Chapter 46 Chapter 44 The Hotel Raphael
Andrea looked at the door as if she had never seen that thing in her life.She took the CD out of the computer, stuffed it into the original plastic bag, and hid it in the trash can of the toilet.Then she walked back into the house, her heart beating like a drum, hoping that whoever knocked on the door now had better leave.But there was still a knock on the door, very polite but also very forceful.It can't be room service, it's not even 8am yet.
"Who is it?"
"Miss Otiro? It's breakfast, room service."
Andrea opened the door, a little surprised.
"I didn't call service..."
The man standing at the door didn't wait for her to finish. He couldn't be a hotel waiter.The man was short and stocky, wearing a black leather jacket and black trousers, he hadn't shaved in maybe two days, and he had an exaggerated smile on his face.
"Miss Otiro? My name is Fabio Dante, Deputy Chief Detective of the Vatican Police. I want to ask you a few questions."
Dante was holding a work permit in his left hand, and the photo on it was very large. Andrea looked carefully, and it was obvious that it was real.
"Look, I'm very sleepy at this time, and I want to take a break. You can come back later."
Andrea slammed the door shut, but Dante stuck a foot in to block the door, and Andrea watched as he tried to squeeze in.
"Don't you understand? I'm going to sleep."
"It seems that you didn't understand me. I have to talk to you immediately. It's urgent. It's about a robbery investigation."
Oh God, Andrea thought, how did they find me so quickly?
Every muscle in Andrea's face twitched, and every nerve in her body was tuned to the highest gear.She had to frighten him.Her nails dug into the flesh of her palms, and her toes curled up into balls.She opens the door and Dante walks in.
"I can't give you a lot of time. I have to report to the newspaper."
"Isn't it too early to report? The printer hasn't started working yet!"
"Yeah, but I like to give myself some lead."
"Do you have any special news?" Dante asked, taking a step closer to Andrea's computer.She stepped up and stood in front of him.
"Nothing special, just speculation about who will be the next pope, a common practice."
"Oh, sure, it's a big subject, isn't it?"
"It is indeed very important, but there is nothing to say so far. You know, it is such a story, a topic of interest to ordinary people, and there is no news yet."
"We want it to stay that way, Miss Otiro."
"Unless, of course, this robbery you're talking about, maybe some story, what the hell is missing?"
"Nothing special, just a few envelopes."
"What's in it? It must be something very valuable, isn't it the Cardinal's paycheck?"
"How do you know what's inside is valuable?"
"Must be, otherwise why would they send their best hounds to look for it? Maybe the Vatican stamp album. I know philatelists want those stamps!"
"Actually, that's not a stamp, can I smoke?"
"You should have some mint."
Dante sniffed the smell in the house. "Evidently you have not taken that advice yourself."
"The nights are long, go ahead and smoke if you can find an empty ashtray."
Dante lit a cigarette and took a drag.
"As I told you just now, Miss Otiro, there are no postage stamps in the envelope. It is a highly confidential document and must not fall into the wrong hands."
"For example?"
"I don't understand your question, like what?"
"Whose hand is the wrong hand?"
"Those who don't know the heights of the sky and the depths of the earth."
Dante searched for a long time but couldn't find an empty ashtray.He flicked ash on the carpet.Andrea took this opportunity to swallow.If you didn't catch the menace in his words, she was quite a convent nun.
"So what exactly is the document?"
"The confidential kind."
"valuable?"
"Possibly. Once I find the man with the envelope, hopefully he knows how to negotiate a price with me."
"Are you prepared to offer a large sum of money?"
"No, I'm going to shut that person up."
Dante's threatening words did not frighten Andrea, but his tone did.He smiles and says every word like he's asking for a cup of coffee, his tone unchanged but dangerous.Suddenly Andrea regretted letting him in the house very much.Now she has one last card.
"Well, I'm happy to speak to you Sheriff, but I'm sorry I'm letting you go. My photographer friend will be back any minute now, and he'll be jealous."
Dante laughed, but Andrea couldn't: Dante took out a gun in his hand and aimed it at Andrea's chest.
"Game over, pretty girl. You have no friends, give me the CD, or I'll punch your lungs out."
Andrea stared at the gun in his hand.
"You're not going to shoot, we're in a hotel and if you shoot the police will be there in half a minute, then you'll never find what you're looking for, whatever it is."
Dante hesitated for a few seconds.
"You're right, I wouldn't shoot."
His left hand came so hard that Andrea felt stares before her eyes, as if there was a wall in front of her, and it took her a long time to realize that she had been blown out, and now she was lying on the ground.
"It won't take you long, Miss Otiro, just let me get what I want."
Dante walked to the computer, and he typed on the keyboard. After the protective screen of the computer disappeared, Andrea's article appeared on it.
"Found it!"
Andrea tried to stand up, rubbing her left eye with one hand.The bastard had bruised her below the eyebrow, and the blood was splattered everywhere.Andrea could see nothing in one eye.
"I don't understand, how did you find me?"
"Miss, you authorized us your phone number to send you a message." Dante took out two things from his pocket, a screwdriver and a small shiny metal cylinder.He closed the computer, turned it over, and used a screwdriver to remove the hard drive, which he put on a few times with a small cylinder, and Andrea guessed what he was doing: it was a powerful magnet that could completely wipe out articles and computer hard drive storage. all information. "If you read the small print carefully when you signed, you will know that there is a clause that authorizes us to locate your mobile phone with satellites, 'in order to protect your personal safety'. This clause was originally intended to prevent terrorists from infiltrating the media, But it seems to be very useful to you in this case. You should be glad that I found you first and not Karowski."
"Oh yeah, I should be jumping for joy!"
Kneeling, Andrea groped around for something heavy with her right hand, and found a heavy crystal ashtray, which she had planned to take away from the hotel as a souvenir for herself.The ashtray was on the floor against the wall, because she had been sitting there smoking like a ghost.Dante came and sat on her bed.
"Let us just owe you a thank you, if you hadn't stolen those discs, all the evil that this pervert has done would be on the front pages of newspapers around the world right now. You want to keep this news for yourself, But you're in doubt. That's it. Be smart and let's just let it go, shall we?"
"That disc..." Andrea muttered a few vague words, and Dante lowered his head to listen, his nose touching Andrea's.
"What did you say, charming girl?"
"I said you should watch your ass, bastard!" Andrea said.
She took the ashtray and hit Dante hard in the ear.The rock-hard ashtray shattered on top of Dante's head, sending ash flying everywhere.Dante cried out, covering his ears with his hands.Andrea jumped up and threw Dante down, then hit him with an ashtray.But Dante reacted faster this time, grabbing Andrea's arm as the ashtray fell.
"Oh, so the little bitch has claws!"
Dante twisted Andrea's arm until the ashtray fell to the floor.Then he punched Andrea hard in the stomach, and Andrea hit the floor again, as if a hard ball hit her in the chest, and she was knocked out.Dante rubbed his ears, a thin stream of blood trickling down his neck.He came over and grabbed Andrea's feet, ready to punch her a few more times.If he did, Andrea would have to break some ribs.But Andrea was ready. When Dante was about to hit her, she kicked him on the ankle of one of his legs. Dante lost his balance and fell to the ground. Andrea took the opportunity to run in. The toilet locks the door.
Dante stood up and limped over.
"Open the door, you bitch."
"To hell with you!" Andrea thought she was just telling herself.Because she found herself crying.She wanted to pray, but thinking of Dante's work unit, she decided it wasn't a good idea.She leaned against the door, but it was useless.The door slammed open, knocking Andrea against the opposite wall.Dante rushed in, his face full of anger.Andrea clenched his fists, Dante grabbed Andrea's hair and dragged her back to the house, he pulled a lot of Andrea's hair.He was cruel and tried his best to make Andrea kneel down.Andrea, now in tears, tried hard to get Dante's hands out of her hair.Dante begins to bleed, which annoys him even more.
"Where's the disc?"
"Go away!"
"tell me!"
"Find it yourself!"
"Where?"
He pressed Andrea's face against the bathroom mirror, then pulled her head back and slammed it against the glass.There was a cobweb on the mirror and a stream of blood ran down the middle and quickly went into the sink.
Dante forces Andrea to see himself in the broken mirror.
"Do you still want to continue?"
Andrea felt like she had had enough.
"In the dumpster." Her voice was weak.
"Great, bend down and take it out with your left hand. Don't play tricks. Otherwise, I'll cut off your head." Andrea listened obediently, and handed the disc to Dante.Dante looked at it, and it seemed that this was the same as the one at the Vatican Police Station.
"Very good, what about the other nine?"
Andrea was breathing hard.
"I threw them away."
"You're talking nonsense!"
Andrea felt herself flying out of the room, which she did, and Dante threw her four paces away, falling hard to the ground.
"I don't have any of those, I promise. I don't. Go rummage in the Pizza Row dumpster yourself, you stupid pig!" Dante moved closer, laughing.Andrea was breathing rapidly, she was almost dying.
"You don't understand, do you, bitch? All you have to do is turn over those discs and you can go home with your strawberry face. But you don't, you think you Smarter than me, it's impossible. So now we have to take it seriously, your chance of getting out of here alive is gone!"
Dante rides on Andrea, pinning her down.He drew his gun to Andrea's head.Andrea was terrified, but even so she looked directly at Dante, who was capable of anything anyway.
"You won't shoot, you made too much noise." Andrea didn't have much confidence when she said this time.
Dante took out a silencer from his pocket and screwed it on the gun. Andrea was now face to face with death, but suddenly, some noise came from behind.
"Put down the gun, Dante."
Dante turns around, and someone holds a gun right in his face.Paula and Anthony stood at the door, Paula holding the gun and Anthony holding the electronic key that let them in.Paula's work card and Anthony's priest collar allow them to arrive at this critical moment.It took them some time to search through the four reporters before finally finding this place.At that time, they searched by age, starting from the youngest, and it turned out that that was a radio station handyman.A brown-haired, eloquent receptionist at the front desk greeted them and gave them the room numbers of Andrea and the handyman, who was also staying at Andrea's hotel.
Dante stared at Paula's pistol, dumbfounded.His body moved towards Paula and Anthony, but he did not lower the gun and pointed it at Andrea's head.
"Come on, Paula, you won't shoot."
"You're attacking a civilian on Italian soil, Dante. I'm the police, and I don't need you to tell me what to do and what not to do. Put the gun down, or I have the right to shoot."
"Pola, you don't understand. This woman is a criminal. She stole classified documents, which are the property of the Vatican. It's nothing personal that she's not cooperating and resisting."
"You've said that before. I've noticed that you're often involved in 'not private' cases."
Paula's words made Dante feel embarrassed, and he changed his strategy.
"You're right. Now I'm taking this girl to the Vatican so I can find out what she did after she stole the mail. I personally keep her safe."
Andrea knew what this meant, and she absolutely didn't want to spend another minute with this bastard.She moved her legs slowly, trying to stand up.
"No," Paula said.
Dante's voice was strong, and he spoke directly to Antony.
"Anthony, you can't let this go. For the sake of the cross and the sword, we can't let this woman bring this to light."
The priest also looked into Dante's eyes.
"The marks you speak of are no longer the marks of my reverence, Dante. But even if they were, I would not let you stain them with innocent blood."
"She's not innocent. She stole the mail."
While Dante was still talking, Andrea was already struggling to stand up.She took this opportunity to kick Dante.She didn't use all her strength, not because she didn't want to, but because she wanted to aim at the target.She tried to kick the bastard in the gut, and it hit the mark.
Three things happened next.
In order to protect his vitals, Dante flew the CD out of his hand, because he was still holding the gun in his right hand, and his fingers couldn't help pulling the trigger. His mouth was wide open, like a fish out of water.
Paula jumped three steps to the middle of the room, and she gave Dante a stomach punch.
Anthony was half a second slower than Paula.Maybe it was because he was a little slow to react, or because he was surveying the situation in the house, he quickly pushed aside the pistol that Dante had been pointing at Andrea.Anthony grabbed Dante's right wrist, and almost at the same time, Paula's shoulder slammed into Dante's chest, and the shot hit the ceiling.
The three fell to the ground at the same time, falling together.Anthony also grabbed Dante's wrist, pressing his thumb hard on the wrist joint.Dante's pistol dropped, and he was still trying to put his knee into Paula's face, and Paula was kicked out by him, rolled aside, and passed out.
Anthony and Dante stood up.Anthony picked up the gun in his left hand.Hold down the gun spring with your right hand to eject the clip.The magazine clattered to the floor, and he unloaded a round with his other hand.With two more quick movements, the firing pin of the gun was already in his hand.He threw the firing pin far away, and dropped the rest of the gun on the ground, right on Dante's feet.
"Your gun is useless."
Dante smiled, moved his shoulders, and lowered his head: "You are useless, old man."
"Do you want to try?"
Dante threw himself at Anthony, who took a sideways step and punched Dante.The punch missed his face, but his arm.Dante punched hard to the left, and Anthony tried to avoid it, but just ducked and Dante's fist hit him in the ribs.Anthony fell down, gritted his teeth and passed out.
"You have regressed a bit, old man!"
Dante picked up the gun parts and bullets on the ground.He didn't have time to find the trigger and put the gun together, but he wasn't going to leave it here either.He moved quickly, forgetting that Paula still had a gun in his hand, which he could actually use.The gun was under the rug at the moment, next to Paula, unconscious.
Dante inspects the room, toilet and wardrobe.Andrea wasn't here, nor was the CD he had dropped.A drop of blood on the window caught his attention, and he suddenly thought, could this female reporter walk on the air, just like Jesus walked on the sea?Or, more likely, she crawled out on all fours like a cat.
He found at once that this room was as high as the roof of the neighboring house.Standing alone on one side of Santa Maria Avenue, this building is a hermitage, designed by Bramante.
Andrea didn't know who built this building.In the morning sun, she was crawling on the red roof tiles like a cat.Try not to attract the attention of the first visitor here.She wanted to climb to the other side, where a window was open like a call for help, and she was already half way up.The building has two bulges, the roof tiles are dangerously sloped, the roof is 30 feet off the ground, and the floor is slate.
Dante's life was hurting, he moaned in a low voice, but he couldn't care about it at this time.He pushed open the window and climbed out to chase Andrea.Andrea glanced back and saw Dante climbing up the roof to chase after him. Andrea wanted to speed up, but Dante's voice stopped her.
"do not move!"
Andrea turned her head, Dante's gun pointed at her.This gun is now useless, but Andrea doesn't know it.She wondered if this idiot dared to shoot in broad daylight, and now there can be many witnesses here.Because the tourists below had spotted her, they all looked up at her excitedly.The crowd began to grow slowly, and poor Paula was still in a coma, or she would have vividly told everyone that this psychological phenomenon of spectating is called the "bystander effect."It's a proven theory many times over that if a dangerous thing is going on, it's less and less likely to help the victim when there are more bystanders, people pointing fingers and telling others, etc. Watching the lively situation will intensify.
The tourist hadn't seen Dante at this time, he slowly moved a step closer to Andrea.As he got closer, he saw Andrea holding the disc in one hand.Then maybe what she had just told him was true, but throwing those discs away was a stupid mistake.Now this disk becomes the key.
"Give me the CD and I'll go, I swear. I don't want to hurt you." Dante lied.
Andrea was afraid of death, but she pretended to be strong, and the bravery she showed would make even a Marine feel ashamed.
"You bullshit, throw it away or I'll destroy it. Not for you."
Dante stood in the middle of the roof, a little dizzy.Andrea opened her arms and swung her wrist back and forth. With a single swipe, the disc would fly out like a flying saucer. Maybe it would shatter when it fell on the ground, but it might float down in the morning wind. It, if he climbed down from the roof, he might not be able to find anyone.That would really be goodbye to CDs.
It's too risky.
How can you put your opponent to death?Distract her and tip the scales in your favor.
"Miss," Dante said loudly, "don't jump. I don't know how you got here, but life is very beautiful. Come to think of it, there should be many reasons for you to live."
Just do it, Dante thought.Approach this crazy woman, say she has blood in the bathtub, and run to the roof to kill herself.Grabbing her and grabbing the disc while no one was looking, and then when we rolled on the roof, she rolled and I couldn't save her.a tragedy.The cops inside can handle Paula and Anthony, who both know how to use pressure.
"Don't jump, think about your family!"
"What nonsense are you talking about, you monster." Andrea looked at him with wide eyes, "I can't jump!"
The audience below began to point at Andrea and discuss.No one called the police.Some people also shouted: "Don't jump, don't jump!" No one thought why the person who went to save the girl had a gun in his hand.Maybe they couldn't see what Dante was holding.Dante was delighted, he was getting closer to Andrea.
"Don't be afraid, I'm a police officer, representing the law."
Andrea only now understood Dante's plot.He was only six paces away now.
"Don't come here again, you bastard. Or I'll throw it away."
The people below thought Andrea said she was going to jump off, because they barely saw what she was holding.Many yelled "Don't jump, don't jump!" Several people even ran under the eaves and preached to Andrea about eternal love, which she could get if she walked down slowly.
Dante reaches out to touch Andrea's heel.She turned to Dante, stepped back, and slid down a bit.Now there are more than 50 people in the crowd. They are standing below, and the residents of the hotel also opened the windows and stretched out their heads to watch this scene with breath-holding.
Suddenly someone shouted: "Look, there is a priest!"
Dante turned his head, and Antony stood there, holding a tile in one hand.
"Don't make trouble here, Antony!" cried Dante.
Anthony didn't seem to hear, he threw a brick, aimed too far, Dante was lucky to dodge, just in time to cover his face.Otherwise, the cracking sound he heard was not his arm, but his skull.Dante lost his balance, landed on the roof and began to slide down.Fortunately, he caught hold of the gutters on the eaves and did not fall.There he hangs, 10 feet off the ground, his feet hooked on priceless posts designed by Bramante.Three men ran out from the crowd of useless bystanders to help him, and Dante slipped to the ground like a broken doll, thanked him and passed out.
Anthony confronts Andrea on the roof.
"Miss Otiro, do yourself a favor and crawl back to your own room before you hurt yourself."
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