Chapter 4 - The Shadow in the Garage
Forty floors below, in the subterranean concrete depths of the Meridian Tower parking garage, the storm sounded like a distant, roaring beast.
A slick black SUV sat idling in the dark corner near the utility maintenance bays, its headlights turned off, its engine emitting a barely audible purr. Inside the dark cabin, three men in tactical gear sat staring at the glowing screen of a military-grade surveillance tablet.
"She went up," the driver said, tapping the steering wheel with leather-gloved fingers. "The nurse made it past the lobby guards. She had the kid with her."
In the back seat, a man with a jagged scar running from his earlobe to the corner of his mouth leaned forward. His eyes glinted in the dim green backlighting of the screen.
"Did Torino’s boys take them down?" the scarred man asked.
"No, sir," the driver replied, zooming in on the thermal imaging feed captured from a drone parked on the roof of the adjacent building. "They were brought straight to the private express elevator. They're in the penthouse."
The scarred man let out a soft, mocking laugh. "Leo was smarter than I thought. He actually pulled it off. He got the girl to my cousin."
"Should we move in?" the driver asked, reaching for the short-barreled rifle resting between the front seats. "We’ve got ten men in the secondary van outside. We hit the service entrance, cut the power grid, and—"
"Are you insane?" the scarred man snapped, grabbing the driver by the back of his collar and slamming his head lightly against the headrest. "That’s Vincent Torino’s house! You don't 'hit' the Meridian Tower with ten guys in a van. My cousin has automatic turrets in the elevator shafts and twenty former special-forces operators on his payroll. You don't fight Vincent on his home turf unless you want your body fed through an industrial shredder."
The driver swallowed hard, clearing his throat. "Then what are the orders, Mr. Vance?"
Victor Vance leaned back in the leather seat, staring at the high-definition thermal image of the penthouse suite. Two glowing figures were moving toward the master bedroom—a woman and a small child.
"We wait," Victor murmured, a cruel smile curling his lips. "Vincent thinks he’s playing protector. He thinks he’s the big, honorable boss keeping a dead man’s child safe. He doesn't know that the flash drive Leo gave that nurse contains the master decryption keys to every offshore account Vincent owns."
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He pulled out his phone, dialing a fifteen-digit international number.
"Let my cousin get comfortable," Victor added softly as the line began to ring. "Let him think he’s saved the day. By midnight tomorrow, he won't just lose his money. He’s going to lose everything he’s built—and I’m going to make sure that nurse watches every second of it."
