Chapter 3 - The Hospital Siege
The rain transformed into a heavy downpour as the limousine tore through the neon-lit streets of the city, running red lights and cutting off traffic. My fingers tapped rhythmically against my knee—a nervous habit I hadn't succumbed to in over fifteen years.
"Status report on the hospital team," I ordered into my encrypted phone.
"Two vehicles pulled into the underground parking garage three minutes ago," my security lead at Saint Jude's replied, his voice strained over the static. "Six armed men. They’re using the service elevators. They aren't wearing uniforms, Boss. They're Russo's enforcers."
"Move Sarah and Emma to the panic vault in the basement immediately," I commanded. "Do not engage in the open hall if you can avoid it. Protect the child at all costs."
"Understood!"
I hung up and looked at Vincent. "How far?"
"Four blocks," Vincent said, slamming his foot onto the accelerator. The heavy sedan leaped forward, engine roaring.
When we pulled up to the main entrance of Saint Jude’s Memorial, the glass double doors were shattered. Alarms were blaring, their red emergency lights flashing against the white marble floor of the lobby. Terrified nurses and doctors were huddled behind reception desks.
I stepped out of the vehicle, my long wool coat snapping in the wind, with Vincent and four armed associates right behind me. We entered the lobby with calm, terrifying precision.
"Vincent, take the east stairwell," I instructed quietly. "Clear floors two and three. I'm going straight to the fourth floor."
"Take two men with you, Boss," Vincent urged.
"No," I replied cold-heartedly. "I need you to secure the perimeter so none of them escape. I'll handle the fourth floor."
I took the central elevator, pulling a dark custom pistol from my shoulder holster as the floor numbers ticked upward. 4... 3... 2... 1...
Ding.
The doors opened to floor four. The corridor was filled with smoke from a discharged fire extinguisher. A few yards down, two of my private security guards lay unconscious near the nursing station, though both were still breathing.
At the far end of the hallway, near Sarah's room, stood three heavy-set men in leather jackets. One of them, a notorious Russo lieutenant named Leo "The Hammer" Vane, was trying to force open the reinforced door of the private suite.
"Vane!" I called out, my voice echoing down the wide corridor.
Leo turned around slowly, a sneer spreading across his scarred face. He held a silenced weapon in his right hand.
"Vance," Leo drawled, shifting his weight. "You're late to your own party. Don Russo sent us to retrieve Marcus Sterling's legal ledgers. We heard you took them. And he wants to know why you're protecting some nobody woman and her brat."
"They have nothing to do with Russo's business," I said, slowly advancing down the hallway, keeping my weapon low at my side. "Leave now, Leo, and I won't destroy Russo's entire eastern supply line by midnight."
Leo laughed, a harsh, grating sound. "You think you're in a position to negotiate? You're outnumbered, Vance. The Don wants this city cleaned up, and that means taking out anyone who stands in our way."
Leo raised his weapon.
Before he could pull the trigger, I fired two precise shots. The first struck the light fixture directly above Leo's head, shattering it into darkness and showering glass down onto his men. The second hit the gunman to his right in the shoulder, dropping him instantly.
The hallway erupted into violence. I dove behind a heavy medical cart as bullets peppered the walls, tearing through drywall and shattering glass window frames.
I kicked the medical cart forward with all my force. It crashed into the second gunman, knocking him off balance. I stepped around the cart, swept his legs out from under him, and immobilized him with a blunt strike to the jaw.
Now it was just Leo.
He scrambled backward, his weapon jammed. Panicked, he grabbed the handle of Sarah's hospital room door, intending to take a hostage.
"Don't do that," I whispered, stepping out of the shadows.
Leo froze, looking into the barrel of my gun pointed directly between his eyes. The cold fury in my gaze made him drop his weapon to the floor with a loud metallic clatter.
"Who... who are these people to you?" Leo gasped, raising his hands in defeat. "She’s just a random woman! Why are you risking a mob war for a wrong-number text?"
I stepped close, pressing the cool steel of the barrel against his forehead.
"Because unlike you," I said softly, "when a child asks me for help, I answer."
Vincent appeared at the end of the hallway, followed by ten of our men. He took one look at the situation, wiped a smudge of soot from his lapel, and sighed.
"Floor two and three are clear, Boss," Vincent reported. "Police sirens are two minutes out. We need to move."
I lowered my weapon and signaled my men to zip-tie Leo and his men. Then I turned and unlocked the door to Sarah's room.
Inside, the room was dark. Sarah was sitting in the corner, holding a metal IV pole like a weapon, shielding Emma behind her back. She was terrified, trembling uncontrollably.
When she saw me step through the light, the IV pole dropped from her hands, clattering against the floor.
Emma ran out from behind her mother, her small feet silent on the linoleum, and threw her arms around my waist.
"Mr. Matt!" she sobbed, burying her face into my wool coat. "I knew you’d come back!"
I reached down, placing my large hand gently on her small back, feeling her heart beating rapidly like a caught bird.
May you like
"I told you I would," I whispered softly. I looked up at Sarah, whose eyes were filled with tears of relief and awe.
"It's not safe here anymore," I told Sarah firmly. "Pack what little you have. You're coming to my estate."
