“We are wasting time,” Luca said, looking at his watch.

“The doctor is doing her work,” Sofia said. “We wait.”

“I am not waiting for a woman who belongs in a clinic to tell me my cousin is gone,” Luca said.

He turned toward the front door and raised his hand.

He made a quick, sharp gesture toward the leaded glass.

Through the rain-streaked pane, I saw the headlights of two black SUVs cut through the darkness of the driveway.

They had bypassed the main gate.

The guards had let them through.

“Luca,” Sofia said, her voice losing its edge, replaced by a sudden chill. “What did you do?”

“I secured our perimeter,” Luca said.

“You bypassed my security,” Marcus said, his voice dangerously low.

“Your security is outdated, Marcus,” Luca said.

He turned his back on them and walked toward the heavy oak front door.

He pulled it open, letting in a gust of cold, wet wind.

The smell of rain and wet asphalt filled the warm foyer.

Three men in dark coats stepped inside, their boots leaving muddy tracks on the marble floor.