Chapter 15 - Three Seconds Before the Gunshot
The first shot struck the armored door.
The second shattered the side mirror.
Dominic pulled Mia toward the floor.
Clara covered Gabriel with her body.
“Stay down!”
The driver accelerated.
A truck blocked the road.
No escape forward.
Security engaged the attackers.
Dominic reached beneath his jacket.
Clara grabbed his wrist.
“The children.”
He understood.
Fighting was secondary.
Get them out.
Matteo’s SUV rammed one attacker’s vehicle, creating a gap.
The driver turned.
They sped through an alley.
For thirty seconds, it seemed they had escaped.
Then the engine warning light flashed.
The collision had damaged something.
Smoke rose.
“We have to stop,” the driver said.
“No,” Dominic replied.
“Sir—”
The engine died.
They rolled into the underground entrance of a closed office complex.
Security moved quickly.
Everyone transferred inside.
Dominic contacted federal agents.
Ten minutes out.
Too long.
Matteo’s voice crackled through the radio.
“Moretti’s team followed.”
Dominic looked at Clara.
“Take them upstairs.”
“You?”
“I’ll keep them away.”
“No.”
“Clara.”
“We stay together.”
“This is not negotiable.”
Mia started crying.
“Stop fighting!”
Both adults froze.
Clara knelt.
“You’re right.”
She took Mia’s hands.
“We’re leaving together.”
Dominic stared at her.
Then nodded.
They moved through the lobby.
Shattered glass covered the floor from an unfinished renovation.
Gabriel held Clara’s hand.
Mia held Dominic’s.
A shot echoed from the entrance.
Security returned fire.
Clara flinched.
Dominic guided them toward a service corridor.
Then Vincent appeared at the opposite end.
He had entered from another stairwell.
Gun raised.
Dominic pushed the children behind a concrete pillar.
Vincent smiled.
“Sofia should have listened.”
Dominic’s face changed.
“You were in the car.”
Gabriel reacted.
His entire body stiffened.
Vincent noticed.
“There he is.”
Gabriel’s hands covered his ears.
Clara understood.
This was the man.
The face Gabriel remembered.
Vincent had been present the night Sofia died.
“She figured it out,” Vincent said. “Smart woman.”
Dominic stepped forward.
“You killed her.”
“I followed orders.”
“Salvatore?”
“Originally.”
Vincent’s smile disappeared.
“Then your wife tried to expose all of us.”
Gabriel began trembling violently.
Clara crouched beside him.
“Look at me.”
His eyes stayed on Vincent.
The man who lived inside his nightmares.
Clara turned Gabriel gently.
“You are here. You are safe with me.”
Vincent laughed.
“Safe?”
Dominic moved slightly.
Vincent aimed at him.
“Don’t.”
Federal sirens sounded faintly outside.
Vincent’s expression changed.
Time was running out.
He fired toward a security light.
Darkness swallowed half the corridor.
Everyone moved.
Clara grabbed both children.
Dominic tackled Vincent.
The weapon skidded across the floor.
For several seconds, the two men fought.
Vincent broke free.
Another attacker appeared.
Matteo intercepted him.
“GO!” Dominic shouted.
Clara ran with the twins toward the lobby exit.
They almost made it.
Then Mia tripped.
Clara turned back.
Dominic shouted her name.
She lifted Mia.
Gabriel stood three feet away.
Behind him, Vincent had recovered the weapon.
Everything slowed.
Clara saw the gun.
Saw Vincent’s arm.
Saw Gabriel.
A child who had spent two years without a voice because adults had filled his world with terror.
Vincent aimed.
Clara had three seconds.
Maybe less.
She did not think.
She moved.
“NO!”
She shoved Gabriel behind her.
The gun fired.
The sound seemed to split the building apart.
Clara felt something hit her.
Not pain at first.
Pressure.
Then heat.
She stumbled.
Her yellow coat darkened near her side.
Dominic screamed.
Vincent tried to fire again.
Matteo tackled him.
Federal agents stormed the entrance.
Clara fell onto shattered glass.
Gabriel dropped beside her.
Mia screamed.
Dominic reached Clara before she hit the floor fully.
He caught her.
“No.”
His voice broke.
“No, no, no.”
Clara looked down.
Blood spread beneath his hands.
Her breathing became shallow.
Dominic pressed against the wound.
“Stay with me.”
She blinked.
“The twins?”
“They’re safe.”
“Both?”
“Yes.”
“Mia?”
“I’m here!” Mia cried.
“Gabriel?”
Dominic looked toward his son.
Gabriel stood frozen.
Clara smiled weakly.
“Good.”
Dominic shouted for medics.
Her hand found his wrist.
“Dominic.”
“I’m here.”
“Don’t let them be scared.”
“You’ll tell them yourself.”
“Promise.”
“No.”
She blinked.
“What?”
“I am not making promises like you’re leaving.”
Tears filled his eyes.
“You promised me you were coming back.”
Clara tried to smile.
“I did.”
Her eyes began closing.
Dominic shook her gently.
“Clara.”
No response.
“CLARA!”
Mia sobbed.
Then something happened that silenced everyone.
Gabriel stepped forward.
His face was wet with tears.
His entire body shook.
He opened his mouth.
For two years, no sound had come.
Now one word broke through.
Small.
Cracked.
Terrified.
“Clara.”
Dominic froze.
Mia stopped crying for half a second.
Gabriel said it again.
“Clara.”
Her eyelids fluttered.
Dominic stared at his son.
Gabriel fell to his knees.
“Clara… please.”
More words.
His first in two years.
Not for a doctor.
Not for Dominic.
For the woman bleeding on the floor.
Clara opened her eyes slightly.
She heard him.
A faint smile touched her mouth.
“You found your voice.”
Then her hand went limp.
Dominic shouted as paramedics rushed in.
And while they carried Clara toward the ambulance, Gabriel kept speaking.
One word.
Again and again.
May you like
“Clara.”
As if his voice alone could call her back.
