Page 117 of The Medici Return

The cardinal shrugged. “We have many ecclesiastical lawyers who can advise us on the proper course.”

“I’m leaving,” he said.

THOMAS WATCHED THROUGH THE SCOPE ASERICCASABURI WALKEDaway and headed toward the Baptistery. Ascolani casually reached up and touched his left ear.

The signal.Take the shot.

He shifted the rifle to his left and centered Casaburi in the crosshairs. People, though, were in the way, coming in and out of the field.

He waited.

A moment longer.

Now.

He squeezed the trigger.

The round left the barrel with a swoosh, the gases that caused the customary crack of an exploding shell muffled by the sound suppressor.

The bullet zipped through the air and found its mark.

He fired again.

Chapter 78

ERIC HAD NEVER FELT ANYTHING LIKE THAT BEFORE.FIRST A SHARPpain at his spine, and his body jerked forward as though from the force of an explosion. Then another pain and his chest exploded. Blood and guts spewed out onto the pavement.

Trails of light arced before him.

His legs caved under him and he knew it had not been an explosion, but a blow to his spine.

His head spun.

The world around him winked in and out.

He fought to stay conscious. He heard a scream.

Then something else cut through him. At his shoulder. He lost all sense of equilibrium and collapsed to the pavement, smacking his chest and face hard.

The last thing he saw, before a deep blackness engulfed him, was the clear blue sky overhead.

JASON HEARD A SCREAM AND TURNED.

Casaburi was staggering. Red stained the man’s chest and the people around him were reacting by giving him a wide berth,many starting to flee. Casaburi jerked again, then spun backward and hit the ground with a dull thud, not moving.

Ascolani was walking in the opposite direction.

Which left him in the middle of the piazza.

Alone.

Exposed.

THOMAS WAS PLEASED.

Two shots. Two hits. Casaburi was down. Surely dead.

He looked up from the rifle and focused out the window. People were fleeing in all directions. Ascolani headed away from where Casaburi lay. Then he spotted someone else. Really? He focused through the scope. He was right. Cardinal Richter. Here. Alive.

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