A race against time
912 Words
The words hung in the air like a death sentence.
"Vittorio Romano has been kidnapped."
No one moved.
No one spoke.
For the first time since Isabella had met him, Luca Romano looked genuinely shaken. His face remained calm, but the fury burning in his gray eyes was impossible to hide.
"Explain," he said quietly.
Marco swallowed.
"The ambulance transporting Mr. Vittorio from the estate to St. Gabriel's Hospital never arrived."
Luca's voice turned icy.
"How?"
"The convoy was attacked on the western highway. Two of our guards are dead. Three others are critically injured. The attackers disabled the escort vehicles, took Mr. Vittorio, and disappeared before the police arrived."
Isabella felt her stomach twist.
"They planned everything."
Marco nodded.
"It was a professional operation."
Luca slammed his fist onto the desk.
The sound echoed through the library.
"This wasn't just an attack."
"No."
"It was a diversion."
The realization hit everyone at once.
The assault on the Romano estate had never been about killing Luca.
It had been about drawing him away while another team kidnapped Vittorio.
"They wanted us distracted," Isabella whispered.
Luca looked at her.
"Exactly."
---
Within minutes, the Romano mansion became a command center.
Large digital maps covered the screens in the security room.
Marco pointed to several flashing markers.
"Our surveillance teams are searching every highway leading out of the city."
"No checkpoints?" Luca asked.
"They abandoned the ambulance twenty kilometers away."
"So they switched vehicles."
"Yes."
Luca paced the room.
"They've done this before."
One of the analysts looked up from his computer.
"We recovered traffic-camera footage."
"Show me."
The screen displayed grainy footage of three black SUVs leaving the highway moments after the attack.
Their license plates were missing.
Their windows were completely tinted.
"They knew exactly where the cameras were," Marco muttered.
Luca nodded.
"They've studied us."
---
Isabella stood quietly near the doorway.
Everything was happening so fast.
Yesterday she had been worrying about deadlines at work.
Today she was standing inside the headquarters of one of the most powerful mafia families in the country, listening to plans for rescuing a kidnapped patriarch.
She still couldn't believe this was her life.
Luca noticed her expression.
"You don't have to stay."
She laughed bitterly.
"Where exactly am I supposed to go?"
He didn't answer.
Because they both knew the truth.
She wasn't safe anywhere anymore.
---
Hours passed without a single lead.
The atmosphere inside the mansion grew heavier with every passing minute.
Then...
A secure phone rang.
Everyone froze.
Marco answered.
His expression changed instantly.
"It's for you."
He handed the phone to Luca.
Luca pressed it to his ear.
"This is Luca."
A distorted voice chuckled.
"I was beginning to think you'd never answer."
"Who is this?"
"You already know."
Silence.
Then the voice continued.
"Your grandfather says hello."
Luca's jaw tightened.
"If you hurt him—"
"You'll do what?"
The caller laughed.
"Start another war?"
"I'll end one."
The laughter stopped.
"Good."
A long pause followed.
"Bring the girl."
Every eye in the room turned toward Isabella.
Luca's grip tightened around the phone.
"What?"
"You heard me."
"If this is about money—"
"It isn't."
"If it's about territory—"
"It isn't."
"What do you want with her?"
Another pause.
Then the caller spoke slowly.
"She belongs to us."
The line went dead.
---
Silence filled the room.
Isabella stared at Luca.
"What did he mean?"
Luca slowly lowered the phone.
"I don't know."
"Don't lie to me."
"I'm not."
Marco interrupted.
"We traced the call."
"Location?"
"It lasted only twelve seconds."
"So?"
"They bounced it through six countries."
Luca cursed under his breath.
"They planned for everything."
---
That evening, Isabella sat alone in the garden.
The letter from her father rested in her lap.
She read the final lines again.
Trust Luca Romano.
She wanted to.
But trust had become the most dangerous thing in her life.
Footsteps approached behind her.
She didn't need to turn around.
"It's beautiful here," she said softly.
Luca stood beside her.
"My grandfather planted these gardens."
She looked at the roses surrounding them.
"He seems... different from you."
A small smile appeared.
"He is."
"He smiled more."
"He loved more."
"You do love."
Luca looked away.
"I stopped allowing myself that luxury a long time ago."
She studied him.
For a man feared by countless enemies, he suddenly looked... lonely.
"What happens now?" she asked.
He took a deep breath.
"We wait."
"For what?"
"For them to make the next move."
Almost as if fate had heard him, Marco came running across the garden.
"Boss!"
Luca turned immediately.
"What is it?"
"A package just arrived."
"From who?"
"No return address."
They hurried inside.
The package sat alone on the dining table.
It was small.
Wrapped in plain brown paper.
Marco carefully scanned it.
"No explosives."
Luca opened it himself.
Inside was an old gold pocket watch.
Vittorio's pocket watch.
The one he never took off.
Beneath it lay a folded piece of paper.
Luca opened the note.
His face became unreadable.
"What does it say?" Isabella whispered.
Without speaking, he handed her the paper.
In bold black letters were only seven words.
You have seventy-two hours. Come alone.
At the bottom of the page was a single symbol.
A black serpent coiled around a silver dagger.
The same emblem found after the attack on the estate.
The game had begun.
And the enemy had just made the first move.
- Writer
