CHAPTER 96

GIOVANNA RAN DOWN THE HALLWAY and stopped just outside the door leading to Mr. Mann’s art room downstairs. She stood with a wide stance, braced her back against the wall, and raised the Glock over her head with both hands. She closed her eyes and pulled the trigger. Twice. The sheer force of it jolted her wrists and sent shock waves past her elbows to her shoulders. The sharp, explosive cracks echoed through the empty hallway —and triggered a shrieking ring in both ears. In that instant she hated the gun —and desperately needed it all at the same schizophrenic time. She held her breath and fired one more round into the ceiling.

The police would figure where she was soon enough, but the gunfire would surely slow their approach. Keep them cautious. And give her time to do what she needed to do. She pushed open the door leading downstairs. The paintings of the Seven Dwarfs greeted her —or were they waving goodbye? Doc. Sneezy. Grumpy —with the painted warning above his head. Last chance to turn back. But there was no last chance for her. She’d tossed that away when she threw the black paint.

She took the stairs two at a time —flying past Sleepy, Bashful, Dopey, and Happy.

Happy. She was, once upon a time, wasn’t she? What had happened to her? How had it come to this? “God save me. Save me.”

Giovanna hesitated outside the art room door. There was an outside emergency exit in the room. What if police were already inside? She tucked the Don’t Tread on Me Glock under one arm and cracked open the door.