Estrella Berrocal was sitting on the living room sofa with Mr. Rouco, watching the news on TV, her heart in her throat.
On the news, Italy was in chaos, with hooded terrorists blowing up its buildings, pointing their guns at the heads of the masses, and it was scary to watch!
While watching the news, Estrella Berrocal called Adán Rouco several times, but could not get through!
Mr. Rouco asked him anxiously, “How is everything going? Have you communicated?”.
Estrella Berrocal, her face slightly pale, shook her head, “Not yet.”
Mr. grabbed his cane and said, “No, I will send someone to Italy immediately to find Adam, Adam is blind now, if anything happens…”
“Dad, take your time.”
Estrella Berrocal reassured the old man, but she was revolted.
It had been a sleepless night.
Lying in bed, she called Santino Yepes several times, but was unable to get through.
Suddenly the phone rang and he picked it up without looking at the caller ID.
“Adam?”
“Star, I am Dulcina”.
That excited heart sank instantly: “Dulcina?
“That … I haven’t been able to get in touch with Esteban Zaragosa lately … Has your husband been in touch with him?”
Estrella Berrocal frowned: “Hasn’t Esteban Zaragosa returned from Italy yet?”.
“No. Can you ask President Rouco on my behalf?”.
“But Adam Rouco has also gone to Italy and there is unrest in Italy and there have just been terrorists and I can’t get in touch with Adam now either.”
Dulcina Calvo over there, surprised: “There are riots in Italy!”
So nothing is going to happen to Esteban Zaragosa, right?
“Now I’m worried about Adam, and with his eye problem, it would be very dangerous for him to meet those terrorists.”
“Estrella, wait, do you know which city in Italy President Rouco is in?”
“He must be in Rome. When he recorded me last night, he told me he was leaving for Rome the next day, but I’m not sure if he’s there or not.”
Dulcina Calvo made a bold suggestion: “I’ve already finished my thesis, Estrella, why don’t we go to Rome together and find them!”
…
Estrella Berrocal had been renewing her visa to Europe because she had previously studied in France, and Dulcina Calvo had coincidentally gotten her visa to Europe for her graduation trip some time ago, so they bought tickets to fly to Rome the next day at the earliest.
When Estrella Berrocal went to the airport, Mr. Rouco was blunt: “You are going to Rome to look for Adam in the middle of all the chaos in Italy. Besides, now you have a baby in your belly, you can’t go!”.
“Dad, I’ll take good care of myself, and didn’t Dad send someone with us?”.
“Star, you…”
“Dad, I’ll take care of myself and the kids, don’t worry, I’ll be home and dry, instead of being cranky, and it’s not good for the kids either.”
Mr. Rouco could not dissuade Estrella Berrocal and simply waved his hand, sighed and let her go.
But to those sent to Italy he said, “Take care of the young lady and don’t come back to me without a hair!”.
“Yes!”
…
Estrella Berrocal and Dulcina Calvo finally arrived in Rome after a long flight of more than ten hours.
From the airport to the hotel, many buildings collapsed on the way and cell phone reception was intermittently poor.
Dulcina Calvo patted Estrella Berrocal on the shoulder and reassured her, “They just lost the signal, don’t worry too much.”
Along the way, Estrella Berrocal’s mind churned and her heart grew cold as she stared at the dark road.
…
Estrella Berrocal and Dulcina Calvo had finished showering and were lying down in the hotel to rest when gunshots were faintly heard outside.
Estrella Berrocal could not sleep and only felt her heart pounding.
Dulcina Calvo was asleep, but the phone rang.
“Dulcina? Dulcina? Wake up, your phone is ringing, Dulcina?”.
Dulcina Calvo, who had not slept well for days to catch up on her thesis, and who had just fallen asleep after such a long flight to Rome, was awakened by Estrella Berrocal and stirred in a daze, picking up her phone with her eyes closed.
“Hello…”
“Girl.
Dulcina Calvo froze for a couple of seconds and got out of bed with a start.
“Jiang, Esteban Zaragosa, where are you?”
Estrella Berrocal, who was on the other side of the room, also pricked up her ears to listen; perhaps Adán Rouco and Esteban Zaragosa were together at the time.
The telephone signal was bad and there was a tapping sound, Esteban Zaragosa’s voice was intermittent, but Dulcina Calvo could faintly hear that his voice was not as calm and strong as usual, but a little weak.
“Esteban Zaragosa, what’s the matter with you? I’m coming to Rome! Can you hear me?”
“Esteban Zaragosa can you hear me!”
“…”
The phone was forcibly cut off by the signal.
Dulcina Calvo took her phone and logged into WhatsApp and sent Esteban Zaragosa a location.
He then proceeded to call again, but there was no one there, or the signal was so bad that he could not get through.
Estrella Berrocal asked, “What’s going on?”
“I can’t communicate, I don’t know if Esteban Zaragosa has heard me.”
Esteban Zaragosa … appears to be injured.
…
Esteban Zaragosa was crouched in a corner, one hand covering a bleeding wound in his abdomen, and a silver pistol held cautiously in the other.
After the call was cut off, her phone lit up after a long time, a WhatsApp message, a location of Dulcina Calvo.
The girl … was in Rome at the time.
An eyebrow, a strong twist.
Suddenly, a gun was pressed against the side of his head.
The blue-eyed man with the gun raised shouted, “Fake! Fuck you!”
A piercing shot rang out in the quiet darkness.
…
At the hotel, Dulcina Calvo had slept soundly, but since she answered Esteban Zaragosa’s call, she couldn’t sleep at all.
Lying on the bed staring at the ceiling, he asked Estrella Berrocal in the dark: “Estrella, do you think something might have happened to the demon Esteban?
“No way, you said it was demon Esteban, Estrella, surely demon wouldn’t dare take him.” .
Dulcina Calvo was amused: “It’s true, he is very good, he must be able to defeat those terrorists”.
“Yeah, you didn’t tell me not to worry, you don’t worry either.”
…
Hotel reception.
A man with a stern body entered the hotel with a firm stride, and the woman at the front desk screamed in fear when she saw the other man’s hands covered in blood.
The man forced the receptionist into a corner, put a gun to her abdomen and said in fluent Italian: “Don’t scream, I won’t hurt you, here lives a girl named Dulcina Calvo, take me there”.
The terrified woman nodded hurriedly.
…
Dulcina Calvo was about to go to bed when there was a knock at the door.
Estrella Berrocal and Dulcina Calvo were alert and Dulcina Calvo ran out of bed: “I’m going to see”.
“Be careful.”
Inside the door, Dulcina Calvo said in English, “Who’s that?”
“It’s me, open the door.”
A familiar deep male voice shook her eardrums and her heart.