Chapter 12

The second death was discovered the following day - the man had been found sitting in his car with a gun in his hand and a bullet in his brain.

Franky had taken great pleasure in showing me the pictures and I immediately recognised him as the man who had run after me in just his towel after I had slipped the envelope under his bathroom door. My blood instantly ran cold and I had to fight the waves of nausea as I tore my eyes from the pictures.

“Second lieutenant that Milano has lost in a week,” Franky said with a smile. “You know what that means?”

I didn’t answer immediately, so he continued on with his explanation without even bothering to wait for me.

“It means that new lieutenants will take their places, and that there will be space for more soldiers. I might finally have a chance!”

He sounded so darned excited that I didn't have the heart to douse his enthusiasm with my complete horror at the gruesome images of death. Nor did I have the heart to disillusion him about being a so