Chapter 4 - The Sound of Iron
The titanium rods groaned under the torque of an industrial thermal drill. Elena knew she had less than thirty seconds before the locking mechanism yielded. She reached into her cardigan pocket, pulling out a heavy brass rattle with a weighted handle that Mia had dropped earlier. It was pathetic against an assassin, but it was all she had.
"Stay under, Mia. Cover your ears," Elena whispered, her voice fierce and steady despite the ice creeping through her veins.
The lock gave way with a sickening snap. The heavy oak door swung inward, and a man dressed in dark tactical gear stepped through, a suppressed submachine gun drawn against his hip. His eyes immediately swept past the empty bed, locking onto the floor where Elena stood poised, shielding the child with her body.
"Quiet," the intruder whispered in heavily accented English, raising the barrel toward Elena’s chest. "Don't make this messy."
Before Elena could scream or lunge, a blur of motion appeared behind the intruder. A gloved hand clamped over the man’s mouth, violently jerking his head back while another hand drove a serrated blade cleanly under his tactical vest, severing the brachial plexus in a single brutal motion.
The intruder collapsed without a groan, blood pooling rapidly against the cream carpet.
Matteo stood over the body. His black dress shirt was torn at the shoulder, soaked in dark crimson, and his knuckle dusters dripped onto the floor. His eyes were wild, dilated with adrenaline, but as they found Elena and Mia huddled against the baseboards, the murderous flare softened by a fraction.
"I told you not to answer," Matteo rasped, breathing hard.
"I didn't," Elena answered, her voice shaking violently as she gripped the brass rattle so hard her fingers turned white. "He drilled the lock."
Matteo kicked the intruder's weapon aside and extended a bloody, shaking hand toward Elena. "The perimeter is gone. We have two minutes before they breach the lobby elevators. We have to go."
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Elena looked at his outstretched hand, then down at the dead man on the floor. "Who are you, Matteo?"
"Someone who will die before they take my daughter," he hissed. "Now take my hand, or we die together."
