Chapter 4 - The Silent Cue
The orchestra dissolved into a chaotic, screeching halt.
Musicians dropped their expensive instruments and rushed toward the fallen maestro.
The audience erupted into a collective shriek of pure panic.
"Stay back!" Dante ordered, pulling Elena into the shadows of the heavy stage curtains.
He quickly scanned the catwalks above them, his instincts screaming that this was an assassination.
"He needs help," Elena cried, trying to pull away from Dante’s iron grip.
"Victor's men are likely pushing into this auditorium right now to find you," Dante warned her.
A doctor from the front row had already jumped onto the stage to examine the old man.
"He is completely unresponsive, and his pulse is rapidly fading!" the doctor yelled out.
"Someone lock the doors, he has been poisoned!"
The word "poison" sent a massive shockwave through the elite crowd.
Wealthy donors began trampling each other in a frantic rush to reach the main exits.
Dante pulled out his phone and hit a single button.
"Lock down the entire building," Dante commanded his security chief.
Heavy steel barricades instantly slammed down over every exit in the opera house.
Four thousand terrified people were suddenly trapped inside with a killer.
Elena slowly crept toward the edge of the stage, unable to leave her beloved mentor.
Adrian Bell's eyes fluttered open weakly as he lay on the wooden floor.
He turned his head and saw Elena hiding in the shadows of the curtain.
With his very last ounce of strength, the old man lifted his trembling right hand.
He held his white baton out toward her.
"Play," Adrian choked out, blood spilling from his lips.
"Keep them calm."
The maestro's arm fell heavily to the floor, and his eyes rolled back.
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Victor Rossi and his armed men suddenly burst through the backstage doors right behind them.
"Give me the girl, Valente!" Victor roared over the screaming crowd.
