64

Angela struggled as the two men hustled her out of the house and along the path that led to the ruined church, but she was as helpless as a child between the two heavily built men and her frantic attempts to escape achieved nothing. Out of sheer desperation, she released a single scream, a howl of terror that echoed off the building beside her.

One of the men raised his hand to strike her, but the other one stopped him.

‘Don’t do that,’ he said. ‘We don’t want her bleeding everywhere. I’ll give her a jolt instead.’

He pulled a taser from his pocket, held it in front of Angela’s face, and then pressed it against her blouse.

Angela hadn’t understood what the man had said, but she knew what a gun looked like.

‘No, please, no. Please don’t.’

Her voice rose to a crescendo, but was then abruptly cut short as the Italian squeezed the trigger. The current that slammed into her was like being hit by a truck, and she jolted backwards and then tumbled unconscious to the ground.

‘Now we’ll have to carry her,’ the man with the taser said.

They each took one of her arms and looped it over their shoulders, and continued their short journey into the ruined church.