Chapter 8 - The Decoy
"It is a bomb!" Evelyn screamed, scrambling backward out of the shattered ambulance.
Marco did not ask any questions; he grabbed her arm and they sprinted toward the Land Rover.
They threw themselves into the front seats, and Evelyn threw the vehicle into reverse.
She slammed the gas pedal, tearing backward down the empty highway just as the timer reached zero.
The explosion turned the night sky bright orange, sending a massive shockwave that shattered the Land Rover's remaining windows.
Chunks of burning metal rained down on the asphalt around them.
Evelyn coughed out bitter gray smoke, her ears ringing with a high-pitched whine.
"If Antonio wasn't in the ambulance, where is he?" she asked, her voice trembling.
Marco wiped blood from his forehead and stared at the burning wreckage.
"Lorenzo played us. The ambulance was just a distraction to get us away from the hospital," Marco realized.
They had left Antonio completely unguarded back at the medical facility.
Evelyn whipped the steering wheel around and sped back toward the industrial park, breaking every speed limit.
When they finally arrived, the hospital loading dock was completely deserted.
They rushed back into the private recovery suite, expecting to find Antonio dead.
Instead, they found Lorenzo tied to a chair, badly beaten and bleeding from his nose.
Sarah was nowhere to be found.
Antonio Vitelli was sitting on the edge of the empty hospital bed, looking pale but terrifyingly composed.
He was holding Lorenzo's silver revolver, casually inspecting the cylinder.
"You took a very long time, Marco," Antonio said, his voice a dangerous, gravelly whisper.
Evelyn exhaled a massive sigh of relief, realizing the mob boss had managed to save himself.
"How did you overpower him?" Evelyn asked, completely amazed by his resilience.
Antonio looked at her with those cold, calculating eyes and smiled a terrifying smile.
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"I didn't overpower him, Miss Foster. I simply paid him more than my enemies did," Antonio replied smoothly.
Before Evelyn could process what he meant, Antonio pointed the gun directly at Marco's chest and pulled the trigger.
