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J ulia woke up on the floor, lying on her side, facing the fireplace.

Early morning light filled the living room.

The fire had gone out long ago, leaving charred splinters of wood, a pile of ash, and a burnt smell.

She flashed on the little girl’s cell. For a moment, she didn’t know if it was real, a vision, or another nightmare.

She sat bolt upright, looking around. The flashlight and watercolor self-portrait lay beside her. So did the comb.

It was real.

Julia looked over at the wall. It was cracked and broken, revealing a makeshift door. Plaster chunks and chips were strewn all over the rug. Cold, dank air wafted from the entrance. The poker was on the floor. It was real.

Unless she was still dreaming now.

She heard shouting and banging at the back door, then realized it was Anna Mattia, locked out. She scrambled to her feet, ran to the door, and threw it open, unhinged and vaguely deranged.

“Anna Mattia, am I awake? Are you here? Is this real?”

“Oh Dio !” Anna Mattia’s mouth dropped open. “What ’appen ?”

“Are you here? Are you really here? Is it you? Are you real ?” Julia reached for Anna Mattia, to see if she was real or not, to feel another human being, but Anna Mattia recoiled in fear and scurried back down the hill.

“Piero!” Anna Mattia shouted, running away.

“Anna Mattia!” Julia stepped outside, struck by the morning sun. It warmed her face. It brought her back to reality. She heard birds chirping. Bianco barking. She was awake. Everything she remembered was real.

Rossi was a monster who might be her grandmother.

That could be the worst nightmare of all.

Julia perched on the edge of the couch, sipping a glass of water.

She couldn’t suppress the revulsion she felt after seeing the underground cell.

She didn’t know if she could stay in the house another minute.

The very air seemed tainted with the horror of what was underneath the floor.

She’d thought Rossi was delusional, paranoid, and maybe even crazy, but she hadn’t guessed Rossi could abuse a child, maybe even her own. It was torture .

Anna Mattia had fought tears while Julia had told her what happened.

Piero stood grim-faced, listening to the account and holding his gun.

When Julia was finished telling the story, Piero went into the tunnel with his flashlight, leaving her and Anna Mattia in the living room amid the debris from the wall.

“You see Caterina?” Anna Mattia dabbed her eyes with a tissue.

“Yes, I swear it.”

Anna Mattia made the Sign of the Cross, and Julia got up and gave her a hug.

“I think Caterina wanted me to see the underground cell. She wanted me to know that Rossi put the little girl in a prison.”

“Signora Rossi, no, no, why she do?”

“I don’t know.” Julia’s mind was already coming up with possibilities, each worse than the last. “You saw the watercolor. It’s a girl’s self-portrait. Rossi locked her down there.”

Anna Mattia’s gnarled hand flew to her lips. “ Madonna , no.”

“The question is, who’s the little girl? There are a few possibilities. One is that she’s Rossi’s daughter, so that means Rossi had a little girl, despite what she told you and everybody else.”

Anna Mattia grimaced.

“It’s possible, right? She could have given birth in the villa. She could have raised the child alone. We’re in the middle of the country. Nobody would know. Right?”

Anna Mattia nodded, jittery.

“Still, even if the girl was Rossi’s daughter, we don’t know if either of them was related to me. We look a little alike, but that’s subjective. Luckily, I got hair from the little girl’s comb, so we can get it tested and find out.”

Anna Mattia nodded, following along.

Julia had a darker possibility. “But what if the little girl wasn’t Rossi’s daughter, or wasn’t related to Rossi at all? What if it was a random girl? What if Rossi kidnapped her?”

Anna Mattia gasped, her hand flying to her mouth.

They both turned to the sound of Piero coming out of the tunnel, and he squeezed through the door into the living room, having gone pale under his tan, weathered skin. He set down the flashlight and spoke to Anna Mattia in hushed tones.

“What’s he saying?” Julia asked, unable to follow.

“He say tunnel under vineyard, ’e dig to see.”

“Good, okay. Thank you, Piero.” Julia took stock of the situation.

“Look, this is a crime, whether it’s Rossi’s daughter or not.

I mean, what if she killed the girl? Obviously, she didn’t kill my biological mother or I wouldn’t be here.

But what if Rossi murdered the girl? What if she wasn’t the only girl? What if she was just the last girl?”

“ Mio Dio! ” Anna Mattia yelped.

“Well, it’s possible.” Julia crossed to the tunnel and looked down into the blackness. Cold air chilled her to the marrow. “I’m calling the police.”