Chapter 4 - The Escape
"Down!" Alessio roared.
He tackled Nora to the ground, shielding her and Nico with his massive body as a hail of suppressed automatic gunfire tore through the diner. Wooden booths exploded into splinters, neon signs shattered, and glass rained down like winter ice.
Alessio didn't hesitate. He pulled his handgun from his waistband and returned fire through the broken kitchen window, his shots precise and deadly. A man screamed outside in the alley, followed by the heavy thump of a body hitting the pavement.
"Vera!" Nora screamed over the roar of gunfire.
"I have her," Alessio grunted. He reached into the pantry, scooping up the carrier containing the baby girl, and strapped it across his back. He pulled Nora up by her jacket collar. "We go out through the basement grate. Move!"
Nora clutched Nico against her shoulder, covering his head with her rag, and ran behind Alessio. They scrambled down the dark, wooden steps leading into the damp basement of the diner. The smell of mildew and old grease was suffocating.
Above them, heavy boots stomped across the dining room floor.
"Find them!" a harsh, raspy voice shouted. "Carlo wants the girl alive, but kill the waitress!"
Alessio led Nora to the far corner of the basement, where an old coal chute led up to the side street. He shoved a heavy iron lever, opening the rusty metal grate above. Cool night rain splashed onto their faces.
"Go first," Alessio ordered, boosting Nora up through the opening.
Nora scrambled onto the wet sidewalk, cradling Nico tightly. She turned back to help Alessio, who struggled against the pain of his gunshot wound as he hauled his massive frame through the tight space. Blood was dripping steadily from his side, staining the wet concrete beneath him.
They sprinted down the alley, ducking into the dark shadows of an adjacent brick warehouse just as two black SUVs screeched to a halt in front of the diner. Flame erupted from the windows of the building behind them as Carlo’s men tossed incendiary grenades into the Harbor Diner.
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Nora watched in horror as her entire life—her mother’s memories, her small apartment, her job—was consumed by a wall of roaring orange fire.
"Keep moving," Alessio commanded, grabbing her arm. "We have twenty minutes before they lock down the docks."
