Chapter 5 - THE NURSE IN THE CROSSHAIRS
"He has my mother," I whispered, the phone slipping from my trembling hands.
Marcus Bellini’s cruel smile widened. "Your mother is a very talented pediatric cardiac nurse, Sophie. I needed someone to keep Leo stabilized during the flight. Consider it a mandatory draft."
Rage, hot and blinding, surged through my veins.
"If you touch her," I snarled, stepping around Luca, "I will kill you myself."
Marcus laughed. "Brave words from a maid."
"Answer One, Open Two," I said softly, my mind racing.
Marcus frowned. "What?"
"If Leo was flying to Mexico," I said, staring at his expensive leather shoes, "there would be mud on your boots from the private airstrip behind this school. But your shoes are completely clean. You didn't put him on a plane. You put him in an ambulance."
Marcus’s eyes flickered with genuine surprise.
I turned to Luca. "The backup generators haven't kicked in because Daniel didn't just cut the power. He flooded the engine room. They can't move life-support equipment without power. Leo is still in this building. They’re trapped in the medical wing."
"Kill them!" Marcus roared to his men.
But Luca was faster.
He didn't shoot Marcus. He shot the massive fire extinguisher mounted on the wall behind the mercenaries.
The tank exploded in a blinding cloud of thick, white chemical foam.
"Move!" Luca yelled, grabbing my hand.
We sprinted down the hallway as blind gunfire tore through the drywall behind us. Daniel and the guards laid down suppressing fire, covering our retreat toward the medical wing.
We burst through the heavy double doors of the infirmary.
Emergency red lights bathed the room in a bloody glow.
In the center of the room, lying on a gurney and hooked up to a battery-powered heart monitor, was Leo. He was pale, sweating, and unconscious.
And standing over him, pressing a desperate hand to his chest, was my mother.
"Mom!" I cried.
Evelyn Bennett looked up, tears streaming down her face. "Sophie! Thank God! His heart is giving out. The stress of them moving him triggered an arrhythmia!"
Luca fell to his knees beside the gurney. He reached out with trembling hands and gently touched his son’s face.
"Leo," Luca whispered, his voice cracking. "I'm here, buddy. Dad is here."
Leo’s eyes fluttered open. He looked at the heavily tattooed mafia boss. He didn't look scared.
"You're the man from the stories," Leo whispered weakly. "The lady with the white roses said you would come."
Luca kissed the boy’s forehead, sobbing openly. "I will never let you go again."
The touching reunion was shattered by the sound of heavy boots kicking open the infirmary doors.
Marcus Bellini stepped inside. His camel-hair coat was covered in white chemical dust. He was bleeding from a graze on his cheek.
He raised his pistol, aiming it directly at my mother.
"Step away from the boy, Luca," Marcus ordered. "Or the nurse dies."
Luca slowly stood up. He placed his body completely between Marcus and the gurney.
"You've lost, Marcus," Luca said coldly. "My men have the building surrounded. You have no exit."
"I don't need an exit," Marcus sneered, his eyes filled with madness. "If I can't merge our empires, I will burn them both to the ground. You die. The boy dies."
He cocked the hammer.
"Wait!" my mother screamed.
She reached into her uniform pocket and pulled out a heavy, tarnished silver object.
It was a pocket watch.
"Marcus," my mother said, her voice shaking but defiant. "Do you recognize this?"
Marcus froze. All the color drained from his face.
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"Where did you get that?" Marcus whispered, his gun wavering.
TITLE: THE WATCH FROM THE NIGHT OF THE CRASH
