Chapter 5 - The Hospital Trap
Dominic stared at the horrifying photograph displayed on Clara's cracked burner phone.
Her frail, elderly mother was gagged and bound to a hospital bed, looking completely terrified.
"He is going to kill her if I don't surrender myself and Lily tonight," Clara choked out.
Dominic took the phone from her hands, his expression hardening into pure, lethal rage.
He looked down at Lily, who was clutching her broken stuffed rabbit, staring up at him with wide, innocent eyes.
The little girl had asked him to be her mother's friend to make her grandmother happy.
He was not going to let a Russian enforcer break that promise.
"Enzo, get the armored SUVs ready right now," Dominic ordered through his radio.
"We are going to St. Jude's Medical Center."
Clara grabbed his uninjured arm, her fingers digging desperately into his tailored shirt.
"You cannot take Lily to a warzone, Dominic!" she pleaded.
"Lily is staying here in the vault with my best guards," Dominic assured her.
"But you are coming with me to open the hospital room door so they don't execute your mother the second they see my men."
They rushed out to the underground garage, climbing into a massive black tactical vehicle.
The drive to the hospital was a blur of flashing streetlights and deafening silence.
Dominic checked the magazine of his pistol, his jaw clenched tight.
They arrived at the emergency entrance, bypassing security with a heavy flash of cash and sheer intimidation.
Dominic and four of his heavily armed men escorted Clara up the private VIP elevator to the seventh floor.
The hallway was completely abandoned, the fluorescent lights buzzing eerily overhead.
They reached Room 714, the exact room from the photograph.
Dominic nodded at Clara, signaling her to slowly turn the brass doorknob.
Clara pushed the door open, her breath catching in her throat as she stepped inside.
The room was completely empty.
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There was no Russian enforcer, and her mother was nowhere to be seen.
Sitting in the exact center of the sterile white bed was a small, blinking digital timer.
