Chapter 5 - The Inside Man
The realization that they were hiding directly above a federal field office made Mila's blood run completely cold.
Luca calmly explained that hiding in plain sight was always the most effective strategy for a mafia boss.
He opened a hidden weapons cache in the wall and strapped a tactical vest over his tailored shirt.
He handed Mila a small, compact handgun and gave her a brief but intense lesson on how to turn off the safety.
She held the cold metal, terrified of the weapon but completely unwilling to die without a fight.
Luca walked toward the heavy steel door of the penthouse, preparing to breach the floors below them.
Before he could even touch the handle, the master computer terminal began flashing a bright, warning red.
The security cameras displayed a dozen heavily armed tactical agents stepping out of the elevator into their hallway.
Luca realized that Marcus had tipped off the feds about his secret penthouse sanctuary.
The heavy steel door suddenly groaned violently as a breaching charge was attached to the other side.
Luca grabbed Mila and dragged her toward the reinforced panic room hidden behind the bookshelf.
They locked the thick steel door just as a massive explosion blew the main entrance entirely off its hinges.
Gunfire erupted outside as the tactical agents swept the ruined penthouse apartment.
Luca connected his tablet to the building's internal ventilation system controls.
He flooded the main apartment with a heavy, non-lethal knockout gas he kept for extreme emergencies.
The sound of coughing and collapsing bodies echoed faintly through the thick walls of the panic room.
Luca smiled triumphantly, preparing to open the door and escape through the disabled federal team.
His smile vanished instantly when his tablet screen flickered and showed a live feed of a dark basement.
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Marcus was staring into the camera, holding a terrified young woman with familiar brown hair at gunpoint.
Marcus coldly announced that if Luca did not surrender the decryption key, Mila's younger sister would die right now.
