Chapter 3 - SHADOWS ON THE TILE
Before Dante could explain further, the heavy glass windows of the ICU shattered inward. A hail of suppressed gunfire tore through the room, ripping the plaster from the walls. I threw myself to the linoleum floor, drawing my Glock in a single, fluid motion. Dante wasn't so lucky. A bullet caught him in the throat, silencing his secrets forever.
“Ambush!” I roared into my earpiece. “Marco, they’re inside the hospital! Defend Elena’s room! I’m on my way.”
I crawled through the glass and blood, returning fire blindly into the hallway. Two men in tactical gear were advancing. I took the first one down with a clean shot to the knee, following up with a round to his chest as he dropped. The second man turned his weapon on me, but Marco appeared at the end of the corridor, dropping the assailant with ruthless precision.
“They breached the east stairwell!” Marco yelled over the sound of alarms blaring throughout the hospital. Panic erupted as doctors and patients scrambled for cover.
“We are moving Elena right now,” I commanded, reloading my weapon. “Get the emergency transport gurney. We’re taking her to the Astor safehouse.”
By the time I reached Elena’s room, she was stirring, her eyelids fluttering open in confusion and pain. The blaring alarms and gunfire in the distance made her wince. I rushed to her side, gently but firmly grasping her uninjured shoulder.
“Elena, look at me,” I said, keeping my voice terrifyingly calm. Her warm brown eyes focused on mine, widening in shock as she took in the blood on my cuffs and the gun in my hand. “You are in grave danger. I am getting you out of here. Do exactly as I say, and I promise you will live to see tomorrow.”
“Leo?” she whispered, her voice raspy. “The men… the black SUV…”
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“I know. I know everything,” I hushed her as Marco and two guards rolled a reinforced transport stretcher into the room. We lifted her as gently as we could, though she let out a muffled cry of agony that tore at my sanity.
We formed a human shield around her as we moved through the service elevator, descending into the underground parking garage. The scent of cordite hung heavy in the air. Two black Suburbans were waiting, engines roaring. As we loaded Elena into the back of my armored vehicle, a sniper round pinged off the bulletproof glass inches from my head. The war had breached my fortress, and I was going to burn the city down to protect the woman bleeding in my backseat.
