Chapter 4 - The Beast's Loyalty
The narrow hallway of the veterinary clinic erupted into absolute chaos.
Muzzle flashes illuminated the sterile white walls in blinding strobes of light. Gunfire deafened the small space as plaster, glass, and wood splinters rained down like hail.
Geno threw his heavy body over Dante, shielding the helpless Don with his own torso while returning fire toward Julian’s men.
“GET THE BOSS OUT THE BACK!” Geno roared at his second-in-command, a younger guard named Marco. “TAKE THE VET AND THE DOG!”
Maeve didn't wait to be told twice. Survival instinct took complete control. She grabbed two bags of emergency supplies, loaded a box of atropine vials into her coat pocket, and scrambled toward the metal treatment table.
Argos was struggling to stand. The loud cracks of gunfire had terrified the blind Cane Corso. He was thrashing against his IV lines, his chest heaving, let out low, desperate growls.
“Argos! Easy, boy!” Maeve shouted, ripping the IV catheter from his leg and wrapping a heavy wool blanket around his torso.
Julian stepped through the smoke in the doorway, his eyes fixed on Maeve. He raised his weapon, aiming directly for her head.
“You ruined everything, doctor!” Julian screamed over the din of battle.
Before Julian could pull the trigger, a shadow exploded from the treatment table.
Despite his blindness, despite his chemical burns, despite being near death hours earlier, Argos recognized the scent of the man who had tortured him in the dark.
The ninety-pound Cane Corso launched himself through the air with terrifying force.
CRASH!
Argos’s massive jaws locked onto Julian’s right forearm, his heavy teeth crushing through leather and bone.
Julian let out an ear-splitting shriek of agony as his pistol clattered to the floor. The momentum of the blind dog threw Julian backward into the glass display case in the waiting room, shattering shelves of vitamin bottles and pet shampoos.
“GET IT OFF ME! GET THIS DEMON OFF ME!” Julian screamed, beating furiously at the dog’s head with his free hand.
Argos didn't let go. He shook his massive head with brutal, primal rage, tearing through muscle and tendon.
“Argos, COME!” Maeve commanded, her voice ringing out like a trumpet through the smoke.
The dog instantly released Julian’s mangled arm, turned toward the sound of Maeve’s voice, and bounded blindly toward her, his instinct to protect her overruling his desire for revenge.
Marco threw open the rear steel exit door of the clinic. The freezing arctic wind roared into the building, bringing a heavy blanket of swirling white snow.
Outside, Maeve’s heavy-duty 4x4 veterinary truck sat idling in the alley, its four-wheel-drive tires built to navigate the blizzard.
Geno and Marco carried Dante’s limp, breathing body out into the storm, tossing him into the spacious rear seats of the crew cab. Maeve shoved Argos into the footwell, scrambled into the driver’s seat, and slammed her foot onto the accelerator.
The heavy truck’s tires spun for a fraction of a second on the ice before gripping the pavement, launching the vehicle forward out of the alley just as Julian’s surviving hitmen rushed out the back door, spraying automatic fire into the night.
Bullets pinged off the heavy steel tailgate of the truck, but Maeve kept her foot pinned to the floor, plunging into the blinding whiteout of the Pennsylvania blizzard.
Inside the cab, the heater blasted warm air, but the atmosphere was thick with blood and terror.
Dante lay across the rear bench, his breathing shallow, his pulse irregular. Geno sat beside him, applying pressure to a graze wound on his own shoulder, his face grim.
Argos rested his heavy, scarred head on Maeve’s lap from the passenger side, his clouded, blind eyes turned upward toward her, trembling softly.
“Where are we going?” Maeve asked, her knuckles white on the steering wheel as she navigated the unplowed, snow-covered backroads of Chester County.
Geno looked out the frosted rear window, ensuring no headlights were following them through the storm.
“The Poconos,” Geno said heavily. “The Boss has a hunting lodge near Jim Thorpe. It’s off the grid. No cameras, no cell towers, no paper trail. If Julian took over the family tonight, he controls the city police, the private hospitals, and every capo in Philly.”
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Geno looked at Maeve, his eyes reflecting a newfound, deep respect.
“You’re one of us now, Dr. Hart,” Geno added softly. “Because as long as Julian is alive... you’re the most dangerous witness in Pennsylvania.”
