Chapter 63 The Dark
"Mr. Falcone? It's hospital security. We need to evacuate this floor. Power outage may be a cover for…"
Gianni's gun was already out.
He moved. Fast and silent. Positioned himself between Cedric and the door. One arm stretched back. Holding Cedric behind him.
"Don't move," he breathed.
Cedric didn't breathe at all.
The handle turned slowly.
Then the door exploded inward.
Wood splinters flew. Metal hinges screamed off the frame.
Three men in tactical masks rushed in.
Gianni fired twice before they cleared the doorway.
The first man dropped.
"DOWN!" Gianni grabbed Cedric. Shoved him toward the far side of the bed. "Get down and stay down!"
Cedric hit the floor hard. Pain detonated through his chest. White and blinding. His stitches screamed.
He couldn't breathe.
Gunfire above him. Rapid. Deafening.
Glass shattered. Equipment exploded. The IV stand collapsed inches from his face.
Gianni ducked behind the bed. Slammed in a fresh magazine.
"How many?" Cedric gasped.
"Two left. Stay down."
The second gunman was moving around the left side of the bed. Cutting off the exit.
The third was circling right.
Toward Cedric.
Heavy boots. Getting closer.
The masked face appeared above him. Gun barrel pointing down.
The shot never came.
Gianni rose from behind the bed. Fired once. Center mass.
The gunman collapsed sideways. Hit the floor two feet from Cedric's face.
The third one spun. Fired wild.
The bullet punched into the wall. Inches from Cedric's head.
Plaster dust rained down.
"Cedric!" Gianni's voice cracked open. "Are you hit?"
"No." Barely a sound. "I'm not hit."
The third gunman backed toward the door. Eyes moving fast. Calculating.
Footsteps thundering in the hallway.
"Don't move! Hands up! HANDS UP!"
Marcus. Voice like a whip crack.
Two hospital security guards flanked him. Weapons drawn. Flashlight beams cutting through the emergency red.
The third gunman bolted left.
Marcus tackled him.
They crashed into the corridor wall together. Grappled. Marcus drove an elbow back. Once. Twice. The gunman went limp.
Smoke poured under the door.
Thick. Gray. Burning.
"Smoke grenades," Gianni said. "They're trying to flush us out."
"Or blind everyone long enough to try again." Marcus appeared in the doorway. Face hard. Eyes scanning the room. "Is he alive?"
"I'm on the floor," Cedric coughed. "Still breathing. Unfortunately."
"We need to move." Gianni was already crossing the room. Reaching down for Cedric. "Now. Before they regroup."
"How many more?" Marcus asked.
"Unknown." Gianni pulled Cedric up. "Dante doesn't send three men for a job this personal. There will be more."
The smoke was thickening. The hallway beyond the shattered door was a gray wall of nothing.
Screaming somewhere in the distance. Patients. Staff. Everyone scrambling in the dark.
"Service stairwell," Marcus said. "East end. It's the only exit they won't have covered yet."
"How do you know?"
"Because I checked when I got here. Old habit." Marcus met Gianni's eyes. "I'll take point. You carry him."
"We're leaving. Now." Gianni lifted Cedric before he could protest.
"I can walk…"
"No you can't."
"Gianni…"
"Save your energy." He moved toward the door. "You're going to need it."
They entered the hallway.
Smoke everywhere. Thick and suffocating. The emergency lights were just red smears in the gray.
Marcus moved ahead. Low and fast. Gun sweeping left and right.
Cedric pressed his face against Gianni's shoulder. Every step jolted through his chest. Every breath tasted like smoke and burnt plastic.
"Keep your head down," Gianni said into his hair.
"I'm trying."
"Try harder."
They moved past overturned equipment. Abandoned nursing stations. Open doors with frightened faces peering out.
"East stairwell is thirty feet ahead," Marcus called back. "Hallway looks clear."
They reached the stairwell door.
Marcus pushed it open.
The stairwell was darker than the hallway. Just the faint green glow of emergency exit signs.
Concrete steps dropped down into shadow.
Gianni stepped through.
Cedric looked up.
His stomach turned to ice.
Above them. Three floors up. A gunman perched on the railing. Rifle pointed down.
Aimed directly at Gianni's head.
"GIANNI…"
The shot echoed through the stairwell like a cannon.
Cedric flinched. Braced.
Nothing.
He looked up.
The gunman pitched forward. Toppled off the railing. Fell past them in dead silence.
Hit the bottom of the stairwell with a sound Cedric would never forget.
Behind where the gunman had been standing, on the upper landing:
Marcus. Smoking gun in hand. Chest heaving.
He'd come through a different entrance. Cut off the angle.
Saved them both.
Gianni looked up at him.
Marcus looked down.
Neither of them spoke.
Something passed between them. No words. No acknowledgment. Just two men who hated each other recognizing something true.
Mutual respect. Bone-deep and reluctant.
Marcus broke it first. "Go! I'll cover you!"
"Marcus…" Cedric started.
"Go, Cedric." Marcus was already moving back toward the door. Already taking position. "I've got it from here."
Gianni ran.
Down the stairs. Two at a time. Cedric clutched against his chest.
Each step sent fire through Cedric's side. Each breath was a battle.
Above them, gunfire erupted.
Sharp. Rapid. Marcus holding the stairwell entrance.
Buying them time.
"He's going to get himself killed," Cedric gasped.
"He knows what he's doing."
"Gianni..."
"He knows." Gianni didn't slow down. "He made his choice. Let him make it."
Two more floors.
One more.
The ground floor door appeared ahead.
Gianni hit it with his shoulder. Burst through into a service corridor. Concrete walls. Bare pipes. The smell of industrial cleaner.
Marco was there.
A black SUV running behind him. Engine idling.
Two of Gianni's men flanking the vehicle.
"Go," Marco said. "Now. I've got rear."
Gianni crossed the corridor in six strides.
The car door opened.
He lowered Cedric into the back seat. Carefully. Hands steady despite everything.
Cedric sank into the leather. Every muscle shaking.
Gianni slid in beside him. Pulled him close.
The door slammed.
The SUV moved.
Above them, in the hospital they were leaving behind, gunfire continued.
Marcus. Still up there.
Still fighting.
Cedric closed his eyes.
"He'll be okay," Gianni said quietly. Like he knew what Cedric was thinking. "He's too stubborn to die."
"Like someone else I know."
Gianni's arm tightened around him.
The hospital disappeared behind them.
The darkness swallowed the road ahead.