Chapter 5 - Blood on the Marble
Drawing a concealed firearm from his shoulder holster, Moretti sprinted up the sweeping staircase, bypassing the security protocols that had been systematically overridden from the inside. Entering the guest suite where the little girl and Clara had been sheltered, he found the room empty, the window shattered inward by a heavy blast, and a trail of dark blood staining the pristine white carpet. Clara lay unconscious near the doorway, a severe blow to the back of her head telling the story of a brutal ambush, while the little girl and her stuffed bunny were nowhere to be found. Moretti checked Clara’s pulse; she was alive, fighting for breath, and managed to whisper a single direction before slipping back into unconsciousness: the old underground hangar at the docks. Without hesitating, Moretti grabbed his car keys and a tactical vest from his hidden armory, plunging headfirst into the stormy night to intercept the kidnappers before they could erase the last living link to his family.
