Chapter 3 - Siege at the Estate
The vibration of the phone felt like an electric shock against Sophia’s bruised hip.
She didn't show the screen to Ross.
She didn't dare show it to Luca yet.
"Captain Ross," Sophia said, her voice dropping all traces of deference.
"I'm waiting for that camera, Bennett."
"The assailant just exited through the western access lane."
Ross didn't turn around.
He didn't reach for his radio.
He didn't alert the perimeter cruisers parked along the dock perimeter.
"The perimeter is sealed, Bennett."
"I saw him leave in a dark sedan, Captain!"
"You have a concussion."
Anthony Moretti’s cell phone rang suddenly, the shrill vintage chime cutting through the rain.
The old man pulled a heavy gold-trimmed flip phone from his overcoat.
He answered without breaking eye contact with Ross.
"Speak."
A woman's frantic voice echoed faintly from the small speaker.
It was Carmela Moretti, Luca’s seventy-six-year-old mother.
"Anthony! There are men in the courtyard!"
Anthony’s entire body went rigid.
"Carmela, stay in the reinforced library."
"They drove through the front security barrier, Anthony!"
"Where are our guards?"
"Marcus and Leo aren't answering their radios!"
Gunfire rattled faintly through the phone speaker.
Three distinct, suppressed pops.
The unmistakable sound of submachine guns fitted with tactical suppressors.
"Carmela!" Anthony shouted, his voice cracking with terrifying vulnerability.
The call disconnected with a burst of static.
Luca lunged toward his father, grabbing the phone from his trembling fingers.
"Mom? Mom!"
Only dead dial tone answered him.
Luca turned on Ross like a wounded predator, his eyes completely bloodshot.
"Did you send strike teams to my residence?"
Ross smiled faintly, a cold, bureaucratic smirk.
"I don't know what you're talking about, Mr. Moretti."
"My mother is inside that house!"
"If there is an ongoing tactical incident at the Moretti residence, it must be related to an outside warrant."
Anthony grabbed Luca’s sleeve with surprising strength.
"They aren't looking for Carmela, Luca."
Luca looked down at his father.
"What?"
"They're looking for my study."
Sophia felt the blood running down her temple drip onto her lips, tasting of salt and iron.
"What is in your study, Anthony?"
Anthony looked directly at Captain Ross.
"The ledger."
Ross’s smile vanished instantly.
His face hardened into stone.
"Officers!" Ross bellowed toward the two patrol cars idling twenty yards away.
The doors of both cruisers flew open simultaneously.
Four officers in full tactical gear stepped out into the rain, unlatching their department shotguns.
"Secure Mr. Anthony Moretti immediately," Ross ordered, his hand unsnapping his holster.
"On what charge?" Luca roared, stepping directly between his father and the approaching officers.
"Suspicion of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances," Ross replied smoothly.
"You don't have a signed warrant!" Sophia yelled.
"I don't need one under the exigent circumstances doctrine, Bennett."
Ross drew his Glock twenty-two and leveled it directly at Anthony’s chest.
"Step away from the suspect, Mr. Moretti."
Luca reached under his cashmere coat, his hand wrapping around his Kimber forty-five.
"Touch my father and you die on this gravel, Captain."
"That's a felony threat against a commanding officer," Ross sneered.
"I don't give a damn about your shield."
"Officers, take them down!" Ross shouted.
Before the four tactical officers could raise their weapons, a metallic click echoed through the wet air.
Ross froze.
A black barrel pressed firmly against the soft skin beneath Ross's right ear.
It was Sophia Bennett’s department-issued Glock seventeen.
Her grip was rock-steady despite her trembling knees.
Her eyes were cold, calculating, and completely stripped of fear.
"Tell your men to lower their weapons, Captain."
Ross swallowed hard, the cold steel biting into his flesh.
"Bennett... do you know what you're doing?"
"I'm stopping an unlawful execution under color of authority."
"You are committing treason against the department."
"I took an oath to protect the city, not Robert Kane’s retirement fund."
"You will spend the rest of your life in a maximum-security prison."
"Tell them to drop the weapons, or your brain will decorate the side of unit one-zero-eight."
The four tactical officers stopped ten feet away, their shotguns raised but hesitant.
"Captain?" one of the officers yelled nervously.
"Stand down!" Ross hissed through clenched teeth.
"Lower the barrels to the dirt!" Sophia commanded.
The officers slowly pointed their shotguns toward the wet asphalt.
Sophia looked at Luca.
"Get your father into the Mercedes."
Luca didn't waste a second.
He wrapped his arm around Anthony’s waist, practically lifting the old man off his feet.
"Sophia, come with us," Luca said, his voice urgent.
"Move, Luca!"
Luca threw open the heavy rear door of the armored Mercedes and shoved his father inside.
Anthony leaned out, his eyes fierce.
"Don't leave her behind, son!"
Luca turned back toward Sophia.
"Get in the car, Bennett!"
Sophia slowly backed away from Ross, keeping her Glock aimed squarely between the captain's eyes.
Ross’s teeth were bared in pure hatred.
"You're a dead woman, Sophia."
"Not tonight, Captain."
Sophia spun on her heel, sprinted three agonizing steps on her injured leg, and dove into the front passenger seat of Luca’s sedan.
Luca slammed his door shut, jammed the keyless ignition button, and floored the twin-turbo V8 engine.
The heavy tires shrieked against the wet pavement, throwing plumes of muddy water over Captain Ross.
Behind them, Ross drew his weapon and opened fire.
Three hollow-point rounds slammed into the reinforced rear window of the Mercedes, leaving spiderweb cracks on the ballistic glass without penetrating.
May you like
Luca swung the wheel hard, smashing through the wooden security arm at the dock gates.
The black Mercedes shot out onto the coastal highway, accelerating into the blinding storm.
