Chapter 2 - The Inside Man
Frankie completely froze as the heavy barrel of the gun pointed straight at his forehead.
Stella dropped the empty soup pot with a loud, metallic clatter.
"What are you doing?" Stella demanded, stepping toward the wheelchair.
Jonah kept his dark, intense eyes locked on his most trusted bodyguard.
"Frankie, how exactly did Victor bypass the outer perimeter gates without triggering the alarms?" Jonah asked quietly.
Frankie swallowed hard, sweat suddenly beading on his bruised face.
"The storm shorted the electronic sensors on the west wall, boss," Frankie stammered nervously.
"You know I would never let anyone disrespect this house."
Jonah clicked the safety off the gun, the mechanical sound echoing terribly in the foyer.
"The west wall runs directly off a completely separate solar backup grid," Jonah stated coldly.
"It is physically impossible for a simple rainstorm to short that specific circuit."
Stella felt a chilling realization wash over her entire body.
Frankie, the massive bodyguard who was supposed to protect Jonah, had secretly opened the gates for the assassins.
Victor groaned weakly from the floor, spitting blood onto the imported marble.
"Your own men are completely tired of taking orders from a cripple, Navarro," Victor laughed darkly.
Frankie panicked and lunged violently toward Jonah to knock the gun away.
Stella reacted purely on adrenaline, throwing herself forcefully in front of the wheelchair to protect her patient.
Frankie’s heavy fist struck Stella directly in the jaw, sending her crashing heavily to the floor.
Before Frankie could reach the wheelchair, a deafening gunshot rang out in the room.
Jonah had fired a single, perfect shot, hitting Frankie directly in the center of his massive chest.
The traitor collapsed heavily beside Victor, dead before he even hit the ground.
Jonah lowered the smoking gun, his breathing incredibly ragged as the severe neurogenic spasms began to return.
His legs started jerking violently against the footrests of the chair.
Stella sat up, her jaw throbbing with sharp, blinding pain.
She scrambled over to the wheelchair and grabbed Jonah's spasming legs to stabilize him.
"You need to breathe, Jonah," Stella ordered, wiping a trickle of blood from her own lip.
Jonah looked down at her, his eyes filled with a terrifying, uncharacteristic panic.
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"Victor did not come here for the harbor ledgers," Jonah gasped, struggling against his own muscles.
"He came here as a distraction while his men raided the downtown secure vault."
