Chapter 15 - The VanishingMidnight arrived with a torrential downpour. Lightning ripped across the New York sky, casting blinding flashes of white light through the rain-streaked windows of the Moretti estate.
Clara stood at the window of the master bedroom, rocking a sleeping Leo in her arms. He had fussed for hours before finally drifting off, sensing the heavy turbulence in the air.
Clack. Clack. Clack.
A strange, rhythmic tapping sound echoed against the thick glass of the French doors leading to the second-floor balcony.
Clara froze. The balcony was sixty feet above the ground, completely inaccessible without a specialized repelling rig or a helicopter.
She gently laid Leo down in his crib, pulling a heavy wool blanket over him, and crept toward the French doors. She reached for the heavy velvet curtain, pulling it back just an inch.
Lightning flashed.
Outside, clinging to the stone railing of the balcony through the sheets of rain, was a figure in a dark tactical wetsuit. A gloved hand pressed a small electronic device against the glass seal.
Hiss.
The smart-lock mechanism on the balcony door clicked open.
Clara’s heart stopped. She turned to run toward the hallway to sound the alarm, but the bedroom door clicked open first.
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Standing in the doorway wasn't Dante. It was a woman with sharp, cruel features and wet blonde hair, holding a suppressed automatic weapon aimed directly at Clara’s chest.
"Don't scream, little stepmother," the woman whispered with a toxic smile. "The boss wants to have a word with you."
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