Chapter 8 - SMOKE WITHOUT FIRE
Vivia grabbed Nico’s arm.
“Fire.”
Nico smelled it too.
Smoke drifted from the ventilation vents.
He ran to the door.
Locked.
He kicked it.
Solid steel.
Vivia looked toward the windows.
Reinforced glass.
“Nico.”
“I see it.”
The smoke thickened.
He pulled out his phone.
No signal.
Vivia coughed.
“Nico!”
He grabbed a chair and slammed it into the window.
Nothing.
Again.
A crack appeared.
Again.
The glass splintered but held.
Outside, Rafe noticed smoke leaking from a rooftop vent.
He ran toward the building.
Alessia followed.
“Wait.”
“No.”
“They told us—”
“They lied.”
Rafe reached the side entrance.
Locked.
He fired the pistol Alessia had retrieved from the helicopter emergency kit into the lock housing.
The door opened.
Inside, the smoke was dense.
Alessia covered her mouth.
“Where are they?”
“Therapy wing.”
“How do you know?”
“Because that’s where I’d put them.”
They ran.
Inside the locked room, Nico drove the chair into the glass again.
A larger crack formed.
Vivia coughed harder.
Then she stopped.
“Nico.”
“What?”
“This isn’t smoke.”
He looked at her.
“What?”
She smelled the air.
“There’s no heat.”
Nico stopped.
She was right.
No flames.
No rising temperature.
Only thick artificial smoke pumping through ventilation.
“They’re not trying to burn us.”
“Then why lock us in?”
Vivia looked toward the camera.
“To make us panic.”
Nico followed her gaze.
Marcella was watching.
He stopped striking the window.
Instead, he lifted the laptop.
He looked directly into the camera.
“You want this?”
No response.
Nico opened the laptop.
Vivia stared at him.
“What are you doing?”
He clicked the USB folder.
Then selected DELETE.
A warning appeared.
Marcella’s voice exploded through a ceiling speaker.
“Don’t.”
Nico smiled.
“You’re still watching.”
“Do not delete those files.”
“Why?”
“You have no idea what you’re doing.”
“Then unlock the door.”
Silence.
Nico moved the cursor toward CONFIRM.
The lock clicked.
Vivia smiled.
Nico shut the laptop.
The door opened three inches.
He kicked it wide.
Rafe appeared through the smoke.
“Move.”
They ran outside.
Alessia reached Vivia first.
“Are you okay?”
Vivia nodded through coughing.
Rafe stared at Nico.
“That was fake smoke.”
“Yes.”
“They wanted the laptop.”
“No.”
Nico looked back toward the camera.
“They wanted to see whether I’d destroy it.”
Rafe frowned.
“Why?”
“Because Marcella is afraid of something on there that we haven’t opened.”
Alessia pulled up the USB index.
“There are hundreds of files.”
Nico looked toward the empty wheelchair.
“They wanted us focused on Mom.”
Vivia’s voice hardened.
“I am focused on Mom.”
“So am I.”
“No.”
She stared at him.
“You’re already thinking about the company.”
Nico looked at her.
“Marcella just removed me.”
“Good.”
He blinked.
“What?”
“If the company is what kept this buried for twelve years, let her have it.”
“Vivia.”
“Our mother is somewhere near here.”
“We don’t know that.”
“The blanket was warm.”
“It could have been staged.”
She stepped closer.
“You’re starting to sound like Dad.”
Nico went still.
Vivia regretted it again.
But she did not apologize this time.
A distant engine sounded outside.
Rafe ran toward the window.
A van moved along the coastal road.
“Vehicle.”
They rushed outside.
The van accelerated.
Rafe lifted his gun.
Nico grabbed his arm.
“No shots.”
“If Marcella’s inside—”
“Mom could be too.”
They ran toward the helicopter.
The pilot started the engine.
Within minutes, they were airborne.
The van traveled beneath them.
It turned toward an old ferry terminal.
Rafe frowned.
“They’re going to the water.”
Nico saw a boat waiting offshore.
“Land ahead.”
The helicopter descended onto an empty parking lot near the terminal.
Nico and Rafe ran.
Vivia and Alessia followed.
The van stopped.
Rear doors opened.
Two men jumped out.
One ran toward the boat.
The other opened a side door.
A wheelchair appeared.
Vivia screamed.
“Mom!”
The elderly woman turned.
For one second, her face was visible.
Elena.
Alive.
Her head lifted toward the sound of Vivia’s voice.
Vivia ran.
A man pushed the wheelchair faster.
Nico overtook her.
Rafe reached the dock first.
He tackled the man pushing Elena.
The wheelchair rolled sideways.
Nico caught it before it struck the edge.
He looked down.
His mother looked up at him.
Her eyes were cloudy with confusion.
There were more lines in her face.
Gray strands framed her temples.
But she was unmistakably Elena.
Nico could not speak.
She stared at him.
Then at Vivia.
Vivia fell to her knees beside the chair.
“Mom.”
Elena’s lips parted.
Nothing came out.
Vivia took her hand.
“It’s me.”
Elena began shaking.
“Vivia.”
One word.
Barely audible.
Vivia collapsed against her.
Nico looked away as tears filled his eyes.
Then Elena whispered something else.
“Nico?”
He crouched beside her.
“I’m here.”
Her fingers touched his face.
She stared at him as if trying to fit the man before her over the young man she remembered.
“My boy.”
Nico bowed his head against her hand.
For twelve years, he had imagined a thousand impossible things he wished he could say to his mother.
Now all he managed was one broken sentence.
“I thought you were dead.”
Elena closed her eyes.
“I know.”
Rafe restrained the man who had pushed the chair.
The second man had escaped onto the boat.
No Marcella.
No Carlo.
No Daniel.
Alessia called local police and medical services.
Nico did not stop her.
The game had changed.
Elena was alive.
There would be no more private family handling.
As they waited, Vivia noticed bruising around Elena’s wrist.
“Who did this?”
Elena looked toward the water.
“Marcella.”
Vivia’s face hardened.
“Where is she?”
Elena shook her head.
“Gone.”
“Why did she keep you hidden?”
Elena looked at Nico.
“Not her.”
Nico frowned.
“Who?”
Elena’s voice trembled.
“Your father.”
Nico swallowed.
“We know he sent you away.”
Elena shook her head.
“No.”
She gripped his hand.
“He didn’t send me away.”
“He hid me.”
“What’s the difference?”
Elena looked terrified.
“Because Vincent wasn’t hiding me from you.”
Nico stared.
“He was hiding me from Carlo.”
Rafe moved closer.
Elena saw him.
Her entire body stiffened.
Rafe stopped.
“Elena.”
She looked frightened for one heartbeat.
Then relief appeared.
“Rafe.”
He looked stunned.
“You remember me?”
Elena almost smiled.
“You came.”
Rafe’s eyes filled.
“I was too late.”
“No.”
Elena shook her head weakly.
“You were the reason I lived.”
Nico looked between them.
“Mom.”
Elena turned.
“Did Dad sabotage your car?”
“No.”
Nico inhaled sharply.
“Did Carlo?”
She closed her eyes.
“No.”
“Marcella?”
Elena opened them again.
“No.”
Nico felt the world tilt.
“Then who did?”
Elena stared toward the boat disappearing across the water.
“The man you just let escape.”
Rafe turned.
The second attacker was nearly out of sight.
Nico looked at his mother.
“Who is he?”
Elena’s answer made Rafe go white.
May you like
“Michael D’Angelo.”
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