Chapter 2 - The Escape along the Hudson
The underground garage echoed with the deep, throaty roar of a modified V8 engine. Nina held the door of a matte-black, fully armored Chevrolet Suburban, its windows thick enough to stop a high-caliber sniper round.
Victor shoved me into the leather backseat, sliding in right beside me and slamming the heavy door shut. Marco leapt into the passenger seat, while Nina took the wheel, throwing the vehicle into reverse and smashing through a wooden security barrier as we burst out into a snowy alleyway behind the mansion.
Outside, Manhattan was caught in the grip of a fierce blizzard. White snow whipped through the air, painting the brick buildings in ghost-like shades. But the peaceful winter aesthetic was ruined by three black SUVs sliding out from behind an abandoned warehouse, their high beams blinding our driver.
"We’ve got company!" Marco yelled, racking his rifle. "Valenti’s men!"
Muzzle flashes erupted from the trailing SUVs. Bullets slammed into our rear windows with loud, dull THUDS, star-bursting the thick bulletproof glass, but failing to penetrate.
"Drive!" Victor ordered, pulling a laptop out from a hidden compartment under his seat.
He tapped rapidly on the screen, bringing up live satellite feeds of the city grid. His movements were cold, precise, and completely devoid of panic.
"They knew we would use the rear tunnel," Victor muttered, his eyes narrowing as he analyzed the red dots converging on our route. "This isn't just a hit squad. Lorenzo Valenti mobilized his entire northern crew. He knew you were at my estate today, Hannah."
I squeezed Lily against my chest, covering her tiny ears with my palms. "How could anyone know? I was just assigned to your house three hours ago by my cleaning supervisor!"
Victor froze. He slowly turned his head to look at me, a dangerous light flashing in his dark eyes.
"Your supervisor... what was his name again?"
"Gus... Gus Vance," I stammered, my heart leaping into my throat. "He... he called me at five in the morning. He threatened to fire me if I didn't take the shift at your mansion."
Marco turned around from the front seat, his face dark. "Gus Vance runs the third-party maintenance contractor we hired last month, boss. He’s on Valenti's payroll."
"It was a setup," Victor whispered, the realization setting in. "Gus Vance tracked Elena's locket years ago. He waited until you were desperate, until your baby was sick, and then he forced you into my home to trigger a confrontation—or to trap both of us in one place."
A heavy impact slammed into the right side of our SUV.
I screamed as our vehicle skidded violently across the icy pavement of the West Side Highway. Nina fought the steering wheel, her knuckles white, pulling us out of the spin just as one of the enemy SUVs tried to ram us off the embankment into the freezing Hudson River.
"Nina, take the George Washington Bridge!" Victor yelled. "We need to clear the city limits before they establish roadblocks!"
"Boss, the bridge will be a bottleneck!" Nina called back, dodging a hail of gunfire from a overtaking vehicle. "If Valenti has the local police precinct bought off, they'll trap us on the span!"
"Do it!" Victor commanded. "I have the bridge authority in my pocket. Marco, clear that car!"
Marco rolled down his window just an inch, poking the barrel of a heavy weapon out into the freezing storm. He fired two short bursts into the front tire of the ramming SUV. The enemy vehicle’s tire exploded, sending the truck tumbling wildly across the snow-covered highway, flipping twice before smashing into the concrete divider in a shower of sparks and flame.
I buried my face in Lily's blanket, praying silently. Please, God. Save my little girl. Take me, but save Lily.
Suddenly, a warm hand rested over mine.
I looked up through my tears. Victor was looking down at me, his intense expression softening. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small silver flask, pouring a few drops onto a clean linen handkerchief.
"Hold this against her neck," Victor said gently. "It’s a cooling tincture my doctor prepares. It will bring her fever down until we reach the compound."
I took the handkerchief with shaking hands and pressed it against Lily’s hot skin. Almost instantly, her shallow, frantic breathing began to steady. She let out a soft sigh, her tiny fingers tightening around the sleeve of my coat.
I looked at Victor, completely confused by the paradox sitting beside me. This was a man who had just ordered a car to be destroyed without blinking, yet he carried a delicate fever remedy in his jacket.
"Why do you care so much?" I asked, my voice barely audible above the engine roar. "If my mother's bloodline is so dangerous to you... why didn't you just let Valenti take us?"
Victor stared out the tinted window at the white expanse of the river.
"Twenty years ago, Hannah, I was a twenty-year-old soldier working for Don Carmelo," he said quietly. "When Lorenzo Valenti’s father betrayed the Rossi family, they set fire to the estate. Elena was nineteen. She was my friend. She was the gentlest soul in a world filled with monsters."
He turned back to me, his blue eyes filled with a deep, bottomless regret.
"I was ordered to evacuate her. But I got caught in an ambush. By the time I reached her quarters, the roof had collapsed. I found her silver locket in the ashes and assumed she was dead. I spent twenty years climbing to the top of this city so no one could ever destroy what I loved again. Today, when I saw that locket around your daughter's neck... I realized Elena survived. She lived a hard, hidden life because of my failure."
He reached out and gently touched my chin, forcing me to look at him.
"You are Elena's daughter, Hannah. You have her eyes. I couldn't save her from the life of a runaway, but I will tear New York apart before I let Lorenzo Valenti lay a finger on her child."
Before I could answer, Nina shouted from the front. "We're on the bridge, boss! But we’ve got a problem—a big one!"
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I looked through the front windshield. Up ahead, spanning the snow-covered lane of the George Washington Bridge, three heavy construction trucks were parked end-to-end, completely blocking the exit to New Jersey. Standing in front of the barricade was a tall man in a long leather coat, holding a rocket launcher over his shoulder.
Lorenzo Valenti.
