Chapter 4 - Cell 402The sub-basement corridor of Harborview was freezing, lit only by flickering fluorescent tubes that hummed with a maddening, high-pitched whine. Water dripped somewhere in the distance, echoing through the empty concrete halls like a ticking clock.
I reached the heavy reinforced door marked Maximum Security Wing - Authorized Personnel Only.
I didn't bother trying the keypad. I raised my boot and kicked the electronic lock mechanism with all my strength. The internal circuits sparked violently, and the heavy steel door swung inward with a metallic groan.
Inside, the wing was divided into a row of identical cells with frosted glass windows and heavy iron-barred doors. A night nurse sat at a central monitoring desk, reading a magazine. She looked up just as I rounded the corner, her face turning chalk-white as she dropped her coffee mug, shattering it against the floor.
“Who—who are you? You can’t be back here—!” she stammered, reaching for the panic alarm on her desk.
I crossed the room in two strides, grabbing her wrist before her finger could hit the red button, and pinned her gently against the console.
“Cell 402,” I demanded, staring down into her terrified eyes. “Where is the key?”
“I—I don't have it!” she sobbed. “The administrator keeps the digital override codes in his private safe upstairs! Only Dr. Evans has the physical master ring!”
“Where is Dr. Evans?”
“He—he left for the night! He’s at the gala downtown!”
I released her wrist, stepping back. I didn't need a key.
I walked down the dim hallway until I found the plaque reading Cell 402. Through the small, wire-reinforced glass window in the heavy steel door, the room was pitch black.
“Grace?” I called out, pressing my face against the cold glass.
Silence.
“Grace! Can you hear me? It’s Luca!”
A faint, rustling sound came from the darkness inside. Then, a slow, shuffling step approached the door. A pale, trembling hand appeared against the wire-mesh window, followed by a face so thin, bruised, and exhausted that my heart broke all over again.
Her eyes were hollow, ringed with dark shadows from days of sleepless terror, but when she recognized my face in the dim hallway light, a ragged sob broke from her lips.
“Luca...?” her voice was a fragile whisper, cracked and dry from dehydration. “Are you... are you real? Or is this another drug dream your mother gave me?”
“It’s me, sweetheart. I’m real,” I vowed, gripping the iron bars with both hands. “I’m getting you out of here right now.”
I stepped back from the door, raised my firearm, and emptied three heavy-caliber rounds directly into the electronic locking bolt. Sparks showered down like fireworks. I holstered the gun, braced my shoulder against the heavy steel, and slammed my entire weight forward once, twice, three times.
CRACK.
The reinforced frame splintered outward. The door burst open, crashing against the interior concrete wall.
I rushed into the cell, dropping to my knees beside the narrow cot where Grace was curled into a tight ball, wearing a rough institutional gown. Her skin was ice cold, and she flinched away instinctively before realizing who I was.
I pulled her into my arms, burying my face in her tangled hair, breathing in the faint scent of lavender that still lingered beneath the antiseptic smell of the hospital.
“She took my baby, Luca,” Grace wept into my shoulder, her fingers digging desperately into the back of my coat. “Your mother... she stole him right out of my arms while I was recovering. She said I was unfit, that you would never want a fragile woman like me. She locked me in this hell.”
“She didn't take him, Grace,” I whispered fiercely, kissing her forehead, her cheeks, her wet eyelids. “Our son is safe. He’s in the car with me right now. I have him.”
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Grace froze, pulling back just enough to search my eyes. “You... you have him? He’s safe?”
“He’s safe,” I promised, standing up and lifting her effortlessly into my arms. She was terrifyingly light, drained of all her strength by days of chemical sedation and starvation. “And right now, we are going home to settle accounts with my mother once and for all.”
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