Chapter 59
TERINA
Present
“Where’s Shae?” Cosimo demands after whirling into the room, his eyes manic. Mom, Isa, and I stare back at him, stunned.
“She’s putting the baby down to sleep,” Isa answers. “What’s—”
“There’s no time. Come with me.” He races toward the stairs with us close behind, including Bonny, whose instincts have her on high alert. Adrenaline surges into my bloodstream as my brain tries to identify what’s happened. Or maybe more accurately, what’s about to happen.
Cosimo flings open Shae’s bedroom door. “Grab the baby. We’re going to the safe room.”
Shae scoops up Liora and joins us without hesitation, taking an extra second to grab a gun as well. She’s a badass like that. Her face is all business, like she’s not even fazed. I don’t know how she does it. I’m unraveling at the seams.
We follow Cosimo back downstairs to his office, where he angles a book so that it’s sticking out of the shelf, revealing a keypad.
He enters a series of numbers, and a section of the bookshelf swings open into a secret room.
We hurry inside after he turns on the light.
The thick metal door clinks shut behind us.
The room is simple with a single overhead light. It’s a square—about eight feet on either side—and while it’s enough for the five of us to fit comfortably, someone with claustrophobia would be struggling. The only objects in the room are a small chair and a metal desk with a computer monitor.
“What’s happened?” Mom asks in a hushed whisper.
“I’m not exactly sure. I just got word from DiAngelo saying we needed to get to the safe room.” He sits in the chair and turns on the monitor. There’s no computer, just a monitor plugged into the wall.
I have Bonny sit, then join the others around the monitor. When it blinks to life, eight separate camera feeds fill the screen. We can see the guards stationed outside at the front and rear of the house. Several cameras are also inside the home.
I get out my phone with the intent to text D. “I don’t have any signal. What about you?” I ask Isa.
She shakes her head. “You can’t get a signal in here. It’s built so that electronics can’t be tracked, but it also means we can’t call out.”
“There they are,” Cosimo says in a grave tone.
My first thought is he means DiAngelo is back, but when I look at the screen, I can tell that’s not right.
The men approaching the house have guns pointed at our guards.
Gunfire rings out a fraction of a second before the delayed feed shows shots fired.
The sound is muffled inside this vault of a room, but gunfire is hard to miss.
My hand clamps tight over my mouth to hold back the horror.
We’re being attacked.
Is this room bulletproof? What if they try to burn the place down? Are Renzo and DiAngelo on their way? What if they end up in a shoot-out?
Nausea hits me with such intensity that my head spins.
“They’ve breached the entry,” Cosimo reports.
None of us makes a sound as we watch the monitors. The different angles make it hard for me to tell how many men there are. Three or maybe four. It’s not a ton, but it wouldn’t take many if we hadn’t had the panic room to hide in. I pray it holds out until help arrives.
I don’t even breathe when I see two of the men enter Cosimo’s office. They’re only a few feet away from where we hide. And while the door is thick, I have no idea about the walls. I’m wondering how soundproof the room is when sweet, tiny Liora lets loose a wail.
Both men whip around to face the bookshelves.