Page 51 of The Woman in the Hollow
And I absolutely could not be implicated in covering up a murder.
The stakes were a lot higher now, it seemed, but it was even more necessary for me to figure out if that body was as real as it seemed to me.
I mean, I’d kind of kicked it.
Apparently, forensics were good enough now that they could figure out someone’s shoe size and approximate height and weight from something like a shoe impression.
If that body was ever found and the cops started trying to look around the garden center for suspects, I would be at the top of that list.
No amount of claiming ignorance was going to save me if they found evidence of my feet on that body.
If I found the body, however, and then went down to the police station and laid it all out there for them, I would probably walk free.
It would mean that Dante and Domenico would likely be hauled in, though. For destruction of evidence or abuse of a corpse or something.
Suddenly, it was Giulia’s face in my mind then, eyes round with shock, tears streaming down her cheeks at the idea of one of her sons going away to prison, of losing years of his life, of not getting married and having babies.
The image brought with it a physical ache that had my hand pressing to my heart.
But I couldn’t let that sway me.
If the stories I read online were true, this generation of Grassi bosses and capos were descendants of their fathers’ generation.Which meant that Giulia had been married to a mafia man, had given him babies, had allowed her children to grow up and become criminals themselves.
They knew the risk.
They took it willingly.
I wouldn’t let that stop me from doing what was necessary.
Finding the body.
Bringing in the law.
Exonerating myself.
Then, God, moving out of the area as quickly as possible. I wouldn’t pretend to understand the inner workings of the Grassi Family, but I had to imagine they didn’t look kindly upon anyone who got one of their own sent away.
They might come for me.
Hurt me.
Kill me.
I wouldn’t even be able to go back to Florida now. Thanks to my big mouth, half of the Grassis knew I was from there, that my family was still there.
I’d need to start over again.
With a hell of a lot less money saved this time.
My stomach clenched and twisted, making me need to slam my laptop lid shut and step away from it, too overwhelmed to learn even one more thing about these people that I’d already spent so much time around.
It was hard to reconcile what I knew now about them with what I’d seen with my own two eyes, heard with my own ears.
These were men I’d seen rocking babies, calming fears, even sneaking kisses with their wives when they thought no one was looking.
But even the worst monsters in the world had families, didn’t they? Parents, siblings, wives, and children. That didn’t mean they weren’t evil.
“Ugh,” I grumbled, swinging my arms as I paced my tiny apartment. My unsettled energy was something bigger than me. It felt too large for my home to contain.
