Edge of Tomorrow (44 page)

“What did he say, Teresa?” asked Syd, still
looking at the man, so she didn’t see the blood drain from Teresa’s
face.

“He said for us to get into the car!” said
Teresa in a frightened voice.

Shit! I can’t believe this asshole is trying
to kidnap us in broad daylight! I wonder if this has anything to do
with what happened to Alberto and Gino. Probably not—just some
horny Italians wanting to rape us! Or rob us? Or both? I have to be
careful how I handle this—I don’t want Teresa hurt, and I don’t
want to get in trouble with the Italian police. What to do?
Restrain yourself, Syd!

“Listen carefully to me, Teresa!” whispered
Syd out the side of her mouth, eyes still locked with the man’s.
“Tell him exactly what I tell you to say, nothing else.
Understand?”

“Yes,
signorina
!” trembled Teresa.

“Tell him the Italian equivalent of ‘Fuck
off.’”

Teresa whispered back, “I can’t say that!
Look at him, he means to harm us!”

“What’s the word? I’ll say it!”

Teresa told her, then Syd spat at the
man, “
Vaffanculo
,
asshole!”

The goon scowled and spat something in
Italian. He pulled out a semiautomatic pistol with a silencer
attached to it. That’s when Syd saw the tattoo on his hand.

This guy is a
catenari
! I need to talk to him
somehow, see what I can find out! How best to do that without
getting Teresa hurt?

“He said ‘Get in the car if you know what’s
good for you!’” translated Teresa.

“Stay behind me, Teresa, to my right. Don’t
be afraid, I won’t let them hurt you. Tell him we’re going to get
in the car, me first,” said Dr. Z., her senses in overdrive.

Teresa did as she was told, and Syd
approached the car. The man relaxed a bit and sneered, spouting a
word in Italian.

“He just called us ‘cunts,’” whispered
Teresa. “I’m scared, Syd!”

“Relax. One more step, then I want you to
start screaming for the police as loud as you can. Let go of my arm
now. Now, scream!” said Syd calmly.

“Polizia,
polizia
!” Teresa screamed, as she stepped away from
Syd, but still staying mostly behind her. The man looked at Teresa
with disgust on his face and raised his right arm, the one with the
pistol. He pointed it at Teresa while screaming in Italian. Like a
cat, Dr. Z. brought her right foot up with tremendous power, the
instep catching him between the legs, crushing his testicles. Her
left hand grabbed the gun, twisted it to the right, and took it
away from him as he writhed in pain. As he doubled up, she clipped
him on the side of the head with the butt of the gun and he went
down on the sidewalk. Teresa was still screaming for the
police.

“That’s enough, Teresa!” yelled Syd. “You did
great!”

She transferred the gun to her right hand and
approached the Audi. The driver saw what was happening and put the
car in gear and started driving away.

This is your lucky day, asshole! You’d be so
easy to kill! Maybe I’ll see you again when there are no crowds
around.

Dr. Z. went over to the groaning man on the
sidewalk and knelt down next to him. A crowd was forming, but they
stayed back, since Dr. Z. still held the pistol. She rolled the man
over onto his back and put the barrel of the gun between his legs.
A burly man started walking toward them finally and Syd did not
like that. She wanted to interrogate the man on the sidewalk. She
picked up the gun again.

“Teresa, tell that man to stay away, quickly!
I want to talk to this son-of-a-bitch.”

Teresa turned to the approaching man
and said excitedly, “
Alt! Stai fermo dove
sei!
”

The man hesitated, looked at the gun in Syd’s
hand, then retreated to join the crowd.

“Teresa, kneel down here and translate
for me! Keep your voice low, and use your body to block the crowd’s
view. I only want
him
to hear
what we’re saying,” said Dr. Z.

Teresa knelt down, still trembling and
silently sobbing.

“Ask him who sent him, and why? Tell him if
he doesn’t tell me, I’m going to cut his balls off!” spat Dr.
Z.

Teresa translated and the man’s eyes widened,
his fear deepening.

Teresa translated his answer, “He says he
won’t say anything. They will kill him if he talks.”

Dr. Z. laid the gun down between his legs
again and reached in her purse, retrieving her knife. She showed it
to the man, but concealed it from the crowd. She lifted his tie and
sliced the end off to show him how sharp the knife was.

“Tell him he has five seconds, then he’s a
eunuch!”

“He doesn’t believe you!” translated
Teresa.

Dr. Z. unzipped his pants with her left hand.
She could hear the sounds of police cars in the distance. She did
not have much more time. She leaned over close to him, hiding her
left hand from the crowd, and reached in his pants and grabbed his
testicles, which were very swollen. He groaned, nearly a
scream.

“Tell him his five seconds are about up. Two
more seconds and they’re gone!” spat Dr. Z. as she squeezed them
again.

“He believes you now! Let go, he says!
He was sent by Salvatore Bocca to kidnap us and hold us as
hostages. They want Alberto and Carmelo, to punish them for killing
a brother
catenari
. We were
to be the exchange hostages. The castle is too guarded for them to
get at Alberto and Carmelo when they are inside it!”

“Where can we find this Bocca? Quickly, the
police are nearly here!”

“He gave me an address. I will remember it!”
gasped Teresa.

Syd removed her hand from his pants and threw
her knife into her purse just as two Italian police cars arrived.
Teresa and Dr. Z. stood up.

“Just look frightened and let me do the
talking,” Syd told Teresa.

“I
am
frightened! I’ve never seen anything like that in my
life!”

One of the policemen spoke decent English,
and Syd told him that two men tried to abduct them, but when Teresa
started screaming, the man got confused and she was able to disarm
him. The other man got away in a blue Audi, she told him. She gave
the policeman the license plate number, which she had memorized as
the car sped away. Witnesses in the crowd corroborated her story,
more or less, using lots of arm motions, rapid Italian, and hands
in the shape of a gun—index finger extended, thumb cocked—pointing
at Syd and Teresa.

Italians talk with their
hands and arms a lot!
thought Syd.

The
poliziotto
took down their names and when he
found out they both lived at
Castello di
Bragno
, he said that would be all for now. They
carried the crippled would-be kidnapper to a police car.

Syd and Teresa gathered their shopping
bags and went to the sidewalk cafe where they were to meet Paolo.
They sat at a table and Syd sat so she could watch the street and
sidewalk. She was not sure there were not more people looking for
them. It did not hurt to play it safe: it had served her well in
the past. They both ordered tall vodka and tonics to quench their
thirst, and calm their nerves. Teresa
really
needed calming. She guzzled her drink and
ordered another.

“Who in the
hell
are you,
Signorina
Syd? I was scared to death back there
and you were like ice! I thought you were a history teacher, or
something!” exclaimed Teresa, her small breasts heaving as she
fought to get herself calmed down.

“I
am
a teacher—college professor, actually. I just don’t like men
pushing women around, so I stop it whenever I can. Plus, you were
in my care, so I had to keep you safe or Hatch would have had my
head.”

“Thank you so much, Syd! I don’t believe much
of that story though! You acted a lot like Sara would in the same
situation, and she’s a trained commando!”

• • •

Paolo arrived at 3:58 and pulled the black
Mercedes to the curb. He jumped out and opened the rear door, and
then, seeing their numerous shopping bags, opened the trunk and
loaded them into it. Syd and Teresa got into the back seat and
Paolo pulled away from the curb. He had seen from Teresa’s face
that she had been crying, and in fact was still upset about
something. He had a quick exchange in Italian with Teresa. Tears
came to her eyes again.

“Can the Italian, Paolo,” said Syd. “It’s not
polite. Speak English when you’re around me!”

“I’m sorry,
signorina
! I was just asking Teresa what was
wrong with her,” he answered contritely, looking in the rearview
mirror at Syd.

“Did she tell you?”

“Yes,
signorina
. Two men tried to abduct you two, but
you stopped them.
Signore
Cifelli will be very angry!”

“So will
Signore
Lincoln. So am I!” spat Syd.

Syd put her left arm around Teresa’s
shoulders and Teresa wept silently on her shoulder, still
trembling.

• • •

It was 4:45 P.M. when they arrived back
at
Castello di Bragno
. Paolo
carried their purchases into the small dining room and put them
down. The bar was still there, so Syd fixed herself and Teresa each
another stiff vodka and tonic.

“Sit down and drink this, Teresa. Take a big
breath. You’re safe now.”

Paolo came back into the room with Gina
in tow, who ran to Teresa, speaking rapid Italian, her face stark
with concern. Paolo looked at Syd and shrugged, as if to say,
“
You
yell at her for speaking
Italian.” He had obviously told Gina what little he knew about the
attempted abduction.

“Oh,
Nonna
,
Signorina
Syd saved my life!” Teresa finally said in
English.

“Grazie, signorina!
I am forever in your debt!” wailed Gina.

She came over and hugged Syd.

“Have you heard from Hatch and Carmelo?” Syd
asked Gina.

“Si,
signorina
. About half an hour ago. They should be here
soon,” Gina replied.

“Good! I’ll take these bags to my room and
get cleaned up,” said Syd, reaching for a bag.

“No! No! Paolo, take these things to
the
signorina’s
chambers,”
ordered Gina.

“These two bags are Teresa’s,” said Syd,
pointing. “A present for taking me shopping. Thank you, Paolo. Just
put them in my bedroom. I’ll be up shortly.”

“Yes,
Signorina
Syd.”

“So,” said Gina. “You must be an ex-Marine
like Sara, eh? To know such things as Teresa has told me
about.”

“No,
signora
. I wasn’t a Marine. I just had to
protect Teresa any way I could. She was under my protection. And
they were trying to abduct
me
, too! I couldn’t allow that!” answered Syd,
being evasive.

Gina smiled knowingly and said, “As you
wish,
signorina
. Thank you
again for protecting my granddaughter.”

Sara walked into the room wearing a cover-up
over a small red bikini bathing suit, the cover-up not covering
much. Vintage Sara.

“Hey, Syd! You’re back! I want to see what
you bought! Right after I have a drink with you,” said Sara
cheerfully, heading to the bar.

“Paolo took everything to my room. I’ll show
you when we go upstairs,” replied Syd. “I spent way too much!”

“You can’t spend too much of Hatch’s money!
It’s not possible!”

Sara returned from the bar, drink in hand,
and saw Teresa’s face. She looked at Syd, then back to Teresa. She
raised an eyebrow at Syd.

“We had an incident in Rome, Sara. I
only want to go over it once, so let’s wait for Hatch and Carmelo
to get here. They will be
very
interested in what went down,” said Syd, giving Sara a look
which indicated that she should not to press it now.

Sara immediately thought,
Shit! I hope she hasn’t been out beating up on
the Italian citizens! If some gigolo made a pass at her, he’s
probably in the fucking hospital!

“You OK, Teresa?” Sara asked finally.

“I’m fine now,
Signorina
Sara. Just a little shook up,” replied
Teresa with a wan smile and red eyes. She was getting a little
drunk.

At that moment, Hatch and Carmelo strode into
the room. Hatch sensed immediately that something was wrong.

“How did the shopping go?” he asked, testing
the water.

“The shopping went just fine, Hatch. At the
end of the shopping, however, we had a little problem I had to
handle,” answered Syd with her cute, crooked smile. “You two get a
drink before I tell you about what happened. How was your day?”

Gina said, “I have some
appetizers—
stuzzichini
—prepared in the kitchen. I’ll bring
them in here.”

Teresa started to get up and go to the
kitchen.

“Please stay, Teresa,” ordered Syd, putting
her hand on her shoulder and pushing her back into her chair. “You
did the translating out there today, and Hatch and Carmelo may have
questions only you can answer. Is that all right, Gina?”