Chapter 7 - THE NIGHT THE ROSSI MANSION BURNED
Hunter had never questioned the medical forms.
At the time, she was pregnant, frightened, and struggling to pay rent.
The Mercer Family Center had offered free prenatal appointments, transportation vouchers, and grocery assistance.
She remembered the smiling receptionist.
The soft music.
The photographs of happy families.
And one appointment that had lasted much longer than expected.
"They told me I needed additional screening," she said.
Lorenzo listened without interrupting.
"I remember waking up feeling dizzy. They said I'd had a reaction to medication."
"Did they explain what they gave you?"
"No."
"Did you sign a consent form?"
"I signed several."
Lorenzo's jaw tightened.
Hunter wrapped her arms around herself.
"Do you think they did something to my baby?"
"I don't know."
"But you're thinking it."
He approached her.
"I'm thinking we need answers."
Hunter looked toward Leo.
The baby slept peacefully.
She had begun loving him in a way that frightened her.
Not as a replacement for Lily.
Never that.
But as a child who had somehow found the part of her heart that still knew how to love.
"What if they hurt Lily?" she whispered.
Lorenzo's expression hardened.
"Then we find out."
That evening, Marco returned with the clinic's archived patient database.
The records had been recovered from a storage company after investigators obtained a warrant.
Hunter's name appeared repeatedly.
So did Sophia's.
Several files were labeled with the same internal project code.
PROJECT SECOND DAWN.
Lorenzo stared at the screen.
"What is that?"
Marco shook his head.
"We're still investigating."
"Find out."
At nine seventeen, the estate's security alarms sounded.
A guard shouted over the radio.
"Movement near the eastern wall!"
Marco grabbed his weapon.
Lorenzo stood.
"How many?"
"At least six."
Then the lights went out.
The mansion fell into darkness.
Hunter was upstairs with Leo when the emergency lighting activated.
Red strips illuminated the nursery floor.
The baby startled.
Hunter lifted him.
"It's okay, sweetheart."
A loud explosion shook the building.
Glass rattled.
Somewhere below, men began shouting.
Hunter rushed toward the door.
A guard appeared.
"Miss Higgins, we need to move."
"What happened?"
"Intruders."
He guided her into the hallway.
Smoke drifted upward from the eastern staircase.
Hunter covered Leo's face with a blanket, leaving his airway clear.
The guard led her toward the service elevator.
Then gunfire erupted.
He pushed Hunter behind a marble column.
"Stay down!"
A bullet struck the wall.
Stone fragments scattered.
Hunter crouched over Leo.
Her heart hammered.
The guard returned fire.
Then collapsed.
Hunter screamed.
Leo began crying.
She looked toward the elevator.
Too far.
The stairwell was filling with smoke.
She had no idea where Lorenzo was.
Another man appeared at the end of the hallway.
He wore black tactical clothing.
His face was covered.
He raised his weapon.
Hunter turned away, shielding Leo.
A gunshot cracked.
The attacker fell.
Lorenzo emerged through the smoke.
"Get down!"
Hunter obeyed.
He ran toward her.
"Are you hurt?"
She shook her head.
"Leo?"
"He's okay."
Lorenzo lifted the baby from her arms.
Then took her hand.
"Stay with me."
They ran toward the western staircase.
Below them, flames climbed the curtains in the grand ballroom.
The mansion's sprinkler system activated.
Water poured from the ceiling.
Smoke rolled across the marble floor.
Marco appeared near the rear entrance.
"Boss! This way!"
They reached an armored SUV.
Lorenzo placed Leo into his secured infant seat while Hunter climbed beside him.
Marco jumped into the front passenger seat.
The driver accelerated.
Behind them, the eastern wing erupted in flames.
Hunter looked back.
The mansion that had seemed indestructible was burning.
Lorenzo held her hand.
"You're safe."
She stared at him.
"Are we?"
He had no answer.
They drove through the iron gates.
Then Marco's phone rang.
He listened.
His face drained.
"What?" Lorenzo demanded.
Marco slowly lowered the phone.
"The attackers weren't trying to kill you."
Lorenzo stared.
"Then what were they doing?"
"They entered through the medical wing. Someone was searching the nursery."
Hunter looked at Leo.
The baby slept against the straps of his car seat, exhausted by the chaos.
Marco continued.
"They wanted the child."
Lorenzo's expression turned murderous.
Then Marco added the detail that changed everything.
"One of the captured attackers says Adrian Mercer didn't order the raid."
"Who did?"
Marco swallowed.
"He says the orders came from Sophia Rossi."
The SUV fell silent.
Lorenzo stared at him.
"That's impossible."
Marco looked away.
"That's what I told him."
Hunter felt cold.
Because in the rear window, beyond the smoke rising over the estate, she saw a black sedan following them.
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And inside that sedan, illuminated briefly by a passing streetlight, sat a woman with dark hair.
A woman who looked exactly like Sophia.
