Chapter 6 - The Hunt in Evanston
Fiona felt the world spin beneath her feet.
Sarah. Her younger sister, a twenty-four-year-old art student who lived in a small apartment three blocks from Northwestern University. Sarah knew nothing about mafia wars, armed estates, or pediatric ICU equipment. She was completely innocent.
“No,” Fiona gasped, her hands shaking violently as she reached for her coat on the chair. “No, no, no! I have to call her!”
“Don't use your phone!” Alessio barked, stepping forward and taking her hands in his, pulling her close to steady her panic. “If they are near her apartment, they are monitoring her cell tower. A call will alert them that we know.”
“Alessio, please!” Fiona sobbed, tears finally breaking through her composure. “She’s all I have left! If anything happens to her because of me—”
“Nothing will happen to her,” Alessio promised, his voice so dark, so absolute, so commandingly powerful that it anchored her instantly. “Look at me, Fiona. Look at me!”
Fiona forced herself to meet his eyes.
“I give you my word on my life,” Alessio said, his thumb wiping a tear from her eye. “I will bring your sister back alive and untouched. But you must stay here where it’s safe.”
“No,” Fiona said firmly, shaking her head. “I’m coming with you.”
“Fiona, it’s a combat zone—”
“I know her apartment!” Fiona shouted, her strength returning in a surging wave. “I know the back alley, I know the layout, I know where she hides her spare key! If you march in there with your armed men like a military battalion, they will kill her before you reach the stairs! You need me!”
Alessio stared at her, his mind calculating probabilities in a fraction of a second. He knew she was right. A full tactical raid on a civilian apartment building in Evanston would draw immediate police attention and give Moretti’s men time to execute the hostage.
Alessio turned to Dominic. “Call Dr. Harrison’s private nursing agency. Get two certified pediatric ICU nurses to the estate immediately to watch Leo under heavy guard. Put four men inside this nursery with automatic weapons. If anyone without my security code approaches that door, shoot them.”
“Understood, boss,” Dominic said, already dialing his phone.
Fifteen minutes later, a sleek, unmarked black SUV roared out of the Lake Forest estate, tearing down the rain-slicked highway toward Evanston at over one hundred miles per hour.
Alessio sat in the driver’s seat, his hands steady on the leather steering wheel. Fiona sat in the passenger seat, wearing a dark jacket, her hands clenched tightly in her lap. In the back seat sat Dominic and two of Alessio’s most trusted tactical operatives, quietly checking their weapons and fitting silent communications earpieces.
“Listen to me,” Alessio said, his eyes fixed on the highway ahead. “When we reach the building, Fiona will guide Dominic and me through the rear service entrance. My team will cut the main power box for the street block. When the lights go out, we move.”
He reached across the center console, taking Fiona’s cold hand in his, giving it a firm, reassuring squeeze.
“Your sister is going to be fine,” Alessio said softly.
“Just don't let them hurt her, Alessio,” Fiona whispered.
“They won't,” he said, his voice dropping into that dark, terrifying register that promised total annihilation to his enemies. “I am going to destroy every single man in that building.”
Twenty minutes later, the SUV pulled into a dark alleyway behind a three-story brick apartment building in Evanston.
The street was quiet, lined with rain-soaked maple trees and parked student sedans. On the third floor of the building, a light was visible through the sheer curtains of Apartment 3B. Through the glass, two dark silhouettes were clearly visible moving inside.
Fiona pointed a trembling finger. “That’s Sarah’s apartment.”
“Dominic,” Alessio murmured into his earpiece. “Kill the power.”
At the end of the alleyway, one of Alessio’s operatives jammed a heavy crowbar into the main electrical transformer box and pulled the master breaker.
SNAP.
Instantly, the entire block went pitch black. The streetlights flickered and died, and the lights inside Apartment 3B vanished into total darkness.
“Move,” Alessio commanded.
In three seconds, Alessio and Dominic were out of the SUV, moving through the rain like shadows. Fiona followed two paces behind, guiding them through the narrow alley door, down the carpeted service corridor, and up the rear fire escape stairs.
They reached the third-floor landing without making a single sound.
Alessio raised three fingers, counting down.
May you like
Three. Two. One.
Alessio kicked the door of Apartment 3B off its frame with a single, thunderous blow.
