Chapter 3 - Ten Seconds to Breathe
Emma’s wheezing became a thin, frightening whistle.
Alejandro kept his hands visible.
“Teresa, listen to me.”
“Do not move.”
“She has no time.”
“You are trying to get close enough to take my weapon.”
“I am trying to keep a four-year-old child alive.”
Teresa’s pistol trembled.
Marco shifted beside Alejandro.
“There’s an emergency kit in the conservatory cabinet,” he said.
Alejandro looked toward him.
“How do you know?”
Marco smiled faintly.
“Because I had this room prepared.”
Teresa swung the weapon toward Marco.
“Prepared for what?”
“To make Alejandro’s death look like a family negotiation that turned violent.”
Alejandro’s expression hardened.
“You intended to kill Teresa too.”
Marco said nothing.
Teresa’s face went pale.
“You said we would expose the truth.”
“I said what you needed to hear.”
Emma gasped.
Her small hands pulled against the cord around her wrists.
“Mr. Moretti…”
Alejandro looked at her.
“Keep your eyes on me.”
“I can’t breathe.”
“I know.”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“Blue to the sky,” Alejandro said.
Emma tried to nod.
“Orange to the thigh.”
A tiny movement came from her head.
“You taught me how to survive. Now let me help you.”
Teresa’s hand lowered slightly.
Alejandro took one step.
“Stop.”
He stopped.
“The emergency cabinet,” he said. “Open it.”
Teresa looked toward a white cabinet near the wall.
“Do it yourself,” Marco said. “Unless you want to watch another person die.”
Teresa backed toward the cabinet while keeping her gun trained on Alejandro.
She opened the door.
Inside were bandages, alcohol wipes, syringes and two autoinjectors.
Alejandro saw them.
“Read the label.”
Teresa picked up the first injector.
“Adult dose.”
“The other one.”
She grabbed it.
“Pediatric.”
“Bring it to Emma.”
Teresa approached the child.
Alejandro spoke steadily.
“Remove the blue safety cap.”
“I know how to use it.”
“Then use it.”
Teresa pressed the orange end against Emma’s leg.
Nothing happened.
“Push harder,” Alejandro said.
Teresa pushed.
The device did not activate.
Marco began laughing.
Teresa stared at him.
“What did you do?”
“The cabinet was stocked last week,” Marco replied. “I replaced the injectors with training devices.”
Alejandro turned on him.
“You knew Emma had an allergy?”
“I knew the servant’s daughter carried medication. I didn’t know she would become important.”
Teresa threw the useless injector aside.
Emma sagged in the chair.
Alejandro moved.
Teresa raised the gun, but he did not stop.
“Shoot me after I save her.”
He reached Emma and lifted her chin.
Her airway was closing rapidly.
“Bruno,” he said loudly.
A muffled response came through the glass wall.
“Ready.”
Marco’s eyes widened.
A second later, the conservatory lights went dark.
The glass panel behind Teresa shattered inward.
Bruno and two guards entered through the opening.
Teresa fired once.
The bullet struck the ceiling.
Alejandro covered Emma with his body.
Bruno seized Teresa’s wrist, twisted the weapon away and forced her to the ground.
Marco ran toward the side exit.
A guard tackled him before he reached the door.
“Medical kit!” Alejandro shouted.
Another pane broke.
Victor Rossi entered carrying Dr. Vance’s leather case.
Alejandro tore it open.
Three pediatric EpiPens lay inside.
He removed one.
“Blue to the sky,” he whispered.
He pulled the safety cap.
“Orange to the thigh.”
He pressed it against Emma’s leg.
Click.
Emma flinched.
Alejandro held the injector in place.
“One Mississippi.”
Her body remained limp.
“Two Mississippi.”
Sarah began to stir on the couch.
“Three Mississippi.”
Emma’s lips were pale.
“Four Mississippi.”
Alejandro’s voice cracked.
“Five Mississippi.”
A weak gasp escaped Emma.
“Six Mississippi.”
She inhaled again.
“Seven Mississippi.”
Her eyes opened slightly.
“Eight Mississippi.”
Alejandro released a breath he had not realized he was holding.
“Nine Mississippi.”
Emma’s fingers closed around his sleeve.
“Ten Mississippi.”
He removed the injector.
Emma took a deeper breath.
“Your heart goes boom, boom, boom,” she whispered.
Alejandro bowed his head.
“Yes.”
“But then you can breathe.”
“Yes, little one.”
Sarah opened her eyes.
“Emma?”
She tried to sit up.
Alejandro lifted Emma and carried her to the couch.
“She had an allergic reaction. I gave her epinephrine.”
Sarah pulled Emma into her arms.
“What did she eat?”
“A biscuit from the kitchen.”
“I checked every package when we arrived. The household knew about her allergy.”
Marco laughed from the floor.
Alejandro stood.
“What is funny?”
“Sarah still thinks this began tonight.”
Sarah looked at him.
“What does that mean?”
Marco’s smile disappeared when Alejandro approached.
“It means,” Marco said, “that her employment here was arranged.”
Alejandro looked at Sarah.
“Who hired you?”
“Mrs. Bellini.”
Teresa remained on her knees, guarded by Bruno.
Sarah continued, “She found me through a domestic staffing agency. She said the basement rooms would be temporary.”
Alejandro turned toward Teresa.
“Why did you bring them here?”
Teresa’s face was wet with tears.
“I needed someone invisible.”
“For what?”
“To carry information out of the house.”
Sarah stared at her.
“You used me?”
“I never asked you to do anything illegal.”
“You asked me to take envelopes to the post office.”
“They contained copies of Kiara’s medical records.”
“Who received them?”
“A federal prosecutor.”
Marco struggled against the guard holding him.
“You foolish woman.”
Teresa turned.
“I wanted the truth exposed.”
“You wanted revenge.”
“I wanted justice.”
Alejandro’s gaze moved to Sarah.
“How many envelopes?”
“Six. The last one was three weeks ago.”
“Did you open them?”
“No.”
“Did anyone follow you?”
“I don’t know.”
Marco looked at Alejandro.
“The prosecutor never received the final package.”
“How do you know?”
“Because one of my men intercepted Sarah outside the post office.”
Sarah’s face drained of color.
“The man who bumped into me.”
“He switched the envelopes.”
Alejandro stared at Marco.
“What was in the replacement?”
Marco smiled.
“Documents showing that Sarah Carter had been stealing from Moretti accounts.”
Sarah stood despite her dizziness.
“I have never stolen anything.”
“The records say otherwise.”
“You forged them.”
“Of course.”
Emma clung to her mother.
“Why would you hurt Mommy?”
Marco looked at the child.
“To make Mr. Moretti believe she was the traitor.”
Alejandro stepped between them.
“I warned you not to look at her.”
Marco raised his chin.
“You want the rest of the truth?”
“I want nothing from you except silence.”
“You need me. Teresa’s recording is not enough to convict Vance or expose the financial network. Kiara’s original medical files are stored in a secure server.”
“Where?”
“In the port authority building.”
Victor spoke from near the broken window.
“That facility belongs to Moretti Shipping.”
Marco nodded.
“And tomorrow morning, the server will be erased.”
Alejandro checked the time.
It was nearly midnight.
“Who controls the deletion?”
“Vance created a dead-man protocol. If he failed to enter a password by six in the morning, the archive would wipe itself.”
Bruno looked toward Alejandro.
“We have six hours.”
Teresa raised her head.
“I have part of the password.”
Marco laughed.
“You have the half I gave you.”
“And you have the other half,” Alejandro said.
Marco smiled.
“Now you understand why you cannot kill me.”
Alejandro crouched until they were eye level.
“I was not planning to kill you.”
Marco’s confidence flickered.
“You weren’t?”
“Death would allow you to escape the consequences.”
Alejandro stood.
“Bruno, take Marco and Teresa to separate rooms. Put Vance under constant guard.”
Teresa looked at Emma.
“I never wanted her hurt.”
Sarah’s voice was cold.
“You tied up my daughter.”
“I was afraid.”
“You made her afraid.”
Teresa lowered her eyes.
Alejandro spoke to Bruno.
“No one speaks to Marco. No one speaks to Vance. Teresa gets medical attention, water and nothing else.”
When they were removed, Victor approached.
“What is the plan?”
“We recover the server.”
“The port authority has its own security staff. Marco may control half of them.”
“Then we do not use our men.”
Victor frowned.
“Who do we use?”
Alejandro took out his phone.
“The people Kiara wanted me to trust years ago.”
He dialed a number he had never expected to call.
A woman answered after two rings.
“This is Assistant United States Attorney Rebecca Sloan.”
“My name is Alejandro Moretti.”
Silence followed.
“I know who you are,” she said.
“You have received documents concerning Dr. Julian Vance and the Moretti organization.”
“Why are you calling?”
“Because the woman who sent them is inside my house. The man who intercepted the last package is in my custody. And a server containing evidence of murder and financial crimes will be destroyed at six.”
“Where is the server?”
“The Moretti Shipping terminal in Brooklyn.”
“Why should I believe you?”
Alejandro looked at Emma, who was breathing against Sarah’s chest.
“Because tonight a child saved my life. I intend to make certain the life she returned to me is used differently.”
Rebecca remained silent for several seconds.
“If this is a trap—”
“It is not.”
“You will surrender the server and everyone involved?”
“Yes.”
“Including members of your own family?”
Alejandro looked toward the room where Marco had been taken.
“Especially them.”
“And what do you expect in return?”
“Protection for Sarah Carter and her daughter.”
“What about you?”
“I will accept whatever follows.”
Sarah heard him.
“No,” she said.
Alejandro turned.
“You cannot surrender yourself because of us.”
“This is not because of you.”
“You saved Emma.”
“She saved me first.”
Rebecca spoke through the phone.
“Mr. Moretti, federal agents can reach the terminal in forty minutes. Do not enter until they arrive.”
“We may not have forty minutes.”
“Then wait.”
“If Marco has men there, they will begin the deletion early once they learn he has been captured.”
“Do not attempt to take control of a federal evidence site alone.”
“It is not yet a federal evidence site.”
“It will be.”
Alejandro ended the call.
Sarah stared at him.
“You ignored a federal prosecutor.”
“I postponed agreeing with her.”
“That is not the same thing.”
“No.”
Emma lifted her head.
“Are you going somewhere?”
Alejandro crouched beside her.
“To fix something.”
“Will there be bad men?”
“Yes.”
“Do you have your medicine?”
Alejandro touched the empty EpiPen inside his jacket.
“I have a reminder.”
Emma looked at Barnaby in his hand.
“You should take him.”
Alejandro shook his head.
“He belongs with you.”
“He helps when it thunders.”
Outside, lightning crossed the sky.
Emma extended the rabbit.
“You look like you’re going into thunder.”
Alejandro accepted it.
“I will bring him back.”
“Promise?”
Alejandro had made promises to captains, bankers and politicians. Many had been based on strategy, power or fear.
This promise felt different.
“I promise.”
As Alejandro left the conservatory, Sarah followed him into the corridor.
“Mr. Moretti.”
He stopped.
“Bring yourself back too.”
Alejandro looked at her.
“Emma has lost enough people.”
May you like
For the first time that night, the most feared man in New York did not have an answer.
He simply nodded and walked toward the storm.
