NO TRACE

NO TRACE


Martina's POV

The piercing beep abruptly halted and was substituted by an earsplitting blaring alarm that echoed within the tiny room. Panic swept over me. That alarm spelled trouble—grave trouble.

"Shit, shit, shit," I walked back and forth in the room. I suspected something was wrong, but this sealed it in some way. Wellington Morgan's involvement compounded it. And Vincent? Now, we've lost contact with Silvio.

Knight inched his earpiece forward, his voice tight. "Leonardo, status. The signal's down from our end. Anything?"

A burst of sound crackled through. "Negative. The beacon's silent here too. Last position had me at a helipad. They're airborne."

Knight's expression hardened. "Damn it." He grabbed his gun, yelling orders to men in the vicinity. The air was thick with tension.

I moved forward, determination in my eyes. "I'm coming with you. I need to see him."

Knight shook his head. "No. It's too dangerous. If anything happens to you, Silvio will kill me."

"Do you think I can simply sit home while my husband is out there, perhaps in danger? I need to go."

Before he could respond, Isabella entered, fully geared up, an assault rifle slung over her shoulder. She exuded confidence and authority.

He didn't protest when he saw her, Of course ! she was death on legs and I cannot believe we haven't put her to work all these months
she snuck into both powerful mansions and made sure to give us the the fright of our lives.

Knight sighed. "Listen Martina, you need to stay here. Silvio would have wanted that".

I shook my head “Silvio is an idiot" I say folding my hands like a little kid
Tears threatening to fall
“I Need to make sure he's okay"

Knight's eyes softened " then trust me to protect him, you do me a favor put a call to Antonio make sure that he knows the stats and that he's okay”.

I nodded ignoring the protest in my heart, I was definitely not going to stay here
But I had to let him believe that I would if not he would just stop me all over again.

Leonardo's POV

The signal was gone, and I had followed them to a secluded riverside helipad. I was about sixteen minutes behind—too long in our line of work. A glance around confirmed the presence of a piece of black fabric caught on a tree branch. Silvio's. No blood. That was good news.

Dark vans turned up shortly afterward, tires crunching on gravel. Knight turned up with a gun in his hand, Isabella behind him.

"Isabella, you should have stayed behind," I warned, frowning, who knows what we were up against?

She raised an eyebrow. "And miss the thrill? No chance."

I told Knight what I had found, pointing to the fabric and impressions of a belt. He nodded, absorbing the information.

"We have to go. They've got a head start, but we can catch up."