“Benedetta, no,” the figure whispered, like a prayer.
Bennie blinked. Her mother was the only person who called her Benedetta. The figure was small, about her mother’s height. She could have sworn it was her mother, standing there.
Bennie shook it off. She must be seeing things. It was the pills.
“No, Benedetta,” the figure repeated, with the Italian pronunciation, exactly the way her mother had said her name.
Bennie felt the words washing over her, resonating within her. Something came loose in her chest. Tears filled her eyes. The figure was backlit like an angel. Bennie wasn’t imagining her. Maybe it was a vision. Her mother was an angel, come to see her. To stop her.
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.” Bennie lowered her arm, hiding the gun. She tried to blink her tears back. “Go. Leave.”
“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!” Bennie kept shaking her head, bewildered.
“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.”
Bennie didn’t know what to do. She couldn’t kill Alice, with the woman standing there. She shook her head. The tears wouldn’t go away. She was thinking of her mother. She was feeling her mother’s very presence.
“Benedetta, look at me. I see truth, and there is too much good in you to do this. Look at me.”
Bennie couldn’t look at her. She knew it was crazy. She was listening to a crazy woman having a crazy conversation, but she felt as if she were talking to her mother. She felt as if she were talking to herself. She was in a sort of dream, or spell, or maybe it was the pills, but none of it mattered any longer.
“Benedetta, look at me.”
“No.” Bennie was lost now, even to herself. She couldn’t come back. She had crossed the line. Tears slid down her cheeks. “I’m not good. Not anymore.”
“Yes, you are.” The woman took Bennie’s face in her hand and turned it toward her own. “I see you.”
Suddenly Bennie started to cry, hoarse, choking sobs. She felt like she was breaking down, out of control. All her emotions came flooding out, and she was unlocked, her soul set free. She was surrendering to something, and she didn’t know what, or who. The crazy woman. Her mother. Herself.
“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, channeling her very mother, and in the next second Bennie felt herself collapse in the woman’s arms.
Police sirens blared near the alley, breaking the spell, and Bennie came to her senses.
Alice was climbing the wall and getting away.
“No!” Bennie shouted, raising a hand. But her gun was gone somehow, and Fiorella kept a firm grip on her arm.
“Let her go. She is dead already.”
Bennie heard the truth in her words, and it made her feel that she could come back, and that she already had, and she could become herself again. Because she had remembered who she really was inside, the little girl her mother had loved, all her life.
Benedetta Rosato.
And when she looked up, Alice was gone.
Chapter One Hundred and Twenty-seven
Bennie sat in a hard chair, alone in her third interview room, in almost as many days. She’d spent the night in a smelly holding cell, but the Bahamian police had fed her eggs for breakfast and fried fish for lunch, and they’d gotten her hands rebandaged, so she felt herself again. It was Tuesday afternoon, and she hadn’t had any more pills, which helped, too.
She was waiting for the cops to formally release her, and her gaze wandered idly over the mint green walls, beat-up black chairs, and a metal table covered with old newspapers, blank forms, and a 2007 Nassau telephone directory. There were bars on the window, and through them she could see it was beautiful outside. A tropical sun beamed onto a windowsill cluttered with files and an old-fashioned ink pad, for taking fingerprints.
She’d been talking to the cops for hours, because under Bahamian law they could question her for forty-eight hours, with extensions to seventy-two and ninety-six hours, which turned out to be unnecessary. She’d used her phone call to contact the Philadelphia office of the FBI, who had called the American consulate. The consulate official had gotten her a Bahamian criminal lawyer, and he’d blessed her cooperating with the authorities.
So the cops had read her “a caution,” their equivalent of Miranda warnings, and she’d convinced them that she’d shot the big man in self-defense, especially since eyewitnesses had seen him attack her and reported that he’d run away after he’d been shot. A search of doctors and the hospital hadn’t been able to find him, and under Bahamian law, if they didn’t have a complainant, they couldn’t charge her, anyway. She would be fined on the weapons charge and for illegally entering the country, and in the meantime, her bank accounts had been safely transferred back to USABank. The cops were still looking for Alice, based on statements from Fiorella and one Julie Cosgrove of BSB, but Bennie knew her sister would never be found.
She’s dead already.
The door to the interview room opened, and a cop in a white pith helmet stuck his head inside. He had on the smart black-and-red uniform of the Royal Bahamian Police, with a gold crown at the epaulets. “Miss Rosato?” he said.
“Yes, Officer?” Bennie rose. “May I go now?”
“Yes. Your lawyer is here, to escort you.”
“My lawyer?” Bennie repeated, puzzled. “I sent him home. I can take it from here.”
“Ms. Rosato?” called a familiar voice, and in the next second, Grady walked into the interview room, wearing a gray suit, a tie, and the widest smile on the planet.
“Hi, what are you doing here?” Bennie let an awkward moment pass. She wasn’t about to throw herself into his arms, and Grady must have picked up on her feelings, because he didn’t move to hug her.
“Of course I’d come. You have my Amex card, remember?”
Bennie laughed. “Uh-oh. I think I shot it.”
Grady laughed with her, then his expression turned serious. “Did they treat you well? Are you okay?”
“Fine.”
“I see you got your hand fixed up.”
“For now. I have to go to an orthopedist, when I get home.”
“Does it hurt?”
“Nah.”
“I couldn’t stand it if you were hurting, after all you’ve been through.”
“I’m really fine,” Bennie answered, touched. “I’m just waiting on the paperwork.”
“I’ve got tickets to take you back today, and they’ll let you fly without your passport, clear through to Philadelphia. It’s all been greased by the FBI. They also talked to the Pellesburg police, who found the box, so they know the truth. They’re not charging you with anything.”
“Good.”
“She buried you alive?” Grady’s gray eyes went the color of steel behind his glasses. “It’s inhuman that she would do that to you. You must have been scared out of your mind.”
“That’s not the worst part, really.” Bennie tried to shrug it off, but couldn’t. She’d done a lot of thinking last night, even for the short time she was behind bars. “The worst part is how much it changed me. I never thought I could be as evil as Alice. I didn’t think I had that in me. But it turns out that I do.”
“Who knows, maybe all of us do. Maybe any one
of us, pushed to the brink, is capable of evil. Or at least revenge.” Grady’s voice softened. “Don’t beat yourself up about it. Don’t judge yourself. No one else does, least of all me.”
“Thanks.” Bennie managed a smile, but it felt so strange to be standing here, talking with him. She flashed on being back in the box, thinking that if she ever got out alive, she’d tell him how she felt. But for some reason, the words weren’t coming to her lips.
“I do have something to say, though. I’m standing here with you now, looking at you, and I can’t believe I ever mistook her for you.” Grady frowned, bewildered. “I cannot believe I was fooled so easily, and I’m sorry. You must think I’m a complete idiot.”
“No, not at all,” Bennie said, as his words struck home. “We hadn’t seen each other in a while, and if I’d let people get closer to me, especially you, then this never would have happened. So it’s my fault, really. I know that now.”
“Well, then.” Grady’s features softened, and he cocked his head. “I propose we start over, and get to know each other better. What do you say? I’d like to give us a second chance.”
“So would I.” Bennie couldn’t say more, except to throw her arms around Grady and relax into his embrace like it was the most natural thing in the world.
Because, suddenly, it was.
Chapter One Hundred and Twenty-eight
Bennie, Grady, and Fiorella arrived in the Philly airport and joined the stream of tourists, vacationers, and business travelers heading down the hall to the terminal exit. They passed a souvenir cart, a soft pretzel stand, and finally, the Miami gate.
Bennie smiled, catching Grady’s eye. “Remember the last time we were here? Not my finest moment.”
Grady chuckled, throwing an arm around her. “Beg to differ. That kid had it coming.”
“Look!” Fiorella pointed down the hall, where Mary, her parents, and The Three Tonys stood, waving at them and holding flowers and balloons.
“YO, BENNIE!” The DiNunzios and Mary rushed forward to meet her at the exit, startling the TSA guard and causing heads to turn.
“Benedetta!” Mrs. DiNunzio reached up for her.
“Bennie!” Mary squealed, and Bennie gathered them up in a big hug, then released them.
“Hey, Mary! Or should I say, partner? Congratulations!”
“Wow!” Mary’s lips parted in happy surprise. “Partner works for me, but did you just call me by my first name?”
“I sure did, and why not? It’s about time, don’t you think?”
“Sure!” Mary beamed.
“How’s Carrier? I mean, Judy?”
“She’s great! She says hi, and she’ll be back at work in two weeks.”
Bennie wanted to hear more, but she and Mary got distracted by something happening between Mrs. DiNunzio and Fiorella, talking in front of Mr. DiNunzio and the Tonys.
“Grazie, Donna Fiorella.” Mrs. DiNunzio stood next to Mr. DiNunzio, who had his arm around her shoulder. “You save Benedetta. Mille grazie.”
“You’re welcome.” Fiorella nodded in acknowledgment. “Do you still believe I’m not a good woman? Or have I redeemed myself?”
“You are good!” Mrs. DiNunzio answered, and the two women hugged like old friends. When they broke their clinch, Mrs. DiNunzio’s eyes were glistening. “So, why you come back, Fiorella?”
“I’ve decided to move to Philadelphia.”
Everyone looked dumbstruck, except for Mr. DiNunzio, who grabbed one of The Tonys by the shoulder and tugged him over to Fiorella. “FIORELLA, YOU REMEMBER MY BUDDY PIGEON TONY LUCIA? HE CAN SHOW YOU AROUND TOWN.”
Fiorella extended a hand to Pigeon Tony, with a seductive smile. “How very nice to see you again.”
Bennie returned to Mary. “Mary, did you buy a house? Grady told me everything that’s been going on.”
“Yes, I’m a new homeowner, and Anthony and I are doing great, too.”
“Congratulations on that, too! Are you guys going to live together?”
“Not yet.” Mary shook her head, smiling. “We’re taking it slow.”
“Good. Tell Anthony I said hello, will you?”
“You can tell him yourself. He’s here, and he brought a friend.”
Mary stepped aside with a flourish, and her parents, Fiorella, and The Tonys cleared away. Anthony emerged from the back of the crowd, holding a leash, and at the end stood Bear, wagging his tail. His belly had been shaved and two of his legs had a bandage, but when he saw Bennie, he scampered stiffly to her, in delight.
“Bear!” Bennie felt tears come to her eyes. “Look at you, pal!”
Grady beamed. “I couldn’t bring myself to put him down and I asked them to do the surgery. I had to make secret phone calls to see how he was, but I didn’t want to tell you until he was out of the woods.”
“I love you!”
“Me or the dog?” Grady asked, but Bennie had knelt down and was burying her face in the dog’s thick ruff. She kissed his muzzle and caught a whiff of his breath, which smelled suspiciously of peanut butter. She laughed, stood up, and took his leash.
“Let’s go home, gang,” Bennie said, her heart full and happy.
“Arf!” Bear barked, and everybody laughed.
Acknowledgments
Think Twice is a thriller with gunplay, chase scenes, and bad girls, but at its warm and gooey center, it’s a story about the power of a mother’s love. So first, thanks go to my mother, Mary Scottoline. She’s the strongest person I know, or could even imagine, and has triumphed over so much adversity to become the woman she is that I can’t decide whether I love her more than I admire her, or the other way around. She’s the reason Is tarted writing, because I wanted to see in books the kind of strong, smart, and funny women I saw in life. And ultimately, I’m so grateful for all she has done for me, my daughter, my brother, and my friends. All the good parts of me are from her, and frankly, so are the bad parts, which are way more fun. Thanks, Ma.
I’m a big fan of thank you, and after sixteen novels, I’m lucky enough to have a SWAT team of go-to experts to answer all of my hard questions, though any mistakes are mine. For legal and police procedures, I always turn to Glenn Gilman, Esq., and Detective Art Mee, who never let me down. Thanks, gentlemen, once again.
For medical issues, thanks to Brad Zerr and Tina Saurian. For financial and banking issues, thanks to the folks at PNC, Rick Monterosso and Marlene McCafferty. And for law firm finances, thanks to my BFF Franca Palumbo, Esq., now of her own law firm, Thalheimer & Palumbo. Congrats, Franca!
Big hug to the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine and to the brilliant Jolie Demchur, who can tame the wildest of horses and helped me so much with all matters veterinary.
Think Twice took me off the reservation big time, for a research trip to Nassau, Bahamas, where everyone was enormously helpful and friendly. Thanks so much to Officer Antonio Bain, of the Royal Bahamian Police, who answered all of my questions and took me on a tour of the police station in Nassau, and huge thanks to Wilbert Moss, an expert criminal defense attorney, who spent so much of his valuable time teaching me the intricacies of Bahamian criminal law. Thank you both so much for your expertise and hospitality.
On the publishing end, thank you to the gang at St. Martin’s Press, starting with my editor and coach, Jennifer Enderlin, who improved Think Twice so much, in addition to coming up with the title (again!). Thanks for everything to John Sargent, Sally Richardson, Matthew Shear, Matt Baldacci, Jeff Capshew, Nancy Trypuc, Monica Katz, John Murphy, and John Karle. Thanks to Michael Storrings, for a great cover design! Also hugs and kisses to Mary Beth Roche, Laura Wilson, and the great gang in audio. I’m indebted to all of you.
Thanks and big love to my genius agent, Molly Friedrich, to the Amazing Paul Cirone, and to the lovely and talented Lucy Carson.
My wonderful assistant and bestie Laura Leonard is invaluable in every way. Thanks, sweetie, and especially for going to Nassau with me as one of our continuing excelle
nt adventures. Nobody is better on a research run than Laura, and plus, she’s fun!
Finally, biggest thanks and love go to my remarkable daughter, Francesca, a writer herself, who helped me with this book, as well as our dogs, cats, and a very stubborn pony, who shall remain nameless.
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-one
Chapter Twenty-two
Chapter Twenty-three
Chapter Twenty-four
Chapter Twenty-five
Chapter Twenty-six
Chapter Twenty-seven
Chapter Twenty-eight
Chapter Twenty-nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-one
Chapter Thirty-two
Chapter Thirty-three
Chapter Thirty-four
Chapter Thirty-five
Chapter Thirty-six
Chapter Thirty-seven
Chapter Thirty-eight
Chapter Thirty-nine
Chapter Forty
Chapter Forty-one
Chapter Forty-two
Chapter Forty-three
Chapter Forty-four
Chapter Forty-five
Chapter Forty-six
Chapter Forty-seven
Chapter Forty-eight
Chapter Forty-nine
Chapter Fifty
Chapter Fifty-one