Chapter 6 - THE AMBULANCE THAT CAME TOO FAST
The ambulance arrived without lights or sirens.
Two paramedics entered with a sealed transport crib and a court officer carrying the emergency order.
Everything looked official.
That was what frightened me.
Real emergencies are messy. People shout. Phones ring. Equipment bumps into walls.
These men moved like they had rehearsed the route.
“We’re transferring the infant to St. Catherine’s Pediatric Center,” the officer said.
Lorenzo blocked the nursery door. “No.”
The officer held up the order. “Interference could result in your arrest.”
Bianca stepped beside him. “Let them protect the child.”
I looked at the lead paramedic. He had no hospital badge, only a blank plastic clip.
“What department at St. Catherine’s?” I asked.
He frowned. “Neonatal.”
“Leo is two months old. Which attending physician accepted him?”
“That information is in the file.”
“What physician?”
His eyes hardened. “Hand me the child.”
Leo stirred against me.
I stepped back.
Bianca’s voice turned sharp. “Mara, you are not his mother.”
The words struck deep because they were true.
But truth can be used like a knife when someone knows where you are already bleeding.
“No,” I said. “I’m the person holding him while everyone else argues about ownership.”
The court officer reached for his radio.
Lorenzo took the emergency order and read the judge’s electronic signature.
Then he looked at Matteo. “Call the judge directly.”
Matteo did not move.
“Matteo.”
The security chief slowly removed his earpiece.
“I can’t do that.”
Lorenzo stared at him. “Why?”
Matteo’s eyes filled with something that looked like shame.
“Because Bianca is right. The family cannot survive another scandal.”
The betrayal landed harder than a punch.
Lorenzo had trusted him with his home, his wife, his son.
Bianca exhaled as though a difficult child had finally become reasonable.
“Take Leo,” she told the paramedics.
The lead man moved toward me.
I saw the needle taped inside his sleeve.
“Lorenzo!”
The man lunged.
I twisted away as he grabbed my shoulder. Leo screamed. Lorenzo struck the man’s arm, sending the needle across the floor.
The second paramedic pulled a stun device.
A guard tackled him into the wall.
The court officer ran.
Bianca did not.
She stood perfectly still, watching the fight with cold disappointment.
Lorenzo picked up the syringe with a cloth.
“What is this?”
The lead paramedic said nothing.
Dr. Hale stared at the label. “That dose could stop an infant’s breathing.”
Bianca’s face remained calm. “You have no proof it was meant for Leo.”
The estate doors locked automatically.
This time, Lorenzo had ordered it.
Police vehicles stopped outside the gate, but the gate controls went dead.
Matteo had overridden them.
He drew his gun.
Every guard in the hall froze.
“I’m sorry,” he told Lorenzo. “I really am.”
Then he pointed the weapon at me.
“Give me the baby.”
Leo began to cry.
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And from the staircase behind Matteo came Sofia’s recorded voice, playing through every speaker in the mansion.
“Matteo,” she said, “I know you gave Bianca access to the nursery.”
