He takes the exit that leads to the pharmacy.
After running two red lights and taking a left, I see the pharmacy come into view.
Dominic swerves into one of the parking spaces and slams on the brakes.
Police cruisers and ambulances swarm the lot.
Paramedics crouch over a body.
I grab the handle and throw open the door when my phone dings.
It’s a private message.
A picture of two knights from my dad’s chess set.
Followed by a text.
Your next move decides who lives. Dismantle the empire before more blood stains your soul. Checkmate is close, Queen.
I shove my phone into my pocket and sprint to Matteo’s side.
Lucia has been kidnapped.
Matteo might be dead.
And I have no idea what my next move will be.
Chapter fifty
Four bullets rest in the palm of my hand.
Tiny, lead missiles Dr. Reggiano and his team had dug out of my cousin’s body.
Four shots.
Hours of surgery.
And by the grace of god, he lived.
Slow, steady beeping of the heart monitor is the only thing that anchors me to the present. I sit in a chair pulled close to Matteo’s bed. My eyes are glued to the IV needle stuck in the top of his hand. Tubes are in his nose and machines are all around him.
“You just had to go outside,” I whisper, brushing a strand of hair from his forehead.
My mind recites every prayer I know as I wish for him to pull through.
Lucia’s screams echo through my thoughts and panic fills me as I wonder if my best friend is alive or dead.
My team along with Dominic’s people are currently trying to gain access to the footage at the pharmacy and nearby traffic cams to figure out where the kidnappers went.
The recent events are a blur in my memory. While Matteo was being loaded onto the ambulance, bystanders told us that a gray sedan raced into the parking lot as Lucia and Matteo were leaving the store. Masked men had fired a dozen rounds out of the window at them. Matteo pushed Lucia behind their car, but had caught the brunt of the rounds. While good Samaritans were giving Matteo CPR, Lucia had gone about ten feet away to call me. A van came barreling into the lot and stopped near her. Two masked men jumped out and grabbed her. A struggle ensued and Lucia dropped her phone. The men overpowered her and threw her into the back of the van, then drove away.
Tears fill my eyes.
A hand pats my shoulder.
Turning, I see Bruno sitting beside me. He insisted on coming to the hospital even though I had told everyone not to come.
The rest of my family is back being held captive at my house with a ton of guards posted everywhere.
