Chapter 6 - The Traitor Within
The war with the Moretti family reached a critical stalemate. Lorenzo’s forces were crushing the enemy's strongholds, but a lingering question haunted Marco: How did the strike team bypass the estate’s outer security grid during the night of the attack?
There was a mole inside the mansion.
One afternoon, while Lorenzo was away coordinating a dockside operation, Hunter was organizing Leo’s nursery when she noticed something strange. The nursery's floor-to-ceiling air vents had fresh scuff marks around the screws.
Driven by an uneasy instinct, Hunter used a silver letter opener to unscrew the metal grate. Concealed inside was a small, blinking wireless transmitter—a high-frequency bug broadcasting real-time audio from the nursery directly to an outside receiver.
Before Hunter could react, a shadow fell across the nursery doorway.
It was Dr. Vane, the high-priced pediatrician whom Lorenzo had retained to monitor Leo's blood work.
"You shouldn't have opened that vent, Miss Higgins," Dr. Vane said smoothly, slipping a gloved hand into his lab coat and pulling out a syringe filled with a clear liquid.
Hunter backed away slowly toward the crib, keeping her body between the doctor and baby Leo. "It was you. You poisoned Leo's formula from the start to make him sick, so Lorenzo would be distracted while Moretti moved in."
"A brilliant deduction," Dr. Vane sneered, taking a step closer. "Moretti paid me ten million dollars to ensure the Rossi bloodline ended quietly. You ruined that plan by feeding him your own milk. But no matter... a fatal cardiac arrest via syringe will finish the job for both of you."
Hunter’s eyes darted to the side. "You're too late, Doctor."
"What?"
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From behind the velvet curtain, Marco stepped out with a heavy suppressor attached to his pistol. Before Dr. Vane could scream, Marco fired twice, striking the doctor in the knee and shoulder. Dr. Vane collapsed to the floor with a agonized shriek, dropping the syringe.
"The Don suspected him three days ago," Marco said calmly, stepping on the doctor's hand. "We just needed him to expose his handler's location. Good eye, Hunter."
