Think Twice

Chapter One Hundred and Twenty-four

Alice parked in the lot behind the BSB bank, took her messenger bag with the gun inside, and got out of the car. She was going to get Julie out of the backseat when she heard shouting. She looked up. A man was down the street, pointing at her.

“That’s her!” he shouted. “She shot a guy! Get her!”

What? Alice froze, stu

“Police, somebody, help!” The man kept ru

“Help!” Julie jumped out of the car, screaming and ru

Alice took off, ru

Honk! Honk! A bus screeched to a halt, but she kept ru

She hid in the shadow, watching. In the next minute, the men raced past the mouth of the alley and kept ru

Suddenly she felt something press into the small of her back. Someone lifted her messenger bag from her shoulder.

“Turn around slowly,” said a voice. “I knew if I found an alley with a view of the bank, you’d drop by.”

Alice recognized the voice.

It was her own.

Chapter One Hundred and Twenty-five

Be

“Be

Be

“No, wait. What’s the matter with you? What are you doing?”

Be

“Aren’t you going to call the cops?” Alice burst into tears. “Please God, don’t kill me!”

Be

“No, wait, please!” Alice fell to her knees. “Please, no!”

Be

“Please!” Alice raised her hands, begging. “Please don’t kill me! You can’t!”

“Yes, I can.” Be

“No, please Be

Suddenly there was the sound of footsteps behind her, and Be

“Benedetta, no,” the figure whispered, like a prayer.

Be

Be

“No, Benedetta,” the figure repeated, with the Italian pronunciation, exactly the way her mother had said her name.

Be

Then the angel stepped into the alley.

Chapter One Hundred and Twenty-six

But it wasn’t a vision, an angel, or her mother.

It was an older woman, the same size as her mother. She had a similar headful of dark hair, but her eyes glittered oddly. She must have been crazy, because she came all the way into the alley, ignoring the execution in progress.

“Go away.” Be

“You don’t know me, but I know you,” the woman said, her voice firm and strong. “I saw you tonight, earlier, at the airport. I couldn’t go home and turn my back on you.”

“Go away!” Be

“I saw you the other day, too. On the sidewalk, yelling. You need help, and I am here to help you. My name is Fiorella.”

Be

“Benedetta, look at me. I see truth, and there is too much good in you to do this. Look at me.”

Be

“Benedetta, look at me.”

“No.” Be

“Yes, you are.” The woman took Be

Suddenly Be

“I see you, Benedetta. See yourself, in my face. I look at you, like a mother. I see you, like a mother. Do you see the goodness here, and the love?”

And as impossible as it seemed, the woman was smiling at her, full of love, cha

Police sirens blared near the alley, breaking the spell, and Be

Alice was climbing the wall and getting away.

“No!” Be

“Let her go. She is dead already.”

Be

Benedetta Rosato.

And when she looked up, Alice was gone.