The trap begins
898 Words
A heavy silence settled over the Moretti Estate.
The photograph of Giovanni lay on Luca's desk. He had studied it for nearly an hour, ignoring everyone around him.
"There has to be something," he murmured.
Antonio stepped closer. "You've looked at it a hundred times."
"And I'll look at it a hundred more."
Luca held the photograph beneath a desk lamp. The kidnappers had intended it as a threat, but they had made a mistake.
In the corner of the picture, barely visible, was a faded company logo on a rusted steel beam.
He enlarged the image on his laptop.
Vincent leaned in.
"I know that logo."
Luca looked up.
"Where?"
"It belonged to Falcon Steel Works. The factory shut down years ago after a fire."
Antonio quickly opened a map.
"The factory is in the eastern industrial district."
Luca's jaw tightened.
"Prepare the men."
Vincent frowned.
"You think they're still there?"
"No."
"They're too smart to stay in one place."
Antonio looked confused.
"Then why go?"
"Because someone took that picture there."
"And they didn't realize the logo was visible."
For the first time since Giovanni's kidnapping, Luca felt he was no longer chasing shadows.
---
Across the city...
Giovanni Moretti sat quietly in his cell.
The young guard returned with another bottle of water.
This time, Giovanni spoke before the guard could leave.
"What is your name?"
The guard hesitated.
"...Ethan."
"How old are you, Ethan?"
"Twenty-three."
"You remind me of my grandson."
Ethan looked away.
"I don't want to hear this."
"You should."
Giovanni smiled faintly.
"When good men follow evil orders, innocent people suffer."
Ethan's voice shook.
"I had no choice."
"Everyone has a choice."
Before Ethan could respond, footsteps echoed down the corridor.
He quickly collected himself and left, locking the heavy door behind him.
Giovanni leaned back.
He had seen doubt in the young man's eyes.
Doubt could become loyalty.
And loyalty could become freedom.
---
An hour later...
Four black SUVs rolled through the abandoned industrial district.
Falcon Steel Works stood at the end of a deserted road, surrounded by broken fences and overgrown weeds.
The towering factory looked like a ghost from another era.
Luca stepped out first.
"Search everything."
His men spread across the property.
The enormous building creaked as the wind swept through shattered windows.
Vincent searched the ground floor.
Antonio headed upstairs.
Luca walked alone toward the old production hall.
The smell of rust filled the air.
Suddenly—
A metallic clang echoed from somewhere ahead.
Luca drew his pistol.
"Who's there?"
No answer.
He moved cautiously between abandoned machines.
Then he saw it.
A chair.
Thick ropes still tied to its arms.
The same kind used at Pier Nine.
He knelt beside it.
Fresh footprints covered the dusty floor.
"They were here."
Before he could inspect further—
BOOM!
An explosion shook the entire building.
Concrete rained from the ceiling.
"Luca!" Antonio shouted through the radio.
"We're under attack!"
Gunfire erupted outside.
Masked men appeared from behind broken walls and rusted machinery.
Bullets tore through the factory.
Luca took cover behind a steel pillar and returned fire.
"Vincent!"
"I'm on your left!"
The Moretti soldiers fought back fiercely.
The abandoned factory became a battlefield.
One attacker rushed toward Luca.
Before the man could fire, Luca struck him across the face with his pistol and threw him to the ground.
He pulled off the man's mask.
The stranger couldn't have been older than twenty-five.
"Who sent you?" Luca demanded.
The man laughed despite the blood running from his mouth.
"You'll never find him."
Luca grabbed him by the collar.
"Where is Giovanni Moretti?"
The attacker's smile widened.
"Already... gone."
Before Luca could question him further, the man bit down on something hidden inside his mouth.
Within seconds, his body went limp.
Vincent rushed over.
"Cyanide."
Luca cursed under his breath.
"They planned this."
Antonio arrived moments later.
"It was a diversion."
Luca looked around the empty factory.
"They knew we'd come."
---
Elsewhere...
Isabella had barely recovered from the previous day's scare when she noticed someone following her again.
She crossed the street.
The stranger crossed too.
She entered a bookstore.
So did he.
Her breathing quickened.
She reached for her phone.
Before she could dial, the man walked past her and quietly slipped a folded note into her hand.
Then he disappeared into the crowd.
With trembling fingers, Sofia opened it.
Only one sentence was written inside:
If Luca keeps searching, his grandfather dies.
Her face turned pale.
---
As night fell...
Luca returned to the estate exhausted but more determined than ever.
The ambush had confirmed one thing.
His enemies weren't simply hiding.
They were watching his every move.
Someone was feeding them information.
Luca gathered Antonio, Vincent, and his most trusted captains in the war room.
He looked around the table before speaking.
"The kidnappers knew exactly where we'd go."
No one answered.
"There is a traitor among us."
The room fell into stunned silence.
Every man looked at the others with suspicion.
Luca's gaze hardened.
"Until I find out who it is..."
"...no one is above suspicion."
Outside, lightning flashed across the night sky.
The hunt for Giovanni Moretti had entered a far more dangerous stage—not only was Luca chasing his enemies, but now he had to uncover the traitor hiding within his own family before everything he loved was destroyed.
- Writer
