CHAPTER 5 – THE KIDNAPPING THAT CHANGED EVERYTHING
CHAPTER 5 – THE KIDNAPPING THAT CHANGED EVERYTHING
Dominic did not sleep that night.
The photograph of Tess sat on his desk beneath a single pool of lamplight, beside the handwritten order:
TAKE THE WOMAN.
For years, threats against him had arrived almost daily. Anonymous letters. Bullets in envelopes. Burned businesses. Dead informants.
None of it had ever unsettled him.
But this was different.
Tess Harper had never asked to know him.
She had simply fed his father soup.
And now she had become a target.
At six the following morning, Dominic arrived outside St. Gabriel Medical Center before Tess's shift ended.
Dean stood beside him.
"Four men on the perimeter."
"Snipers?"
"No."
"Plainclothes security."
"They've rotated every two hours."
Dominic nodded.
"No one tells her."
Dean frowned.
"Boss—"
"If she knows she's being watched, she'll spend the entire day looking over her shoulder."
"And if she finds out later?"
Dominic looked toward the hospital entrance.
"She'll be angry."
Dean laughed quietly.
"When isn't she?"
Inside the pediatric oncology ward, Tess finished changing the dressing on an eight-year-old leukemia patient.
"There we go."
The little girl smiled.
"Will it hurt tomorrow?"
"A little."
"But you're tougher than tomorrow."
The child grinned.
"You always say that."
"Because it's true."
As Tess stepped into the hallway, her supervisor approached.
"Teresa?"
"Can you cover Room Twelve after lunch?"
"Of course."
"And don't forget payroll fixed the overtime issue."
Tess smiled with relief.
Finally.
Maybe this month she could pay the heating bill on time.
Across the street, a white delivery van parked beside the emergency entrance.
No logo.
No license plate on the front bumper.
Inside sat three men wearing maintenance uniforms.
One adjusted a radio.
"Target exits in twelve minutes."
At exactly 7:18 a.m., Tess left through the employee entrance.
She pulled her coat tighter against the cold.
Halfway across the parking lot, she heard someone call out.
"Miss Harper?"
She turned.
A man in hospital maintenance clothes hurried toward her.
"There's a little boy in the lobby asking for you."
"Ethan?"
"He didn't say."
Her heart skipped.
Without thinking, she followed him toward the van.
From across the street, Dominic saw everything.
The maintenance worker reached into his pocket.
Not for a hospital badge.
For a syringe.
Dominic exploded into motion.
"Dean!"
The van doors burst open.
Two more men lunged toward Tess.
One grabbed her arm.
Another reached for her mouth.
Tess screamed.
Before they could drag her inside, Dominic slammed into the first attacker like a freight train.
The man's body crashed against the side of the van.
Bone cracked.
Dean tackled the second man.
The syringe skidded across the pavement.
Tess stumbled backward, gasping.
The third attacker pulled a pistol.
A gunshot echoed through the parking garage.
The bullet shattered a concrete pillar inches from Tess's head.
Hospital visitors scattered in panic.
Dominic stepped between the gunman and Tess without hesitation.
Another shot.
This one struck Dominic high in the left shoulder.
He barely reacted.
Instead, he fired twice.
The attacker dropped his weapon and fled into the waiting van.
Within seconds the vehicle disappeared into morning traffic.
Sirens already wailed in the distance.
Blood soaked through Dominic's black overcoat.
Tess stared at him in horror.
"You're bleeding!"
"It's nothing."
"It's a gunshot!"
"I've had worse."
She grabbed his arm.
"No."
"You're coming inside."
He tried to pull away.
"I don't do hospitals."
"You do today."
For the first time in years...
Someone gave Dominic Bruno an order.
And because he had taken a bullet protecting her...
She refused to let him ignore it.
Forty minutes later, Dominic sat in an examination room while Tess cleaned the wound herself.
The bullet had passed clean through.
Lucky.
She removed his torn shirt carefully.
Her hands paused.
His chest and back were covered in scars.
Knife wounds.
Burns.
Old bullet holes.
Some had nearly killed him.
She whispered almost to herself,
"How many times have you been shot?"
Dominic looked away.
"I stopped counting after seven."
She continued cleaning the wound in silence.
Finally she asked,
"Why did you run toward them?"
"They wanted you."
"So?"
"So I couldn't let them take you."
Tess tied the final bandage.
"You barely know me."
"I know enough."
Their eyes met.
For a moment, neither spoke.
The silence felt strangely peaceful.
Until Dominic's phone rang.
Dean's voice was urgent.
"Boss."
"What?"
"We've got another problem."
"Ethan's school just called."
May you like
Dominic's blood ran cold.
"They say someone claiming to be his uncle signed him out twenty minutes ago."
