The Paralyzed Mafia Boss Thought She Was Just Another Caregiver / Chapter 45 / 60

Chapter 45 - The Cipher of the Living Dead

The thunder of high-explosive charges above them shook the ceiling, sending plumes of drywall dust floating through the bunker air.

"Boss!" Leo burst through the blast door, his shoulder drenched in dark blood, dragging a captured tactical operator by the collar of his Kevlar vest. "Upper house is overrun. They’re setting thermal charges on the primary vault door. We have five minutes before they burn through."

Desmond stepped toward the prisoner. The man was young, blond, with cold Slavic eyes and a tattoo of a coiled viper on his neck. Without hesitation, Desmond drew his custom Colt .45 and pressed the warm muzzle against the man's kneecap.

"You work for Vivienne Sterling," Desmond said, his voice flat and calm.

The man gritted his teeth, spitting blood onto the concrete. "She already owns everything you have, Gallagher. The transport is waiting at Napa County Airport. You will hand over the child, or she triggers the neurotoxin in the old man's arterial line."

"A neurotoxin," Sadi repeated, stepping forward. Her eyes locked onto the medical kit strapped to the mercenary’s utility belt. She recognized the yellow biohazard stripe. "Neostigmine with a potassium chloride kicker. It causes total cardiac arrest within ninety seconds, but it requires a localized radio-frequency trigger within fifty meters."

Desmond looked at Sadi, understanding immediately. "The trigger isn't remote from Switzerland. Vivienne is here."

Sadi knelt beside the prisoner, ripping the communication pack from his harness. She tuned the frequency analyzer, scanning the encrypted local tactical bands. A spike appeared at 433 MHz, broadcasting from a stationary point less than two miles away.

"The old railway spur," Sadi said, looking up at Desmond. "The private sleeper car at the Saint Helena siding. She didn't stay in Europe. She came here to watch the trap snap shut."

"Leo," Desmond ordered, not looking back. "Take Sadi and Liam down through the wine press tunnel to the auxiliary hangar. Prep the Gulfstream. Flight plan to Geneva, non-stop."

"No," Sadi said, rising to her feet.

Desmond turned, his eyes flashing with dangerous impatience. "Sadi, this isn't a debate. You take our son and get out."

"I am not running to Switzerland while you walk into a meat grinder alone," she said, her voice steady and ringing with an authority that made Leo hesitate. "She wants me, Desmond. She thinks I am her broken little puppet who will crumble at the sight of her. If you march onto that railway siding with guns blazing, she hits the detonator on Arthur, orders her squads to level this mountain, and vanishes."

"And what do you propose?" Desmond growled, his hand closing around her upper arm.