Chapter 39 - Lockdown at Sofia House
Adrian knew something was wrong when the elevators stopped.
Sofia House had backup systems for everything.
Power.
Oxygen.
Internet.
Elevators did not all stop simultaneously.
He left the surgical conference room.
Leo came running from the opposite corridor.
“Security channels are dead.”
Adrian pulled out his phone.
No signal.
“What happened?”
“Unknown.”
A hospital announcement chimed.
“Attention. Security emergency. Please remain inside designated areas.”
Adrian frowned.
“That isn’t our recorded message.”
Leo’s face changed.
Then gunmen appeared.
Not masked.
Security uniforms.
Sofia House uniforms.
That was worse.
A man approached calmly.
Early sixties.
Silver hair.
Perfect suit.
Adrian recognized him from the fundraiser.
“Mr. Crane.”
The man smiled.
“Dr. Shaw.”
“My name is Duca.”
The smile widened.
“I know.”
Adrian understood.
“Moretti.”
Luca raised one finger.
His men seized Leo.
Adrian moved.
A rifle stopped him.
“Don’t.”
Adrian froze.
Luca walked closer.
“Your brother is coming.”
“He doesn’t know you’re here.”
“He knows by now.”
Adrian stared.
“You wanted him away from his children.”
“I wanted him moving.”
“Why?”
“Roman Duca spent his youth believing power meant nobody could force him to move.”
Luca smiled.
“I enjoy proving powerful men wrong.”
He led them to the hospital auditorium.
Catherine sat in the front row.
Hands free.
Angry.
“You again,” she told Luca.
He looked amused.
“We’ve never met.”
“I’ve met your type.”
Leo almost laughed.
Luca’s smile disappeared.
Outside, police gathered.
But Sofia House’s security network listed an active biological hazard.
Automated systems had sealed entrances.
Emergency response believed patients could be contaminated.
Luca had turned the hospital itself into a fortress.
Adrian looked around.
Hundreds of patients.
Children.
Families.
Staff.
“Whatever you want, keep them out of it.”
Luca looked toward the pediatric wing.
“I agree.”
Adrian blinked.
“That surprises you?”
“Yes.”
“I’m not Elena.”
“Apparently you’re worse.”
Luca smiled.
“Probably.”
He produced a tablet.
“The Crown Reserve exposed something my family has protected for decades.”
Adrian stared.
“What?”
“Ownership.”
“Of what?”
“Not money. Infrastructure.”
Luca displayed maps.
Private security networks.
Port access.
Hospital logistics.
Emergency communications.
Data centers.
Companies layered behind companies.
“My grandfather understood something Antonio Duca never did,” Luca said. “Governments change. Criminal families die. But whoever controls the systems people depend on controls everyone.”
Adrian looked horrified.
“You built monopolies around emergencies.”
“Efficiently.”
“And the Crown Reserve proves it.”
“Yes.”
“So Elena wanted to destroy the files.”
Luca shook his head.
“Elena lacked imagination.”
“What do you want?”
“I want Roman to authenticate them publicly.”
Adrian frowned.
“Why?”
“Because everyone believes Roman Duca knows secrets.”
Luca stepped closer.
“If he declares the archive complete, markets collapse. Contracts freeze. Governments panic.”
“You profit from chaos.”
“Now you understand.”
Catherine spoke from the front row.
“You sound like Arthur.”
Luca’s expression shifted.
She had hit something.
“He was your grandfather,” Catherine continued. “Always explaining greed as intelligence.”
Luca looked at her coldly.
“You survived too long.”
“People keep saying that.”
Adrian almost smiled.
Then a screen activated.
Roman appeared on a live video feed from an approaching aircraft.
Luca’s men had intercepted the signal.
Roman stared into the camera.
“Adrian.”
“I’m fine.”
“Leo?”
“Annoying but alive.”
Leo lifted his bound hands.
“Accurate.”
Roman’s relief lasted one second.
Then Luca stepped into frame.
“Roman.”
Roman’s expression turned to stone.
“Luca Moretti.”
“I wondered when you’d learn my name.”
“Release them.”
“Come to the hospital.”
“I am.”
“Alone.”
Clara leaned into the camera.
“No.”
Luca smiled.
“Mrs. Duca.”
Clara’s eyes narrowed.
“You kidnapped my brother-in-law.”
“And several hundred people.”
“You’re going to regret the second part.”
Luca laughed.
Roman did not.
“What do you want?” Roman asked.
Luca held up the tablet.
“Your voice. Your face. Your authority.”
Roman understood.
“You want me to validate the Crown Reserve.”
“Live.”
“And then?”
“Then your family walks away.”
Catherine shouted, “He’s lying.”
Luca turned.
Catherine smiled.
“Antonio lied better.”
Luca’s composure cracked.
He raised his gun.
Adrian moved between them.
“Don’t.”
Luca stared.
Then slowly lowered it.
“Ten minutes, Roman.”
The screen went dark.
Adrian looked toward Catherine.
“You enjoy provoking armed men?”
“I’m seventy-nine.”
“That isn’t an answer.”
“It becomes one eventually.”
Then Leo noticed something.
A tiny red light beneath the auditorium camera.
Blinking three times.
Pause.
Three times.
Adrian recognized the pattern.
Marcus.
May you like
Someone inside Sofia House had regained part of the security network.
They were not alone.
