Chapter 4 - The Locked Tomb
Clara pounded her fists against the back of the wooden bookshelf until her skin bled.
The hidden passageway was incredibly small and quickly running out of breathable air.
She pressed her ear against the wood and listened to the sounds inside the medical suite.
She heard heavy, confident footsteps walking slowly toward Lorenzo's bed.
"It is time to say goodbye, my dear brother," the voice of Giorgio Moretti echoed through the room.
Clara placed her eye against a tiny crack in the wood to watch the nightmare unfold.
Giorgio pulled a sleek black syringe from the inner pocket of his tailored suit.
He uncapped the needle and tapped it twice, preparing to inject a lethal dose of air into Lorenzo's IV line.
Clara desperately searched the pitch-black room for anything she could use as a weapon.
Her hands brushed against a heavy metal fire extinguisher mounted on the wall.
She grabbed the heavy red cylinder and prepared to smash her way through the wooden barrier.
Through the crack, she saw Giorgio press the needle directly into the plastic tubing of the IV.
Clara raised the heavy extinguisher high above her head.
Before she could strike the wood, an impossible miracle occurred on the other side of the room.
Lorenzo's pale, seemingly lifeless hand suddenly shot up from the white blankets.
His fingers clamped around Giorgio's wrist with the crushing force of a steel vise.
Giorgio gasped in sheer panic and dropped the lethal syringe onto the floor.
Lorenzo's eyes snapped open, blazing with an ancient, murderous fury.
He pulled Giorgio violently toward the bed and punched his brother squarely in the throat.
Giorgio collapsed to the floor, gasping desperately for air while clutching his crushed windpipe.
Lorenzo slowly turned his head and looked directly at the hidden crack in the bookshelf.
"I know you are in there," the crime boss rasped with a voice as dry as desert sand.
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"Open the door and help me get out of this bed before his guards come back."
Clara felt a massive surge of adrenaline, but the heavy padlock was still securing the shelf from the outside.
