"I know where she is." I'm standing now, already moving, pulling on clothes, my hands shaking but my voice completely calm, completely certain. "The same place they kept her nine years ago. That's where Declan would take her. That's where he always takes people he wants leverage from."
"How do you?—"
"Because I'm the one who got her out the first time. I know that basement better than I know my own apartment. I know the layout, the access points, the weak spots in security. I know exactly where she is."
I'm dressed now, grabbing my keys, my wallet, my gun, moving on autopilot while my brain screams at me that she's in that basement right now, terrified, alone, waiting for someone to come, and I need to get to her, I need to?—
Stop.
Focus.
One thing at a time.
"I'm going to Matteo. Right now. Tell him I'm coming and tell him not to shoot me when I walk through the door."
"He's not going to want to see you?—"
"I don't care what he wants. His sister is in a basement with Declan O'Rourke and I'm the only person who knows how to get her out. He'll see me."
I hang up before Rafael can argue.
I'm in my car in seconds, driving toward the compound with my foot pressed to the floor and my mind threatening to spiral into every nightmare scenario I've been fighting off for days.
What if they hurt her.
What if they already hurt her.
What if Declan remembers her from nine years ago and decides to finish what he started.
What if I'm too late.
No.
I grip the steering wheel tighter and force the thoughts down.
I'm not too late. She's alive. She has to be alive because they need her and because the alternative is not something I can survive thinking about right now.
I run through the warehouse layout in my head instead. Main entrance. Side doors. Loading dock. Basement stairs. The corridor. The cells. The back room where they keep high-value prisoners.
That's where she'll be.
I just need to get there.
I just need to get Matteo to listen long enough to let me help.
The compound gates are open when I arrive, guards everywhere, cars being loaded with weapons, men moving with urgent purpose, I drive straight through and park in front of the main entrance and get out.
My hands are still shaking.
I clench them into fists and force them to stop because I need to be steady, need to be controlled, need to be the version of myself that Matteo will trust to help get his sister back.
Rafael is waiting at the door.
"He's in the armory," he says without preamble. "He knows you're here. He said to bring you down."
"How bad is he?"
"Bad. I've only ever seen him like this once before, for Alessia. He's—" Rafael shakes his head. "Just be careful what you say. He's not rational right now."
