Chapter 4 - The Lockdown
The heavy steel security shutters slammed down over the floor-to-ceiling windows with a deafening hydraulic hiss, plunging the master bedroom into the dim, amber glow of emergency backup lighting.
"He locked the smart-system out," Luca cursed, slamming his shoulder against the heavy oak bedroom door. It didn't budge; the electronic deadbolts had been engaged from the master control panel in the foyer. "He’s got the whole penthouse isolated. Cellular repeaters are jammed, too."
I rushed to my medical bag, pulling out my phone. Zero bars. The local network was completely blocked by an industrial-grade signal jammer somewhere in the utility closet.
Gabriel pulled himself upright, ignoring the raw, open incision on his lower back as he swung his legs over the side of the mattress. For a second, his legs shook violently, the poison still fighting his nervous system, but sheer willpower forced his feet flat onto the hardwood floor.
"He didn't just lock us in," Gabriel said, his breathing shallow as he gripped the edge of the nightstand for balance. "He’s clearing the building. By morning, the board will have my signature forged on every asset transfer, and this penthouse will be cleaned out by federal agents on an anonymous tip."
"If he has the board votes locked down, why bother with the police?" I asked, my heart hammering against my ribs.
"Because Vincent doesn't want to just oust me," Gabriel said, lifting his head with a dark, dangerous glint in his eye. "He wants me dead with a federal warrant on my desk so my mother’s estate and every cent of our holdings revert to the primary executor of the family trust."
"Who is the primary executor?" Luca asked, turning from the locked door.
Gabriel looked up, his jaw set like stone. "My mother. But she’s been living in a memory-care facility in Evanston for two years, and Vincent has held her medical power of attorney since the day she stopped recognizing our names."
My stomach dropped. This wasn't just a syndicate coup. It was a complete, methodical hostile takeover of an entire family legacy, orchestrated from the inside by a man everyone trusted.
"We need to get to that facility," I said, stepping toward Gabriel to check his pulse. "If Vincent has power of attorney and your forged death certificate or incapacity papers ready for tomorrow’s board meeting, he can legally sign away every property, account, and safehouse you own before the sun comes up."
Gabriel looked at me, a strange, intense respect flickering behind his exhaustion. "You walked into a death trap tonight to treat a man your agency warned you was a monster, and now you’re planning my counter-offensive."
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"I’m a trauma nurse," I replied, pulling a heavy steel wrench from Luca’s emergency kit to wedge beneath the door frame. "I stop people from bleeding out. Right now, your entire life is hemorrhaging."
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