Chapter 1 - The Blood on the Floorboards
Mave did not scream.
She did not freeze.
She brought the heavy, wet linen towel down like a bullwhip across the pit bull's eyes.
The wet fabric slapped against Brutus's snout with a sharp crack.
It was a bartender's trick for breaking up dog fights in the alley behind the restaurant.
The sudden loss of vision and the stinging impact shocked the dog's overstimulated brain.
Brutus released his crushing grip on the busboy's jacket to snap blindly at the towel.
That split second was all Mave needed.
She grabbed Toby by the collar of his shirt and violently yanked him backward.
The teenager slid across the slick hardwood floor, gasping for air.
Gallagher seized the opening instantly.
He threw his entire body weight over the dog, locking his massive arms around Brutus's neck in a chokehold.
The beast thrashed, but the mob boss held him down against the ruined mahogany table.
The immediate threat of the mauling was over.
But the real violence was just beginning.
The three men in the flashy suits saw Gallagher wrestling on the floor, vulnerable and distracted.
Their leader, the man with the slicked-back ponytail, smiled.
He reached into his tailored jacket and pulled out a silver pistol.
The sudden movement broke the fragile standoff in the room.
Gallagher's men shouted and raised their own weapons.
The first gunshot echoed through the dining room like a cannon blast.
A crystal chandelier above the bar exploded, raining sharp glass down onto the panicked patrons.
Mave instinctively threw herself over Toby as the crossfire erupted.
Wood splintered all around them as bullets tore through the expensive furniture.
The smell of gunpowder completely erased the scent of dry-aged beef.
Mave kept her head down, waiting for a pause in the deafening roar of gunfire.
Then she felt a warm, heavy spray hit the side of her neck.
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She slowly turned her head toward the bar.
Arthur, her nervous manager, was slumped against the espresso machine with a dark red stain spreading across his white dress shirt.
