4:17 P.M.
Graziella’s fingers tighten around the trigger of the Hämmerli.
“I said, for the last time: put her down!”
Martial remains where he is, leaning against the trunk of the screwpine. He has decided not to give in until he has proof that Liane is alive.
“Where is Liane?”
“I’ll shoot that kid, Martial.”
“Where is Liane?” Martial repeats quietly, without making any sudden movements, to show that he does not want to do anything that might wake his daughter.
Graziella hesitates. Slowly, her index finger curls around the trigger. Martial holds the small sleeping body tight in his arms and prays that Graziella will not be content with a bullet fired at point-blank range. She has probably imagined a more formal execution for Sopha.
Keep her talking.
“Sopha crossed the whole island on foot to see her mother. You could at least give her that.”
Graziella smiles and relaxes the pressure on the trigger.
“You haven’t changed, Martial. Still as good as ever at pleading your cause. Come on, then, as it matters so much to you. Move.”
She points the barrel of the Hämmerli towards the sea, straight at the moored Zodiac.
“You go first.”
Martial moves cautiously over the black, wave-soaked pebbles. He concentrates on keeping his balance without being able to use his arms, for a few meters at least. Graziella is no longer insisting that he wakes Sopha. She must have realized that, with his hands full, he cannot attempt anything desperate.
“You’re almost there,” Graziella announces behind him. “Have a look in the boat.”
Martial takes one more step forward. The Zodiac, moored to a screwpine by a six-foot length of rope, moves constantly in the swell. For the first time, Martial notices the two twenty-liter jerrycans of petrol attached near the motor.
Then he sees Liane.
She is lying at the bottom of the dinghy. Gagged, hands and feet tied together with metal wire.
But alive.
Martial turns around, his eyes filled with fury. “What did you do to her?”
Graziella’s eyes gleam.
“So you’re beginning to realize that this isn’t all a game? A kaf, an old Zoreille, you don’t care that they’re dead, not really. But your two little darlings . . .”
Martial trembles with rage. He bites his lip and turns back to the Zodiac. Liane stares at him hollow-eyed, as if she isn’t sure she recognizes him.
She is completely naked. Her skin is blistered, as if some evil torturer had inflicted hundreds of burns on her, all superficial, but covering every inch of her body. A torturer who paid particular attention to certain parts of her anatomy: her feet, blackened by a red-hot brand; her wrists, peeled raw; her crotch, smooth and scarlet, as if irritated by an interminable procession of lovers.
Graziella now stands between Martial and his wife.
“You’re right. It would be a shame if Liane couldn’t enjoy the spectacle too. After all, the only reason she’s survived is the hope of seeing her daughter again. She deserves to be allowed to kiss her corpse.”
Graziella caresses the Hämmerli’s trigger once more.
“For the last time, Martial, why don’t you introduce me to Sopha.”
“Go fuck yourself!”
Instinctively, Liane moves inside the Zodiac. Graziella does not even glance at her.
“Clearly, Martial, you cannot be left in charge of a child. Didn’t Alex’s death teach you anything?”
Martial does not have the time to respond. Graziella’s finger suddenly squeezes the trigger. Aiming for the heart, standing less than one meter from Sopha’s body.
Three gunshots explode, but are drowned out by the sound of the waves.
Three bullets rip open the blanket. Almost instantaneously, the cloth becomes soaked with blood.
Martial’s fingers, wrists and sleeves are stained red. In the next second, the blood beads in the corners of his eyes, flooding a myriad of scarlet veins.
A demented look in his eyes.
Fury that is absolute.
Martial, stunned, presses the little corpse against his chest.
Graziella remains impassive, continuing to aim the revolver at the blanket.
“So Josapha has joined Alex. One life for another, Martial. The debt has been paid. She had to be sacrificed so you would understand. So you understand what it is to go mad with pain and be intoxicated by vengeance.”