Chapter 7 - The Rooftop Pursuit
The wind howled across the high-altitude rooftop of the Moretti tower, carrying the freezing chill of the autumn night. Manhattan stretched below them like a vast, glittering circuit board of neon and shadow.
Enzo hoisted himself up through the roof hatch first, extending a strong, calloused hand down to pull Lucia up behind him.
“Keep moving!” Enzo urged, shielding her as they ran across the gravel-covered rooftop toward the architectural parapet that bridged the gap to the neighboring commercial tower.
Behind them, the roof hatch blew open with a violent metallic crash.
Gaetano Moretti emerged from the stairwell, holding a compact submachine gun, his grey hair whipping wildly in the wind. Two armed thugs flanked him.
“End of the line, nephew!” Gaetano shouted over the roar of the wind, raising his weapon.
Enzo shoved Lucia behind a thick concrete HVAC housing, drawing his pistol and firing two rapid shots that forced Gaetano and his men to duck behind a water tower.
“You can’t run forever, Enzo!” Gaetano yelled, his voice echoing off the high-rises. “Hand over the ledger and the flash drive, and maybe I’ll let your little nurse walk away alive!”
Enzo peeked around the concrete barrier, his breathing controlled and steady. He looked down at Lucia, his dark eyes fierce and protective.
“Do you trust me?” he asked quietly.
Lucia looked from Enzo to the yawning, thirty-foot gap between the rooftops, then back to his face. She saw no hesitation in his eyes. Only absolute certainty.
“Yes,” she said.
“When I say run, we head straight for the fire escape on the next building. Don't look down.”
Enzo fired three suppression rounds toward the water tower, forcing Gaetano down.
“Now! Go!”
They sprinted across the gravel, their boots pounding against the frozen roof tiles.
From behind them, rapid gunfire cracked through the night air. A bullet whined past Lucia’s ear, clipping the edge of her coat.
Enzo leaped across the terrifying chasm between the rooftops, landing hard on the opposite ledge and rolling forward to absorb the impact. He instantly spun around, reaching out with both hands.
Lucia launched herself across the void. For one terrifying second, she was suspended entirely in mid-air above the dizzying abyss of the city streets.
Then Enzo’s hands clamped around her wrists with iron strength, hauling her safely onto the neighboring roof just as a volley of bullets slammed into the brick ledge where she had been standing a fraction of a second earlier.
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They collapsed together behind the metal railing of the fire escape landing, panting and shivering from the biting wind.
Gaetano stood on the opposite roof, screaming curses into the wind, but he could no longer follow them—the gap was too wide, and the flashing red lights of approaching police helicopters were already reflecting off the glass towers surrounding them.
