Chapter 5 - BLOOD TIES AND BETRAYALS
The heavy thud of the magnetic locks engaging sounded like a death knell in the underground bunker. The emergency lights instantly flickered on, bathing the sterile white trauma room in an ominous crimson glow. I immediately spun around, drawing my Glock and aiming it at the reinforced glass of the door.
Through the small observation window, Dominic's face appeared. He wasn't smiling. He didn't look like a cartoon villain reveling in his triumph. He looked exhausted, resolute, and utterly cold.
"Dominic!" I roared, slamming my fist against the bulletproof glass. "Open this door, you treacherous bastard!"
The intercom crackled to life, filling the room with his distorted voice. "I can't do that, Julian. I'm sorry. Truly, I am. You were a good boss. A good friend. But you let this war with the Morettis go on for too long. You're obsessed with vengeance for a woman who was dead, and it was bad for business. The family was bleeding money and men. Don Moretti offered me the throne in exchange for your head."
"You planted the bomb," I snarled, my mind racing to find a way out of the bunker. There were ventilation shafts, but they were too narrow. The door was blast-resistant. "You framed Vincent just now to get him out of the way."
"Vincent is a bean-counter. He would have folded the second Moretti applied pressure anyway," Dominic's voice was devoid of emotion. "When I saw the name on that resume today... Elena... I knew my time was up. If you found her, you'd find out she saw me in the South End. I had to send Volkov to silence her. I never expected you to go in yourself like a reckless cowboy."
Elena squeezed my arm, leaning heavily against my side. She was weak, barely able to stand, but her eyes burned with the same fierce fire I remembered. "Where is Emma?" she yelled toward the intercom. "If you touch my daughter, I will tear your throat out with my teeth!"
Dominic hesitated, a flicker of guilt crossing his face before it hardened. "The kid is in the East Wing. I won't hurt her. Once the Morettis arrive and finish you two off, I'll send the girl to an orphanage. Far away. Consider it a mercy."
"They're coming here?" I asked, processing the tactical nightmare. The estate was heavily fortified, but my men were taking orders from Dominic now. If he opened the gates for the Moretti army, Blackwood Estate would become a slaughterhouse.
"They'll be at the gates in ten minutes," Dominic replied. "Goodbye, Julian."
The intercom cut out with a sharp static pop.
I turned back to the room. The terrified nurse was huddled in the corner, sobbing into her hands. Silas, the combat medic, had quietly drawn a 9mm pistol from a hidden drawer and was checking the magazine.
"Well, Boss," Silas said grimly. "Looks like my contract just got terminated."
"Silas," I said, my brain shifting into overdrive. "Is there a manual override for the magnetic locks?"
"No. They're tied to the main server in the security room," Silas replied. "But there is the medical waste chute. It drops down into the old prohibition-era smuggling tunnels beneath the estate. It's how we dispose of... certain biohazards without drawing municipal attention."
I looked at the steel hatch set into the wall near the sink. It was barely two feet wide. I could fit, but with my broad shoulders, it would be tight. Elena could easily fit.
"Elena, you have to go down there," I commanded, moving toward the chute and yanking the heavy lever. It opened with a hiss, revealing a dark, foul-smelling metal slide.
"I'm not leaving you!" she protested, her voice cracking as a fresh wave of fever made her stagger. I caught her, holding her tight against my chest.
"You have to," I said, staring deeply into her eyes, memorizing the map of her face just in case it was the last time. "You have to find Emma. The tunnel leads out to the cliffs behind the property. Take her and run into the woods. I have a safe house three miles north, you remember it?"
"The old hunting cabin," she nodded, tears finally spilling over her eyelashes. "Julian, I didn't hide from you because I wanted to. I hid because the night of the warehouse fire, Dominic was the one who locked the doors. I saw him. I knew if I came back to you, he would kill me, and he would kill our child. I was waiting for him to slip up. I was waiting for a chance."
"I know," I kissed her, a hard, desperate crush of lips that tasted of salt and sorrow. "I know, my love. I forgive you. I love you. Now, get in the damn chute."
I helped her up, sliding her feet first into the dark tunnel. She looked up at me one last time before sliding down into the darkness.
I turned back to Silas. "Do you have any explosives in this medical bay?"
Silas smiled, a terrifying grin that reminded me why I hired a dishonorably discharged combat medic in the first place. He walked over to a locked cabinet labeled 'Anesthetics' and pulled out three blocks of C4 and a spool of detonator cord.
"I like to be prepared, Boss. Never know when a patient might try to refuse paying their bill."
"Rig the door," I said, pulling an extra magazine from my pocket. "When the Morettis breach this level, we blow the door outward, catching them in the blast radius. Then, we take the estate back."
May you like
"Just you and me against a small army, Julian?" Silas chuckled, slapping the C4 against the reinforced steel door.
"No," I growled, my eyes narrowing as I listened to the distant sound of the estate's alarm sirens wailing. "Me, you, and the ghost of the man they thought they killed."
