Chapter 11 - The Parking Garage.
Emily screamed and twisted away.
The gloved hand lost its grip on Grace but caught Emily's gown instead.
Luca slammed the stairwell door backward.
A masked man stumbled into view.
The police officer tackled him against the wall.
Luca did not chase this time.
He stayed beside Emily exactly as he had promised.
"Are you hurt?"
Emily shook her head.
Grace began crying.
The sound cut through the alarm and chaos.
Luca looked at the archive case.
Whoever was doing this wanted those papers badly enough to attack a newborn in a crowded hospital.
The fire department confirmed minutes later that there was no real fire.
Someone had triggered the alarm remotely and released harmless theatrical smoke through a maintenance vent.
The maternity wing was locked down again.
The captured attacker refused to speak.
Police found five thousand dollars in cash inside his jacket.
They also found a parking ticket from the east garage.
Luca showed the officer the photograph of Sofia's son.
"They're trying to pull me downstairs."
The officer warned him not to go.
Emily surprised everyone.
"We're going."
Luca turned toward her.
"No."
"They're not going to stop."
"That's exactly why you stay here."
Emily's eyes hardened.
"Every time we stay still, they come through another door."
She pointed at the archive.
"You have what they want."
"And you have what they want more."
"Then use that."
Luca stared at her.
She was exhausted, barefoot, and still wearing a hospital gown.
Yet the frightened woman he had met against the hallway wall was disappearing.
"We go with police."
The officer agreed to a controlled approach.
Emily and Grace remained in an armored hospital transport van near the garage entrance while Luca carried a decoy case inside.
Police tactical officers watched from hidden positions.
The east garage was almost empty.
Fluorescent lights buzzed above concrete pillars.
Luca walked to the level marked in the message.
A black sedan waited beneath a broken security camera.
Nathan stood beside it.
Luca stopped.
"You."
Nathan looked terrified.
"I didn't send the messages."
"Then why are you here?"
"Same reason you are."
He held up his phone.
A message on the screen showed a photograph of Nathan sleeping in his apartment.
BRING MORELLI OR EMILY DIES.
Luca studied his face.
Nathan looked selfish, weak, and frightened.
He did not look prepared.
"Where's Vanessa?"
"Gone."
"Gone where?"
"She left the hospital ten minutes ago."
Luca's phone vibrated.
The security officer monitoring Emily shouted through Luca's earpiece.
"Movement at the transport van."
Luca turned.
A vehicle engine roared from the level below.
Then the officer yelled again.
"The mother and child are moving!"
Luca ran toward the ramp.
The armored hospital van shot past the opening.
The driver was not a hospital employee.
Emily pounded against the rear window with Grace in her arms.
Luca sprinted after it.
Nathan stared in horror.
"That's my father's driver."
Luca stopped just long enough to look at him.
"Your father is dead."
May you like
Nathan's voice broke.
"That's what he wanted everyone to believe."
