Page 383 of Under Her Skin
Ama’s heart began to beat faster. “Chrissy, are you okay? Are youhurt?”
“No …no, I’m not hurt. I don’t think this is about me. Ama, the message was written in blood on my wall. It said …‘Tell hereveryone, until she’s the only one left.' Sweetheart, Ithink…”
“…it’s Jackson. Chrissy, I want you to pack a bag and get out of therenow. Did you call thepolice?”
“I did; there’s an officer here. I told them what I told you and they agree – I need to leave for the time being. Darling …there’s something else. There was a fire at the conservatory. No one was hurt, but there was a lot ofdamage.”
Ama’s legs gave out, and she slumped to the floor, panting for air. Her chest felt as if it were in a vise. “Chrissy …mysister…”
“I already thought about that. There are police on the way to her apartment rightnow.”
“Thank you. Thank you. Chrissy, get out of therenow.”
“I will, I promise. Keep in touch, Ama, please. Besafe.”
“You too. I loveyou.”
Enda checkedhis phone and saw three missed calls.Damnit.He’d forgotten to switch it off silent mode. He saw the calls were from Ama and he frowned. Just then, though, their guestarrived.
Roger Fallwell looked sweaty and pale as they shook hands, and Enda realized he was trembling. Was he going to have a heart attack? “Are you okay, Mr.Fallwell?”
Fallwell closed his eyes, muttering something to himself. “I can’t do this. I can’t dothis…”
Enda and Raffaelo exchanged worried glances. Raff cleared his throat and signaled to the waiter. “Could we have some ice water, please? Our guest isunwell.”
Fallwell shook his head. “No, it’s okay, I’m not …god, ohgod…”
As they looked on in amazement, Roger Fallwell started tosob.
Inca wasat her favorite tea house in the city, the one she had opened with Raff soon after they became engaged. With an upstairs tea room over-looking the Bay, it was always busy, and Inca liked to help out as much as she could. It made her feel less like the princess in the ivory tower. The staff and customers alike adored her, and she loved spending time there. It had also improved her Italian exponentially, and she could chatter away to people easily now. She often told Raff that she felt more Italian than American now and she knew he waspleased.
Today, the upper tea room was packed, but downstairs was quiet and cool. Inca took the opportunity to go down and clean. She didn’t see the two men enter behind her until one of them cleared their throat. They were dressed casually and wore friendly smiles, and she grinned back. “Hey, fellas, come on in. We have plenty of room. Upstairs or down. I’m Inca, so if you need anything, justask.”
The two men looked at each other and for a second Inca wondered if they had understoodher.
Then the large man grabbed her so quickly she couldn’t react, clamping a huge hand over her mouth and easily holding her arms with the other massive arm. Without hesitation, the other man steppedforward.
Terrified, Inca only saw a brief flash of steel before he drove the knife into her belly again andagain.
The pain wasunimaginable.
Enda triedto calm their guest down. “Sir, please …what isit?”
Fallwell gasped and gulped and finally calmed himself. “He has my wife and my four-year-old daughter. He told me he’ll kill them unless I brought you here today, at this time. Both ofyou.”
Both Enda and Raff knew instantly.Jackson.Raff leaned forward. “What does he want, Roger? Why bring us heretoday?”
Roger looked at Raff with sorrow-filled eyes. “I’m so sorry, Mr. Winter …he wanted herunprotected.”
Raff’s color drained from his face. “No …no…notInca…”
Roger started to sob again, nodding. “And, Mr. Gallo, he told me to tell you …this is it. This is where they all die, includingAmalia.”
Stella,the tea house’s barista heard the scream from downstairs and hurried down. At first, she just saw the shocked tourist standing at the doorway, her hands at her mouth, staring down at the ground. As Stella rounded the corner, her heart almostfailed.
Inca was splayed on the floor, eyes closed, with blood spreading everywhere across her dress. Dark purple knife wounds were on her stomach and belly. Her breathing was ragged and hitching, and as Stella dropped to her knees, Inca opened her eyes. In them, she saw confusion, bewilderment, and agony. On the floor beside her was a lethal-looking knife, covered in blood. The tourist was crying, but was on her phone, obviously calling the emergencyservices.
“Oh, mio Dio, mio Dio.” Panicked, Stella pressed her finger gently to Inca’s throat. There was a weak pulse, but it wasslowing.
