Chapter 2 - The Empty Room
I dropped to the floor a fraction of a second before the suppressed bullet shattered the expensive vanity mirror.
Glass rained down on the thick carpet as I rolled behind a heavy mahogany armchair.
"You should have stayed in your penthouse, Boss," a raspy voice echoed from the hallway.
I recognized the voice immediately.
It belonged to Silas, one of Victor's elite enforcers.
"You made a mistake coming here, Silas," I warned, checking the cylinder of my revolver.
"Victor sends his regards, and he wants the little rat silenced," Silas sneered, stepping slowly into the room.
I didn't bother trying to negotiate with a man who hunted children.
I kicked the heavy armchair sliding across the slick marble floor toward him.
Silas fired twice into the chair, momentarily distracted by the sudden movement.
I lunged from my cover and drove my elbow violently into his ribs.
He grunted in pain, dropping his weapon as we crashed to the floor together.
I pinned his throat with my forearm, pressing my gun directly to his temple.
"Where is the girl?" I demanded, my voice icy and dangerously calm.
Silas choked, his face turning a dark shade of purple under my grip.
"You're too late, Grant," he gasped, spitting blood onto the carpet.
"Victor took her to the old Charleston shipping yards."
He smiled a grotesque, bloody smile.
"He's going to make her disappear just like he made her mother disappear."
The revelation hit me like a physical blow.
Rachel Bennett wasn't just missing.
May you like
She was in the hands of my greatest enemy.
Before I could ask another question, a deafening explosion rocked the entire foundation of the hotel.
