Chapter 4 - The Crosshairs of Betrayal
-4-
Julian Sterling looked smaller than he had hours earlier in his tailored Italian suit. Now wearing a slightly rumpled cashmere sweater, his hazel eyes darted nervously between Clara standing by the bassinet, the armed operatives blocking the doorway, and Luka Moretti standing calmly in the center of the room.
“I told you she’d be awake,” Julian muttered, his voice trembling slightly as he addressed the tactical operatives behind him. He finally forced his gaze onto Clara, his expression twisting into a mask of cold, corporate disgust. “Look at you, Clara. Associating with violent felons in the middle of the night. It only confirms the psychological evaluation I filed with the court this evening. You’re entirely unstable.”
Clara stared at her husband, the man she had shared a home with for four years, realizing with sickening clarity that she had never known him at all.
“You filed a psychological evaluation?” Clara whispered, her voice shaking with a rage so intense it burned cold in her veins. “You abandoned your newborn daughter in a hospital gown, and you were already filing papers to steal her from me?”
“I’m protecting my interests, Clara,” Julian snapped back, stepping cautiously into the room while keeping the tactical operatives positioned between himself and Luka. “You have no idea what you’re meddling in. That man—that animal—is a fugitive from federal intelligence. If the board finds out you’ve been harboring him, my entire career—my entire firm—will be destroyed.”
“Your firm was built on stolen blood, Julian,” Luka said. His voice didn't rise an octave; it remained flat, dangerous, and utterly unbothered by the two gun barrels pointing directly at his heart.
Julian flinched at the sound of Luka’s voice, his eyes widening with genuine, primal terror. “Moretti. I told your associates in Chicago that we settled this three years ago. The research belongs to the syndicate. The girl was supposed to remain isolated and unawakened.”
“The girl belongs to her mother,” Luka replied coldly, shifting his weight slightly. “And I belong wherever my oath takes me.”
“Shoot him!” Julian shrieked, panic breaking through his polished exterior as he waved frantically at the tactical operatives. “I don't care about collateral damage! The court order gives us full medical custody under emergency psychiatric protocols! Neutralize the threat!”
The operatives didn't hesitate. The one on the left tightened his finger on the trigger.
In a blur of motion that defied human reaction, Luka moved. He didn't reach for a weapon; instead, he kicked the heavy metal bedside table with explosive force, sending it crashing directly into the shins of the nearest operative. As the man yelled out in pain and stumbled backward, Luka closed the distance in a fraction of a second, gripping the barrel of the second operative’s rifle and wrenching it upward just as it discharged.
Crack!
The silenced gunshot tore a smoking hole through the acoustic ceiling tiles, raining down fiberglass dust over Julian’s head.
Before the second operative could recover, Luka delivered a devastating palm strike to his sternum, dropping the man instantly to the linoleum floor gasping for air. The first operative managed to swing his rifle around, but Luka caught the stock with one hand, twisted it violently out of his grip, and swept his legs out from under him with a brutal roundhouse kick.
In less than four seconds, both tactical operatives were neutralized, lying motionless on the hospital floor.
Julian stood paralyzed, his mouth hanging open, trembling violently as Luka turned his dark, unblinking gaze away from the unconscious men and locked onto him.
“You’ve always been a paper tiger, Julian,” Luka said softly, stepping over the prone body of an operative and walking slowly toward the terrified lawyer.
Julian backed up until his spine slammed hard against the doorframe. He raised his hands defensively, his face slick with cold sweat. “Stay back! You can't touch me! The police are already on their way! I tripped the silent alarm at the nurse’s station!”
“Let them come,” Luka replied, stopping two feet away from Julian. He reached out with a speed that left afterimages, grabbing Julian by the collar of his cashmere sweater and lifting him effortlessly off his feet until the lawyer’s polished shoes dangled a few inches above the floor.
“Please,” Julian choked out, clawing frantically at Luka’s massive wrists. “Don't... don't kill me.”
“Killing you would be an act of mercy, Julian,” Luka whispered, his face inches from the lawyer’s terror-stricken eyes. “And mercy is something your handlers in the syndicate don't deserve.”
With a casual flick of his wrist, Luka hurled Julian across the room. The lawyer crashed hard against the supply cart, knocking over boxes of sterile gauze and syringes before collapsing in a heap on the floor, groaning in pain.
Luka didn't look back at him. He turned immediately to Clara, who stood frozen by the bassinet, clutching her baby against her chest with white-knuckled intensity.
“We have less than two minutes before hospital security and local police swarm this floor,” Luka said, his voice urgent but controlled. He pulled a black duffel bag from beneath his trench coat and tossed it onto the bed. “Pack the baby’s things. We’re leaving.”
Clara stared at him, her mind screaming at her to run, yet every instinct telling her that staying meant certain death. “Leaving? Where? How?”
“Through the service elevator to the underground parking garage,” Luka answered, walking over to block the doorway just as distant, frantic shouts echoed down the hallway. “Your husband activated the corporate security protocol, Clara. If you stay in this hospital for five more minutes, you and your daughter will be transferred to a black-site psychiatric facility before the sun comes up.”
Clara looked down at her newborn baby, then across the room at Julian, who was groaning and dragging himself toward the door like a wounded rat. The choice was made for her.
May you like
Without another word, Clara grabbed the diaper bag, stuffed the remaining blankets and baby bottles inside, and scooped her daughter securely into her arms.
“Lead the way,” she said.
