Chapter 4 - The Arsonist’s Trail
Lorenzo didn't react with anger. He simply stood up, his amber eyes narrowing into two razor-thin slits of pure, calculated malice.
“Who was on the ground?” Lorenzo asked into the phone.
“Two of our scouts,” Rocco reported, his breathing heavy over the line. “They saw a black Audi sedan pull away from the alley three minutes before the explosion. License plate was scrubbed. But Boss... the arsonists didn't just burn the building. They left something on the front door.”
Lorenzo’s jaw tightened. “What?”
“A silver dog collar, Boss. Wrapped around a dead crow.”
Lorenzo ended the call without another word. He slipped the phone back into his pocket, turning his dark gaze onto Nina, who had stood up from the bed, her hands clutching Ghost’s thick neck.
“What happened?” Nina asked, her pulse racing. “What did he say about Queens?”
“Someone just burned down the shelter where you adopted Ghost six years ago,” Lorenzo revealed flatly. “They are destroying the paper trail. They know I scanned the second microchip.”
Nina felt her breath catch in her throat. “How could they know that already?! We’ve been in this penthouse for three hours!”
“Because there is a mole inside my organization,” Lorenzo said, walking toward the door. “Someone who had access to the scanner’s network feed, or someone who overheard my command to Rocco.”
He pulled open the heavy door, revealing Rocco standing in the hallway, his tactical vest secured over his black shirt, a submachine gun slung across his chest.
“Lock down the penthouse,” Lorenzo ordered Rocco. “Biometric seals on all elevators. No one enters, no one leaves. Put six men on the roof helipad.”
“Where are you going, Boss?” Rocco asked.
“To the basement garage,” Lorenzo replied, pulling a heavy silver-plated Beretta from his waist holster and checking the chamber with a sharp, mechanical click. “The arsonist left a signature. The dead crow is the mark of Corrado Moretti.”
Nina took two fast steps into the hallway. “Corrado Moretti? The syndicate from Milan?!”
Lorenzo stopped, looking back over his shoulder.
“Corrado Moretti is the man who killed my father six years ago,” Lorenzo said, his voice dropping into an icy whisper. “And now I know how he did it. He didn't just hire hitmen. He bought my uncle’s loyalty. And my uncle was the one who recommended I buy a pre-trained attack dog from Allevamento Il Bastione.”
Nina’s eyes went wide as the terrifying tapestry unfolded before her.
“Ghost wasn't brought to you to protect you,” Nina whispered in absolute horror. “He was brought to you as a sleeper weapon.”
Lorenzo’s amber eyes flickered with a dark, appreciative shock.
“Precisely, Miss Vasquez,” Lorenzo said softly. “They stole your dog six years ago, shipped him to Italy, and spent fourteen months conditioning him to attack on a specific auditory trigger—a trigger my uncle was meant to use when the time was right.”
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He looked down at Ghost, who was standing solidly at Nina’s side, his chest broad, his white crescent patch gleaming in the hallway lights.
“They built a assassin out of your childhood pet,” Lorenzo whispered. “And you just broke their remote control.”
