THE SECOND ANIMAL

The concussive blast blew the heavy steel door entirely off its tracks. It crashed into the panic room, crushing the desk and sending a cloud of drywall and smoke billowing into the tiny space.

My ears were ringing so loudly I couldn't hear my own screams.

I coughed, waving the dust away, keeping my body draped tightly over Leo and Bruno under the cot.

Through the settling smoke, the beam of a tactical flashlight pierced the darkness.

“Get the boy,” Vanessa’s voice commanded, sounding distorted and far away. “And kill the maid.”

Two large men in tactical gear stepped over the ruined steel door, their boots crunching on the debris. One of them racked the slide of his automatic rifle, aiming directly at the cot.

I didn't have a weapon. I had nothing but my own body to shield the child.

But they had forgotten about the second animal.

Before the man could pull the trigger, a blur of gray and black fur erupted from beneath the cot.

Bruno didn't just bite. He fought with the ferocious, protective instinct of a dog defending his pack. He launched himself directly at the gunman's throat.

The man screamed, his rifle firing wildly into the ceiling as seventy pounds of muscle took him to the ground.

“Shoot the dog!” Vanessa shrieked from the hallway.

The second man raised his weapon, but the confined space and the frantic struggle made it impossible to get a clean shot without hitting his partner.

It bought me exactly three seconds.

I scrambled out from under the cot, grabbed the heavy fire extinguisher mounted on the wall, and swung it with every ounce of strength I had left in my body.

The heavy red metal connected with the side of the second gunman’s head with a sickening crack. He collapsed instantly, dropping his weapon.

“Bruno, come!” I screamed.

The old dog released the screaming man on the floor, dodging a wild kick, and scrambled back to my side, panting heavily, blood staining his gray muzzle.

I grabbed the dropped automatic rifle from the floor. I had never fired a gun in my life, but I pointed the barrel directly at the ruined doorway.

Vanessa stood there, her red gown covered in white dust, a pistol gripped tightly in her hand. Behind her, two more armed men were rushing down the hallway to help.

She looked at the men on the floor, then at me holding the rifle. A cruel, mocking smile spread across her face.

“You don't even know how to take the safety off, sweetie,” Vanessa sneered.

She raised her pistol, aiming it right between my eyes.

“Goodbye, Emma.”

BANG.

Vanessa’s eyes went wide. She looked down.

A blossoming stain of crimson spread across the center of her red silk gown. She hadn't fired.

She dropped the pistol, her knees buckling, and collapsed onto the hardwood floor of the guest suite.

Standing behind her in the hallway, smoke curling from the barrel of his gun, was Luca.

He didn't hesitate. Before the two remaining gunmen could react, Luca moved with terrifying speed, firing twice. Both men dropped instantly.

The hallway went dead silent, save for the ringing in my ears and Bruno’s heavy panting.

Luca stepped over Vanessa’s body and walked into the ruined panic room. His face was covered in dust, his white shirt ruined, but his eyes were entirely fixed on me.

He gently took the heavy rifle out of my trembling hands and tossed it aside.

“Are you hurt?” he asked, his voice rough, his hands scanning my arms and face for injuries.

“No,” I choked out, tears finally breaking through. “I’m okay.”

I stepped aside. Leo crawled out from under the cot, unharmed but trembling violently.

Luca dropped to his knees and pulled the boy into a fierce, protective hug. Leo buried his face in Luca’s neck, wrapping his small arms around his uncle.

“I’ve got you,” Luca whispered into the boy’s hair. “I’ve got you.”

Then, Luca looked up at me. He reached out with his free hand, gripping my wrist, pulling me down onto the dusty floor with them.

For a long moment, the three of us sat there in the ruins of the panic room, surrounded by destruction, holding each other as Bruno rested his heavy head on Luca’s knee.

“We have to go,” Luca said softly, breaking the embrace. “The police are going to be here in five minutes. And I have to get your mother.”

I nodded, wiping my face.

As we stepped out into the hallway, Vanessa groaned from the floor. She wasn't dead. The bullet had hit her shoulder, shattering her collarbone.

She looked up at Luca, her face pale, coughing weakly.

“My father... will kill you for this,” she gasped.

Luca stopped. He looked down at the woman he had almost married.

“Your father is the one who gave me your location,” Luca said coldly.

Vanessa’s eyes widened in horror.

“I called Don Bellini from the basement,” Luca explained. “I told him you were trying to steal fifty million dollars from me to fund your own operation, completely bypassing him. He doesn't like greedy children, Vanessa. He told me I could do whatever I wanted with you.”