Chapter 5 - The Ultimatum
Panic exploded in the warehouse.
Nico’s men drew their weapons, aiming at Mia, who stood frozen, sobbing uncontrollably.
“Drop the bag!” one of the guards yelled.
Mia clutched it tighter.
“I can’t!” she shrieked. “He said if I drop it, we all die!”
“Who said?” Nico demanded, his voice suddenly sharp, his calm facade finally fracturing.
“The man who gave it to me! He said to tell you the timer starts when you open the trunk!”
Nico swore viciously in Italian.
He grabbed my arm and dragged me backward, behind a thick concrete pillar.
“How much time?” he yelled at Mia.
“I don't know! He didn't tell me!”
The warehouse felt like a tomb.
Every second ticking by was a countdown to our deaths.
My father was sobbing now, begging Nico to save Mia.
Nico ignored him, furiously typing on his phone.
“We need a bomb squad,” I said, my voice eerily calm despite the terror threatening to consume me.
“No cops,” Nico snapped. “If this is who I think it is, cops will only make it worse.”
“Who do you think it is?”
He didn't answer.
He just pulled me tighter against him, his body a solid, immovable shield.
“Listen to me, Evelyn,” he whispered, his breath warm against my ear. “When I say run, you run for that side door. Do not look back. Do not stop until you are two blocks away.”
“What about my father? What about Mia?”
“They aren't my priority. You are.”
I looked at him, stunned.
Why?
Why was I his priority?
I was just a bargaining chip, a human shield against the FBI.
Before I could ask, a loud beep echoed through the warehouse.
The timer had started.
“Run!” Nico roared, shoving me toward the door.
I stumbled, my heels catching on the uneven concrete.
I scrambled up, kicking off my shoes, and bolted for the exit.
I heard shouting behind me, the sound of a scuffle, and then a deafening crack that sounded like a gunshot.
I didn't stop.
I burst through the side door, into the cool night air, and ran.
I ran until my lungs burned and my legs felt like lead.
I finally collapsed in a dark alleyway, gasping for breath, waiting for the explosion that would level the warehouse.
But the explosion never came.
Ten minutes passed.
Then twenty.
Silence.
Cautiously, I crept back toward the warehouse, my heart pounding in my chest.
The front doors were wide open.
The third SUV was gone.
Mia and the baby were gone.
My father was gone.
Only Nico remained, standing in the center of the empty warehouse, staring at his phone.
He looked up as I approached, his face unreadable.
“Where are they?” I asked, my voice barely a whisper.
“The bomb was a fake,” Nico said slowly. “A distraction.”
“A distraction for what?”
He held up his phone, showing me the screen.
It was a live feed from a security camera, showing a private jet taking off from a secluded runway.
“Your father,” Nico said, his voice cold and hard. “He just left the country.”
I stared at the screen, a new wave of betrayal washing over me.
He had abandoned me.
Again.
But then I saw the text message that flashed across Nico's screen, right below the live feed.
May you like
It was from the same unknown number that had texted me earlier.
“We have the twenty million. Thank you for your cooperation, Mrs. Caruso.”
