“Sister—” Romano started.
Alice whirled on him. “Even you, Signore Romano, would not deny my words of comfort to these innocent pawns in your game.”
Romano squirmed impatiently. “Be quick about it.”
She squatted in front of the girls and held their free hands. She leaned forward so her mouth was by their ears. “Both of you do as Alice says. Everything will be all right. I just have to fight with these bad men. When I do, you run and hide in the building you just came from, all right?”
She pulled back and looked at each of them in turn. “Promise me?”
They both nodded and she kissed each of them on the forehead and stood. She took Geraldine by the shoulders, kissed each cheek and then pulled her into an embrace. “Do you think you can handle the man guarding you?”
Geri nodded and Alice said, “Stay here,” and pulled back to look her in the eyes. Alice let Geri go, turned and walked toward the men at the bottom of the stairs.
Romano watched her warily. She had no doubt he would relax when she climbed the stairs.
She watched the three men as she approached. Then she started up the steps toward the open door.
On the fourth step, she turned and lashed out with her foot. It slammed into a guard’s throat. He clutched at his neck and collapsed.
Geraldine slammed her knee into the crotch of the man guarding her. The girls ran toward the hangar hand-in-hand.
Alice snapped her foot at the next guard. Her heel punched into the bridge of his nose. She felt a satisfying crunch and he staggered back.
The last guard rushed at her. She braced both hands on the stair rails and kicked her feet into his chest.
He dropped to the tarmac.
She sprinted down the steps, stomped on his face and reached beneath his jacket. She ripped the gun from its holster and leveled it at the second guard, still bent over and clutching his nose. She squeezed the trigger. The round struck him in the top of the skull. He dropped, lifeless, to the tarmac.
She lowered the gun and popped a round into the head of the third man on the ground.
The first still clutched at his shattered windpipe. She ended his misery with a third shot.
She spun to face Romano and his driver.
The driver, his back to Alice, was attempting to get Geri under control, while her guard lay prone on the tarmac. Romano had backed up to the side of the limousine.
Alice trained the gun on the driver but didn’t shoot for Geri was still fighting against his grip.
Geri’s gaze met Alice’s, over the driver’s shoulder. She relaxed and dropped to the ground. Alice’s shot caught the driver mid-back and he dropped like a stone.
That left just Romano.
Alice whirled to face him. He stood in a combat stance, both hands clasped around the butt of his gun. Their eyes met. He pulled the trigger.
The bullet caught Alice in the chest, and she cried out. It always hurt. The shot threw her to the tarmac, and the gun flew from her grip. Even as she lay there, she could feel the wound healing, the bullet pushing to the surface.
Romano stepped into her line of vision, standing over her, a smile on his face. He looked down at the blood stain around the bullet hole on the front of her shirt. “I knew it. You’re as vulnerable to a bullet as anyone else.”
He bent down, a sneer on his face. “Now that we will not be bringing you to face His Holiness, I cannot leave any witnesses behind.”
Alice felt the bullet roll across the skin of her chest. She snatched the wrist of his gun hand and his throat. “That will not be necessary, Signore Romano,” she snarled through clenched teeth. “It is you who shall not be returning to see His Holiness.”
Romano’s eyes widened. His mouth gaped. He flailed with his free hand against Alice’s hand at his throat.
She pushed him back, sat up and got her feet under her. The bullet in her shirt trickled down to her waist, stopped only by the waistband of her pants.
As Alice got to her feet, Romano tried to jerk away from her. It put his back to the boarding stairs. Alice took advantage of his position and snapped the back of his gun hand against the rail of the stairs. The automatic flew from his hand and skittered down the steps to the ground.
Romano gagged as her hand clenched his throat. Again, he tried to wrench himself from her grip.
She slammed a knee into his groin.
He bent and staggered beside the boarding stairs, Alice’s back to Geraldine and the hangar. Alice’s gaze flitted to the airplane’s engine as it roared behind Romano.
“You are the worst kind of follower, Signore Romano.” She seethed as she released him. “You do the Pope’s bidding only as long as it lines your pockets and keeps you ensconced in a private jet.”
She reared back and punched him in the face. He staggered back a step.
“Doing the Pope’s bidding is a lifetime calling of sacrifice and devotion,” she raged and thrust a foot against his chest.
Romano looked stunned and weak. He stumbled backward.
“It requires faith and commitment.” Her uppercut snapped his head back and left him perfectly positioned.
“Your only commitment is to the money and power the Pope can bestow on you.” She roared to be heard over the massive engine behind him.
He swung wildly at her. She ducked and avoided the punch easily.
“And that, Signore Romano. Just. Will. Not. Do!” Alice planted one foot and thrust herself forward with the other, shoved both hands against his chest with all her might and all her anger.
Romano stumbled back, caught himself and for a moment was perfectly still, his eyes locked with Alice’s.
Then he was gone. Sucked into the great engine’s turbines as it thundered at his back.
The monstrous engine belched a great burst
