Chapter 8 - The Invisible Wire
Damian lowered the satellite phone slowly, his eyes locking onto his father’s chest.
Salvatore was wearing a thick, oversized wool sweater to fight off the evening chill.
Damian dropped the phone, rushed forward, and grabbed the collar of his father’s sweater.
He ripped the fabric open, revealing a nightmare hidden underneath.
Strapped tightly to Salvatore’s chest was a flat, highly advanced explosive vest.
A tiny green light blinked steadily over his heart.
Elena gasped, covering her mouth with both hands in absolute horror.
"When did they put this on you?" Damian demanded, panic finally breaking through his stoic facade.
"The doctor," Salvatore wheezed, his eyes wide with sudden terror.
"When I was sleeping this afternoon, Dr. Aris said he was fitting me for a new heart monitor."
Lucia stepped closer, analyzing the complex wiring of the explosive device.
"It is a proximity trigger linked to my biometric signature," Lucia realized, her voice completely calm.
"If I walk more than fifty feet away from him, the vest detonates."
"Whoever is on that phone knew exactly how to force me to stay."
Damian picked the phone back up from the floor and brought it to his ear.
"Who is this?" Damian snarled into the receiver.
"I am the man who actually runs Harbor Point," the distorted voice replied.
"Carlo was an idiot, and your mother is a ghost."
"You have five minutes to execute Lucia Russo, Damian, or your father explodes."
The line went dead with a sharp click.
Damian stared at his mother, the agonizing weight of the impossible choice crushing his chest.
He had to murder his own mother to save his father.
"Do it, Damian," Lucia ordered, stepping back and spreading her arms wide.
"No!" Salvatore screamed, grabbing Damian’s wrist.
"I am already dying, son, let me go."
Damian raised his pistol, his hand shaking violently for the first time in his entire life.
He pointed the barrel directly at his mother’s heart.
"I can't," Damian choked out, tears finally breaking through his dark eyes.
Elena watched the tragedy unfolding and noticed something strange about the blinking green light on the vest.
She remembered seeing a similar light sequence on the high-tech medical equipment Dr. Aris used.
"Wait," Elena shouted, stepping aggressively between Damian and his mother.
"Damian, put the gun down right now."
Damian glared at her, but he kept the weapon raised.
"It's a bluff," Elena said rapidly, pointing at the vest.
"Dr. Aris was a coward who used poison because he hated loud messes."
"He didn't wire a bomb; he wired an altered defibrillator battery to look like a bomb."
Lucia frowned, pulling a tactical knife from her belt.
"If you are wrong, secretary, we all die right now," Lucia warned.
"I am not wrong," Elena insisted.
She reached out, grabbed the thick red wire connected to the main battery, and violently yanked it out.
The green light instantly died.
There was no explosion, only the heavy sound of their collective breathing in the dark cellar.
Damian dropped his gun, wrapping his arms around his father in a desperate, crushing hug.
Elena let out a massive breath, her knees nearly giving out from the sheer adrenaline.
Suddenly, a massive spotlight cut through the darkness of the tunnel exit.
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Dozens of heavily armed federal agents stormed into the cellar, their weapons raised and lasers painted on everyone's chest.
"FBI!" a voice boomed through a megaphone. "Nobody move!"
