The Rome Prophecy

117

Guilio can tell that something bad is about to be said.

He’s right.

Tom gives him the truth. ‘Anna’s dead.’

The words drop like stones down a deep well.

It takes several seconds for them to make an impact.

‘What?’

‘I’m sorry. She died in hospital.’ Tom moves closer, extends his hand to Guilio’s arm.

Guilio smashes it away. ‘Dead? She’s dead and you didn’t tell me?’ Blood flushes to his face. His hands ball up into fists.

‘I couldn’t. Louisa’s life was in danger and now Valentina’s is.’

‘Aaaw!’ Guilio vents a deep scream and with both hands punches his own head. ‘No! No! No!’ He sinks to his knees on the wet ground and doubles up.

Tom stands over him.

He puts a calming hand to the back of Guilio’s head. ‘I’m very, very sorry. She died of a heart attack. I don’t know all the details, but I know everyone was shocked. They really were all trying to help her.’

Guilio doesn’t look up.

He can hear Tom but his words are muffled clouds blown around by a hurricane of emotion.

Already he’s starting to blame himself.

He promised Anna he would look after her, wouldn’t let anything happen to her. He told her not to be afraid, that he would always be there for her.

But he hadn’t been.

He’d failed her.

No two ways about it. When she needed him most, he’d been somewhere else.

He let her down and now she’s dead.

Tom moves away a few paces. Guilio has literally been struck down with grief and he understands that he needs space.

He has to come to terms with the initial shock.

Tom has stood many times with the loved ones of those who have just died, and he knows that acceptance of their death comes in waves. Slow waves. Only today, there’s no time for slow. Every second that Guilio spends crying and grieving brings Valentina closer to death.

Yet he has to be patient.

If Guilio shuts down, he’s lost.

He has no idea where the opening to the so-called womb is, or where to go even if he manages to get inside.

And he has no weapons.

Until now, he hasn’t even thought about such a thing.

He touches his pocket and feels the cell phone. The Carabinieri will have traced it by now; they’ll have a lock on it, he’s sure of that.

But will they arrive in time?

Too early would be disastrous.

Too late could be fatal.

Guilio stands up.

He turns.

His face is heavy with despair and loss.

Tom can tell he’s close to losing him. ‘Anna believed in God. I know she did, and you certainly know she did.’ He walks slowly forward and tries to bridge the chasm rapidly opening between them. ‘She is at peace now. She’s no longer frightened and can no longer be hurt by these people.’

‘She’s dead.’ Guilio’s face contorts. ‘Dead! You can’t get more hurt than that.’

‘I know. And these people must be held accountable for that. You can help make them accountable.’

Guilio stares blankly across the fields.

Tom hasn’t reached him. The gap is too big. He puts his hand on Guilio’s arm and is relieved that this time it’s not brushed away. ‘You can’t save Anna, but you can save someone who cared for her. Someone who wanted her to be looked after and who risked her life not just to help her but to catch the people who had hurt her.’

Guilio understands what Tom is saying.

He also knows he’s being manipulated.

But he can’t simply walk away, even though that’s what he wants to do. He can’t run to the loneliest spot on the earth and cry his lungs out like he needs to do.

Something won’t let him.

He tried to protect Anna because it was the right thing. And he knows that walking away from Tom and the woman he loves would be wrong.

‘I’ll help you.’ He nods several times, more as though he’s confirming things to himself than to Tom. ‘I’ll help you, even if it’s the last thing I do.’