Chapter 7 - THE BALLROOM OF GHOSTS
The rain had stopped, leaving a heavy fog over the city.
The police barricade outside the Grand Aurelia Hotel was a sea of flashing red and blue lights. I approached the tactical commander wearing a fresh catering uniform Luca had sourced. I pushed a cart loaded with bottled water and sandwiches.
“Catering drop,” I told the stressed negotiator. “Sable requested it.”
The cop checked me for weapons, patted down the cart, and nodded. “Get in, drop the food, get out. Do not speak to them.”
I pushed the cart through the grand glass doors. The lobby, usually bustling with wealth, was dead silent. Men with assault rifles paced the marble floors.
“Stop,” a guard ordered, raising his gun. “Take it to the ballroom.”
I kept my head down, playing the terrified waitress perfectly. I pushed the cart down the hallway, my heart pounding in my ears.
When I entered the ballroom, the smell of fear and spilled wine hit me. The millionaires and politicians who had mocked me hours earlier were now sitting on the floor, weeping and trembling.
At the center of the room, sitting on a velvet chair, was Sable.
He was older than Dominic, wearing a bespoke suit, a silver cane resting against his leg. He looked like an aristocratic grandfather, entirely at ease in a hostage situation.
“Ah, the refreshments,” Sable purred. He stood up and walked toward me.
Every instinct told me to run. I kept my eyes on the floor, unloading the water bottles with trembling hands.
“You missed a spot, girl,” Sable said, his voice silky.
I reached for a fallen bottle. As I bent down, I saw it. Sitting on the banquet table beside him was a small, white cooler with a medical cross on it. Matteo’s medicine.
“Are you looking for this?” Sable asked softly.
I froze. He picked up the cooler.
“It’s fascinating,” Sable continued, pacing around me. “I sent my men to find Dominic. They found an empty cart. But they did find something else. A broken shoe in the alley.”
He looked down at my feet.
I had changed my clothes. But I hadn’t had time to change my shoes. My right heel was visibly broken, wrapped in duct tape.
Sable smiled—a terrible, reptilian smile.
“Hello, Sarah.”
He grabbed my hair, yanking my head back. The ballroom gasped.
“Where is he?” Sable roared, pressing the barrel of his gun against my temple.
May you like
I tapped the earpiece in my ear twice.
The lights in the ballroom instantly went dead.
