Chapter 6 - BLOOD ON THE BASEBALL DIAMONDAnthony entered with two armed men.
Luca raised his gun.
Anthony stared at him.
For a moment, neither brother moved.
Then Anthony smiled.
"So."
Luca's voice was ice.
"You poisoned me."
Anthony sighed.
"Not directly."
"Who did?"
"You always were impatient."
"Answer me."
Anthony looked at the files.
Then at Elena.
Then at Maya's photograph.
"You should have left the past alone."
"The past found me."
"No."
Anthony smiled.
"You went looking for it."
One of the guards stepped forward.
Luca fired.
The man fell.
Everything exploded.
Gunfire ripped through the room.
Elena dropped behind a table.
Tommy grabbed Maya and pulled her toward the hidden exit.
Luca fired again.
Anthony disappeared through the doorway.
Luca wheeled after him.
He made it into the corridor.
Then his chair jammed against the wall.
The old floorboard had caught one wheel.
For twelve years, the chair had been the boundary between Luca and everything he could not reach.
That moment, it felt like a prison.
He heard footsteps running away.
He tried the controls.
Nothing.
His anger became physical.
He hit the wheel.
"Move!"
The chair stayed still.
Then Maya appeared at the end of the hall.
"Dad!"
Luca looked up.
"Get back!"
She ignored him.
She ran toward him.
A gunshot cracked.
Maya froze.
Luca saw the bullet strike the wall beside her.
He lunged forward.
Something happened.
His right foot slammed against the floor.
The chair jerked.
Luca stared.
His foot had moved.
Not a twitch.
A push.
He tried again.
Pain shot through his leg.
But the wheel moved.
The chair lurched forward.
Maya screamed.
Luca reached her.
He pulled her behind him.
Anthony stood at the far end of the hallway.
He looked at Luca's feet.
His expression changed.
Not surprise.
Fear.
"You can move."
Luca stared at him.
"Apparently."
Anthony raised his gun.
Luca lunged.
The chair rolled forward faster than either of them expected.
Anthony fired.
The bullet missed.
Luca slammed into him.
They crashed through a door.
And onto the baseball diamond outside.
Anthony rolled across the grass.
Luca's chair stopped.
For one strange second, the world went silent.
Then Anthony looked at Luca's legs.
"You have no idea what they did to you."
Luca's blood ran cold.
"What did they do?"
Anthony laughed.
"You think the poison was the whole plan?"
Before Luca could answer, Anthony pulled a remote from his pocket.
He pressed one button.
The old guesthouse exploded.
Fire tore through the windows.
Elena screamed.
Maya clung to Luca.
Tommy stared at the flames.
Anthony ran.
Luca wanted to follow.
But the chair was on fire.
One wheel had caught flame from the blast.
He looked down.
Then at Maya.
Then at the burning building.
And finally at his own legs.
Twelve years of silence.
Twelve years of weakness.
And now, hidden beneath all that damage, something was waking up.
But before Luca could process it, Elena shouted:
May you like
"Maya!"
The girl had disappeared.
