CHAPTER 6: THE ATTACK
CHAPTER 6: THE ATTACK
The attack came forty-eight hours later.
It was raining.
A cold summer storm rolled across Chicago, turning the Romano estate into a blur of gray skies and dripping oak trees.
Inside the mansion, Beatrice and Leo were baking chocolate-chip cookies.
Or at least trying to.
Flour covered the kitchen counters.
Chocolate chips had somehow ended up inside Leo's shoes.
Beatrice looked dramatically at the mixing bowl.
"I think we accidentally invented cement."
Leo's shoulders bounced.
Another silent laugh.
Mrs. Alvarez smiled from across the kitchen.
"I haven't seen this room feel alive since Mrs. Romano was here."
For one brief moment...
The mansion felt like a home again.
Then every security alarm exploded at once.
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!
Red emergency lights flashed across the ceilings.
Marco's voice thundered through the intercom.
"Lockdown!"
"Everyone stay where you are!"
"Security breach!"
Leo instantly froze.
The color drained from his face.
His tiny hands began shaking violently.
Beatrice dropped to one knee beside him.
"Look at me."
His breathing became frantic.
She gently cupped his flour-covered hands.
"Breathe with me."
"In..."
"Out..."
Around them, armored security guards sprinted through the halls.
Dominic appeared seconds later.
"What happened?"
Marco's voice crackled through his earpiece.
"East perimeter."
"Motion sensors detected three intruders."
"Cameras are down."
Dominic's expression turned deadly.
"Cameras don't fail by accident."
"They were jammed."
Before anyone could respond—
A deafening crash shattered the kitchen windows.
Glass exploded inward.
Mrs. Alvarez screamed.
A smoke grenade rolled across the floor.
White smoke filled the room in seconds.
"Leo!" Dominic shouted.
Beatrice reacted before anyone else.
She grabbed Leo, pulled him beneath the heavy kitchen island, and wrapped her own body over his, shielding his head as glass rained down around them.
Another explosion.
Then another.
Gunfire echoed somewhere outside.
Marco barked orders into his radio.
"Team Alpha, north entrance!"
"Bravo, with me!"
"Nobody gets near the child!"
Inside the choking smoke, Beatrice could barely breathe.
Leo clung to her with desperate strength.
"It's okay," she whispered, though her own heart hammered in terror.
"I've got you."
"You are not alone."
A shadow moved through the smoke.
Someone was inside the kitchen.
Not security.
A gloved hand reached toward the island.
Beatrice's eyes widened.
Without thinking, she grabbed the cast-iron frying pan from the floor and swung with every ounce of strength she had.
CRACK!
The intruder collapsed with a cry of pain.
Marco and two guards burst through the smoke a split second later, tackling the masked man before he could recover.
Within minutes, the estate was secured.
Three attackers had escaped.
One had been captured alive.
Dominic walked over to the unconscious intruder.
He slowly removed the black mask.
Marco stared in disbelief.
"I know him."
Dominic's voice became ice.
"So do I."
The man wasn't a random assassin.
He was a former mechanic who had worked on the Romano family yacht...
One week before Isabella died.
The "accident" that had haunted the family for two years...
Had just become a murder investigation.
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And someone was willing to kill again...
To make sure the truth never surfaced.
