Chapter 20 - The Ghost Appears|
I rushed to the control panel and slammed my hand down on the heavy red button. A thick steel door slid shut over the entrance to the safe room hallway, sealing us in with a resounding boom. Emma whimpered from the bed, covering her ears. I ran over to her, pulling her onto my lap and wrapping my arms around her tightly.
"It's okay, baby. The door is locked. They can't get in," I whispered, though I was trying to convince myself as much as her.
Marco stood entirely still, his pistol aimed steadily at the steel door. Through the thick walls, we could hear the faint, muffled sounds of the battle above, followed by a heavy, metallic thud echoing in the hallway just outside our safe room.
"They breached the outer vent," Marco said quietly, not taking his eyes off the door.
On the security monitor, I saw them. Three men stood in the narrow hallway outside our blast door. One of them stepped forward, pulling off his black tactical mask.
He was an older man, his hair entirely silver, his face heavily scarred, but the resemblance was unmistakable. He had Alessandro's sharp jawline, his cruel, calculating eyes. It was Lorenzo Moretti.
Lorenzo looked directly into the security camera above the door and smiled—a terrifying, hollow expression. He held up a small, black device with a blinking red light.
"C4," Marco cursed, his stoic demeanor finally cracking. "He's going to blow the door."
Lorenzo pressed the device against the steel, wired it quickly, and stepped back out of the camera's view.
"Get in the corner! Cover her ears!" Marco yelled, diving behind an overturned steel table.
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I scrambled to the far corner of the room, pulling a heavy mattress off the bed and dragging it over Emma and myself. I squeezed my eyes shut, holding my breath.
The explosion shook the very foundation of the earth. The reinforced steel door buckled inward with a horrific screech, smoke and dust instantly filling the safe room.
