Chapter 4
Footsteps echoed softly from the hallway outside the study. Heavy, steady, measured. Combat boots on hardwood.
Alessandro stepped behind the door, weapon raised, thumb resting on the decocker.
The door swung inward. A tall, broad-shouldered man in a tactical jacket stepped across the threshold, his flashlight beam cutting through the gloom.
It was Victor Hale.
"Boss?" Victor called out, his voice calm, scanning the room. "Alessandro? I know you're in here. We've got a breach. You need to come with me to the secondary bunker right now."
Alessandro stepped out from behind the door, the barrel of his weapon pressed firmly against the base of Victor’s skull.
"Drop the sidearm, Victor. Left hand, two fingers."
Victor went completely rigid. He slowly raised his hands. "Alessandro, listen to me—"
"Drop it."
Victor carefully unholstered his Glock and let it slide across the floorboards. "Boss, you have this wrong. Vance ambushed the front gate. He has three men in the courtyard. I told you to stay in New York to protect you."
"Is that why you took my cipher card from this safe?" Alessandro asked, his voice dangerously smooth.
"I didn't take your card!" Victor turned his head slightly, his jaw clenched. "Vance already had a duplicate. Alessandro, think! Who built the encryption system for this house? Julian did. If Vance has a key, he got it from your brother three years ago!"
The explanation sounded flawless. Julian had designed the estate's high-tech perimeter before his disappearance. It was entirely possible Julian had entrusted Vance with an override key.
"Then explain this," Alessandro said, holding up the vibrating burner phone with his free hand.
Victor looked at the screen. The text was still glowing: *The girl is on the third floor. Take her out through the kitchen.*
For a split second, genuine shock flickered across Victor’s hardened features. His brow furrowed. "The girl? What girl? The maid’s kid?"
"Don't lie to me," Alessandro growled. "Zoe drew you at the gate hours before the blackout."
"I was at the gate hours ago because Vance’s men dropped an envelope in the intercom box!" Victor turned fully around, staring Alessandro directly in the eyes. He didn't look like a traitor caught in a corner; he looked like a soldier realizing he had stepped onto a landmine. "Alessandro, they told me if I didn't open the side gate tonight, they'd burn down the children's hospital on 5th Avenue. My sister's daughter is in pediatric oncology there!"
Alessandro held Victor’s gaze. The tension in the room was suffocating.
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"Vance didn't ask for the ledger, Alessandro," Victor whispered. "He told me he was coming for a package Julian left behind. He never told me the package was a child."
Suddenly, the fire alarm in the west wing began to shriek, deafening and shrill.
