on?” I asked Lucrezia as I handed her the paper sacks full of cash.

She looked exasperated, disgusted, and resigned all at once. “Cesare thinks they’ve found the Amato girl.”

My heart stopped in my chest.

“…what?” I managed to choke out, unable to hide my distress.

Lucrezia looked at me suspiciously. “What’s with you?”

I had to think fast –

“I just don’t want to get blamed for not finding her.”

“I doubt even Cesare would blame you for that. She’s supposedly hiding in a secret tunnel in the walls.”

I frowned. “What do you mean, ‘supposedly’?”

“Go ask Cesare – I have more important things to do.”

As she walked off with the money, I glanced at my watch.

7:55 PM.

Fuck.

It was time to head to the courtyard –

But I didn’t know if Cesare had Giulietta yet.

If he did, there was no way I could leave her at the mercy of that fucking monster –

So I raced up the stairs to the third floor.

114

Lars

Underground Tunnels

Once the corpses were out of the way, we set up the extendable ladder and leaned it against the inside of the well.

It reached halfway, which meant it was at least ten more feet to the surface.

I used my headlamp to glance at my watch.

7:59 PM.

Then I turned the headlamp off and shoved it inside my pocket. Once I was inside the well, I didn’t want the light giving me away – just in case there were Camorra standing around in the courtyard.