Chapter 6 - The Vanishing Mother
While Luca consolidated control of the manor, Dante’s voice came over the encrypted earpiece. ""Boss, we have a critical situation at Saint Jude’s Hospital.""
Luca moved away from the dining room, his tone sharp. ""Report.""
""Our extraction team breached Evelyn Hart’s room five minutes ago. The bed is empty. The monitors were disconnected within the past hour. The head nurse says two men in private paramedic uniforms produced a signed medical transfer order and moved her into an unmarked transport ambulance.""
A violent rage flared behind Luca’s eyes. ""Trace the vehicle. Use every traffic camera in the metropolitan area. Marco knows his DNA scheme failed, and now he is trying to remove the witness.""
""We’re already on it, Don Luca. The ambulance is heading north toward the abandoned rail yards in district nine.""
Luca turned back to the foyer. He summoned Collins and Julian immediately. ""Julian, place this entire estate into red-level lockdown. No one enters, no one leaves. If Marco or Vanessa attempt to step past the front gate, put them in the holding cells below the wine cellar. Collins, you stay with Mia in my private panic room.""
Mia ran up to him, clutching her rabbit tightly. She sensed the shift in the air; children raised in poverty possessed an acute instinct for danger. ""Are you going to find Mommy?""
Luca knelt down, looking straight into her worried hazel eyes. He reached into his coat and pulled out his half of the gold lion medallion, placing it gently into her small palm. ""Keep this safe for me. I am going to bring your mother home. When I return, we are going to fix that rabbit’s ear together. Deal?""
Mia looked at the gold medallion, then extended her tiny pinky finger. ""Pinky promise?""
Luca paused. It was a gesture foreign to his brutal world of extortion and bloodshed. Slowly, deliberately, he wrapped his scarred, powerful pinky around hers. ""Pinky promise.""
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Luca stood up, his face transforming into an emotionless mask of war. He signaled his tactical commander, Viktor. ""Mobilize convoy Alpha. Bring the heavy artillery. Today, we clean house.""
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