Chapter 5 - THE SNIPER ON THE CATWALK
The deafening echo of the hotel manager’s voice bounced off the rusted corrugated metal walls of the warehouse.
I stared up at the catwalk, my mind struggling to process the impossible sight.
Mr. Sterling. The cruel, sniveling hotel manager who had thrown me out into the street six months ago with nothing but a threat. He was wearing dark tactical gear, holding a high-powered sniper rifle with absolute, terrifying precision.
“Sterling?” Vanessa gasped, her voice shrill with confusion. “What are you doing here? You work for me!”
A dry, harsh laugh drifted down from the catwalk.
“I never worked for you, Vanessa,” Sterling called out, his laser sight dancing across the chest of the lead Russian mercenary. “I work for the Moretti family. I have for fifteen years.”
My stomach dropped into my shoes.
I looked at Luca. The mafia boss didn’t look surprised. He kept his eyes locked on the Russian mercenaries below.
“You planted him at the hotel?” I breathed, the horrific realization washing over me.
“I owned the hotel, Hannah,” Luca said softly, never breaking his lethal focus. “Sterling was my captain. When you found Vanessa and Marcus in that room six months ago, Sterling didn’t fire you to protect them. He fired you to get you out of the crossfire before Vanessa realized you had seen her face.”
The truth hit me like a physical blow.
Sterling hadn’t ruined my life. He had saved it. He had terrified me into staying quiet so Vanessa’s Russian handlers wouldn’t hunt me down. And Luca had subsequently ‘found’ me and brought me into the mansion to keep me safe under his own roof.
“Drop the weapons, Yuri,” Luca commanded, his voice turning to ice. “You’re surrounded. My men have the perimeter. Sterling has your head. It’s over.”
Yuri, the lead Russian mercenary, didn’t lower his assault rifle. He grinned, a cold, gold-toothed smile that sent a shiver down my spine.
“You think a sniper scares me, Moretti?” Yuri sneered. “We are bratva. We do not surrender.”
Yuri suddenly grabbed Lily by her coat, yanking her up from her knees and pulling her in front of him as a human shield. He pressed the barrel of his rifle hard against the side of her head.
“Lily!” I screamed, lunging forward.
Luca grabbed my waist, hauling me back behind the cover of a thick steel support pillar. “Stay back!” he roared.
“I’m going to count to three,” Yuri shouted, his eyes wide and manic. “You put your gun on the floor, Moretti, and tell your sniper to stand down, or the little girl’s brains paint the floor!”
“Don’t do it, Luca!” Sterling yelled from the catwalk. “If you drop the gun, they kill us all!”
“One!” Yuri shouted.
Lily was sobbing, her eyes squeezed tightly shut, her hands bound uselessly in front of her.
“Luca, please!” I begged, grabbing his lapels, tears blinding me. “Save her! Please!”
Luca looked down at me. The fierce, untouchable Don was gone, replaced by a man agonizing over an impossible choice. He looked at my terrified sister, then back at me.
“Two!” Yuri roared, his finger tightening on the trigger.
Luca didn’t hesitate anymore.
He slowly lowered his pistol, placing it carefully on the concrete floor. He kicked it away, raising his empty hands.
“Stand down, Sterling,” Luca ordered loudly.
“Boss, no!” Sterling protested from the rafters.
“I said stand down!” Luca barked, his voice echoing with absolute authority.
A moment later, the laser sight vanished from Yuri’s chest. Sterling lowered his rifle, stepping back into the shadows.
Yuri laughed triumphantly. He shoved Lily roughly to the ground, keeping his rifle trained on Luca.
“Very noble, Moretti,” Yuri mocked. “Dying for a maid. Your father would be ashamed.”
“My father was a coward,” Luca replied coldly, his hands still raised. “Get it over with, Yuri.”
Yuri smiled. He raised his rifle, aiming it squarely at Luca’s chest.
Vanessa, still handcuffed to one of Luca’s guards, let out a wicked, relieved sigh. “Finally. Shoot him.”
I couldn’t watch him die. I couldn’t let the man who had torn his world apart to protect my family sacrifice himself.
I was standing behind the steel pillar, gripping the silver steak knife I had taken from the dining room. Yuri was focused entirely on Luca. The other two mercenaries were watching the catwalk, waiting for Sterling to make a move.
Nobody was watching the maid.
I took a deep breath, squeezing my eyes shut for a fraction of a second. Forgive me, I prayed.
I stepped out from behind the pillar and threw the heavy silver steak knife with every ounce of strength I had.
I didn’t aim for Yuri’s chest. I aimed for his face.
The silver blade flashed under the harsh floodlight. It spun through the air and struck Yuri squarely in the shoulder, burying itself deep into the muscle just below his collarbone.
Yuri screamed in agony, his rifle firing wildly into the ceiling as he stumbled backward.
“Now, Sterling!” Luca roared, diving for his discarded pistol.
The warehouse erupted into deafening chaos.
Two suppressed sniper shots echoed from the catwalk. The two remaining Russian mercenaries dropped to the concrete, instantly neutralized.
Yuri, clutching his bleeding shoulder, tried to raise his weapon again, but Luca was already on his feet.
Luca fired twice.
Yuri collapsed backward, his lifeless eyes staring up at the rusted tin roof.
The gunsmoke cleared, leaving the warehouse in eerie, ringing silence.
I didn’t wait. I sprinted across the concrete floor, dropping to my knees beside Lily.
“Lily!” I cried, frantically pulling at the zip-tie around her wrists.
“Hannah!” she sobbed, burying her face in my shoulder. “I was so scared!”
“I’ve got you,” I wept, holding her impossibly tight. “You’re safe. I’ve got you.”
Luca walked over, holstering his weapon. He knelt beside us, pulling a small pocket knife from his jacket, and carefully sliced the zip-tie off Lily’s wrists.
Lily threw her arms around him, burying her face in his expensive suit. Luca didn’t flinch. He wrapped his strong arms around my sister, looking over her head at me with an expression of profound, overwhelming relief.
“You threw a knife at a Russian mercenary,” Luca breathed, a small, awestruck smile touching his lips.
“You threw your gun on the floor for me,” I replied softly, wiping my tears.
We stayed there on the cold concrete for a long moment, the adrenaline slowly leaving our bodies.
But the peace was shattered by the sound of slow, sarcastic clapping.
We turned.
Vanessa was standing near the entrance, her handcuffs dangling open. The two guards Luca had assigned to watch her were lying unconscious on the floor behind her.
And she wasn’t alone.
Standing next to her, holding a suppressed pistol, was Marcus. Luca’s second-in-command, who was supposed to be locked in the basement of the mansion.
“How touching,” Marcus sneered, stepping into the light. “The Don and the maid, united at last.”
Luca slowly stood up, stepping protectively in front of me and Lily.
“How did you get out, Marcus?” Luca asked, his voice returning to absolute zero.
“I’m the second-in-command, Luca,” Marcus smiled smoothly. “I know all the codes to the basement cells. Your guards never stood a chance.”
He raised his pistol, aiming it directly at Luca’s head.
“Vanessa and I are leaving,” Marcus announced. “We’re taking the private jet to South America. But before we go, I have a message from your late father.”
Marcus reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a small, ornate wooden box. He tossed it onto the concrete floor between them. The box popped open on impact.
Inside sat a beautiful, delicate gold necklace. A locket.
I gasped, my hand flying to my mouth.
“What is that?” Luca demanded.
Marcus smiled a cruel, victorious smile.
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“That’s the locket we took from Hannah’s mother after we ran her over ten years ago,” Marcus said. “Open it, Luca. See what’s inside. See why your father ordered the hit.”
TITLE: The Secret Inside The Locket
