Chapter 7 - THE CAROUSEL SHOOTOUT
The sudden arrival of Victor's van threw the quiet park into absolute chaos.
Sofia didn't hesitate. Before Victor could even raise his submachine gun, she drew a sleek, silver pistol from her trench coat and fired twice. One bullet shattered the van's side mirror; the other grazed Victor's shoulder, sending him ducking back inside the armored vehicle with a curse.
"Get down!" Dante roared, grabbing my arm and shoving me hard behind a thick stone pillar near the carousel's ticket booth.
He threw himself down beside me just as Victor's men opened fire from the van. Bullets chewed into the stone pillar, raining sharp chips of granite down on our heads. The deafening rattle of automatic gunfire echoed wildly off the surrounding trees, drowning out the eerie waltz music still playing from the carousel.
"Dante!" I screamed over the noise, clutching my ears. "Where's Sofia?!"
Dante peeked around the edge of the pillar, firing three precise shots from his handgun toward the van to keep Victor's men pinned.
"She bolted into the tree line!" Dante shouted back, wincing as the recoil jarred his wounded shoulder. "She doesn't care about Victor. She's heading for the town car on 5th Avenue to secure Mia and escape!"
"We have to stop her!" I yelled, adrenaline overriding my terror. If Sofia got away with Mia, she would disappear forever, and the billions in the offshore accounts—even if the ledger was currently burning on the grass—could still be accessed if she had memorized the primary codes.
"I have to hold Victor here," Dante said, his face pale and sweating. "If they get out of that van, we're dead. Elena, you have to run. Cut through the zoo plaza. It's the fastest way to 5th Avenue. Find the town car. Get Mia out."
"I don't have a gun!" I panicked.
"You don't need one!" Dante yelled, handing me a small, heavy black object from his pocket. "It's the master key fob for the estate's fleet vehicles. If Sofia hired a private car, she probably used one of our ghost accounts. Press the panic button when you see the car. It will lock the doors and kill the engine. Go!"
He didn't give me time to argue. Dante leaned out and unleashed a rapid volley of suppressing fire at the van, screaming, "NOW, ELENA! RUN!"
I didn't think. I just ran.
I sprinted away from the stone pillar, dodging behind the massive oak trees as stray bullets snapped through the branches above me. The heavy Kevlar vest weighed me down, my lungs burning in the freezing air, but the memory of Jorge's smiling face pushed me forward.
I tore through the dark, winding paths of Central Park, completely alone in the shadows. The sound of gunfire faded into muffled pops behind me, replaced by the ragged sound of my own breathing.
I burst out of the tree line near the Central Park Zoo plaza. The streetlamps cast long, eerie shadows across the empty pavement.
A block ahead, idling quietly along the curb of 5th Avenue, was a sleek, black Lincoln Town Car.
And walking briskly toward it, her silver hair catching the amber glow of the streetlights, was Sofia Moretti.
"Hey!" I screamed, my voice raw and desperate.
Sofia stopped, turning around with a look of mild annoyance. She still held the silver pistol in her gloved hand.
"Elena," Sofia sighed, shaking her head. "I told you, Jorge's death was business. Why are you making this personal?"
"Because he was my husband!" I yelled, closing the distance between us, my thumb hovering over the panic button on Dante's key fob.
Sofia raised the pistol, pointing it squarely at my chest. "You're wearing Kevlar, my dear, but I assure you, a bullet to the head is just as effective. Turn around and walk away."
I didn't stop walking toward her. "You won't shoot me."
Sofia laughed softly. "And why is that?"
"Because if you pull that trigger, the police will swarm this avenue in ninety seconds," I said, my voice shaking but loud. "You're a ghost, Sofia. A dead woman walking. You shoot me on 5th Avenue, and you lose your anonymity forever."
Sofia's smile faded. She knew I was right. A shootout in Central Park could be written off as gang violence for a few minutes, but a murder on one of the most famous streets in the world would draw a massive, immediate police response.
She lowered the gun slightly, aiming it at my leg instead. "A kneecap will do."
I pressed the panic button on the key fob.
Instantly, the black Town Car's headlights flashed wildly, the horn began blaring in a deafening, rhythmic honk, and the heavy thud of the electronic deadbolts locking echoed across the street.
Sofia spun around, staring at the blaring car in horror.
Inside the back seat, a teenage girl with dark hair—Mia—jolted awake, pressing her hands against the tinted glass, looking confused and terrified.
"You little fool!" Sofia hissed, turning back to me, raising the pistol again.
Before she could fire, the wail of police sirens pierced the night air. Not one or two, but dozens. The flashing red and blue lights reflected off the glass facades of the 5th Avenue high-rises. Dante must have called Marco to send the cavalry.
Sofia looked at the approaching police cruisers, then at the locked Town Car, and finally at me. Her elegant face twisted into a mask of pure, venomous hatred.
She didn't shoot. She turned on her heel, sprinting away from the blaring car and disappearing down a dark subway entrance just as the first NYPD cruiser skidded to a halt on the avenue.
I dropped the key fob, my knees finally giving out, and collapsed onto the cold pavement, gasping for air.
Two officers rushed out of the cruiser with their weapons drawn, shouting orders.
"The girl!" I choked out, pointing at the locked Town Car. "Get the girl out of the car!"
They smashed the window, pulling a sobbing, terrified Mia to safety.
I looked back toward Central Park, praying that Dante was still alive, praying that the nightmare was finally over.
But as I sat on the curb, surrounded by police and flashing lights, a chilling thought hit me.
Sofia hadn't just run. She had walked away without the ledger, without Mia, and without the offshore accounts. She had nothing.
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Which meant she had nothing left to lose.
And she still knew exactly where Marco had taken Lily.
