Chapter 6 - The Inside Job
Evelyn stared at Antonio, entirely unable to comprehend what she had just heard.
The mafia boss who had nearly died in her arms was sitting comfortably by a massive fireplace.
He gestured for Evelyn to take a seat across from him.
Evelyn remained standing, demanding to know why he would intentionally stop his own heart on a commercial airplane.
Antonio poured a second glass of whiskey and slid it across the wooden table toward her.
He explained that his criminal organization had grown too large, too quickly.
He knew there was a high-level traitor feeding information to the rival Calabrian family.
He needed a public, undeniable crisis to force the traitor into making a move.
Faking a severe allergic reaction at thirty-seven thousand feet was the perfect trap.
Antonio had instructed his personal physician to prepare a mild paralytic agent that would mimic anaphylactic shock.
It was supposed to look terrifying but remain easily reversible with a standard adrenaline injection.
Evelyn pointed out that he did not fake turning blue and nearly suffocating to death.
Antonio's calm expression darkened into genuine anger.
He admitted that someone inside his inner circle had swapped the mild paralytic for a lethal synthetic toxin.
The trap had worked too well.
The traitor had taken the opportunity to ensure Antonio actually died on that flight.
If Evelyn had not acted as fast as she did with the oxygen and the doctor, Antonio would be in a morgue.
Marco walked into the room, his arm now properly bandaged and in a black sling.
He reported that the local authorities still believed Antonio was in a coma at the Shannon hospital.
Antonio nodded, staring into the flames of the fireplace.
He said they now had a twenty-four-hour window to identify the traitor before the rival family realized he was alive.
Evelyn interrupted, asking why her photograph was hidden inside the medication case.
Antonio looked at her with a trace of genuine pity.
He told her that the traitor needed a scapegoat.
When the police eventually investigated the poisoned boss, they were meant to find Evelyn's photo and assume she was a hired assassin disguised as crew.
Evelyn felt a wave of nausea wash over her as she realized how perfectly she had been framed.
Suddenly, the heavy oak doors of the dining hall burst open.
The tactical operator from the helicopter rushed in, his face pale with panic.
He told Antonio that the outer perimeter sensors had just been breached in three different sectors.
Someone had found the castle.
Antonio calmly stood up and asked to see the security feed.
The operator brought a tablet to the table, displaying grainy thermal imaging from the forest surrounding the estate.
Dozens of armed figures were moving silently through the trees, closing in on the walls.
Antonio tapped the screen to zoom in on the leader of the assault team, who was standing under a perimeter light.
Evelyn gasped, stepping back from the table in horror.
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The man leading the hit squad was Doctor Mercer.
The same pediatrician who had saved Antonio's life on the airplane was now holding an assault rifle and staring directly into the security camera.
