"And my daughter?"
"We're going to find her. Tonight. Before tomorrow's hearing." I met her desperate gaze. "Do you have any idea where Viktor might be keeping her?"
Sofia showed us her phone. Video analysis. Screenshots. Notes on background sounds—traffic patterns, train schedules, ambient noise. She'd been planning her own rescue, just didn't have the resources to execute it.
"There's a property in Weehawken. It’s a residential area, a quiet street. The trains in the background match the New Jersey Transit schedule. And in one video, I heard church bells—St. Augustine's, I think." Her voice gained strength. "That's where she is. I'm almost certain."
Paola studied the analysis. "This is impressive work."
"I'm her mother. Of course I've been looking for her." Sofia's hands trembled. "Every second of every day."
I reached for my phone. "Giulio."
"Boss?"
"I need you. My room. Now."
Three minutes later, Giulio arrived. I explained the situation in clipped sentences. Sofia's betrayal. Her daughter's kidnapping. The Weehawken property.
"We move tonight," I ordered. "Full tactical team. Assume Viktor has guards. Assume they're armed. Priority one is getting the girl out alive. Priority two is not starting a war in a residential neighborhood."
"On it." Giulio studied Sofia. "I'll need you to identify your daughter. Description, recent photos, anything that helps us distinguish her from potential decoys."
Sofia nodded, pulling up photos. A beautiful teenager with dark hair and Sofia's eyes.
"Her name is Isabella," Sofia whispered. "Bella. She has a scar on her left eyebrow from when she was eight. Fell off a bike."
Giulio memorized the details. "We'll bring her home."
After he left with Sofia to coordinate the rescue, Paola exhaled slowly.
"Do you trust her?"
"No. But I understand her. A parent protecting their child—that's a powerful motivator." I thought about our baby, still just cells dividing, already the most important thing in my world. "I'd burn everything down to keep our child safe."
"She could be playing us."
"My instinct says she's genuine. The fear in her eyes when she talked about her daughter—that wasn't performance." I shifted carefully, pain flaring. "But we verify everything. Trust, then verify."
"And if we can't find Isabella tonight?"
My jaw set. "Then we go to the hearing anyway and deal with whatever Viktor throws at us."
Hours passed as we waited for news from Giulio about the rescue operation.
It was past midnight. The hospital was quiet, just the hum of machines and distant footsteps in corridors. Nurses making rounds. Someone's family leaving after visiting hours.
Paola was exhausted but wired, unable to sleep despite everything. I was the same—eyes open, staring at the ceiling, mind racing through scenarios and contingencies.
"You need to rest," Paola said.
"So do you."
"Can't. Too much to think about."
We lay side by side in the narrow hospital bed, both tense, both struggling with the weight of tomorrow.
"We're going to survive this," Paola said. "Like we survive everything else."
