Chapter 6 - The Abduction
The quiet lasted four days.
On Tuesday afternoon, I needed to drive into town to pick up specialized ointments for Bruno’s hip from the local veterinary clinic.
Matteo had insisted on sending two security men with me, but keeping to his promise, he asked for my consent first. I agreed. Having two quiet men in a black SUV behind my small sedan felt like a reasonable compromise.
The snow was light, falling in gentle flakes as I drove down the winding lakeside road toward town. Bruno sat in the backseat of my car, his head resting on the central console between the front seats.
As we rounded a sharp curve near the old timber mill, a large commercial delivery truck pulled out from a side road, completely blocking both lanes.
I slammed on my brakes, my tires skidding on the slush before bringing the car to a halt ten feet from the truck’s rear bumper.
Behind me, the security SUV stopped abruptly.
Before I could shift into reverse, two black vans accelerated out of the dense treeline on either side of the road, boxing us in completely.
“Bruno, down!” I yelled, reaching back to push his head toward the floorboards.
Men in dark tactical gear burst from the vans. Before Matteo’s security detail could draw their weapons, four armed men surrounded their SUV, firing silenced rounds into the tires and engine block, pinning them inside.
Two men smashed my driver’s side window with iron batons.
Glass shattered everywhere.
I screamed, reaching for the door lock, but a rough hand grabbed my arm, dragging me through the broken window frame out into the freezing snow.
Bruno let out a deafening roar of fury.
He launched his 150-pound body through the shattered window, his jaws locking around the wrist of the man holding me. The man shrieked in agony, dropping to his knees as Bruno dragged him into the snow.
“Shoot the dog!” another man yelled, raising a rifle.
“NO!” I screamed, throwing my body over Bruno’s back, shielding him with my own torso just like I had done in the courtyard weeks ago. “DON'T SHOOT HIM!”
A heavy leather strap slammed around my neck from behind, cutting off my air. A sweet, chemical smell filled my nostrils—chloroform.
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My vision began to spin into dark, dizzying circles.
The last thing I saw before blacking out was Bruno fighting fiercely against three men, his deep barks echoing through the snowy woods, and the cold face of Bianca Russo’s private driver leaning over me with a pair of heavy zip-ties.
