Chapter 5 - The Bullet Through the Glass
Luka hit the floor beside me before the broken glass finished falling.
“Down.”
He pulled me behind the kitchen island.
Mara grabbed the baby carrier.
My daughter screamed.
Another shot struck the wall.
Plaster exploded across the room.
I covered my daughter’s head with my body.
Luka crawled toward a cabinet.
He opened it.
Inside was a handgun.
I stared at him.
“What kind of house is this?”
“The kind your father built after people tried to kill him.”
A third bullet slammed into the refrigerator.
Luka looked toward Mara.
“Basement.”
She nodded.
A hidden door opened behind a pantry shelf.
Mara grabbed my arm.
“Move.”
I ran barefoot down narrow concrete stairs.
Every step sent pain through my body.
I had given birth hours earlier.
My body felt torn apart.
But fear made pain irrelevant.
The basement door locked behind us.
A monitor showed security cameras around the property.
A black car sat across the street.
A man with a rifle was positioned near a hedge.
Then Luka appeared on another camera.
He moved behind the garage.
Thirty seconds later, the shooter abandoned the rifle and ran.
A motorcycle roared.
Luka chased him.
Mara cursed.
“He never waits.”
“Who are these people?”
“Meridian security.”
“You’re guessing.”
“No.”
Mara pointed at the screen.
The shooter’s jacket had shifted.
A silver emblem was visible near his belt.
An M inside a circle.
“I’ve seen that before.”
My voice trembled.
“Where?”
“Ethan has cuff links with that symbol.”
Mara looked at me.
“He wore them at our wedding.”
The realization hurt more than the glass.
My husband had carried Meridian’s symbol while promising to protect me.
A monitor flashed.
Luka returned.
Alone.
He entered the basement ten minutes later.
“He got away.”
“You chased an armed man on a motorcycle?”
“Technically, he was in a car.”
“That makes it worse.”
Luka almost smiled.
Then his phone buzzed.
He read the message.
His face went blank.
“What?”
Mara asked.
Luka handed her the phone.
She swore.
I grabbed it.
A news alert filled the screen.
LOCAL WOMAN ABDUCTED WITH NEWBORN FROM ST. MATTHEW’S HOSPITAL.
Below the headline was my photograph.
Police were searching for me.
Luka had been identified as the suspected kidnapper.
And Ethan was quoted.
“My wife is vulnerable after childbirth.”
The statement read.
“She was taken by a dangerous man while emotionally distressed.”
I felt something inside me break.
Not from grief.
From fury.
“He made me the victim so no one will listen to me.”
Mara nodded grimly.
“And now every police officer in the city will bring you back to him.”
Luka’s phone rang again.
This time it was an unknown number.
He answered.
Victor Hale’s voice came through.
I recognized it from television.
“Mr. Moretti.”
“Victor.”
“Return the child.”
Luka’s face became stone.
“No.”
“You’ve already lost one family over M-17.”
My eyes moved toward Luka.
Victor continued.
“Do not make the same mistake twice.”
The call ended.
I stared at Luka.
“What family?”
He did not answer.
“Luka.”
His eyes finally met mine.
“My wife.”
A long silence filled the basement.
“And my son.”
I felt the air leave my lungs.
“What happened to them?”
May you like
Luka looked toward the black M-17 tattoo on his wrist.
“Meridian happened.”
