Chapter 6 - Shadows at the Hospital
|
Sunlight broke over Manhattan the next morning, cold and blindingly bright, as if the city hadn't tried to tear itself apart in the dark a few hours earlier.
Clara woke up tangled in Egyptian cotton sheets worth more than her monthly rent. For ten seconds, she stared at the recessed lighting, disoriented, before the memories of shattering glass and burning gasoline slammed back into her chest.
She threw off the covers, pulled on the clothes laid out on the dresser—dark jeans and a soft gray sweater that miraculously fit her to the inch—and hurried into the hallway.
Voices echoed from the dining terrace.
She rounded the corner and froze. Dante was seated at the glass table with Luca and an older, silver-haired man in a three-piece charcoal suit whose cold blue eyes radiated old-world authority. Spread across the table were crime scene photos from L’Ombra and surveillance stills from the street.
"Leaving the Sterling girl alive was a mistake, Dante," the older man said sharply. "She crawled out of that restaurant straight into protective custody with the Feds. Wait until she starts singing about the Red Hook containers."
"Camilla doesn't know the manifest codes, Uncle Enzo," Dante replied evenly, sipping his espresso. "All she knows is that Viktor left her to catch bullets in a crossfire. If anything, she’s more terrified of Kael right now than she is of the District Attorney."
Enzo’s icy gaze shifted past Dante and locked onto Clara standing in the doorway.
"And this is the waitress," Enzo said, distaste dripping from every syllable. "You left a prominent socialite on the floor and brought home a nobody whose brother owes money to our worst enemy. Are you losing your mind?"
Clara stiffened, heat rising to her cheeks. Before she could speak, Dante set his cup down with a sharp clink that made even Enzo go silent.
"That 'nobody' spotted an ambush that four of our best soldiers missed on the curb," Dante said, his voice dangerously soft. "If she hadn't slipped me that note, you’d be picking out my casket this morning, Uncle. While she’s under my roof, you speak to her with the same respect you give me. Understood?"
Enzo’s jaw tightened, a muscle ticking beneath his pale skin. He gave a stiff nod. "We still have a breach. Viktor didn't know you were dining at L’Ombra just from Camilla. Camilla only confirmed the booth number. Someone inside our family leaked your itinerary."
The air in the room turned arctic.
"I know," Dante said.
Just then, Luca’s phone buzzed on the table. He picked it up, listened for five seconds, and his face drained of color.
"Boss," Luca said, rising from his chair. "St. Jude’s Hospital just called the burner line we used for the kid’s prescriptions. Two men dressed as orderlies just tried to access the pharmacy records under Toby Vance’s name."
Clara gasped, gripping the back of a chair. "They’re still tracking him—"
May you like
"Not just him," Dante said, standing up and buttoning his suit jacket. His dark eyes flashed toward Enzo, then back to Clara. "Only three people knew the doctor called in a prescription under Toby’s real name at two in the morning. Me, the doctor, and whoever tapped the landline in the downstairs security office."
Dante looked at Clara. "Get your coat. We have a rat in this building."
