Suddenly, Leo reached across and grabbed Carlo’s hand. It was the first time Leo had touched him like this in the six years they’d worked together.
‘What the fuck do I do, boss? Going to see Mandretta was so stupid. He thinks he has a hold on me now.’
‘Well, let him think it. Maybe we can use that to our advantage. But you should have come to me first.’
‘I know, but as I said . . . old ways . . .’
‘Well, we’ll have to sort it.’
‘We’ll?’
‘We’re a team, aren’t we?’
Leo’s eyes started to well up, so Carlo thought it best to leave the bar before this scene became embarrassing.
‘You can let go of my hand now, Leo. Come on, we’ve got a lot of work to do.’
‘That’s good enough,’ Adelina said, wiping her brow with a dirt-encrusted hand.
The four women leaned on their shovels, all breathing hard in the dark night.
‘It’s not very deep,’ Marianna said quietly, her voice almost lost in the brisk breeze that was sweeping across from the bay.
‘Deep enough,’ Adelina said. ‘This isn’t a cemetery, for God’s sake.’
Adelina was edgy. They all were, and had been since they got back from the Paradiso raid. The bullet had gone straight through Chiara, and when they’d returned to their base a desperate hour had been spent trying to stem the flow of blood. It was to no avail, and Chiara had died holding on to Adelina. She was hallucinating at the end and thought Adelina was her mother. When Adelina gently closed Chiara’s eyes and kissed her on her cheek she’d looked up at the tearful faces of the other women crowded around the bed.
‘You all know that taking Chiara to hospital was not possible. She knew the risks.’
Every woman knew that Chiara might well have been saved in hospital, and this made them feel even worse. What had been a high-octane adventure had suddenly become much darker, and more real.
Since the night she’d been saved from Guido, Marianna had known that Adelina was a woman hardened by life, but she had never seen her like this before. Adelina seemed remote and lost in her thoughts, and they all knew they had to tread carefully around her.
Adelina had decided to bury their comrade in her expansive garden, in a small grove of orange trees. Better than any cemetery laden with overblown tombs, they all agreed. Adelina’s grand country villa had been their base since Marianna joined the vigilantes. For Adelina the house was just a place inherited from her rich parents, but for Marianna it was a palace. She had been in such places before – but as a whore, not a guest, taken there by Guido to fulfil the fantasies of rich men.
With the death of Chiara, Marianna could see and feel the strangeness of her new existence. It was a weird mix of privilege and violence. She had seen plenty of the latter in her short life, but the former was a shock. Adelina’s house was full of expensive things, and each woman had their own spacious bedroom.
Once she was satisfied that Chiara’s grave had been well disguised and the tools had been put back in the shed, Adelina led the way back to the house. She put an arm around a shivering Marianna.
‘Don’t be too sad, little gypsy. Chiara knew what she was doing, and she wanted to do it. We’ll plant rose bushes over her grave when the time is right, and they’ll be nourished and grow strong, as will our memory of her.’
‘But what about her family?’
‘She had no one close, just an aunt in Catania she hadn’t seen in years – that was about it. We were her family, Mari, as we are yours.’
Later, as the four women sat outside on the stone forecourt of Adelina’s house, each with a glass of wine in hand, Marianna and the others joined their leader as she raised her glass towards the many stars that were visible in night sky.
‘To Chiara,’ four voices said in unison, but only Adelina’s was strong and unshaken. Then the women became very quiet.
Carlo Carpanini was distracted as he played half-heartedly with the children. Maria came out with a glass of beer for him, and called Pico and Anna into the house to do their homework. Carlo was relieved to have a few minutes to himself. His head had been reeling since Leo had told him about Mandretta. Police life in Palermo had always been complicated, especially for an outsider like him, but this was taking it to another level.
The faces of Leo and Adelina Cervi crowded Carlo’s mind. His duty should be clear – Leo must be suspended and Adelina arrested, and if they got her they’d soon pick up the other women, as Carlo was now assuming they must all be women. That sounded crazy, especially in Palermo of all places, but Sicily had had the monopoly on crazy for hundreds of years, so why should it amaze him?
To expose Leo and arrest Adelina was simple, direct and correct, but it was so un-Sicilian. Carlo had learned as much in his six years here, and he knew he was about to chart a different course. On this island, a man had to follow his heart as much as his head, and nothing was black and white, just interminable shades of grey.
Carlo knew that succeeding this time would be his biggest challenge yet, but it did not faze him as much as it would have done a year ago. Since then, he had faced the kidnap of his son and nothing would ever top that. He hoped.
Carlo had done a little research on Adelina. Her gender had made her career difficult, that much was obvious. Sicily still struggled with the old ways. It was a million miles away from Milan, and even Rome, with regards to women like Adelina, and the police here were no exception. There were still plenty who thought that women shouldn’t even be in the police force – still plenty of men, anyway.
As he savoured the fine Czech lager, the brand Maria knew was his favourite, Carlo reflected on his bloody years in Palermo. It had been a long, unbroken chain of mayhem in all its forms, and every other side issue that had arisen from the chaos. There had even been a homophobic serial killer to thicken this heady stew. Carlo had become hardened to it, as Leo had predicted, but there was still enough idealism left in him to hope for a permanent change one day – for there to be a time when all the ‘Rest in Peace’ headstones he had helped to create might one day change to ‘Lived in Peace’.
‘Carlo, Leo’s here.’ Maria’s shout brought Carlo back to the here and now. Leo was approaching him, also with a beer in hand. The kids left off doing their homework to buzz around him, Anna particularly so. She adored her ‘Uncle’ Leo, and gazed up at him with innocent love. For Carlo, this only highlighted the difficult situation he now had with his sergeant. Maria ushered the children away to let the men talk.
Leo eased his large body down on to the garden chair.
‘This place is a haven of peace, boss,’ Leo said. ‘If only the world was more like it, huh?’
‘That’s quite poetic for you, Leo.’
‘Mandretta has been calling me again. The man is getting anxious now. Won’t be long before he’ll think of sending another bullet my way, and it might be on target this time. He never did have much patience.’ Leo emptied most of his glass with one large gulp, then wiped a hand across his mouth. ’You thought of a way forward yet?’
‘I’m not sure it’s a way forward, but I’m going to see Adelina tomorrow.’
‘That could be dangerous, boss. I’d better come with you.’
‘No, not this time. You’re in enough trouble already. Just concentrate on stalling Mandretta until I can talk to her.’
‘The other people who hit those clubs are probably with her, and I get the idea that they might all be women. It sounds incredible I know, but that’s my gut feeling.’
‘Mine too.’
‘You couldn’t make this up,’ Leo muttered. ‘Not even in Palermo. What next? Assassin priests? No wonder Mandretta is so ticked off. Hits from rivals he can understand, even relish, but being raided by women? He won’t be able to get his evil head around this at all. I can’t say I do myself.’
‘We have to act soon on this, boss,’ Gianluca said.
Salim Mandretta did not answer, or even turn around to f
ace his foot soldier. He was sweeping the Mondello seafront with his binoculars – one of his ‘innocent pleasures’, as he called them. He liked to watch the hustle and bustle of people going about their daily lives. His father had always told him that each person was a potential sucker, a target, a means of income, and he had learned this well. Tourism was increasing year on year in Palermo, and he was always ready to take advantage of it.
Over the years, Mandretta had built up more than his share of businesses that earned him money for nothing – the protection racket that the Mafia had perfected in America and imported back into Sicily. This was the bedrock of his empire, and then he’d added the clubs and drugs – and more recently people trafficking, using his old Libyan connections to tap into the steady flow of immigrants from the northern coast of Africa. Some didn’t make it but most did, and he had been the first among the Families to see the potential here. What could be better than desperate people who had nothing? They could be used as fodder for all sorts of things, especially drugs and sex.
‘Boss?’
‘Yeah, I heard you the first time.’
‘I think Fatboy Bracchi is just stalling.’
‘Maybe, but there’s a few thousand police on this island, and more and more of them are women. My old man would turn in his grave.’
‘Yeah, but I’m thinking we should have found her by now. We have people looking all over, they all got a copy of that mugshot, but they don’t come up with nothing.’
‘I don’t like you saying things like “I’m thinking”, GL. I don’t pay you to fucking think. Maybe she left the police. Marco said it was years ago that she’d busted him.’
‘What about the others? They could be women too. I’m—’ Gianluca just about managed to stop himself adding ‘thinking’ to this sentence, and started again. ‘If word of this gets to Naples we’ll be a laughing stock, boss. They’ll think we’re a bunch of women down here.’
Mandretta knew Gianluca had a point. Image and reputation was all within the Families. Lots of things were running through his head. Maybe this was a planned police thing, but if it was then it hadn’t been sanctioned by the top. He’d know if it had been.
It could be a few rogue officers, but women? It was so hard to get his head around that fact.
‘Leave me now, GL. I need to think some more about this.’
‘Yeah but . . .’
‘Get out. If you want something to do, go check on the other clubs. Make sure everyone is on his toes, and double up the guards in every place.’
Gianluca knew better than to argue, but as he left a plan of his own was forming. This business needed to be moved forwards, and he was the man to do it. He would show Salim that he could think after all.
It took some time for Carlo to find Adelina’s house. Although big, it was nestled in a fold of the Nebrodi foothills and so easily missed. It was a period villa, set in about three acres of land, and as much Arab as Italian in appearance. A lot of ornate design had been worked into its stone facade, and it looked like it had plenty of space – space that only money could buy.
There was an annex on either side of the villa, and these were as big as most houses – but despite its grandeur, the Cervi villa had seen better days. The place had a faded air about it and the gardens had not been tended for a long time, and were on the verge of becoming semi-wild.
There were a few vehicles on the forecourt outside the house – a yellow Mazda open-top sports car, a four-wheel drive, and a black transit van that looked like an ex-police vehicle – so Carlo expected people to be at home. Carlo smiled when he saw the yellow Mazda; he’d bet his life it was the same one that had cut him up the other day.
At first Carlo drove a hundred yards past the villa, then he pulled over and checked his weapon. He was going to talk to a fellow officer but he was not sure what he was walking into, especially if Leo was right and this was the base for dangerous vigilantes. Carlo knew if this ever got into the public domain, the news would go viral instantly. The local media would be intoxicated by it, then the rest of Italy – and then maybe the whole world. Last year Carlo and his men had broken up a criminal gang headed by women, so why shouldn’t there be one for the other side? His side.
Six years in Sicily had taught Carlo caution, no matter what the situation, so he decided to have a look around the outside of the house before knocking on the front door. He noticed a side gate that led to the back of the property, and took this way in. Up close, the house was even shabbier; lots of stonework was beginning to crumble and cry out for help.
Carlo had done some research on Adelina Cervi. She was thirty-four years old, the only child of rich parents, now deceased. He’d met her a few times over the years, but the only thing he could really remember was that she made men nervous and was taller than him.
As Carlo trod carefully through a tangle of overgrown shrubs, he was stopped by a shout.
‘Stop where you are or I shoot!’
A woman – more a girl, really – appeared from the bushes in front of him. She was tiny, with a mass of unruly black hair falling about her face, but there was nothing small about the gun she was pointing at him.
‘Keep your hands where I can see them,’ the girl said, and Carlo obeyed. If ever anyone looked like they had an itchy trigger finger, this girl did.
‘Take it easy,’ Carlo said, keeping his voice cool and even. ‘I’m looking for Adelina Cervi, she’s an old colleague of mine.’
‘Colleague?’ Marianna cursed her lack of education. She did not know what ‘colleague’ meant but she didn’t like the sound of it. ’You always call on people by coming round the back of houses? And I can see you’ve got a gun in that holster under your fucking arm.’
Very good, Carlo thought. This one had never been near a police uniform, of that he was sure – unless she had been arrested – but someone had taught her well. ‘Sorry about that,’ Carlo said, ‘but I’m—’
‘Inspector Carlo Carpanini – no, you’ve made chief inspector now, haven’t you?’
Adelina appeared to Carlo’s right, leaning against a headless stone statue. ‘This is Minerva,’ Adelina said, nodding towards the statue. ‘She lost her head when I was a little girl – no one ever knew how. You can put the gun down now, Mari, this man is one of Palermo’s finest. You could have tried knocking on the front door, Carlo, like all decent people.’
Their eyes met for a second, and Adelina’s told Carlo all he wanted to know. Adelina led the way into the house, with Marianna vanishing as fast as she had appeared.
‘So, Carlo, I doubt very much this is an official visit, not if you’ve come on your own and are skulking around the back. How goes things, and how’s that fat sergeant of yours?’
‘Not so fat now. And Leo’s a good cop.’
‘Yeah, he is.’
Adelina sat down on a window seat that gave a good view of out in front of the house. She motioned Carlo into the armchair closest to her.
‘That was my father’s favourite,’ she said. ‘The old bastard.’
There was silence for a long moment as Carlo wondered if he should produce the Satisfaction shot of Adelina with the flourish of a cop in a whodunit, but she beat him to it.
‘How long have you known?’ she said quietly.
She really was a striking-looking woman, Carlo thought, with long dark hair, high cheekbones and a sinuous figure. Adelina looked immensely fit, and suddenly Carlo was conscious of the pounds he had gained over the past few years. He involuntarily sucked in his gut as he reached for the photograph in his pocket and handed it to Adelina.
‘That was stupid of me,’ Adelina said, ‘and a poor example to the girls.’
‘So you are all women, then?
Adelina nodded and smiled, revealing her immaculate teeth. ‘You’re from Milan, aren’t you, Carlo? That explains why you aren’t jumping up and down in shock and horror.’
Carlo realised he could not read this woman and would not even try. He did not know if he w
as in danger or not, but at least no one had asked for his gun yet.
‘Well, that girl in the bushes surely wasn’t a cop, she’s far too small, but are all the others?’
‘They’re not serving now.’ Adelina saw Chiara going into the cold earth, an inert lump of flesh, when just days before she had been all life and action.
‘Well, you look perfectly sane to me,’ Carlo said. ‘But you do know how crazy this all is.’
‘What are you planning to do, Chief Inspector? You obviously haven’t told the people on the top floor about this or there’d be a dozen officers here with you.’
‘Do you think you’re in a film or something?’
Adelina ignored the question.
‘When did you come to Palermo, Carlo – five or six years ago, wasn’t it? Well, I’m born and bred here, and I’ve seen the rise of scum like Mandretta, how they’ve moved into the mass use of young women. Prostitution has always been endemic here but sex trafficking is the new heroin for them, though they still make millions out of the old shit. They ship them in from all over Eastern Europe – the poorer the country the better – and now there’s also the African dimension. I just got sick of seeing young women ruined by the age of twenty-five, then tossed away like dirty rags . . . if they’re not dead already, that is. What we did in the police was just nibbling away at the edges, you know that as well as me.’
Carlo sat and listened, his mind working overtime as he did so. It might be more than his job he was risking today.
‘Something cracked in me one day,’ Adelina continued. ‘That’s why they signed me off. I had time to think then, to form a plan – this plan. Yes, maybe it is crazy, but it’s having an effect. The Families will start fighting against each other soon, and I’m about to start sending stuff to the press about our campaign.’
Our campaign, Carlo thought. This woman really has lost the plot.
Adelina’s eyes flashed as she warmed to her subject, and Carlo was glad of the reassuring weight of the gun under his jacket.
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