Chapter 7 - INTO THE STORM
"Freeze!" one of the guards shouted above the roaring wind and rain. "Step away from the chair, nurse!"
Norah didn't hesitate. She shoved Leo’s wheelchair behind the concrete lip of the storm drain exit, crouching down and raising Victor’s gun with both hands. Water ran down her face, stinging her eyes, but her focus was laser-sharp.
"Don't do this!" she yelled back. "He’s just a child!"
"Orders are orders!" the guard yelled, stepping down the ramp.
Before the guard could take another step, a black SUV slammed through the heavy iron security gate fifty yards away, its headlights cutting through the darkness like blinding spears. The vehicle skidded across the muddy lawn, throwing up turf before screeching to a halt right at the top of the ravine ramp.
The driver’s door flew open.
It wasn't Dante’s men.
It was Frank Rossi—Victor’s oldest street captain, a loyal veteran who had served the Romano family for thirty years, flanked by four heavily armed soldiers loyal to Victor.
"Drop your weapons!" Rossi roared, his men fanning out with tactical shotguns.
Dante’s two perimeter guards looked at the overwhelming force facing them, threw their rifles into the mud, and raised their hands into the air.
Rossi hurried down the slippery ramp, his boots sloshing through the water. He knelt beside the wheelchair, his rough face breaking into a look of profound relief when he saw Leo looking up at him.
"Little boss," Rossi said, his voice thick with emotion. "Thank God."
"Frank," Norah gasped, lowering her weapon. "Victor sent you?"
"Victor called my private line ten minutes ago," Rossi said, pulling a heavy tactical jacket off his shoulders and wrapping it around Leo. "He told me Dante had turned traitor and that I needed to secure the ravine exit. Where is Victor?"
"He’s still inside," Norah said, looking back at the dark, looming outline of the mansion. Gunfire was still echoing from the upper floors, muffled by the torrential rain. "He went after Dante."
Rossi’s face went hard. "Get the boy into the armored truck. My men will take you to a safe house in the city. I’m going inside to help the Don."
"No, Frank!" Leo rasped suddenly, grabbing Rossi’s sleeve.
Rossi froze, his eyes going wide as he looked down at the boy. "Leo... you're... you're talking?"
"Dad... needs... help," Leo said, his voice stronger now, forged by sheer willpower. "Dante has... a bomb... in the office."
Norah’s head snapped toward Leo. "A bomb?"
Leo nodded rapidly. "I heard Dante... talking on his phone... last week. If Victor found out... he said he’d blow the main house... and make it look like an accident."
Inside the grand foyer of the mansion, the battle was reaching its climax.
Victor moved down the grand staircase, his rifle empty. He dropped the weapon, drawing his primary Glock as he checked the corners. Three of Dante’s men lay dead on the Persian rugs. The air was thick with the smell of cordite and dry wall dust.
"Dante!" Victor called out, his voice echoing off the vaulted ceilings. "It's over! Rossi’s men have secured the perimeter! You have nowhere to go!"
A low laugh sounded from the second-floor balcony above him.
Victor looked up. Dante was standing near the door to Victor’s private office, holding a heavy detonator switch in his left hand and a bloodied hand pressed against his own side.
"You always thought you were smarter than everyone else, Victor," Dante shouted down, his face twisted in madness. "You thought you could rule Chicago forever! But you got weak! You let that dead woman and that broken kid ruin you!"
Victor’s eyes locked onto the military detonator in Dante’s hand.
May you like
"What did you do, Dante?"
"C-4," Dante sneered, holding up the switch. "Wired right under your desk and into the primary support beams of this wing. If I can't have the Romano empire, Victor... nobody can."
