Chapter 6 - The Fall of the Dragon
I didn't hesitate.
I didn't beg. I didn't scream.
I grabbed a heavy bronze floor lamp standing beside the armchair and swung it with every ounce of strength in my body, slamming the heavy metal base directly into Marco’s face.
CRACK!
Marco screamed as his nose broke for a second time, blood spraying across his shirt. He stumbled backward, dropping his gun onto the rug.
"YOU LITTLE BITCH!" he howled, clutching his face.
I didn't wait for him to recover. I turned, bolted across the room, wrapped Leo tightly in a thick wool blanket, and threw myself feet-first into the laundry chute.
The drop was terrifying—a dark, dizzying slide through smooth metal pipes. I held Leo against my chest like a shield, taking the brunt of every impact with my knees and elbows.
THUMP!
We landed heavily onto the mountain of soft duvets Nina had placed at the bottom of the chute in the basement linen room.
Leo let out a sharp cry, frightened by the darkness and the sudden impact, but I instantly covered his mouth with a gentle hand, whispering into his ear, "Shh, baby, shh... I'm here. I've got you."
Remarkably, the child stopped crying. He buried his little face into my neck, breathing heavily, holding onto my collar with all his tiny strength.
"Mara!" Nina whispered from behind a stack of industrial laundry carts. "Over here!"
I scrambled out of the chute, my body bruised and aching, but Leo was completely unharmed.
"Where is the garage?" I whispered frantically.
"This way," Nina said, leading me through a maze of concrete hallways. "The laundry truck leaves every afternoon at 4:00 p.m. to deliver linens to the estate's downtown hotel. The driver is already in the cab!"
We burst through the double doors into the basement parking garage. Sure enough, a large white delivery truck was idling near the exit ramp.
Suddenly, footsteps echoed down the concrete stairs behind us.
"THEY'RE IN THE BASEMENT!" Luciana’s screeching voice echoed off the concrete walls. "DON'T LET THEM LEAVE ALIVE!"
"Run!" I screamed to Nina.
We sprinted across the open garage floor toward the back of the delivery truck. I threw open the heavy rear doors, shoved Nina inside, and scrambled up behind her just as gunfire shattered the rear windshield of the truck.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
"DRIVE!" I screamed, slamming my hand against the metal partition separating the cargo bay from the driver's cab. "DRIVE OR WE DIE!"
The driver, terrified by the gunfire, slammed his foot on the accelerator. The massive truck roared to life, surging forward, tearing through the wooden garage gate and bursting out into the blinding sunlight of the driveway.
Bullets rattled against the steel body of the truck as we sped past the gateguards, but the heavy vehicle didn't stop. It smashed through the iron perimeter gates and plunged down the winding mountain road leading toward the city.
I collapsed onto the pile of fresh linens, panting for air, my whole body shaking uncontrollably.
Leo looked up at me from beneath the wool blanket. His little face was smeared with dust, but his bright blue eyes were fixed on mine, full of trust. He reached up a tiny, trembling hand and stroked my cheek, making a soft, comforting sound.
I pulled him close, tears streaming down my face, kissing his cheeks, his forehead, his hair. "We made it, baby," I sobbed. "We made it."
"Where do we go now?" Nina wept, clutching her knees in the corner of the dark truck. "We can't go to the police! Luciana owns half the precinct!"
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I wiped my face, my eyes hardening with a fierce, cold resolve.
"We're going to downtown Chicago," I said, pulling my mother's silver locket from my sweater. "We're going to find Dante."
