I didn’t know who the men were, but I felt that panic, then I couldn’t help but wonder what had happened to Odin. It had never occurred to me that Odin wouldn’t make it. He was theonly man to ever stand up against the force of the Mafia. To me, he was invincible, but what if he had been killed?
Tears filled my eyes, but Dana kept moving. There were screams, and I heard more gunshots. Within minutes, we heard the house being stormed, and Dana got us down to the basement and clicked a load of buttons, and we were inside a room with bright white lights. We were the only two inside, and Dana let out a curse and sealed the door shut.
I felt that panic rising, and I looked toward the corner of the room and saw a couple of security camera scenes. The house was in total darkness, but we were able to see the people storming the house.
I also noticed a small phone, and there were several numbers by it. Dana was already on it, confirming the other women and girls had gotten to panic rooms.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
Dana was already clicking on the screens, and she changed the cameras to the outside. She let out a little sob as we saw a couple of the men on the ground.
I gripped her shoulder.
“All the women have been able to get into the allotted panic rooms. Odin had them installed on every floor. They’re impenetrable, but we only have a couple of days, then we’ll have no choice but to leave,” Dana said.
She clicked the screens back to the house, and we saw outside of the basement to the kitchen where we had been. The men picked up the ice cream, and we even got sound.
“They were here,” he said.
I didn’t recognize the voice.
“We need her back alive. Serra said.”
I looked toward Dana. “Are they talking about me?” I asked.
“It has to be.”
“If they want me, that means Odin’s alive, right?” I felt a wave of hope flood me, and then it vanished. “Odin won’t know to come here, will he?”
“He will,” Dana said, but from the look in her eye, I had a feeling she wasn’t hopeful.
“This is bad?”
“We don’t know what it is.”
Odin was alive, but the Serra men now had control of this safe house, and there were a lot of girls and women whose lives were at stake.
“We’ve got time,” Dana said. “We’ve got time for him to make it.”
Only, we held our breath as they walked into the basement. I couldn’t hear them, but I could see them, and I knew they were in the room right next to us. Dana and I held perfectly still. And that was when we heard the banging on the door.
“Come out, Alba Marini. Your presence is wanted,” a man said.
Well, if I had any doubt, I didn’t anymore.
“Can they hear us?” I whispered and walked closer to Dana.
“No,” Dana said. Although, she didn’t seem convinced.
The only reason we could hear them was because of the security cameras. We both still attempted to duck as they started to fire their guns, but they didn’t break through the panic room. I held onto Dana and she held onto me. We had no way of knowing what was going to happen. I felt real fear and was sick to my stomach.
“It’s going to be all right. Odin will come,” Dana said.
We stayed knelt on the floor, and she went through all the security cameras to check on the other women. So far, the panic rooms were holding.
“So, what’s the plan?” I asked.
“We wait and hope they don’t figure out to burn the house down,” Dana said.
