Episode 5: The Attempt
1186 Words
The attack began on a Tuesday.
At first, it seemed like an ordinary day.
The sun shone brightly over the city.
Traffic moved normally.
People hurried through their routines.
Nothing felt unusual.
Nothing felt dangerous.
Which was exactly how the enemy wanted it.
Sophia sat across from Isabella at a small restaurant overlooking the marina.
For the first time in days, she was smiling.
The fear from the messages still lingered, but she refused to let it control her life.
"I'm serious," Isabella said. "You need a vacation."
Sophia laughed.
"My father would send an army with me."
"Then take the army."
"No thanks."
A few tables away, Luca watched the conversation while pretending to check his phone.
As always, he remained alert.
Every entrance.
Every exit.
Every face.
Years of training had taught him something important.
Danger rarely announced itself.
It arrived quietly.
Like a whisper.
Or a shadow.
Or a man sitting inside a parked van across the street.
Luca's gaze lingered on the vehicle.
White.
Unmarked.
Dark windows.
His instincts stirred.
The van had been there when they arrived.
And it hadn't moved.
His hand drifted toward the radio clipped beneath his jacket.
"Marco."
A voice answered instantly.
"Yeah?"
"Run a plate check on a white van parked across from the marina."
A pause.
"Already suspicious?"
"Very."
"Give me a minute."
Luca kept watching.
Something felt wrong.
Very wrong.
Across the street, three men sat inside the van.
Each wore an earpiece.
Each carried weapons.
Each waited for the same command.
The driver checked his watch.
"Two minutes."
The passenger nodded.
"Target still inside?"
"Yes."
Silence filled the vehicle.
Then a voice crackled through their radios.
The leader.
"Proceed."
The driver's smile disappeared.
"Understood."
The operation had begun.
Sophia was halfway through her lunch when Luca's phone vibrated.
A message from Marco.
THE VAN IS STOLEN. GET OUT OF THERE. NOW.
Luca rose instantly.
Sophia blinked.
"What happened?"
"We're leaving."
His tone made her stand immediately.
No argument.
No questions.
Just movement.
Luca grabbed her arm.
"Stay close."
The urgency in his voice sent a chill through her.
Around them, customers continued eating.
Laughing.
Talking.
Unaware of what was coming.
Then—
The restaurant's front windows exploded.
Glass shattered everywhere.
People screamed.
Tables overturned.
Chaos erupted.
Sophia instinctively ducked.
Luca pulled her to the floor.
A black SUV crashed through the entrance.
Metal screamed.
Customers scattered.
Panic spread like wildfire.
"What is happening?" Sophia shouted.
Luca already knew.
The enemy had stopped hiding.
Masked men poured from the SUV.
Armed.
Organized.
Fast.
One fired a warning shot into the ceiling.
The restaurant erupted into even greater panic.
"GET THE GIRL!"
The order echoed across the room.
Sophia's blood froze.
Me.
They mean me.
Luca moved before the attackers reached them.
A chair flew across the room.
Crashing into one of the gunmen.
Another attacker rushed forward.
Luca intercepted him.
The impact was brutal.
The man slammed into a table and collapsed.
Sophia stared.
She knew Luca was dangerous.
But seeing it was different.
Terrifyingly different.
"Move!" Luca ordered.
She obeyed.
For once.
Without hesitation.
They sprinted through the kitchen.
Employees screamed as they rushed past.
Behind them came shouting.
Footsteps.
Pursuit.
The attackers weren't giving up.
Sophia's lungs burned.
Fear pounded through every heartbeat.
The rear exit appeared ahead.
Freedom.
Almost.
A masked man stepped into the doorway.
Gun raised.
Sophia froze.
Luca didn't.
He shoved her aside.
The gun fired.
The bullet struck the metal wall behind them.
Luca tackled the attacker.
The weapon skidded across the floor.
Sophia stumbled backward.
Everything happened too fast.
Too loud.
Too violently.
Within seconds, Luca had disarmed the man.
The attacker collapsed unconscious.
"Go!"
Sophia ran.
Outside, the marina had descended into chaos.
People fled in every direction.
Car alarms blared.
Sirens wailed in the distance.
Luca pushed Sophia behind a parked vehicle.
His eyes scanned the area.
Searching.
Calculating.
More attackers emerged from the restaurant.
Five.
Maybe six.
Too many.
Their leader pointed.
"There!"
The chase resumed.
Several blocks away, a black sedan screeched around a corner.
Marco sat behind the wheel.
Three armed Romano guards occupied the back seats.
His phone rang.
Luca.
"Where are you?"
"Two minutes out."
"Hurry."
Marco heard gunfire in the background.
His grip tightened.
"On my way."
Sophia and Luca ducked into an alley.
Her chest heaved.
Her legs felt weak.
"They're trying to kidnap me."
It wasn't a question.
It was finally becoming real.
The messages.
The photographs.
The threats.
All of it had led here.
Luca checked the alley entrance.
"Yes."
Sophia swallowed hard.
"Why?"
His expression darkened.
"I don't know."
And that frightened him more than he admitted.
Because criminals usually wanted something.
Money.
Power.
Revenge.
But whoever was behind this seemed obsessed.
And obsession made people unpredictable.
A black SUV appeared at the far end of the alley.
The attackers.
Again.
One spotted them immediately.
"There!"
Luca cursed.
They were running out of options.
Then—
Headlights exploded around the corner.
Marco's sedan.
The car skidded to a stop beside them.
"GET IN!"
Sophia didn't need convincing.
She dove into the back seat.
Luca followed.
The sedan accelerated just as gunfire erupted behind them.
Bullets struck the pavement.
The attackers disappeared into the distance.
For now.
The ride back to the mansion was silent.
Nobody spoke.
Nobody relaxed.
Sophia stared out the window.
Trying to process everything.
Trying to understand.
Her hands trembled slightly.
Luca noticed.
Without thinking, he removed his jacket and handed it to her.
She looked at him.
"Why?"
"You're cold."
"I'm fine."
"You've been shaking for ten minutes."
Sophia glanced away.
She hated that he was right.
Slowly, she accepted the jacket.
The warmth surprised her.
Almost as much as the gesture itself.
For a moment, neither spoke.
Then Marco broke the silence.
"Three attackers captured."
Luca looked up.
"Alive?"
"Yes."
"Good."
His voice turned cold.
"Then we finally get answers."
Late that night, inside a heavily secured room beneath the Romano mansion, one of the captured attackers sat handcuffed to a chair.
Across from him stood Luca.
The man smirked.
"You won't get anything from me."
Luca remained silent.
The attacker laughed.
Then Luca placed a photograph on the table.
A photograph of Sophia.
One of many recovered from the attack.
The smirk disappeared.
Luca noticed immediately.
"Who gave you this?"
Silence.
Luca leaned forward.
For the first time, the prisoner looked nervous.
"Who are you working for?"
The attacker's confidence cracked.
Only slightly.
But enough.
Luca knew he was close.
Very close.
And somewhere in the shadows of the city, the mysterious leader received news of the failed k********g.
His expression remained calm.
Almost amused.
"She escaped?"
"Yes."
"And the bodyguard?"
"Still alive."
The leader smiled.
A dangerous smile.
"Good."
The messenger looked confused.
"Good?"
The leader stood.
His eyes drifted toward a wall covered in photographs of Sophia.
Hundreds of them.
Years' worth.
"The game would be boring if it ended today."
The room fell silent.
His smile widened.
"Prepare phase two."
Because the k********g had never been the true objective.
It had only been the beginning.
- Writer
