Chapter 2 - The Fire
I shoved my chair back violently and sprinted out of the ballroom without saying a word.
The board members gasped, whispering about my supposed mental breakdown.
I ignored the elevator and took the emergency stairwell, taking three steps at a time.
My heart hammered against my ribs as I desperately calculated how much time Catherine had left.
The security chief was a former military mercenary who specialized in making people disappear.
I burst through the stairwell doors on the top floor and ran down the carpeted hallway.
The door to my penthouse suite was wide open, and the lock had been expertly drilled out.
I drew the concealed tactical pistol from my shoulder holster and stepped silently inside.
The suite was completely trashed, with furniture overturned and cushions sliced open.
I heard heavy footsteps moving near the library where the panic room was concealed.
The security chief was holding a tiny, pink baby pacifier that Penelope must have dropped on the rug.
He pulled out his radio and told Daria that he had found evidence of an unauthorized child.
Daria’s voice crackled over the radio, ordering him to burn the entire suite to the ground.
The mercenary pulled a flare gun from his tactical vest and aimed it at the heavy velvet curtains.
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I raised my pistol and commanded him to drop the weapon immediately.
He spun around with terrifying speed and fired the incendiary flare directly at my chest.
