Chapter 14 - SAINT AGNES
Saint Agnes looked dead from the outside.
Broken windows.
Rusty fence.
A statue of the Virgin Mary with one hand missing.
But Bruno knew better.
The second he stepped out of the car, his body went rigid.
Tony whispered, “How many inside?”
“Enough.”
Mara wanted warrants.
I wanted Matteo alive.
We compromised, which meant she called only the officers she trusted and gave them ten minutes to arrive while I ignored her and entered through the side door.
The hallway smelled of mold, dust, and old prayers.
Children’s drawings still clung to bulletin boards from years before, faded by time.
Bruno moved silently ahead.
For a dog his size, he could become a shadow when he wanted.
We found the first guard near the cafeteria.
Tony handled him without a shot.
The second nearly raised his radio.
Bruno changed his mind.
Downstairs, beneath the gym, we found a locked room.
From inside came a child’s voice.
“Marco?”
I froze.
Tony cut the lock.
A little boy sat on a mattress with a blanket around his shoulders.
Dark curls.
Huge eyes.
A bruise on his cheek.
“Matteo?” I said.
He stared at me.
Then at Bruno.
“Dog,” he whispered.
Bruno walked forward slowly and lowered his head.
Matteo touched his ear.
That was when footsteps thundered above us.
Mara’s voice shouted from somewhere outside.
Police.
Then gunfire.
Tony grabbed Matteo.
I turned toward the stairs.
A man appeared at the top.
Marco.
He looked ruined.
Unshaven. Bleeding. Eyes hollow.
His gun was in his hand.
For one second, we stared at each other like brothers standing on opposite sides of a grave.
Then Matteo cried, “Papa!”
Marco broke.
His gun fell from his hand.
He ran down the stairs and took the boy from Tony, sobbing into his hair.
“I’m sorry,” he kept saying. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”
I should have hated him cleanly.
It would have been easier.
But nothing about that room was clean.
Then a voice came from the stairwell.
Dr. Bell.
He held a gun against Mara’s head.
May you like
And behind him stood the judge from Harlan’s files.
“Touching,” the judge said. “Now everyone lowers their weapons.”
