Chapter 9 - The Man in the Dark
Marco had killed the power from the hallway panel.
That was the plan.
What happened next wasn’t.
Gunfire cracked.
Rachel pulled Emma to the floor.
Luca moved toward Sokolov’s last position.
A muzzle flashed.
Pain tore across Luca’s side.
He fired back.
Someone fell.
“Emma!”
“I’m here!”
Her tiny voice cut through the dark.
Luca moved toward it.
Another shot.
Then emergency lights flickered red.
Sokolov was gone.
The connecting door stood open.
Rachel was crawling toward Emma.
Marco was fighting with a guard near the hallway.
Luca reached his daughter.
She stared at him.
“You’re bleeding.”
“Just a little.”
“You’re not supposed to.”
“That is excellent advice.”
He scooped her up with his good arm.
For the first time in his life, Luca Bellini held his daughter.
She was lighter than he expected.
Warmer.
Real.
Emma wrapped her arms around his neck.
Luca stopped moving.
A sound left him that he would never have allowed another man to hear.
“Daddy?”
“Yes?”
“You took a long time.”
His eyes closed.
“I know.”
His voice broke.
“I’m sorry.”
Rachel reached them.
“Move.”
They ran for the stairs.
Marco caught up.
“Sokolov escaped through the west exit.”
“Forget him.”
Marco looked surprised.
“Luca?”
“Emma first.”
That was new.
Maybe everything was.
They reached the first floor.
Police sirens sounded outside.
Dr. Bennett’s private medical team had been waiting two blocks away.
Luca stepped into the lobby.
Then his heart kicked violently.
He stumbled.
Emma tightened her arms around him.
“Daddy?”
He dropped to one knee.
Rachel saw his face.
“Luca.”
“I’m fine.”
“No, you’re not.”
His pulse became chaos.
Fast.
Wrong.
His vision narrowed.
Dr. Bennett rushed through the hotel doors.
“Put him down.”
Luca tried to stand.
She shoved him back.
“For once in your life, follow an order.”
Emma began crying.
“No!”
Rachel held her.
“Sweetheart—”
“No, Daddy!”
Luca looked at her.
He wanted to say something useful.
Something fathers said.
He had no practice.
So he chose the truth.
“I’m right here.”
The world went black.
When Luca woke, he was in an ambulance.
Dr. Bennett leaned over him.
“You had sustained ventricular tachycardia.”
“Emma?”
“Safe.”
“Rachel?”
“Safe.”
“Sokolov?”
“Apparently you’re still impossible.”
Luca tried to sit up.
Dr. Bennett pushed him down.
“You almost died.”
“But I didn’t.”
“This time.”
The ambulance doors opened.
Marco stood outside.
He looked shaken.
“Luca.”
“What?”
“We found something on one of Sokolov’s phones.”
Luca’s expression changed.
“What?”
“Messages.”
“From Crane?”
“No.”
“Who?”
Marco hesitated.
“Someone in our organization.”
Luca’s eyes narrowed.
Marco continued.
“The person gave Sokolov Emma’s address.”
A cold silence filled the ambulance.
“Name.”
Marco looked almost sick.
“Gabriel Bellini.”
Luca froze.
His uncle.
His father’s younger brother.
The man who had raised Luca after his father died.
The closest thing Luca had left to a parent.
Marco swallowed.
May you like
“Your own family sold Emma.”
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