Chapter 6 - THE BROKEN VIAL
“The Old Union Clocktower,” Luca said, staring at the crayon drawing. “It’s an abandoned warehouse district on the south side. My grandfather bought it fifty years ago. The family uses it for… private meetings.”
“Executions,” Valentina whispered, wiping her tears.
“Matteo knows the building,” Luca continued. “I took him there once when he was little. He drew the watch because he knows Leo took Marcus’s watch. He’s telling us exactly where Leo is holding him.”
I looked at the clock on the wall. It was 2:00 AM.
“We need the police,” I said firmly. “Luca, you cannot walk into an abandoned warehouse filled with armed men. You just survived an assassination attempt.”
“The police are on Leo’s payroll,” Luca said, turning toward the door. “If a cruiser pulls up, Leo will put a bullet in Matteo’s head before they even breach the door. This ends within the family.”
He looked at Valentina. “Lock the doors. Do not answer for anyone.”
We ran back to the Mustang.
The drive to the south side was tense and silent. The rain had turned into a freezing drizzle, coating the Chicago streets in a slick layer of ice.
We parked three blocks away from the towering, decaying brick structure of the Old Union Clocktower.
“You stay in the car,” Luca ordered, checking the magazine of his handgun.
“Not a chance,” I said, grabbing my medical bag. “If Matteo is hurt, he needs a nurse. And if your blood sugar drops again, you need me to keep you conscious.”
Luca looked at me. He didn’t argue. He just nodded once.
We moved through the shadows of the alleyway, approaching the side entrance of the warehouse. The heavy metal door was slightly ajar.
Luca slipped inside, his gun raised. I followed closely behind.
The warehouse was massive and cavernous. Moonlight filtered through the broken skylights, illuminating the dust dancing in the cold air.
In the center of the room, tied to a wooden chair, was a ten-year-old boy. Matteo.
He was bruised, but alive.
Standing ten feet away from him was Leo.
Leo was impeccably dressed in a tailored suit, looking completely out of place in the rotting warehouse. He was holding a suppressed pistol, pacing slowly in a circle around the boy.
“It’s a shame, really,” Leo was saying to Matteo, his voice echoing off the brick walls. “Your father was a good man. But he didn’t understand ambition. And neither does your Uncle Luca.”
Luca stepped out of the shadows.
“Leave the boy out of this, Leo,” Luca said, his voice booming through the empty space.
Leo stopped pacing. He turned, a slow, arrogant smile spreading across his face.
“Luca,” Leo said warmly. “You look terrible. I told Vanessa she was under-dosing you.”
“Let the boy go. This is between you and me.”
“Everything is between you and me,” Leo laughed.
Suddenly, the harsh, blinding glare of halogen work lights snapped on from the catwalk above.
I looked up.
Silas and four other armed men were standing on the metal grating, their rifles aimed directly down at us.
It was an ambush.
“Drop the gun, Luca,” Leo said, his smile vanishing. “Or Silas turns you both into Swiss cheese.”
Luca hesitated, then slowly lowered his weapon to the concrete floor.
Leo walked forward. He looked at me, his eyes filled with cruel amusement.
“And this must be the heroic nurse,” Leo sneered. “You caused me a lot of expensive problems tonight, Emma.”
He reached out and grabbed my arm, yanking me forward.
“Let her go!” Luca roared, stepping toward him.
A warning shot from Silas’s rifle cracked against the concrete at Luca’s feet. Luca froze.
Leo laughed. He pulled me close, pressing the barrel of his pistol against my ribs.
“You’re going to watch her die, Luca,” Leo whispered. “And then you’re going to watch the boy die. And then—”
I didn’t let him finish.
I reached my free hand into my medical bag. My fingers wrapped around a small, thick glass vial of epinephrine.
I didn't pull it out. I crushed it inside my fist.
May you like
The thick glass shattered, slicing into my palm, but I ignored the pain.
I whipped my bloody hand out of the bag, driving the largest, sharpest jagged shard of glass directly into the side of Leo’s neck.
