Chapter 2 - THE SHADOWS IN THE LIBRARY

Lorenzo dove to the side as the armored Mercedes smashed through the garage's outer doors, tearing the metal frame from the concrete walls.

He rolled across the floor, coming up onto one knee. He aimed at the tires, but they were reinforced run-flats. The car tore down the long, winding driveway toward the main gates.

"Marco!" Lorenzo yelled into his radio. "Do not open those gates! Keep the magnetic seal engaged!"

"Sir, they're going to ram it!"

"Let them!"

Lorenzo sprinted out into the rain, following the red taillights of the fleeing vehicle.

At the end of the driveway, the Mercedes accelerated, aiming for the center of the heavy iron gates. The collision was deafening. Metal shrieked. Sparks flew into the dark sky.

The gates buckled, but the magnetic locks held. The reinforced front end of the Mercedes crumpled, the airbags deploying with a violent pop.

Lorenzo slowed his pace, raising his gun as he approached the smoking wreckage.

The driver's side door was kicked open. Vincent rolled out, coughing, his weapon drawn.

He fired wildly into the darkness.

Lorenzo didn't flinch. He walked forward, completely exposed, his eyes locked on his traitorous underboss.

"You betrayed my family," Lorenzo said, his voice carrying over the storm.

"Your family is weak!" Vincent spat, hiding behind the engine block. "You lost your nerve when Elena died! You let a sick kid turn you into a coward!"

Lorenzo's expression didn't change, but his eyes went completely black.

He stepped to the side, getting an angle. He fired once.

The bullet shattered Vincent's kneecap.

Vincent screamed, collapsing onto the wet asphalt.

Lorenzo walked up to him, kicking the gun out of Vincent's hand. He pressed the barrel of his 1911 against Vincent's forehead.

"Where is the maid?" Lorenzo demanded. "Where did you send your men?"

Vincent laughed, blood bubbling on his lips. "They found her. She's dead, Lorenzo. And so is her little brat. You killed them by throwing them out."

Lorenzo's finger tightened on the trigger. The guilt was a physical weight, crushing his chest. He had condemned an innocent woman and child to death because he was too blind to see the snake in his own house.

"Lorenzo! Look!" Marco yelled, running down the driveway.

Headlights were approaching from the other side of the gate.

Not an SUV. A stolen, beat-up pickup truck.

It skidded to a halt just outside the buckled gates.

The driver's door opened.

Sophia stepped out into the rain. She was covered in mud, grease, and someone else's blood. In one arm, she held Emma. In her other hand, she held up a small plastic bottle.

"I have the medicine!" Sophia screamed over the rain. "Open the gate!"

Lorenzo stared at her. She looked like a war-torn angel.

"Open it," Lorenzo ordered Marco, his voice breaking.

Marco hit the override on his remote. The magnetic lock disengaged, and the heavy iron doors groaned open.

Sophia ran through. She shoved the bottle into Lorenzo's chest. "Take it! Go to Isabella!"

Lorenzo grabbed the bottle. He looked at Sophia, then at Emma, who was pale and shivering.

"Medic!" Lorenzo roared, catching Sophia as her legs finally gave out. "Get stretchers down here now!"

He looked down at Vincent, who was staring in shock at the surviving maid.