Chapter 10 - The Last PrescriptionEvelyn was moved again before sunrise.
TRADE THE EVIDENCE FOR THE GIRL.
Luca stared at them until the letters blurred.
Elena paced the estate's security room.
“This is my fault.”
“No.”
“I should've watched her.”
“Victor took her because of me.”
“She shouldn't have been involved.”
“She became involved the moment she noticed my leg.”
Elena covered her face.
Luca rolled toward her.
His hand caught her wrist gently.
“I will bring her home.”
“You don't know that.”
“Yes, I do.”
“How?”
“I know Victor.”
“That doesn't mean—”
“I know what he wants.”
Victor didn't want Mia.
He wanted survival.
The boardroom confession, Dorsey's recording, switched scans, and Evelyn's testimony could bury him forever.
Nathan traced the kidnapper's vehicle.
It belonged to a shell corporation connected to Leonard Crane.
The last camera sighting showed it traveling toward New Jersey.
Then it disappeared.
Luca's phone rang.
Victor.
“Put Mia on.”
His uncle laughed.
“No hello?”
“Mia.”
A pause.
Then a small voice.
“Mr. Luca?”
Luca shut his eyes.
“Mia.”
“Mommy's gonna be mad.”
Elena sobbed.
Luca forced calm into his voice.
“She isn't mad.”
“I kicked a man.”
Despite everything, Nathan almost smiled.
“Good girl,” Luca said.
“He said a bad word.”
“I'm sure he did.”
Victor grabbed the phone.
“Charming child.”
“If you hurt her—”
“You'll what? Walk after me?”
Luca's jaw clenched.
Victor continued.
“Bring every copy of Dorsey's recording. Blake's files. Your mother's testimony. Medical scans.”
“You know digital copies exist.”
“Then transfer control of the company.”
There it was.
“This isn't about evidence.”
“It was always about the company.”
“Why?”
Victor's voice hardened.
“Because it was supposed to be mine.”
“My father built it.”
“With my help.”
“He caught you stealing.”
Silence.
Victor exhaled.
“Your father was sentimental. Weak.”
“So you killed him.”
“I didn't intend for you to survive.”
Elena froze.
Nathan immediately started recording.
Victor continued, ego overtaking caution.
“Your father was supposed to be alone.”
Luca's chest tightened.
“I decided to ride with him.”
“Yes.”
“And afterward?”
“Sebastian improvised.”
“Twelve years of improvisation?”
“You should thank us.”
Luca almost laughed.
“For what?”
“You became legendary because of that chair. The crippled king who ruled Manhattan.”
Elena flinched at the cruelty.
Luca's voice went quiet.
“Where is Mia?”
Victor named an abandoned Costello shipping terminal in Newark.
“Midnight.”
“I come alone?”
“With the evidence.”
“You know I won't.”
“Yes. But you'll try to outsmart me.”
Victor laughed.
“So I'll make this simple. If I see police, she dies.”
The call ended.
Nathan said, “We're not letting you go alone.”
“Obviously.”
“But he expects us.”
“Obviously.”
Elena grabbed Luca's arm.
“Please.”
He looked at her.
“Bring my daughter back.”
“I will.”
For the first time, Elena kissed him.
It wasn't romantic in the way either imagined a first kiss.
It was terrified.
Brief.
Her forehead rested against his.
“Come back too.”
Luca touched her cheek.
“I plan to.”
At eleven forty, Luca arrived at the terminal.
He used the wheelchair.
Not because he needed it continuously anymore.
Because Victor expected it.
A metal case rested on his lap.
Inside were drives containing carefully prepared files.
Nathan's team remained two miles away.
No police frequencies.
No visible drones.
Luca entered the warehouse.
Mia sat tied to a chair.
Leonard Crane stood behind her with a handgun.
Victor waited near a cargo container.
“Right on time.”
“Mia first.”
“Case first.”
Luca rolled forward.
Crane took it.
Victor opened the drives on a laptop.
“Passwords?”
Luca gave them.
Victor scanned the files.
Then smiled.
“You know, I almost admire you.”
“Release her.”
“You're becoming your father.”
“That's the nicest thing you've ever said.”
Victor's smile vanished.
Mia watched Luca.
Then her eyes dropped to his foot.
Luca saw her notice.
His shoe was slightly off the wheelchair plate.
He pressed it down.
Not yet.
Victor closed the laptop.
“Unfortunately, you're too dangerous now.”
Luca looked at Mia.
“Close your eyes.”
Victor laughed.
“What?”
Luca repeated, “Mia. Close your eyes.”
She obeyed.
Luca stood.
Crane froze.
Victor stepped backward.
Luca moved faster than either expected.
He knocked Crane's weapon aside with the metal case.
The gun fired into the ceiling.
Luca's right leg buckled.
He grabbed a steel railing.
Crane charged.
Luca hit him with the case again.
Victor grabbed Mia's chair and dragged it backward.
“Stop!”
Luca froze.
Victor pressed a gun against Mia's head.
“Sit down.”
Luca remained standing.
“Now!”
Luca slowly lowered himself into the wheelchair.
Victor smiled.
“There. That's where you belong.”
Luca looked at Mia.
“Remember what you did earlier?”
Mia stared.
“I kicked the man.”
“Exactly.”
Victor realized too late.
Mia slammed both feet backward into his shin.
He cursed.
The gun shifted.
Luca launched himself out of the chair.
He hit Victor around the waist.
Both men crashed to the floor.
Luca's legs screamed.
Victor punched him.
Luca struck back.
Twelve years of rage came out in one blow.
Victor fell against a pallet.
Crane recovered his gun.
He aimed at Luca.
A shot echoed.
Crane collapsed.
Nathan stepped from the shadows.
“Terrible plan,” he muttered.
Luca breathed hard.
“You came early.”
“You pay me to ignore you intelligently.”
Nathan's team stormed the warehouse.
They freed Mia.
She ran to Luca.
He opened his arms.
She slammed into his chest.
“You walked!”
He laughed breathlessly.
“You're kidnapped and that's your observation?”
“You walked fast.”
“Not very.”
Victor groaned nearby.
Police arrived minutes later.
This time, Nathan had arranged a federal task force outside Victor's local influence.
Victor was handcuffed.
Crane was treated for a shoulder wound.
Mia called Elena.
Everyone believed it was over.
Then Nathan checked the laptop.
The files Luca brought were decoys.
But Victor's computer contained something unexpected.
A scheduled encrypted message.
Recipient: Sebastian Vale.
Subject: FINAL PROTOCOL.
Nathan opened it.
Inside was a medical instruction.
If Victor is compromised, initiate C-40 before Luca's birthday.
Luca frowned.
“What is C-40?”
Priya later decoded attached medical notes.
Her face changed when she saw them.
“It's not a treatment.”
“What is it?”
“A cardiac event protocol.”
Luca stared.
Sebastian and Victor had planned his death.
Not seven months from now.
Immediately.
Priya scrolled farther.
Then stopped.
“There's another patient.”
“Who?”
She turned the screen.
EVELYN COSTELLO.
Same protocol.
Scheduled for forty-eight hours later.
May you like
Luca's mother was still in danger.
And Sebastian, despite being in police custody, had apparently built a network that could reach her from inside jail.
