Chapter 6 - The Catch
"NO!" I screamed.
I didn't think. I didn't calculate the distance. I just lunged.
I dove across the rusted fire escape landing, my arms stretching out over the dark void of the alley.
The white blanket slipped from Daniel's hands.
For a fraction of a second, the world went entirely silent. I felt the rough fabric brush my fingertips. I clamped my arms together, crushing the tiny body against my chest as my momentum carried me forward.
My ribs slammed into the iron railing. The breath exploded from my lungs in a violent gasp. I teetered over the edge, gravity pulling me down, but a strong hand clamped around the collar of my jacket, hauling me violently backward onto the metal grating.
Vincent.
I lay on my back, gasping, holding the crying baby tightly against my heart.
Daniel stared at us in absolute shock. He reached for a secondary weapon inside his coat.
Vincent didn't hesitate this time. He raised his gun and fired twice.
Daniel gasped, his eyes wide. He stumbled backward, his foot catching on the raised lip of the roof. With a sickeningly silent fall, Daniel Whitmore tipped backward and vanished into the darkness below.
A heavy thud echoed from the alley.
Vincent dropped his gun. He fell to his knees beside me, his scarred hands gently touching the baby's head. The child stopped crying, looking up at Vincent with wide gray eyes.
"Anthony," Vincent whispered, tears spilling down his cheeks. He looked at me, his chest heaving. "You caught him. You saved him."
I sat up, trembling violently. I handed the baby to Vincent. He held the boy with a tenderness that completely erased the mafia boss I had met in the restaurant.
"We need to get to the police," I said, my voice shaking.
Vincent shook his head. "Daniel's men are still out there. The police in this district worked for him. We need to get out of the city."
Suddenly, a groan came from the corner of the fire escape. Frank was clutching his bleeding shoulder, trying to crawl toward the roof access door.
I stood up, picking up Frank's dropped gun. I walked over and aimed it at his chest.
"Grace," Frank winced, holding up his bloody hand. "Please."
"My mother left a note," I said coldly. "She said if anything happened to her, I should find Anthony's twin. But she didn't mean Vincent, did she?"
Frank swallowed hard, looking away.
Answer One, Open Two. My mother's note didn't say "find Vincent."
I reached into Frank's coat pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper. It was my mother's medical file. The one from the hospital where she died.
"My mother didn't die of a heart attack, did she?" I asked, my voice breaking with rage.
May you like
Frank closed his eyes. "Daniel ordered it. She refused to give up Anthony's location. I poisoned her IV."
I clicked the hammer back on the gun.
